3
Layla
Ten Years Ago
My sophomore year of high school, I did not want to leave for spring break. My best friend Daniela’s boyfriend, Lance, was throwing a big birthday party, and they wanted me to be there. It was his sweet sixteen. I pleaded my case to my parents over and over, begging to stay, but they didn’t budge. Dad had a tough year at work, and Mom said he’d been looking forward to our family trip for months. On top of that, my grandma was flying out to meet us, which was surprising, since she never left the warmth of Florida. It was decided, and I had to suck it up.
We stayed in a cabin right on the water that year. It was a decent size with plenty of room for the four of us. The first couple of days, my grandma, mom, and I baked, read on the porch, and took walks along the shore.
Dad spent a lot of his time fishing. I used to join him sometimes, when I was younger and loved nothing more than spending time with my dad, but I hadn’t been into it since I was maybe twelve. He’d joked about me being a grumpy teenager. We still held on to one special tradition, though: we loved sharing a quiet cup of coffee together in the mornings. He used to spend that time alone, until one day, a year or two earlier, I was feeling particularly tired and decided I wanted to give it a try. He was more than happy to have me join him in his routine.
On the third day, I needed a break from Mom and Grandma, so I told them I was going for a walk. I threw on some boots and a coat at the door. It was the end of March, but there was still a nip in the air. They made sure to holler at me not to wander too far by myself as I slipped out the front door.
It was only a hundred yards or so to the shore. Dad was nowhere in sight, so I began to walk along it at a slow pace, picking up a rock now and then and tossing it into the water. I thought about how much I missed my friends back home, and how I felt left out missing the party.
I was trying—and failing miserably—to skip rocks when I heard a deep laugh coming from behind me. Startled, I spun around and was met with a piercing hazel gaze that left me momentarily speechless. His eyes were the kind of color where you couldn’t tell if they were brown, green, grey, or some other unknown shade. He was the cutest boy I had ever seen. I stared as he chuckled at me, noticing the dimple on his left cheek, his breathtaking smile, and his sharp jawline. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize I was staring, mouth slightly open.
“Do you want some help with that?” he laughed.
I snapped my mouth shut, quickly trying to compose myself. “I’m figuring it out,” I replied, though it came out less snarky than I’d intended.
He laughed, shaking his head and looking down. His dark, tussled hair shifted slightly. “Okay, suit yourself,” he said, tilting his head back up, smirking.
“Let’s see another one, then.”
I let out an exasperated sigh, then turned and tried again. It was a huge fail and totally embarrassing.
“Mind if I give you a pointer or two?” he asked, sincerity in his tone.
I took him in again. He was tall, dark-haired, and had perfectly shaped full lips. His baseball cap was backwards, and he wore a black hoodie and jeans. I decided to accept his help, if only to learn a bit more about him.
“It helps if you angle it like this,” he said, demonstrating the motion.
I tried to focus on his form, but I was more absorbed in watching the way his shoulders moved through his sweatshirt. I sighed, picked up another rock, and attempted the throw. My form reflected nothing from his demonstration. It was pitiful. I turned to him, shrugging in defeat.
“Try again.” He paused, looking for another rock. “Here, this one is perfect.”
He handed me another, and I gave it a go. It was somehow worse than the last. I gave him the same hopeless look.
“It’s okay, it’s silly anyway. I learned as a kid,” he said, shrugging.
“Well, thanks for the tip,” I replied.
“Anytime.” He smiled, and then I felt something wet on my hand. Looking down, I saw an excited Australian shepherd pressing its face into my hand, begging for attention. Being the dog lover that I was, I knelt down without thinking and started petting it. The dog got so excited that it ended up knocking me off balance, sending me straight onto my butt.
Long fingers stretched out toward me immediately as he laughed and offered his apologies. I took his hand and let him help me up, and a strange warmth lingered long after he let go. Needing to do something with my hands, I brushed the dirt off my jeans.
“Sorry, Lucy gets a little too excited,” he said, his eyes still glinting with amusement.
“It’s okay,” I laughed, a little embarrassed, but it wasn’t my worst moment ever. Plus, his dog was too cute to be mad at. She was still trying to reach me, but he’d reeled her in on her leash a little tighter.
“Are you from out of town?” he asked casually, completely unbothered by the fact that he had a forty-pound hound pulling on him. I started to think about the muscles he must have under his hoodie.
“Yeah. Sacramento.” I replied.
He nodded, looking pensive. “Um … What about you?” I added.
“Born and raised here, actually.”
“That’s awesome. My family usually comes here at least once a year—sometimes in winter, other times in the spring or summer. I like it here at any time of year, though.”
His eyebrows lifted. “No way? That’s awesome. Bummer that we’ve never ran into each other before.”
My cheeks warmed, and I didn’t know how to respond. “Yeah…too bad,”
“I don’t usually meet too many locals when we’re here…especially not any my age.”
“Yeah, there aren’t a ton of us, and we’re pretty scattered around here,” he said.
Before I knew it, we were walking along the shore—just him, his dog, and me—chatting about his school, the town, even Sacramento. He seemed like the type who always had a smile on his face, and I liked how wide it grew when he was truly laughing. I lost track of time until I suddenly looked around and noticed how far we’d wandered from where we started. “I should probably head back that way … I don’t want my family to get worried.”
“Right. Well, I’m heading back that way too, so…” We turned around and started walking back.
“So…born and raised huh? How do you like it here?” I asked.
“Love it,” he answered easily. “I’d never live anywhere else.”
“Never?” I asked in disbelief. “Not even for college or anything?”
“Okay, you’re right. For college, yes, but I’m not going far.”
“And when would that be?” I tried to gauge his age.
He glanced sideways at me, a smirk tugging at his lips. Pieces of his messy hair were poking out of his hat in random places. “Next school year. I’m seventeen.”
“Oh.” I’d guessed he was a bit older than me. Luckily, it wasn’t too much older. I looked straight ahead, feeling warm under his gaze.
“And what about you?”
“Me? Oh, I haven’t even thought about college yet…”
“No … I mean how old are you?” He asked in a playful tone.
“Oh, right. Sixteen.”
“So, you’re a sophomore?” he asked. My stomach dropped a little. What if he thought I was too young? There was barely a year’s difference, not even two.
“Yeah…” I trailed off, unsure.
“That’s cool. Plenty of time to figure out the whole future thing. Don’t even stress it right now.” He didn’t seem bothered by it at all.
When we reached the original starting spot, I stopped. “Well, that was fun,” I said, feeling a little lame as soon as I said it out loud. “It was nice to meet you,” I added, starting to split off toward our cabin.
An emotion flashed across his face that I couldn’t decipher, and then he was composed again, with one hand in his pocket. “Nice to meet you too.”
“Bye,” I said quietly, stealing one last look into his eyes, already regretting cutting our meeting short. He stayed rooted in place, watching me walk away.
I’d only made it a few paces when I heard him call out.
“Wait,” he called, and I immediately turned around. “I’m doing a little campfire tonight at my house with a couple of friends. Would you want to come by?” If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he looked a little nervous.
“Sure,” I squeaked, and then died a little inside for sounding so eager. What was wrong with me? A boy had never had this effect on me before. But maybe he wasn’t just any boy. “Um, what was your name?”
“Liam.” My heart fluttered at the sound of it.
“And I live right over there,” he added, pointing to a large, nice-looking cabin on a small hill surrounded by trees.
“Okay, Liam. I’ll see you there,” I smiled back at him as I turned to walk away, feeling his eyes on me as I headed toward our cabin. Butterflies fluttered about in my stomach, and I couldn’t help but smile to myself. Maybe the trip wouldn’t be so bad after all, I thought.