The day was hot and sticky and I was sitting on the steps of my parents cottage. I was having my closest friends up for a week before we all had to leave for university. I was leaving for Calgary on the 22nd, my best friend Mena was going to McMaster. Kristyn the snob of our group was going to Carlton and Tamara was going to the University of Western Ontario. We were all going to be so far away from each other so I was very excited about spending this last week with them.
I had been friends with these girls since the ninth grade and I didn't know how I was going to manage being away from them. We had gone through everything together, broken hearts, embarassing moments, bad days and no matter what Mena, Kristyn, and Tamara never let me down. Sure just like in any friendship we shared our laughter and our tears but we never let each other stay angry or upset. We would spend hours talking and somehow everything would resolve itself.
Sorry I kinda got off topic there. Anyway I was sitting on the steps waiting for my friends when my mom called me from inside the cottage.
Mom: Rachael, Chaz is on the phone.
I was so excited to hear that Chaz, my boyfriend of only three months, was on the phone. The sound of his voice still made my heart skip a beat. Only Kristyn had met him at this point and she had given me the impression that she didn't really like him. But I decided that this time I didn't care what my friends thought, I was going to do what made me happy.
Rachael: I've got it mom. Hey Chaz how are ya?
Chaz: Good whatcha doing on your last week here?
Rachael: Well I am going to hang out with my school friends but I would love it if you would tag along.
Chaz: Good I was hoping you would say that.
Rachael: Why?
Chaz: Because I miss you. I want to spend as much time as possible with you before you have to move halfway across the country.
Rachael: Well can you get here soon?
Chaz didn't answer me he just knocked. He had called me on his cell phone and was standing right outside my door. I ran to the door and opened it as quickly as I could. I wrapped my arms around his neck and gently kissed his chin. I was about to lead Chaz into the cottage when I saw Mena's car pull up. I quickly broke free from Chaz's embrace and ran out to greet my friends. Since Chaz was shy he stayed by the door.
Rachael: Hey guys!
Kristyn: Hey what the hell is he doing here?
Rachael: Well he's my boyfriend and I want to spend time with him too!
Kristyn: Whatever, just get in the car and let's go.
Rachael: Um I am going to ask Chaz if he would like to join us, is that okay with everyone?
Kristyn: Yeah great you mean I have to spend the day with him?
I decided just to ignore such a stupid comment and I walked back over to Chaz. I grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the car so that he could meet my friends and their boyfriends.
Rachael: Okay, everybody this is my wonderful boyfriend Chaz.
Chaz: Hey guys.
Marcus: Hey I'm Marcus, this right here is Riley and the guy sitting over there in the corner is Adrian.
Tamara: Um, hi, Marcus did you perhaps forget to introduce someone?
Marcus: I don't think so... why who did I forget?
Tamara: Me. Hi Chaz I am Tamara and this right here is Rachael's bestest best friend Mena.
Chaz: Hey I've heard a lot about you.
Mena: All good I hope.
Chaz: Yeah.
Chaz never really was much of a conversationalist. He was the type of guy that was too shy to answer a question in class. And before he met me I don't think he had ever spoken to a girl other than his mother and sister. But underneath his shy exterior he was a class clown just waiting to get out.
Mena: Um okay then, Rach are we going to the beach today or what?
Rachael: Yep but it doesn't look like you have enough room for two more so I'll get Chaz to drive me. We'll meet you guys there in a bit okay?
And with that being said my friends drove away in the direction of the beach. Chaz and I walked hand in hand back to the cottage to let my mother know that we were leaving. Then she gave me some amazing news. She told me that she had talked it over with my father and that they had decided to leave me up at the cottage all by myself. This meant that I could have all the freedom that I wanted! Which turned out to be a bad thing.
Chaz and I walked back outside after I had grabbed my bag and got on his motorcycle. This was the first time I had ever gone for a ride on his bike so he took it slow. We went up to his parents cottage so that he could grab some swimming gear. When he came out of the cottage he was holding a long stemmed red rose. He was always doing sweet things like that but on that day it felt extra special.
Rachael: Hey what's this for?
Chaz: Just to let you know how much I care about you.
Rachael: Aww thanks. Oh we better get going before Kristyn gets pissed.
Chaz agreed with me and we drove to the beach. I loved riding that bike with him, it meant that I got to wrap my arms around his waist and hold on really tight. I would often pretend that I was scared just to hear him reassure me.
When we arrived at the beach my friends were all gathered around the car waiting for us. I could just tell by the look on Kristyn's face that she had been waiting too long. She was the type of person who if she had to wait longer than five minutes would start to bitch.
Kristyn: What took you guys so long?
Rachael: Well Chaz needed to get some stuff.
Kristyn: Figures
Chaz: Hey what the hell is that supposed to mean?
Kristyn: Well she is never ever late, unless she is with you.
I didn't want Chaz to have to put up with Kristyn's attitude so I took Chaz's hand in mine and kissed it softly. This was always my signal to let him know that I was on his side and that I wouldn't let anyone come between us.
Rachael: Okay now that everyone has let out their inner child do you mind if we actually hit the beach and have some fun? Now is that up to your standards Kristyn?
Kristyn: Yeah, okay whaever. Let's just go.
We all grabbed our bags and walked on the hot sand until we had found the perfect spot. It was right in the middle of the beach, this of course guarenteed that we would be the centre of attention. That was one thing about my group of friends from school, they always had to be the most popular. By this time everyone knew who we were and actually got up and moved for us if we wanted to sit in their spot. I always found it weird how we meshed so well together. In reality we were all very different people.
Tamara for example was the typical girl next door. She never really went out of her way to impress anyone. She just had this natural beauty that radiated from every inch of her body. She had medium length brown hair that she always had pulled back into a ponytail, her eyes were brown and they always lit up whenever she smiled. Everyone knew her as the sweetest 19 year old on the entire planet.
Her boyfriend Marcus really was the boy next door. He was Tamara's neighbour and they had basically grown up together. He had dark brown hair with blond tips, green eyes and the most amazing body. I can still remember sitting in Tamara's backyard and hoping to see a glimpse of Marcus with his shirt off. But it wasn't his looks that had captured Tamara's heart, it was his natural charm.
Then there was Mena, she was absolutely perfect. Her deep brown eyes were always sparkling and all of her blonde hairs were perfectly in place. She seriously was the most beautiful 18 year old. But even her personality was perfect. She was the type that wanted everyone to like her, but the funny thing was she didn't even have to try to make it happen. People were drawn to her. The first time I met her was in gym class, neither of us had a partner and something inside of me just said to ask her and all throughout highschool she was my partner and bestfriend. She was even still friends with all of her ex-boyfriends. I swear it must have been a talent.
Now Riley was her boyfriend at the time and I swear he took more time to get ready than I did. He was known for spending an hour at least in front of the mirror because he wanted to make sure every single little blond curl was in the proper place. I mean it paid off, he was an extremely good looking guy. His baby blues were always twinkling and his chin always looked sexy with his neatly trimmed goatee.
Kristyn was probably the most difficult to get along with, most of the time. She always used to think that she was the queen, and that we should all bow down and kiss her feet. However we never gave into her obnoxious attitude and she eventually learned to lay off a bit. She was also the self proclaimed leader of our little group. But she spent more time on her makeup and hair then she did on making any type of decision and she was often putting her foot in her mouth. Funny thing was most guys would say that her looks more than paid up for the snobby attitude. She had long curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes. And she was known for her evil smile.
Adrian was the lucky guy who got to escort Kristyn around. He was your typical Romeo and she treated him like crap. I can remember the hell she put him through at our grad dance. She had gotten in a fight with Tamara, they did this often. Anyways Kristyn dragged Adrian outside in the rain and made him sit out there until Tamara came and apologized. The poor guy caught a cold and was sick for two weeks after our grad. He was a very good looking guy and he could have done way better than Kristyn but we never told him that. He had brown spiky hair, brown eyes and the most kissable lips I have ever seen. But he was often using those lips to apologize to people that Kristyn had offended.
And of course there was me. I was short and skinny, and was definitely the most outgoing of the group. I was an athlete and I played volleyball, basketball, soccer and I ran track every year in highschool. I had long blonde hair and blue eyes and Chaz always told me that I had an adorable little smile. I was the real leader of the group but I always let Kristyn think that it was her job.
My Chaz never really felt that he fit in with my friends however, he always felt like an outcast. He definitely had the looks to fit in, he had short blonde hair, brown eyes and such a cute goofy smile. I think that he was just nervous around my friends and that is why they never really met the real Chaz, the one that always made me smile! Kristyn couldn't stand him because he was the type of guy that would never voice his opinion because he would be afraid of hurting someone's feelings. However Chaz was just an all around great guy and he would never hurt a fly, and he was a hopeless romantic.
We all decided that we wanted to go swimming, but Chaz didn't have his bathing suit on so I walked with him over to the bathroom. We didn't talk at all on the way there and that's what made me realize that he was really uncomfortable.
Rachael: Chaz if you are really not enjoying yourself we can leave.
Chaz: Well I want you to have fun with your friends before you leave but... Kristyn is such a bitch.
Rachael: Yeah but she's like that to everyone!
Chaz: But for some reason she seems to have it in for me, she really doesn't like me Rach.
Rachael: Don't worry about her, the rest of my friends seem to enjoy your company.
Chaz: Yeah I guess so, but if it gets too much for me I'm going to jet. Is that okay with you?
Rachael: If it gets that bad I'll leave with you.
Chaz looked at me and smiled showing me that he approved of my decision. He went into the washroom and when he came out I couldn't stop myself from smiling. He had an amazing body, let's just say bulging muscles everywhere! He put his arm around me and we walked back to where my friends were. Everyone was already in the water except for Adrian.
Adrian: Rachael can I speak to Chaz for a minute?
Rachael: Yeah sure what do you want to talk about?
Adrian: Nothing too much but I'd rather talk to him alone!
Rachael: Okay whatever I'll meet you guys in the water.
I ran off leaving the two guys alone to talk. I thought that maybe Adrian just wanted to do his usual apologizing for Kristyn. But I was wrong.
Chaz: Adrian thanks for not blowing my cover.
Adrian: Man you really need to tell her what happened.
Chaz: I will but not today. And can you please tell Kristyn to cool it, she's going to ruin the whole thing!
Adrian: Well can you blame her? If you don't tell her soon Kristyn will.
Chaz: Can you hold her off for another day or so?
Adrian: I'll try but I can't promise anything.
Chaz: Okay tell her that I will make it up to her... I promise!
Well for the rest of the day we just hung out at the beach, and tanned our already golden-brown bodies. I of course wanted to know what Chaz and Adrian had spoken about but everytime I asked Chaz would say that it was nothing important. I just kinda had a feeling that there was something that he wasn't telling me. However I wanted to be able to trust him so I stopped asking him about it.