Water of Hell

Chapter Two - Beach Party

ღNaidaღ

When we reached the beach, I was already regretting this. I hated parties. I hated social gatherings and as I looked out at the shadowed crowd, I knew that I was not going to enjoy this.

“Stop that,” Abby said as we got out of her SUV.

“Stop what?” I asked innocently.

“Stop telling yourself that you are going to hate it,” she said. I rolled my eyes. Of course, she wasn’t wrong. Abby took off her shoes and threw them into the back of the car. I did the same and helped her take out two blankets and a bag.

“What’s in the bag?” I asked curiously. Abby didn’t answer as we headed towards the others. The large bonfire was bright against the dark night and the music was at the right volume. Not too high but not too low. I knew that this was the spot they always used for their beach parties. The large logs scattered around the bonfire, the people were either sitting and chatting or dancing to the beat. I rolled my eyes as I spotted a few couples making out.

“Snacks and drinks,” she said as she threw the bag down on the sand. I dug my toes in and smiled. I did enjoy the way the cool sand felt on my feet. “Don’t just stand there, help me,” she said as she tried to spread the blanket out.

“How about we just go home?”

“Naida!” Abby yelled out in that annoying tone she gets when things aren’t quite going her way. I sighed and helped her spread out the two blankets. Sitting down, I glanced over at the bonfire and that’s when I spotted him. Triton Gale.

“There he is,” I said eagerly to Abby, who just rolled her eyes. “What?”

“Well, aren’t you going to go and talk to him?”

“Are you crazy? Why would I do that?” I asked, outraged by her suggestion.

“Isn’t that the reason I dragged your butt to this party?”

“Um…”

“Exactly. Go. Talk. To. Him,” she gave me a shove and I got up. Ok, this is fine. I, Naida Saylor, can do this. I moved closer and closer and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He had on a pair of black swim shorts that came to his knees and a blue sleeveless top. His brown hair was a mess and fell in short waves around his perfectly shaped face. His light brown eyes seemed to sparkle from the light of the flames. He was laughing with his friends and I smiled. He had such a nice laugh, and it was contagious too. I watched as he took a sip from the bottle in his hand and then he leaned down and kissed her on the mouth. Wait, what? I stopped and stared. Triton Gale had a girl hanging on his arm and they were kissing. When he pulled away, I recognized her. Pamela King. The richest, the snobbiest, the rudest girl in the whole city. I spun around and stormed back to Abby. However, when I got to our spot, she wasn’t there. I wanted to scream but it was pointless. My popular best friend was probably mingling with her other friends, or she was hidden somewhere making out with her on and off again boyfriend, Matt Ace. I sighed as I glanced over at the SUV. Would she have locked it? I headed over to the car but was quickly disappointed. She had locked the vehicle. I looked back at our spot, but the bag was gone. With no hope of finding the keys or Abby, I decided that walking along the beach wasn’t such a bad idea. I wasn’t scared of getting cold as I walked along the shore. Every now and again the waves would wash up far enough to touch my bare feet but even then, I didn’t get cold. The water was cold, but the touch was quick and not enough to make me freeze. I continued walking along the shore, thinking about swimming, about the school, and about my family. I avoided thoughts about Triton and even about Abby. After all, what kind of best friend was she? She basically dragged me to this party and then ditched me. I looked up at the stary night sky and sighed. I suppose I could walk home. I suppose I could call my mother or my father and ask them to come and get me, but I quickly pushed those ideas aside.

Flashback

“Mom, dad…” I called out as I stood just behind them in the sitting room. They were still watching tv.

“Hmm?” Talia hummed out as she lifted up her hand for me to take. It was this thing that we had, where we would always reach out for each other. I took her hand and squeezed softly.

“I’m going out,” I informed them.

“Where?” she asked distractedly.

“To that beach party they have every Friday,” I said as I rolled my eyes. Abby was impatient and tapping her sandaled foot on the tile.

“Ok…what?” my mother suddenly dropped my hand and turned round to face me. “Did you say party?”

“What’s this about a party?” Zale asked as he too turned around.

“I swear our daughter said she was going to a party…”

“I did say that,” I said with a frown. “Why are you being weird?” I asked them.

“Our little girl is finally growing up!” Talia said as she jumped up.

“Mom, it's just a beach party,” I said as I continued to watch my parents act weird.

“Yes, go, go, go,” she said.

“Have fun darling,” my father said before turning back to the tv.

“What time should I be home?” I asked curiously. Since I had never been one to go out after six, I had never been given a curfew.

“Whatever time you’d like,” Talia said before she kissed my cheek and settled back down next to my father. In a daze, I turned away and followed Abby out the door. When we got into the car, she laughed.

“Girl, your parents were actually happy you were going out,”

“I know, that’s weird,”

“No, you’re weird, let’s go,” she said before she started the engine. I glanced back at the house and sighed. Was I that weird? All because I was focused more on swimming and school? Was I not social enough? I didn’t have the answers, so I looked out the window as Abby drove us to the beach

End of Flashback

If I had to call them to come and get me then that would make me even weirder. Weirder than before. I sighed as I looked back and saw that the bonfire was like a little orange, yellow, dot now. I knew I would have to go back, but I felt so alone that going back terrified me. I would rather be walking along the beach alone than be in a crowd of people that I didn’t really know and try to pretend that I was having a good time.

“This was a mistake,” I said out loud as I turned to head back to the party. I would find Abby and demand she give me the keys. Sitting in the car sounded like a lot more fun than sitting at the fire.

“What was a mistake?” the sudden sound of a voice had me open my mouth and scream. I started to run towards that dot, hoping that they could hear me scream. I could hear the loud thuds of the man running behind me and I pushed myself harder. Oh please, don’t catch me! “Wait!” the man shouted but I didn’t stop, there was no way I would stop. “Naida!” the sound of my name coming out of his mouth, had me stop. I spun around and gasped.

“What the hell!” I screamed. I glanced back over my shoulder and breathed out a sigh of relief. I wasn’t too far from the fire, but I was far enough that no one had witnessed my embarrassing moment.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” Triton said. “I saw you were walking along the beach and I called out to you a few times, but I guess you were caught up with your thoughts,”

“Ahuh,”

“I wasn’t expecting you to hear me since you hadn’t before,” he added with a smile.

“Oh,” I was at a loss for words. What could I say? Triton had scared the hell out of me, and I had turned around and run away from him.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “But not only are you an amazing swimmer but you should be on the track team too,” since he was slightly bent over with his hands on his knees panting, I knew he wasn’t making a joke.

“Uh, thanks, but please keep in mind that I thought you were after me,” I said dryly.

“I was after you,” he said as he stood up straight.

“Right,”

“What were you thinking about?” he suddenly asked me. “When I tried calling out to you, you were pretty lost in thought,” he added, and I nodded.

“Mostly swimming,” I admitted.

“Ah yes, the star champion and captain of our school's swim team,” it didn’t matter what he said, I couldn’t pick up that he was joking or teasing, so I had to assume that he was being honest.

“Yes, that’s me,” I said as I smiled shyly. I couldn’t believe that I was talking to him like this. Although the party was happening just over there and he and I were here, well, that said a lot.

“Have you ever been out to Edgewater reef?” Triton asked and I nodded.

“Once or twice,”

“I’m heading out there tomorrow morning, would you like to join me?” the question caught me off guard and I just stared at him. Was Triton Gale asking me to join him? Like on a date? “I know you have swim practice but afterward, maybe…” his voice trailed off and I noticed him picking at the hem of his top. Was he nervous?

“Um…sure, that would be nice,” I finally said. After all, I didn’t have any plans after practice.

“Awesome,” he smiled and came towards me. “Would you like to continue walking?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I said, unsure of where he was going with this.

“I know a place we could walk to,” he said as he grabbed my hand. We walked along the shore, past the party in silence. I didn’t know what to do or what to think. When he let go of my hand, I didn’t protest or say anything. This was new to me. “What do you do other than swim?”

“Study?” I said lamely.

“Aside from swimming and school,”

“I like to spend time with my family,” I said honestly. “I’m not very popular and I really only have one friend,”

“Abby,”

“Yes, Abby,”

“Now, please don’t take this the wrong way, but how is it that the two of you are friends?” his question was serious, but I felt offended.

“What? Do you think I am not worthy to be her friend?” I asked rudely.

“Not at all, I am just curious about it,”

“Why?”

“Well, Abby is quite a social butterfly and yet you aren’t. You two are best friends but we never see you outside of school,” we had stopped walking, and he was looking at me curiously. He was interested.

“Well, Abby moved into the house next to mine when we were eight. We became instant friends and that’s it…no mystery or anything like that,” I sighed and started walking again. “When Abby started making other friends, it didn’t bother me because we lived next door to each other and spent a lot of time together,”

“Then why aren’t you popular too?” he asked.

“Well, it may have something to do with the fact that Abby enjoys these kinds of things and I could think of a million other things to do with my time than be here,” I said without thinking. It was the truth. I could be studying or reading or watching tv with my family.

“Am I such a bore?” Triton asked with a chuckle and I blushed. He had taken my words personally.

“No, not at all, I simply meant…”

“I know what you meant, relax,” I laughed, and we continued our walk. When Triton pointed out the café up ahead, I smiled. I had forgotten that this place was open until midnight. It was an extremely popular café, and most of the high schoolers would come here to hang out. This was one of the places I did enjoy coming to with Abby. They made the best waffles. We headed inside and I wasn’t surprised to see the place was buzzing with activity. Triton led me to a booth, and we sat down across from each other. Was I on a kind of date with him? I blushed as I thought about it but quickly picked up the menu to hide my face.

“Hey kids, what will it be?” Kimberly, the head waitress asked. “Oh, hey Naida, I haven’t seen you around here in a while,” I lowered the menu and smiled.

“Been busy,”

“Too busy for caramel waffles?” she teased.

“Nope, that’s why I’m here,” I said.

“Nice, stick around, my shift ends in thirty minutes,” she said as she turned to Triton. Realizing who he is, she glanced over at me with wide eyes. “Are you on a date?” she asked, and I groaned.

“Kim!” I moaned out as I tried to avoid Triton’s curious gaze.

“Sorry, so, one caramel waffle and for you?” she asked him, and he held up two fingers. “Got it, two caramel waffles, anything to drink?”

“Hot chocolate,” I said quickly. “With marshmallows,”

“And for you?”

“Same,” Triton said with a smile. Kim walked off after throwing me a wink and all I wanted was to hide under the table. How embarrassing!

“S-sorry about t-that,” I mumbled out.

“Don’t be,” he said with a smile. “So, Naida, is this a date?”

“You brought me here!” I squealed as I looked up at him. “I mean, no,” I added quickly.

“Too late, this is officially a date!”