You buried your hands deep in your pockets, kicking holes in the sand. You looked out towards the sea. You couldn't see anything but water and sky, but you knew there was an out there somewhere, sitting by itself, away from cities and people and boys who break hearts. You wrap the jacket around your body. The wind around you is cold against the warm tears that are sliding down your face. You wish you could be anywhere but here. That island seemed like an oasis. You wished you could go to that. But you were doomed to grey skies over grey waters.
"Not a sunshine person either?" You jumped in your spot, before jerking towards the voice. You hadn't noticed the woman come up next to you, too deep in your own thoughts. Your first reaction is irritation, having been snuck up on, and then engaged in conversation without warning, but something about her made you rethink your sarcastic remark.
"More like mourning the loss of it." You mumbled, staring back out at the sea. You think your response is witty and poetic, but she just laughs, making you blush a bit in frustration.
"Who are you anyways?" You ask, turning to finally get a good look at her. She stared out at the ocean as well, not acknowledging your obvious staring. He long hair is a light brown, and touches down to her mid back. She's wearing white jeans, with a long green shaw. She's very beautiful, you think to yourself. But that doesn't excuse her scaring you, couldn't she tell you were brooding?
The woman finally looks at you, and she smiles. Her eyes are a light green but they seem to be lacking in luster, you figure you probably look the same. Your eyes slowly begin to check her out, getting a feel for her figure. She's stunning, really. She seems like the girl who would choose sunshine over overcast skies.
She finally speaks, the moment of silences indicating she was probably looking you up and down as well. You grow a bit self conscious at that thought, and tighten the jacket around you, hoping she mistakes it for the cold weather.
"My name's Elizabeta." She says, before shrugging. "But you can call me Eliza. Or Liz. Whatever you want really." She said, half smiling, obviously trying to seem casual, but even you couldn't miss the signs of awkwardness, you experienced it everyday. You were practically a pro at it.
"Uh, nice name." You stumble out, your own inability to interact with humans showing. You usually weren't shy. Or at least, you had thought you had gotten better when you were with your boyfriend. Maybe the break up made you incapable of interacting with people. Wow, he was taking more things away from you, great.
You sigh at your thoughts, and turn away. You had easily forgotten why you were here, but it returned with the same ease. Your exhaustion returned, and you doubted your ability to keep up a conversation.
"Are ya going to introduce yourself?" Eliza asked, and you catch out of the corner of your eyes that she's still watching you. You begin to grow angry again, but you don't find it in you to lash out.
"(Y/N), are you happy?" You asked, the annoyance in your voice unable to be missed by even the densest of humans.
"Not really," She confessed, before turning back to the ocean in front of them. You think about her answer a moment. Maybe she was here for the same reasons you were. Thinking about a faraway place, away from all the crap taking place in her current world. Maybe she was grieving as well.
"Me too." You say, before look down towards the sand and grabbing your arm, hugging yourself in an awkward way, but it brought you comfort. While Eliza's answer could have been nothing, the tone of your voice unfortunately reveals the reason you're here. You can't see her reaction, but you can imagine concern washing over her face like the tide, flipping between a "I feel bad." and a "Should I do something?" If it was you in the situation, you would walk away. You don't know her. She may feel bad for you, but surely a stranger can't fix a problem they know nothing about.
"Heh, I guess I see why you're mourning then." She says at an attempt at a joke, but you don't laugh or smile. You could cry though. Why was Eliza even here? You had wanted to be alone.
Silence falls again, and you think that if it remains that way for long enough, she'll leave on her own. But after five minutes, she sits down in the sand, and it becomes clear that she is not going anytime soon.
Curiosity finally gets the best of you, and you can't help but speak up. "Why are you here? Were you just looking for someone to bug?" You ask, not raising your voice, but it's clear you aren't happy. She laughs again at your frustrations, and you angrily blush. You begin to lightly kick the sand, releasing a bit of your anger.
"No, but it's certainly making me feel better that I am." She said, and you roll your eyes. At least one of them was getting amusement out of this. Too bad it wasn't you.
"But…" Eliza started, and you peer down at her. She isn't looking at you, she's looking out, towards that make believe island you desperately wanted. She probably want her own, you realize.
"You're not the only one who needs to grieve. There are other people in this world who like to dramatically cry on the beach." She says. The notion is sad, and a bit insulting, but she looks so casual. She leans back, digging her hands in the sand and stretching her legs. You know her pants are going to be ruined, and you don't want to sit down and face the same fate, but you do so anyways, wanting to know more.
"I'm not being dramatic, I have my reasons for coming here." You say, stubbornly sitting down in the stand, making sure to keep a bit of distance between you two.
"Care to share?" She asks, and you scoff.
"That'll just make this all the more like a terrible music video." You say, before you both share a laugh. Before Eliza's laughs had mostly been cocky, but this was a genuine one, and you can't help but thinking 'wow' when you hear it. She snorts suddenly, and you laugh even harder.
"Stop it!" She says through more laughter, and she leans over, pushing you slightly. You ignore the gesture, finding that you didn't mind it.
"You would have laughed if it had been me." You point out, and you mentally note that she does not deny it.
"Well, at least I got you smiling." She says, and you turn a light pink, before rolling your eyes.
"Wow, you've really saved me. Truly swept off my feet." You said in a sarcastic tone. Eliza snickers, and you feel a bit of pride swell in you. At least your guys' sarcasm was on the same level.
"That was my plan all along, you know." She says, before leaning back again. You watch her for a moment, before deciding to do the same.
A silence falls over you too again, though it isn't awkward this time, though you do wish it would end. You decide that it wouldn't hurt if you were the one to break it.
"This is where my boyfriend asked me out." You suddenly say, grabbing Eliza's attention. You aren't looking at her, but at your lap, thinking about all the times you had came here with him, and all the times you had laughed and loved here. This beach was an oasis. Now you longed for islands that didn't exist.
Another beat, before you continue on. "I know it's pretty silly, to beat yourself up over breaks ups, but it's hard not to, you know? Like, you think of all the things you could have done better. You think everything's going right, and then you wake up and you realize actually, it was all wrong." You start to feel that sadness build up in you again, and it becomes kind of hard to hold it back this time. This was a conversation you should be having with your friend, not a stranger at the beach, but it feels good to say them.
You look over at Eliza, and she's looking at you. Her eyes are sad. You think you've overshared. You open your mouth to apologize, but she speaks up before you can.
"I get it." She says, offering you a small smile. "Break ups are tough, even if you know it's for the better." She says. "But, you do move on." She says. "The coast you see now is different from the one from the past. Everything changes." She explains, letting sand run through her fingers. You look down at the golden grains, and you think about her words.
"And sometimes we find new beaches at new coasts, and we start again." She says with a softer smile, and you have to look away, afraid she may see you blushing.
"You sound like starving artist." You comment, making her laugh. You smile too, and you like the way you feel. You're still sad, but with her it's not so bad.
"Sorry, I just, I know how it feels. And I want you to know that it does get better." She explains. You nod slightly, before looking back out.
The sun pokes through the clouds, which you think is a bit too symbolic for real life. She notices the sun too.
"Wanna know why I'm here?" She asks, and you nod again. You had been curious from the start. She had seemed sad too, and you hoped now that you could make her feel as good as she was making you feel.
She goes to stand up, and you watch her carefully. She brushes the sand off her pants and shaw, and the cocky grin returns to her face.
"Meet me here tomorrow and I'll tell you." She says with a wink. You stare at her in confusion as she begins to walk off. Immediately you stand up, not even bothering to clean yourself off right away.
"Hey! You can't just leave!" You say, beginning to follow after her, but she turns around, walking backwards towards the grass.
"Come tomorrow! And bring a blanket!" She calls to you, before hurrying off, not wanting to be followed. You chase after her for a moment, wanting a better answer, or in the very least insurance that she will meet you tomorrow, but you lose her by the time you make it back to the street. You figure she must live nearby, or she snuck into an alley way to avoid you. Either way you lost her. You feel a bit of sadness that she's gone. A part of you is convinced she won't come tomorrow, that she was just a wise sage who was only meant to impart wisdom on you once, and then disappear forever. You hardly knew Eliza. In fact, you didn't really know anything about her at all, but you know you want to see her again, and that's why, as you walk towards your car, you hope with all your heart she will show up again.
She hadn't give you a time, so you came to the beach the same time you had yesterday. You were sitting on the sheet you had brought this time, four rocks weighing it down. It was windier than yesterday, and still overcast, making it chillier. You kind of wish she had asked you out for coffee, or literally anywhere warm.
You try not to focus on the fact that that would be considered a date.
When you finally spot her, she's running towards you, waving her hands and smiling like a puppy dog geeting it's owner. The whole exchange is fairly adorable. Today she's wearing jeans with a green flannel. When she makes it to you, she doesn't hesitate to lay on the blanket, rolling to her side to face you. You continue to sit cross legged, staring at her with an amused smile.
"Glad to see you again. I thought you might bail on me." You say, trying to sound nonchalant, though it had been a genuine concern of yours. She laughed, and your smile grew brighter. Though clouds still claimed the sky, and the wind blew all around, you were convinced today was a better day.
"Nah, not without getting your number first anyways." She said with a wink. You rolled your eyes, unimpressed. Besides, what was she trying to accomplish by a fake flirty attitude?
"Cut to the chase, why were you at the beach yesterday?" You asked, scooting closer, in case the story grew sad, and she needed comfort. You thought back to your island, but the need for it seemed to dwindle.
Eliza grew quiet a moment, before she rolled onto her back, staring up at the sky, scanning it for something, though nothing could be seen.
"I told you yesterday, I'm a fan of muck." She said, but you were not going to accept that as an answer. She was clearly upset yesterday, though she was awfully good at hiding it. You probably only noticed because of your own attempts to hide your true feelings, though you had obviously failed miserably.
"Try again." You said, hugging your knees to your chest and staring at her. You watched her breath for a moment, before a sigh escaped her lips.
"Do you know why I like grey?" She asked, and you shook your head, though the question was pretty absurd. How would you know?
"Had a lovely friend, few years ago. His hair was silver." She explained, before rolling back onto her side. "He was albino, but I that didn't stop me from calling him an old man. In reality though we were about the same age." She explained. You tilted your head slightly, not understanding how this was connected to the beach, though from the look in her eyes, you could tell she was being serious, even as she tried to laugh. Her eyes watered slightly, but she wouldn't let herself cry.
"Anyways, he always wanted to go to the beach all the time. Guy was a complete child. But with his condition, he couldn't be outside long, unless he wanted to get third degree burns from the sun." She said, smiling at the thought. You smiled too, but you knew she was smiling at a memory, and not at her words.
"So one of the only times we could go to the beach was when it was cloudy. We knew it might rain. We knew it was cold. But still, we'd throw on our swimsuits and come here." She said, before looking towards the ocean.
"The idiot loved it." She said, before looking back at you. She continued to smile, but you wanted to tell her she could stop, she didn't have to tell you the story. You were beginning to piece together what sort of story this was going to be, and you knew it was something much harder to move on from than a breakup.
"Eliza," You whisper, inching closer, giving her permission to stop wordlessly. But she just rolls her watery eyes and smirks.
"Hey, you don't need to worry about it." She said. "I'm fine. He died a few years ago. Liver failure. Never could get him to stop drinking." She said, sitting up, and wiping her eyes lightly. You sit there wordlessly. Eliza was still a stranger, you knew that in your head. But your heart reached out to her. And it was the heart in control when you were suddenly holding her arm, squeezing it lightly.
"He sounded like a good man." You say. She smiles and nods.
"Yeah, he was." She rests her hand over yours, and you two sit in silence for a few moments. It's a warranted silence. The waves crash against the beach, and you both think about your pasts. Even though your problems seem so insignificant compared to hers, yesterday she had treated you like your happiness was the most important thing in the world. Despite her own pains, she had looked out for you.
"I know yesterday you said he this coast is always changing." You started, looking down at hers and your hands. She looks at you for a moment.
"I think so too, but all those changes get carried away, and they form their own little islands. They live on forever, the good and the bad." You say. Eliza smiles gently.
"I like that idea." She states, before gently patting your hand, before moving out of your grip. You let her go as she lays back on the sheet.
"Think this moment will get it's own island?" She asks. You look out into the open water, before smiling brightly.
"Yeah, I think it will." You say. "This, and all the moments to follow." You add.
You see Eliza blush, and you consider that a complete win. She laughs as well, and the wind carries it away, towards the island you made two made.