Chapter 3
3
With the sun setting low on the horizon, casting a golden hue over the ocean and painting the sky in pinks and purples, Alex, Avery, and I linked our arms together as we made our way for our first night out.
The schedule given to us as we collected our schoolies I.D. outlined the dress-up themes of the nights throughout the week. The first night’s theme was tight and bright. It was a step out of what I usually wore, which was more on the side of flowy and breathable. Sundresses, overalls, loose crops, and printed palazzo pants were more of what I drifted towards. The outfit I wore that night melded to my skin and showed more than I was usually comfortable with. But the way Reece watched me as we made our way to him and his friends made me feel so much more confident.
Avery, Alex, and I had done some shopping online a few weeks before to find matching outfits for this night. Avery and I in skirts reaching mid-thigh with a slit up one side, and a triangle top held together with dainty strings. While I opted for a blue colour palette, hers was a mix of bright orange and pinks. Alex went with a neon purple and pink button-up shirt and purple board shorts to match.
The November air was sticky and humid, clinging to our skin. However, the slight breeze that came with being close to the ocean eased the feeling. Our outfit was light enough for the wind to filter through, thankfully. Although, I wouldn’t have the chance to change my mind with Avery’s statement that we either ‘look hot or go home’.
My camera hung around my neck, a promise I made to Nate. He told me I needed to take heaps of photos. To hold onto the memories that would fill the week away. He gave it to me before I left this morning and hugged me goodbye. It was the same camera that Dad bought for him when he moved to Townsville two years ago. It looked just as new as it did that day, barely used as Nate confessed when he handed it to me.
I took pictures of the setting sun over the ocean as we walked, trying not to pay attention to the burning heat of Reece's gaze on me. But it was hard when I could practically feel them trailing a path down my body.
Once we were close, a low whistle came from him, making my gaze jump to him. He was leaning against a tree, arms crossed against his chest. He made a show of holding a hand over his heart and slumping further into the tree.
“I think I must have gone to heaven,” he said as I reached him and I shoved his shoulder with an eye roll. He stumbled a little, but it didn’t stop the amused smile growing on his face.
“You idiot.”
He laughed and my lips tugged up. It was hard to ever stay annoyed at him, even fake. When he laughed, it made me laugh. His smile made me smile. His happiness radiated off him and spread to others like it was his job to make everyone happy. I missed the warmth of that. Nine months was a long time between seeing someone and his presence had left a hole in my life. And now, it was like that piece was fitting back into place.
The ground beneath us vibrated with the loud music coming from further up the beach, the night already in full swing.
We continued to make our way to the beach with Jake, Sage and Reece joining us. Reece had his hands stuffed in the pockets of his light blue board shorts, and his creased matching button-up hung loosely on his shoulders with the three top buttons undone.
“I like the outfit,” he said after a while. “You know, blue suits you.” I felt my cheeks heat slightly with his statement as I forced my lips down by pressing them together. “We match,” he added.
“That we do,” I agreed as I bumped my shoulder with his.
The music became louder as we reached the closed-off beach area, a stage facing the street holding headlining DJs. The line was long, but it moved quickly. It was only a ten-minute wait, but in only a few minutes of stepping onto the beach, we lost most of our group in the rush of the crowd.
With only Avery left by my side, our grip on each other tightened in fear of being completely separated on our first night out.
In our lost efforts of trying to find our friends in a crowd of unfamiliar faces, we gave up and headed to the bar to grab drinks.
“Well, this is going to be fun,” Avery said, turning from the bar to gaze at the few hundred people on the beach with all their bright coloured outfits. “There’s no point trying to search too hard when there’s so many people here. Maybe let’s just have fun, and if we find Alex and the others, we try stick to the group.”
I sank back onto the flat of my feet in my last attempt of scanning the faces around me, accepting her words, knowing it would be hard to find them. With the setting sun dimming the ability to see, I didn’t want to spend the whole night wandering around looking for everyone and not having fun.
We clasped each other’s hands again and squeezed through the crowd until we had pushed almost to the front of the stage. The bass of the music felt like it vibrated right through our bones. But it felt electric, the energy crackling from person to person as the DJ on stage heightened everyone’s adrenaline. We danced — or jumped — and sang remixed versions of our favourite songs. We had completely forgotten about the others as the hours went by until we spotted two of them through the crowd.
Jake’s familiar fluorescent shirt came into my line of vision, but just as quickly, he disappeared again when someone stepped into my view.
Avery found Alex a few moments later, pointing out the mop of blond hair with his lips locked passionately with someone slightly obscured from vision. We laughed because of course he worked that fast to find someone on our first night. His carefree spirit was magnetic, always attracting people to him. He was popular in our high school year, and it was easy to see why you spoke to him within the first moments.
He was ever-changing to please people and befriend everyone. He had always wanted to be a positive light in people’s lives. But to us, he was an absolute goofball, the sunshine in our lives with flaws we love and where he could show parts of himself he usually kept hidden.
We called his name over the noise, which was hard when our screaming blended into the noise of the loud bass and everyone else’s screams. We shoved forward more until we were right next to him. He heard us that time and ripped his lips off the boy. His eyes latched onto us, and the haze drifted from them when he realised it was us, and the smile that grew on his lips stretched wide across his face. He gave us a thumbs up before he held his thumb and pinky to his ear to signal that he would call us later. Without waiting for a response, his lips were right back on the boy I didn’t even get a chance to get a good look at.
It was just Avery and me again as we continued to enjoy ourselves, jumping, singing and swinging our heads from side to side. We even jumped in the ocean to cool off when we saw a few people do the same before the event supervisors told us to get out.
It was well into the night before I saw Reece and Jake again. The music was still pumping loud, and we were taking one of our many breaks at the bar for a drink. Sweat clung to me, mixed with the salt water of the beach.
I had just collected my water off the bar top when someone slid in beside me, and a deep, familiar voice washed over me with warmth. “Having fun?”
“Loads,” I responded before turning to Reece, his frame casually leaning against the bar top as he ordered his beverage.
He flicked his gaze to me over his shoulder, wandering over my face and then down to the soaked clothes I wore. He tilted his chin towards me, mouth curving up as he dragged his eyes back to mine. “You must be mad to go swimming in the dark.”
A slight shiver racked my body, no matter how much I tried to hide it. It had gotten windy as the sun set and night fell upon us.
His smile fell, and a frown appeared when he noticed both Avery and I’s chattering teeth. I’m sure our lips had turned a shade of purple from the cold. The hint of worry in his eyes almost made me smile. The jokes to downplay how freezing I was were on the tip of my tongue. I would have teased him and poked fun at him, but I didn’t get a chance to do any of that. Not with how my frozen bones had slowed my movements as well as my thought process. Especially not when the warmth of Reece’s hand engulfed mine before he beckoned us to follow him through the crowd with a tilt of his head. “Come with me. Think it’s time to call it a night before you both freeze to death.”
Pulling away from the bar, my bottle of water forgotten, I quickly clamped onto Avery’s hand before I lost her too. We were pulled through throngs of people until we approached a group, and I noticed Jake as one of them.
“Calling it a night. You coming? Also, I need your jacket,” Reece announced without any other introduction.
“Why? I told you you would regret not bringing one,” Jake replied. His eyes coasted over to Avery and I. “Hey! Long time no see. Reece was going to call you but he didn’t charge his phone, the idiot.”
Reece shot a sheepish grin at me.
“It’s okay. Avery and I still had a good time.”
Jake handed his jacket over to Reece, and he passed it straight to Avery. “For you. To keep you warm until we get to your hotel.”
Avery smiled and thanked Reece. Jake shrugged, “I would have done it if I had known.”
Avery rolled her eyes.
“Come on, We’ll take you guys back to your room.” He turned to me. “Sorry, I don’t have another jacket for you.” He pinched his shirt and shook it. “Unless a shirt is okay. Better than nothing, right?”
A sly grin made its way onto his face then. “I mean, I do have other ways that could keep you warm.”
I gave him a deadpan look, but I couldn’t hide the blush from rising to my cheeks. I just hoped he wouldn’t notice. “I think I’ll take the shirt.”
From his amused look though, I would say he didn’t miss the colour change in my cheeks. “Oh, I get it. You just want to see me strip and stare at my chest. I don’t blame you,” he drawled and winked.
I scoffed. “You are such an idiot.”
He started unbuttoning his shirt as he watched me grin not wavering. “But you love it.”
I rolled my eyes and snatched the shirt from his hold, wrapping it around my shoulders.
“Let’s go, Jake. I’ve got pizza and ice cream waiting for us in our room. Sage is already there,” Reece said as he started weaving through the crowd, Avery and I following close behind.
Not a moment later, Jake wrapped his arm around Reece’s shoulder. “You just know the way to my heart,” he gushed. Reece shoved him off, shaking his head with a smirk.
We walked the short distance to our hotel room, parting ways with Jake as he headed to their hotel. In farewell, he winked at Avery. “Keep the jacket, sweetheart.”
He cut any retort she could muster as he dipped down another street. I watched in amusement as she frowned and folded her arms across her chest with a huff.
Reece walked us the rest of the distance to make sure we got there safely, stopping at the entrance to the hotel. Avery immediately waved the card in front of the sensor before barrelling through the sliding doors, proclaiming she needed a hot shower. Making her way past, she threw Jake’s jacket to Reece like she couldn’t get rid of it fast enough with a hurried “Thank you so much for this” over her shoulder.
I lingered, wanting just a few moments in the heat surrounding me with his shirt and the woodsy and fresh grass smell that invaded my senses.
Facing Reece, I smiled. “Thank you for tonight. For walking us back to our rooms.” I started to slowly peel the shirt down my arm. “And for the shirt. I’m guessing you want it back now.”
He smiled softly, leaning his shoulder against the entrance door, his body only a hair's breadth away from me. My stomach swirled with the way he watched me. Warmed me in the way the shirt never did. “Keep it. It’s fine. Had to do something because I swear you were turning blue.”
I laughed before touching a hand to my heart. “Aww, you care about me, Reece?”
His lips twitched, but his eyes were soft as they locked on mine. “You’re my friend, Summers.”
I don’t know what I expected him to say. I assumed another joke would follow, but to admit that he did care about me, I was stunned into silence. The few months of him avoiding me made me think I was just someone he knew by proximity: his best friend’s ex and a friend’s sister. Like we were never really anything more than acquaintances.
With that realization, the truth started spilling out of me. “You know, I thought you hated me. That I did something to make you not like me all of a sudden.” I chuckled awkwardly. “I mean, I guess I kind of did deserve it after everything.”
When it all went down, I didn't know where I stood in that situation. I could've been overthinking, but everything that followed was coincidental, from when I broke up with Liam to when I lost contact with Reece.
He frowned, standing taller and taking a step closer. “Hate you? I could never hate you.”
I shrugged and looked anywhere but him. The ground seemed to be the safest option.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you like that. I am really sorry any of that happened. But I’m glad we ran into each other. And by some chance ended up going to the same place this week. Because I would have been too chicken shit to reach out and apologise on my own. And I have a lot to make up for.”
With this admission, I looked up and believed every word he spilled with a single glance in his eyes. Eyes that shone with guilt and sadness. I smiled and wholeheartedly accepted his apology with just one sentence. Without any more explanation. “I’m glad we ended up here too, Fischer.”
What a fool I had been.