Garland ran into the trees and began to make her path parallel to both the beach and the house. Her ankle did truly hurt, but she knew she’d regret the way she treated Seth.
Right now, however, she was in no mood to apologise.
It felt wrong, wrong to have all this foolish, silly fun while Jack lay in bed up there. He was Garland’s friend as well, and to expect her to always be the one knowing what to do would lead everyone astray. She huffed and kicked a small rock out of her way with a bare foot. Mosquitoes began to swarm from all around and she found herself swatting left, right and centre.
Garland walked through the thin coastal scrub until she reached The Point – a small outcrop of land protruding into the ocean like a natural windbreaker. She followed a trail that local teenagers had created in their adventures to get pissed on the rocks and soon emerged from the trees and into the warm sunlight. From there she ascended a lazy incline to the Point itself and sat with her legs dangling over the cliff. Seth and herself had found this spot a few weeks ago, with an intention similar to the local kids.
Up on the small rise she spied the group of her friends, small figures against the horizon. She saw only three people on the beach – Seth must be looking for her. Garland considered moving but decided against it. It would be immature to cause any major issues now.
Oops.
She ran a hand through her hair and felt the annoyance she held to Seth slowly dissipate into the wind. It wasn’t his fault. He was just trying to make light, and that was why they were together. The vague optimist and the always-responsible pessimist. Water and fire. Whatever you wanted to call it.
The sensation of a wet little nose poking the small of Garland’s back brought her attention to Ghost and Seth as they finally found her. A hat was placed on her head and a body sat beside her in silence. Waves crashed below and Ghost snuffled at ants crawling on the grass, but the pair held their own silence peacefully. This was another reason that Seth and Garland were so close; neither of them felt the need to constantly talk or make the silences uncomfortable by fidgeting and twitching. They just let the silence be.
So without saying a word, Seth reached down and took Garland’s hand in his and she held on tight.
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“We should go.” Garland finally said when the sun had reached the middle of the sky. Ghost had long ago flopped in the shade of a small bush and watched the pair carefully with one eye.
“Sure thing Queen G,” Seth half smiled and helped Garland to her feet. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
“So am I, Sethy.” Garland wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and then took his hand once again.
They exchanged looks of shy embarrassment and began to make their way back down the hill, with the little puppy close on their heels.
YOU ARE READING
Jack's Last Summer
Teen Fiction"I guess that's the thing about time. It might not heal wounds; but it does smooth them over." When Jack Summers is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he chooses quality over quantity and refuses therapy. He instead decides to invite four of his best f...
