Love Thy Neighbor

Chapter Six

I woke up, unsure of what was in store. Austin hadn't told me of a time or given any hint towards our 'plans'. I decided to carry on as if it were a normal day and make myself some breakfast when about halfway through I heard a loud knock on my door.

I wasn't too surprised to see Austin when I opened it.

"Hey."

"Hey. So can you be ready in an hour?"

"Yeah. Wait. For what?"

"You'll see."

"Austin, I need to know what to get ready for, how long we will be gone, do I need to bring money.."

"You surely don't need all of those answers."

"Well I would like them."

"Want is different than need, my friend. All you need to know is be ready in an hour and wear a bathing suit under your clothes."

"What?" Now I have a whole new list of questions. "Bathing suit? Where are we going? Do I need to pack a bag with towels and sunscreen or do you have that?"

"Do whatever makes you feel better. You have an hour." He smiled before walking off.

He is the worst help ever.

Trying not to panic I rushed around my apartment to get ready for this mystery outing. I braided my hair and got changed, silently praising myself for shaving last night as I covered myself in a layer of sunscreen. After I found a tank top and shorts to wear over my suit, I packed a bag with two towels, sunscreen, bug spray, two waters, a book and a few other essentials. While I was cleaning up my breakfast I heard another loud knock on the door.

"Ready?" Austin asked, seemingly excited for whatever he had planned. I took the time to notice he had changed into a pair of swim trunks with a t-shirt covering his torso.

"Yeah. I went ahead and packed a bag, just incase." He silently took the bag from me and began shuffling through.

"Let's see. Towels: of course. Bug spray: thoughtful. SPF 50? Really?"

"I don't want to get burned. Studies show that anything under SPF 20 has little to no effect."

"So you chose SPF 50? It's not like you have fair skin? This seems a little much."

"My skin, my choice." I replied while taking the bottle from his hands.

He continued scanning my choices making me feel oddly insecure. It wasn't like he was judgmental at all. I just felt the urge to impress him and I'm not sure where that feeling was coming from.

When he got to the book his only response was a sarcastic look in my direction.

"Okay." He said abruptly while taking the sunscreen back from my hands. "Nice thought, but we'll be leaving this here today. All of it." He finishes as he tosses the rejected bottle into the bag then places it on the floor.

"What? Won't we be needing it? What are we doing?" He gently grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door through my protests. I locked up, begrudgingly, and followed him to his truck. He opened the door for me and as he made his way to the driver's side I noticed his truck was much cleaner than I would've expected. "Can't you at least answer one question?" I asked as soon as his door shut.

With a groan he responded "The whole point of today is for you to let go, remember? No preplanning or obsessing over what we are doing. Just enjoy the time."

"Okay, I get it." He seemed a bit surprised yet satisfied that I would give up that easily. "Just one question though?" He gave me a sassy glare once again.