"Goodbye!" Byronyelled to his parents as they loaded the last of their luggage into the family's much used and much loved van.
"Don't forget to have your phone on." As usual his mom was having a little anxiety attack about him being alone. With his sister at some surfing convention in California, his parents had decided that it was high time for their second honeymoon. Thus leaving Byron alone for two weeks.
All alone with only his nightmares to keep him company. In their nice quiet house beside the constantly changing ocean.
The ocean. Once it had been his only refuge, besides the Bible of course, now its treacherous waves only held horrible memories. Memories about sharks and blood. Lots of blood. All of it Bethany's.
No! Don't think of Bethany. Byron forced the image of the beautiful broken surfer out of his mind.
"Sweetie, did you hear me?" His mom had walked over to him and placed her small hands on either side of his face, worriedly searching his face.
"Yes, of course." Byron pulled away from her cool embrace and walked her back to the van. Once she got in the car he leaned against the open window pane.
"Then what did I say?" Sharon Blanchard raised her eyebrow quizzically at her obviously tired son.
Byron searched his memory for the exact words his mother had spoken just a few moments ago.
"You said, and I quote, 'Make sure to turn the oven off when I leave the house, always have my phone on, and..." The words were right there at the edge of his brain but for some reason he couldn't quite grasp them.
His mom stubbornly crossed her arms."And? I'm not leaving till you tell me." She said in defiance.
In the background Byron saw his Dad roll his eyes.
"Sharon, dear we are going to miss our flight." Byron couldn't help his smile at his father's words. His parents never failed to amuse him even in his darkest moods. But it didn't last. Happiness never seemed to last when she wasn't there.
"It's ok dad I remember what she said anyway, 'Make sure to turn the oven off when I leave the house, always have my phone on, and tell someone where I am going when I go surfing', see I was paying attention." Byron let a little bit of satisfaction and pride fill his stomach as the words came back to him.
"Ok, ok I'm satisfied. Just be careful, we love you very much." His mom finally said.
"I love you too, now go before you miss your flight and I'm forced to spend these two weeks with you!"
"Such a loving son." Byron's dad said before starting the car.
"I'm going to miss you baby!" His moms words came out a little choked.
Rolling his eyes, Byron pulled away from the car. "I love and already miss you."
"Love you too!" Byron only just caught his parents' words before the van pulled out of the driveway and into the pitch blackness of the night.
Sighing, he slowly walked back to the house. He turned the lights on and stared at the living room. Now came the hard part. He had two weeks to fill. Two long, nightmare filled, sweat inducing, and sleep killing weeks.
Suddenly he heard his stomach growl. Well just the because you're depressed doesn't mean you have to starve yourself, Byron thought to himself.
After popping four burritos into the microwave, he walked over to the TV and flipped through the channels trying to find something that would take his mind off things. Soon the delicious smell of cooking meat found his nose and alerted him right before the microwave beeped. Byron clicked on some loud action movie before entering the kitchen. He knew that the burritos wouldn't fill him up, so he threw some popcorn in and bit into the burritos. Instantly his tongue felt like it was on fire. He spit the half chewed burrito into the sink and rushed over to the fridge. Thankfully there was still some orange juice left on the top drawer. Without even getting a glass, Byron gulped down the rest of the OJ.
Soon the burning turned into a slow throb that was barely noticeable. After throwing the empty bottle away he proceeded to grab what was left of his burritos and popcorn and throw his body onto the couch. After a while he got enraptured by the movie and let himself get lulled into it. Soon the flashing lights and full stomach slowly made his eyes drop halfway and then fully.
Dark. There was something dark in the water moving fast towards Byron. He tried to swim upwards but something was yanking on his feet dragging him down into the depths closer and closer to the dark object. He felt his lungs constrict and his brain squeeze as the pressure got to him. Just as the animals teeth sunk into his side, Byron shot up off the couch and fell onto the floor. A sharp pain shot up his right hip as he landed on the hard wood floor. Sweat covered his body and his heart raced as he tried to clear his mind of the shark. After a few deep breaths his heart slowed and the sweat turned cold and started to slowly slide off his body.
Forcing his mind to forget the dark nightmare, Byron got up and picked up the spilled popcorn. After depositing the bowl in the sink, Byron rushed to the bathroom. He stripped off his jeans and underwear before jumping into the hot water.
The droplets poured down his back and slightly relaxed his tense muscles. The steam somehow seemed to not only open his pores but also soothe his mind. Years of being in the hot Hawaii sun taught his body to relish the heat. Soon his thoughts slowed down and his mind stopped racing.
All too soon Byron had to turn the knob and climb out of the shower. He wrapped a towel around his waist before brushing his teeth and crossing the house to his bedroom.
The room was simple. There was a bed pushed into a corner and a desk across from it with a laptop closed on top of it. Across from his bed were a chair and a bookshelf with some of Byron's favorite books. In the night table beside his bed lay his Iphone. Inside the drawer were his private journal and ear buds. Other than that the only thing filling the room was a closet and surfboard leaning against the door that led out to the ocean.
He quickly changed into athletic shorts and collapsed onto his small bed. And lay. For a seemingly endless passing of time, Byron lay there. Every time he managed to close his eyes the shark would reappear haunting the dark. However, eventually, the light of the moon and smell of the sand and ocean turned his thoughts to happier times and he once again fell into a restless sleep.
The same dream returned again that night but this time right before the shark got him a mysterious cool hand slid around his waist and pulled him to the surface.
His head broke the waves effectively snapping him out of the dream and grabbing the arm of the stranger.
"Hey! Byron it's me!" The fuzzy stranger spoke in a familiar voice causing Byron to look closer.
"Bethany?" He whispered. Not surprisingly his voice came out cracked.
"Yeah sleepy head it's me." Her voice was filled with laughter. Byron watched as she sat right beside him and put one hand lightly on his shaking arm.
"What are you doing here?" Byron said as he pulled away from her touch. Not because he didn't enjoy it but because it made him want to touch her even more.
"I came by because all of my family is gone away with Noah looking for colleges and I was lonely." Bethany hurried to explain her reasoning to the sweaty yet handsome young man in front of her.
"So you came here?" Byron asked shocked. What was so special about his house? Surely she knew no one was home but him. Maybe that's why she came... A tiny voice in the back of his mind whispered in his ear.
No. Byron told himself. Don't get your hopes up.
"Byron," her voice got quieter as she spoke," I know that you're hiding something." Bethany's blue eyes stared straight into him. How was it that out of everybody, she was the single person that saw through his facade?
"I don't know what you're talking about." He meant for his voice to be cold but instead it came out small and helpless.
"I think we both know." Once again she laid her delicate hand on him but this time Byron didn't pull away.
"Pretend that I don't."
Sighing she began to whisper carefully. "You're scared. Not exactly depressed but more like you're hiding from something." As she whispered Bethany leaned forward and moved her hand from his arm to gently cupping his cheek. Her ocean blue orbs softly gazed into chocolate eyes.
"And what is that something?" Byron's words were barely audible to Bethany's ears.
"My attack I think." She whispered back just as carefully.
"You're wrong on that part." A dark smirk crossed Byron's eyes.
"Then what are you so terrified of that you can't even stand to surf or sleep?" Her words weren't necessarily cold, just deeply concerned.
"How do you know me so well Bethany Hamilton?"
"I know you better than you think, but stop avoiding the question." She said with the slightest hint of impatience in her words.
"You. It's you Bethany. Everything is about you. No matter what I do you appear in my mind. Ever since the attack it has gotten worse. You were so calm during the whole thing, even afterwards you seemed fine! I know that you struggled but still! How is that I struggled with it more than you did? How do you do it Bethany? How do you make me so entranced? What is it about you that I can't seem to live without? Even now it's killing me to be so close to you without touching you more. Your slightest touch makes me want more. It makes me want to hold you so much it hurts." Byron gushed all of his feelings that had been pent up over the past few months. Everything just seemed to fall out. Why did he find her so easy to talk to?
"Whoa." Bethany simply said.
"See I knew you would not understand. I shouldn't have told you anything. I'm just an idiot." Byron said as he looked away from Bethany. He scooted away from her, effectively breaking their embrace. He placed his head in his hands and stared at his bed sheets.
After a few seconds of sullen silence Byron suddenly felt Bethany's weight shift on the mattress to right in front of him. She leaned forward on her knees and once again placed her one hand on his chin and lifted his face so his weary eyes were looking into hers.
"Byron Blanchard, you are the most special person in the whole world. I just wish that you would have told me earlier, because then we could have gone through this trial together. But the past doesn't matter anymore; we're in it together from now on. There is no way you are going to block me out now Byron."
Bethany spoke with a determination that Byron had never heard before. Maybe, just maybe she cared for him just as much as he cared for her.
"I never ever want to block you put again, but that doesn't mean it will be easy." Byron said.
"Hardly anything is easy. In fact the only easy thing in the whole world for me is being with you." Bethany confessed.
"Really?" Byron asked curiously.
"Of course." She replied quickly.
"How do you know?" Byron questioned. He didn't really doubt her but he needed to know the depth of her feelings before he did anything too rash.
"Because I want to be with you every second of every minute of every day. I want to know everything about you. I know because whenever I'm close to you, I want to touch you as much as you want to touch me." Bethany said as she leaned forward and closed the gap between their faces even more.
"You really feel that way about me?"
"Kiss me and you'll find out." She replied flirtatiously but Byron got the feeling that this was much more than silly flirting.
"I might just take you up on that offer, Bethany Hamilton." Byron whispered as he slowly leaned forward. He put his hands on either side of her knees and stretched his legs out so her folded legs were in between his.
"I'm counting on it, Byron Blanchard." Bethany spoke softly yet Byron could still hear her and feel her warm breath on his face.
Ever so carefully Byron leaned forward, slowly closing the distance between their faces. Still hesitant he stopped so close to her, their lips almost brushed but didn't quite. His eyes flickered up to hers confirming that she was still ok with this.
Her lips twitched up ever so slightly. Taking this as a sign of approval to carry on, Byron closed the brief distance between their lips.