Riptides || lrh

0.5

Rowan's Point of View
6:42am

"So," I began, tossing a grape into my mouth. Luke had brought a bag of grapes for us to eat on the beach, which was random, but I wasn't complaining. Luke and I were lying down, our backs against the towel, facing the sky. "What time does your shift actually start?"

Luke thought for a moment, his silence emphasizing the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. "It usually starts at 8, and technically runs until about 12. Sometimes I get off earlier or later, depending on how big the crowds get," He replied.

"Or how much people feel like drowning that day," I added, matter-of-factly.

He laughed, his gaze not once leaving the sky. "Or how much people feel like drowning that day," he confirmed.

We sat in silence for a moment, before I turned to face him, only to find his gaze sweeping over my face, quickly reverting back to the sky. His gesture threw my thoughts all over the place, and I wasn't used to handling that. I was always so composed and prepared for anything, but I didn't feel like that anymore. I felt vulnerable, naïve even. He was so flustered, but I didn't find it weird or creepy in any way.

I managed to align my thoughts, and I wanted to learn more about this boy. Once again I turned to look at him. "Why did you wanna be a lifeguard?" I asked, quietly.

He pondered for a moment. "I guess I have this, like- I don't know, this really profound appreciate for life. It's such an intricate thing that none of us really understand, and it scares me that it can be taken away from us so easily. I guess I just kinda wanna keep that from happening," He replied, turning his head to face me. "I'm just doing my part."

I gave him a small smile, shifting my gaze down to my hands. "Wow," I responded, my voice barely above a whisper.

Luke sat up, propping his legs up. "Everything alright?" He asked, concerned. I sat up quickly, a smile plastered on my face. "Yeah! Definitely, you just got me thinking," I laughed lightly, crossing my legs. He grinned. "I hope that's a good thing."

I nodded once again, grinning up at him. "It's definitely a good thing," I assured him.

He looked down at his sand-covered feet. "Good," He replied.

I picked a grape out of the zip-lock bag, held it up, and threw it. I originally planned to hit Luke on the ear, but the grape ended up reflecting off his face directly above his eyebrow.

"Ow!" He exclaimed, laughing. "The hell was that for?"

I laughed along with him, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear. "You just have that face! It just screams 'please hit me in the face with a grape,'" I answered.

"What a coincidence, your face screams the exact same thing," He giggled, throwing a grape back at me. I ducked, and jumped off the blanket, running towards the water.

"Luke I swear to God if you hit me with that grape I will end you," I yelled to him.

He smirked, running a hand through his hair. "Is that a threat or a promise?"

I crouched down, covering my face with my hands to hide the reddening apples cheeks. "Oh my God," I mumbled. Before I could move, I felt a thump on the top of my head. I removed my hands from my eyes only to see a single grape in the sand in front of me.

I looked up to see a very amused Luke, biting his lip to restrain his laughter. I immediately took off running towards him, and he quickly caught on and ran from me. I caught up to him, sticking one foot out in front of him and causing him to stumble forward into the sand. Before I could get away, he grabbed my ankle and pulled me down into the sand with him.