The Night That Changed Everything

Chapter Twelve

Kayla

“Kayla this is Rosie,” Damion uncomfortably says. He then pauses as he looks at the irritated red head standing beside him. He then takes a deep breath before saying to her, “Rosie this is Kayla and that’s her friend Kasha.” She glares at me as a deafening silence fills the tent and an unusual tension hovers in the air. 

I clear my throat, breaking the deadly silence as a sheepish smile spreads across my face. I then stand up and extend my hand for a handshake, “Hey, I’m Kayla.”

Rosie slowly nods, “Damion already pointed that out...” My face flushes in embarrassment as she belittles me by making me feel stupid, “But nice meeting you,” she quickly adds as she accepts my handshake, lightly shaking my hand before letting her hand fall. She then quickly throws a false smile at Kasha before turning to Damion and murmuring something into his ear. He slowly nods as she parades out of the tent, excluding a good bye.

We all sit in an awkward silence, gazing in different directions as we think of what to converse. I glance at a troubled Damion who’s looking to the floor in deep thought. I clear my throat and ask, “Are you okay?”

His head shoots upright and he looks at me like a startled, confused puppy, “Huh?”

I softly smile as I slightly tilt my head to the side, studying his confused face before slowly repeating, “Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah I’m fine, I’m just a little tired,” he says as he lets out an exhausted yawn, extending his firm, tanned arms.

I stand up and walk up behind him and droop my arms around his neck, hugging him as I rest my head on his shoulder, “Well I’ll give you a nice massage when you get home.”

He grins up at me, his eyes filled with glee as he murmurs, “Now that, I will like.”

I let out a laugh as I let go and pick up my bag from out of the chair. I throw it over my shoulder as I ask, “Did uh, Rosie drop you here?”

“Yeah she did, so you don’t need to wait around for me,” he says. I nod as Damion leads Kasha and I outside of the tent and onto the almost empty, peaceful, sandy beach. I look up at the alight sky, filled with a fiery orange, sweltering reds and the edges of the blazing sky have begun to cool with the indigo of the still night. The colours of the rainbow reflect on the mysterious blue sea as I listen to the peaceful waves gently sloping in the distance. I inhale the salty water as the cool breeze wraps itself around me, leading me to slightly shiver. I suddenly remember the times I would visit my grandparent’s beach house and my grandmother and I would sit and watch the sun set as we cuddled up together, telling each other stories.

“Well are you ready?” Kasha asks, startling me from my dreamy gaze.

“Oh, uh yeah,” I say, “The sun set is really pretty.” Kasha nods in agreement as she hugs Damion goodbye and makes her way down the beach.

I turn around to Damion and say, “Well, I’ll see you later.” 

He hugs me goodbye then says, “Get home safe,” before returning into the tent. As I’m walking down the beach towards the exit, I see Rosie talking to a rather good looking, long haired surfer. Her eyes quickly swerve towards me as she realises that I’m staring at her, so I quickly smile and wave goodbye but she looks away and continues to converse, disregarding my goodbye.

“Fine, suit yourself bitch,” I mutter to myself as I roll my eyes and jog up to Kasha, linking my arms with hers as we make our way towards the car. As I’m putting on my seatbelt I see something tucked under the windscreen wiper.  “Uh Kasha, what is that?” I ask as I peer at the red and white paper, trying to make out what it says.