Lyrical Souls [h.s]

Chapter One: Serendipity - Beach

'Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Los Angeles International Airport. Local time is 10:37 p.m. and the temperature is 83°F'. After a rough 11 hours and a half flight from London to L.A. I was finally there and ready to start the first vacation I had in years.

'Cassie, what should we do first beach or shopping?'

'Maybe we should go check the house first? You know, put our luggage away and rest a bit, my back is killing me!'

'Cassie we came here to have fun not relax! Fine! House then beach'

'Thank you!'

I'd been discussing this trip with my best friend Katie ever since we met. We both love travelling around and are too stressed from the cold and busy life we lead back in London. Sure it took us two years to get there and we were very excited but little did I know this trip was about to change my life in the least expected way.

After renting a car and a 15-minute ride we reached the house we rented at a walking distance from the Venice Beach Boardwalk. We quickly put our stuff away and changed heading towards the beach. I wore a black bikini with hot pink laces under a white floral maxi sundress, as for Katie she wore a very daring strapless red bikini under her turquoise short sundress with white stripes. As soon as we got there Katie took her dress off to get started on her tan.

'Katie, put some sunscreen! You're gonna get sunburnt!'

'Yes, mom!' she huffed.

'Are you gonna stay here laying all day? It's boring, I wanna go swim'

'Then go, who's stopping you?'

'Go alone to swim? That's weird!'

'Yeah, because going for lunch and movies alone isn't? I can never go to the movies alone, now THAT is too weird! Plus you're more approachable alone. I wouldn't want you to miss out on meeting hot guys just because I outshine you!', she said winking. Don't get her wrong, it's not that she is narcissistic and overly confident or that I'm not as good looking as her, she just has a weird sense of humour.

'Fine! I'm going! Love you! Don't burn' I teased.

'Love you too, Cassie!'

'Okay, swimming in the beach alone... Totally normal', I thought to myself. I mean, it's bad enough that I had to swim without lenses or glasses and everything is blurry, but to have to do it alone, I hadn't felt this nervous since my first interview with a marketing team to make my blog more popular. But as soon as the first wave hit, I just got lost in the serenity of the cool water around me. Between having a regular 9-5 desk job and running my blog on the side, I had been tired for the last year and a half and this is exactly what I needed to relax and wash away all the negativity.

Me being a major daydreamer, I tend to lose track of time and my surroundings. I'd been drifting away for who knows how long and it's no surprise that at some point I heard someone shouting 'Watch out!' and then everything blacked out for a second. I heard a voice fading in and out and I couldn't exactly make out what it's saying.

'Miss are you okay?' a husky voice with a British accent said.

As I regained consciousness, I saw a figure approaching, although I could see dark shoulder-length hair, I could tell from the voice and the apparent toplessness of the person in front of me, that it was a guy.

'I'm awfully sorry about that! My friends and I were playing, and the ball accidentally hit you. Are you sure you're okay? Do you need help to get back to the shore or something?'

'I'm okay, it's nothing. Don't worry, thanks for checking', I said confused looking around for the ball that supposedly hit me.

'I'm really sorry about that, how can I repay you? Did you have lunch yet? We can go grab a bite, on me?'

'Thank you, you're really kind but that is unnecessary. I'm okay, really!'

'I insist!'

'Alright, but I'm here with my best friend. I need to check on her, I don't wanna leave her alone for too long'

'No problem, you can bring her and I can bring my friends, we'll make a day of it. It could be fun! I'm Harry, by the way!'

'Cassie, nice to meet you!'

'Nice to meet you too. So meet out front in 5?'

'Sounds good!'

I went back to Katie and told her everything.

'OMG! I totally told you you'll meet someone! Although he's British and we have lots of them back home and it's totally not what I was going for, but is he hot, at least?'

'I don't know, Katie, I wasn't wearing my glasses. All I saw is a blurry long haired guy!'

'Then, why did you agree to spend the entire day with him and his friends, for all we know they're creepy desperate guys who just want to get in our pants!'

'I don't think so, he was really kind, and his voice... it literally gave me goosebumps. Worst case scenario, we finally get to apply what we learned in the self-defence class you made us take'

'Right... Okay... Let's go! We came here to have fun, so let's have fun!'

We walk towards the parking lot where Harry told us to meet him and his friends. Seconds later, a black range rover pulls up next to us, the driver's window slid down and I heard a familiar voice 'Ready to go, love?'. 'Wait! THAT is Harry? Why didn't you tell me it was Harry bloody Styles we're having lunch with?' Katie snapped at me like she always does when I'm oblivious to some details that for her are too important. 'I wasn't wearing my glasses, I didn't recognise him, okay? Calm down, please' I told her calmly, looking at my feet slightly embarrassed, while the car filled with laughter.

'Not changing our minds, are we?' Harry said with his signature smirk on his face showing, his dimple.

'No! Of course not! Let's go, Cassie!' Katie said, hurrying to the back seat, as I followed.

'Right, almost forgot. Niall this is Cassie, the girl I told you about. and with her is her best friend-'

'I'm Katie, nice to meet you Niall!' she interrupted Harry and put her hand out for a handshake, which Niall happily returned and then did the same with me.