never be the same | grayson dolan

twelve

Putting on a bathing suit at nine o'clock at night feels so strange at first. Since I am more of an ocean type of girl, I never really go night swimming. The community pool closes earlier on week days and I never really think to go for a late night swim. That is until tonight. Grayson should be home any second from the marina and I couldn't help but feel excited.

When we went out on the boat, we really connected. I was curious to see how this night will go, in a good way. There's just something about Grayson that makes me feel comfortable. This whole town makes me feel like a fragile little girl who is about to break at any moment. I feel like everyone has treated me differently and I hate feeling that way. I'm thankful that neither Anthony or Victoria tried to contact me the rest of the day. I deleted both of their numbers out of my phone, I have nothing else to say to either of them.

I throw on an oversized t-shirt over my bathing suit and pull my hair back into a high ponytail. I don't need to pack a bag because the only thing I need is a towel. As I am grabbing one from the bathroom, the clicking noise of the back door opening catches my attention.

"Madison?" Grayson calls as he steps into the quiet house.

I walk out of the bathroom with two beach towels in my hand. "What's up?" I approach him in the kitchen.

"I was just making sure you still wanted to go." He chuckles lightly.

"Of course." I grin back at him. "I've been stuck in this house all day, it'll be good to get out."

"Cool, well let me just get changed. I grabbed the key before I left." He reaches into his jean pocket and holds the small key into the palm of his hand.

"What a rebel." I laugh.

"You know it." He smirks down at me. "Hold onto it for me while I get ready." He places the key in my hand before heading into his room.

I look down at the silver piece of metal in my hand. One little key is about to hold so many memories. A few minutes later Grayson walks out of his room wearing a black tank top with dark blue bathing suit shorts.

"Ready?" He beams.

"Yeah, let's go." I laugh as we head for the front door. "I'll drive." I grab the keys to my father's car that are placed in a glass bowl above the microwave.

I don't have my own car here because I don't need one, I'm only here for three months and I usually just walk whenever I need to get somewhere.

Grayson and I walk out the front door and get into the black prius my father owns. The drive was quick, it only took about eight minutes to get to the community pool located toward the end of town. Pulling into the empty parking lot was such a strange feeling.

"You still have the key?" Grayson looks over to me as we approach the entrance gate.

"Oh crap." I sigh and look up at him. "I left it on the kitchen table." I groan.

"What?" His mouth drops to the ground with my statement.

My worried expression turns into a heavy smirk as I hold up the infamous silver key. "Just kidding!" I giggle as he lets out a sigh of relief. "You should have seen your face."

"You're not funny." He shakes his head with a smile. I hand him the key and he opens the gate.

"What a great way to hang out, breaking and entering." I jokingly pat his shoulder while walking into the pool area.

"This is probably the most scandalous thing you've ever done." He follows me as I place my towel on one of the many lounge chairs lined up around the built in pool.