Smile - Connor Stoll (PJO/HOO)

4 - Beach (2)

The night I spend that day was the best one I ever had in a long time. Being on cloud nine, I fell into sleep easily, dreaming of a better time. Excitement also grew inside of me as hours were passing by and the next day was coming. I was curious about the reason Connor asked me to come back to the beach.

So at lunch time again, I swallowed my meal as fast as I could, making the others looked at me with disgusted eyes before racing to the beach. I met Connor on the way, but he did not say anything. Instead, he smiled idiotically until I was sat on the sand, my back to him.

"What are you doing?"

He shushed me before sitting behind me, his back pressing against mine. I frowned, not understanding what was going on. I could not see him like that.

"So, did you know my grandfather has the heart of a lion and a lifetime ban from the New York City zoo?"

"What?" I turned around, startled. Connor grinned and gestured for me to put myself back into place. I pressed my back against his again before asking:

"What are you doing?"

"Well, making you laugh obviously." He cleared his throat before saying: "I remember the last thing my grandpa said to me before he kicked the bucket. He said 'Hey, how far do you think I can kick this bucket?'"

My mouth slightly opened, I was processing his words. "Is that why you're not facing me?"

"Yeah, you can smile now, I'm not seeing you."

He stayed quiet for a few seconds, waiting for me to agree or disagree to his idea.

I rubbed the back of my neck and closed my eyes, thinking. It seemed to mean a lot to him. Plus, if I ever felt like it was threatening others, I could stop.

But the fact was I knew how stupid it was. There were so many ways it could wrong, but I also knew he would not stop. And I would better smile while being sat behind him than do it in front of him, where there was a real risk. So, playfully, I asked him:

"Are all your jokes going to be about a grandpa?"

A huge smile on his lips, he said: "Depends what makes you laugh the most."

"Okay, shoot!"

His excitement was contagious and already my lips were starting to curl.

"You know, it's times like this I wished I had listened to what my mother has always told me."

"Okay, I supposed I have to ask you what she said."

"Correct." He nudged me in the ribs, laughing. "And I don't know, I wasn't listening."

I stayed silent, my mouth opened, dumbfounded. His jokes were so bad it was actually funny. Thinking about how much of those he must know made me almost smile.

Seeing I was not responding, he asked, full of hope:

"Did you smile?"

"Almost."

I eyed the infinity of sand in front of me and tried to relax while waiting for his other stories.

"What do you think is the best thing about living in Switzerland?" He asked after a few seconds of reflection.

"I don't know."

"Me neither, but the flag is a big plus."

"Really?" I said, half smiling.

"Wait for it, I have more."

I listened to him recite a dozen more of his jokes, each one making me smile some more until finally he succeeded.