Chapter 1: Let's go to the beach - each, let's go get a wave

Lexa never really liked the summer. Or the beach. Or the scent of coconut sun screen lotions. Lexa loathed the little grains of sand where no sand should ever enter. She hated sweating, she hated the heat, she hated the children playing their disturbed version of soccer way too close to her towel. She hated the happiness that the sun instantly brought to everybody. She should have moved to Iceland when she had the chance. Like a few rays of sun could ever cure all your aches and make everything instantly better.

She loved nature, long walks through the woods. The solitude, the birds, the leaves casually swaying in the wind. Not at all like this overcrowded ridiculous strip of sand. All these teenagers, why are there always teenagers everywhere these days?

She sighed for the 100th time, aplying yet another layer of the coconut smelling lotion, she almost regretted being the best at what she does.

"Will you quit it already? you are getting on my nerves, you are not that white!" With a grunt Raven Reyes brought her out of her 'i hate everything and other stories" monologue. She'd been doing it for years, she might as well write it down. Raven is right though if she keeps applying this thing she'll get back to DC as white as she arrived. It's just that when she's anxious she always has to do something with her hands. It's a good thing that being the head programmer of a very successful game company always implies she has to be typing something. It means she's the most productive employee of that firm because she lives in constant panic. Of what you ask? She doesn't know, it's just this impending doom feeling that never leaves her chest. And she's doing the internal monologue again, but this is a chapter in development that she likes to call "will I ever stop being anxious about everything or how to stop biting your nails in public, a memoir."

"I know you'd prefer that this trip was won by Jasper, I know both of you come along, trust me I wish he had won it, I have no idea why I accepted it in the first place -"

"shhhhh Lexa, for real? Are you always this intense or does the company of other people make you go back to when you liked Panic! at the disco and my chemical romance? you know the emo's are a little out of fashion! if there's someone who HAD to come on this trip is you." Raven Reyes is from the hardware section, she knows her engineering and she is quite creative. She's a legend at the firm, she is constantly coming up with new things, better things. She's a rock star. And she's stuck with - "You are doing that thing again, Lexa!"

"What thing?"

"When you frown and go inside your head and stay there enjoying your own conversation with yourself. You know, I'm literally the coolest person to travel with -" it's true, Lexa knows this, they have been having (she's almost scared saying it in her mind will jinx it) a really nice time, chatting in the flight and checking in the hotel. Raven is witty and sarcastic, her favorite kind of people, and it doesn't hurt that she's easy on the eye either. "- there you go, what is it? Don't you like the beach? You did agree with Hawaii!"

Roan let them choose where they wanted to go, they were the best of the best of his company and he said for motivational purposes he was going to give his best a free trip anywhere. That was not why Lexa worked so hard, half way through the year she even forgot about the trip. She was reminded by Raven who popped into her office at 2 a.m. disturbing her in a middle of a really complicated code sequence to let her know they were going together.

"I said yes for the nature, not the beach."
"Well, I said yes for the nature and yes for the beach. Don't worry we'll go trekking and whatever as well, it will do you good to relax."

"I don't know what to do on a beach!" Lexa kept fidgeting with her towel, throwing little grains of sand out of it somehow making it worse. "UGH!"

"Relax. That's what you do on the beach. You catch up on your reading, on your gossip" She raises the People magazine she's reading "you look out for hot guys or girls or both whatever tickles your fancy. Enjoy it. Live a little, there's more to life than computers." Lexa blushes a little when Raven says girls but hopes her clubmasters hide it. "Everything the sun touches is yours, simba." With a wide motion of her arms Raven quotes dramatically and plops herself back in her chair continuing her reading.

Lexa procedes to pull her hair in a braid, to keep her hands occupied, and looks around. Pretty people where are you? Well, not in this beach. Maybe she's rusted, she doesn't go out. She used to but since Costia, that little knife in her heart twisted a little just from conjuring her name, she lost the drive to do it. She lost a lot of things since then, things lost colour really. She kept going, she'll always keep going. There's really very little joy in the world when you lose all you love. First her parents, then Costia, then Gustus her 15 year old lab.

But she's trying to restart her life, her emotional one at least. She's trying to keep in touch with friends, she accepted to come on this trip, she managed to keep her brooding to acceptable levels while in the presence of Raven. It's only been two days but it's a start, right?

The braid is done and Raven asks her if she wants to go on the water. She'll try it. They dive in the clear water, it's cool enough to freshen her up but not so cold her joints start to hurt. she gets her head out of the water and she feels something, like the a lightness. She blames it in the sun in her face and the water still drying, like she's getting clean from her sadness. she closes her eyes and hears the laughter of the children, the waves breaking against the sand, the ocasional seagull, raven saying her name. Why is Raven saying her name? before she can open her eyes and turn to raven she feels a hard bang on her head and everything blacks out.

when she comes to her senses the first thing she notices is that she is no longer in the water, the second is that there's a lot of people whispering around her. she opens her eyes and sees blue eyes, beautiful eyes really, they should model eye colour lenses based on that shade of blue alone. It's a girl, a beautiful one. Lexa likes Hawaii already, she's wearing a surf suit, she has a tan that makes her look like a perfect surfer girl she had only seen on her search through hawaii related tumblr tags. she then notices raven, yelling at the girl. Raven is also very pretty, that caramel tone skin and gorgeous teeth, genetic is really important on that matter, you can't really choose what kind of teeth you have, they are either good or bad. you can get them straighted but it's not really the same is it?

Her sound is back, there's two boys trying to calm Raven up, she's really mad. Would it really matter to her if Lexa died in her trip, it would be a hardcore way to ruin somebody's vacation. Lexa chuckles remembering that old movie from the 80's where the guys have to carry a dead guy over a weekend taking him to parties...what was it called?

"Miss, are you alright? Guys she's up!" the blonde girl is talking to her, oh dear.
"Yes, what - what happen."
"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you and i hit you with my bodyboard, well board."
"Shouldn't you have like lessons before you ride that thing? you are a menace to society, what if it was a kid. you are lucky lexa here is thick headed!"
"Thanks, Raven, but I don't think miss - " she plopped herself on an elbow and pointed to the girl.
"Clarke, my name is Clarke"

"Miss Clarke here didn't do it on purpose, I'm sure. But if she feels so bad about it maybe she could make it up for us in someway." Wait what? Maybe she did have a concussion after all, Raven looked at her first dumbfounded and then as if there was an internal ah-ha moment in that split second she gave her a look that could be translated as "well, played".

"Of course, if I can be of any help" Clarke rushed to say with the guilt still weighing in on her.

"Well, we just got here and we got no idea what to do with our time here so..." Lexa started to explain.

"Say no more, you have just own the services of the best hawaiian guide" The tall fit, curly haired, handsome guy said putting his best smile at use, but seeing he had no effect on Lexa proceded to show his pearly whites to Raven. He did resemble that vegetarian shark on Nemo.

"I think she was talking to me Bellamy" Clarke rolled her eyes and snapped at him.

"Fine, we could do it with both- well didn't that come out wrong" Raven said and chuckled. Really only someone that awesome could so bluntly laugh at her own joke like that. Lexa couldn't help but envy Raven's self confidence, she had her share of boldness for the day.

"Whatever you want, we'll be happy to help. I'm Bellamy, this is Finn, that is Clarke and we are the Sky squad!" He does a little twirl.

"Man, serious, you need to stop doing that. You look like you are announcing the Power Rangers." The guy with long hair, who was named Finn apparently, said.

"It's free publicity besides Miller choose the name, so he's to blame if it sounds corny."

"Don't mind these guys they are noisy but they are good people, how's your head?" Clarke lowered herself again next to her and checked her head again.

"Swell." She also smelled like coconut but it really worked on her skin. Maybe it was work of the concussion but there was a warmth that irradiated from Clarke, it made her feel comfortable, at ease for the first time in a long time.

"I'm sorry about this mess, I didn't even see you, i'm new at bodyboard but I got you out of the water as soon as I could."

"you got me, that's for sure" oh shit, that wasn't, it should be part of the internal monologue...

"You'll have the time of your life here, I promise." Clarke blushed and tucked a hair behind her here before staring deep into Lexa's eyes as if to brand that promise deep inside her. Clarke does look like someone who keeps her promises. That's a strange thing to think of a stranger, out of a first impression. Specially if the stranger hit you with a board in the water and still, Lexa can't shake that feeling off.

"Wierdly, i don't have a doubt about it." She says as she finally stands up.