1.
Kaylen Wilson brushed through her sun-bleached blonde hair smoothly and admired how the color had turned out. She absolutely loved summers down in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. She placed the brush delicately on her antique dresser and pumped some of her new Keihls body lotion into her hands. Her dermatologist had told her that by keeping her skin moist she would tan easier and keep her tan longer.
Kaylen wanted to look especially tanned and blonde for her last semi-formal dance at The Gill School for Girls in a few weeks. She found this event particularly important since The Gill School for Girls and The St. Bernard's School for Boys came together in celebration of the start of a new school year. Kaylen had her eye on a specific member of the senior class at St. Bernard's and was hoping to blow him away at the dance. She checked her self out in the full length mirror hanging on the back of her door and smiled. She was almost satisfied. Just a few more hours out on the beach and she would look perfect.
Mrs. Justin Kennedy. Mrs. Kaylen Kennedy. Mr. and Mrs. Justin Kennedy. She repeated to her self over and over again. She loved how it sounded. She whipped her side-swept bangs out of her face and slid her white Polo Ralph Lauren beach cover up back over her pink Michael Kors bikini. The cover up just covered her tight butt and was completely see-through, making no difference if she wore it or not. She slid on her studded Charles David sandals and pulled her hair back into a loose pony tail. A knock on the door disturbed her from her self-absorption.
"Ms. Kaylen, Ms. Riley is here to see you." The Wilson family's personal assistant Markus called through the door. Kaylen's mother did not like to refer to Markus as a butler or a servant because he "simply does everything around here," as Mrs. Wilson would put it.
"Thanks Mark!" Kaylen had become close to Markus in the past few months since her father died. Markus had acted like a father figure whenever Kaylen needed one and their bond grew stronger. She opened the door and his jaw grew slack at the sight of her, "Can you send her up? Wow, have you been out in the sun a lot? You look good!" She patted him on the shoulder and smiled. She considered him one of her best friends which was weird coming from an upper class family to have a "servant" as your best friend.
"Thank you, Ms. Kaylen." He turned to get Kaylen's childhood friend, Riley Girard, from the foyer.
"How many times to I have to tell you, Mark? Just Kaylen, nothing else. I'm not your boss, my mother is."
"Yes, of course Ms., er, um, Kaylen." Kaylen giggled. "Allow me to fetch Ms., oh darn, um, allow to fetch Riley for you." She giggled again.
"Much better and thank you." Markus strolled down the hallway and down the stairs to the foyer. Moments later, Kaylen's best friend of thirteen years came down the long hallway wearing almost the same thing as Kaylen.
"Kay! Way to wear the same thing as me!" They both laughed and hugged each other. Riley took Kaylen's shoulders in her perfectly manicured hands and looked her up and down. "Wow, if only we wore the same color cover up!"
"Oh shut up! How was I supposed to know you were gonna wear this? Lemme change real quick and we can get going."
The girls stepped into Kaylen's pink and white bedroom and shut the door. Riley sat on the end of the bed while Kaylen shuffled through drawers to find another bathing suit. She pulled out a black Burberry suit with tan plaid seams. She slid into the attached bathroom to slip on the bathing suit. She emerged from the matching bathroom while tying the back of the bathing suit. She slipped the cover up back on and sat down next to Riley. Riley was playing with her long wavy brown hair and staring into space.
"You okay, Rye?" Kaylen turned to her with a worried look on her face.
"Yeah, just thinking."
"About what?"
"Oh, nothing." Riley turned to face Kaylen, "When did Markus get so hot?"
"Markus? Hot? Really? Um, I don't know. You think so? I never really though of him like that. I mean, I guess he is, but he's my-"
"Whoa, Kay, cool it. I was just asking. He looks good. That's all." Riley laughed and Kaylen joined, but nervously.
"Sorry, you just took me by surprise. Let's get going, I wanna get all the sun I can today!" Kaylen stood up and dragged Riley behind her. They trotted down the hallway and down the stairs. Markus was waiting by the door to open it for them.
"Hi Markus," Riley stopped to talk to him, "You should come with us! The beach is packed this time of day, meaning it's the most fun!"
"Perhaps I will stop by later." He responded politely, knowing he could never get off the job to go to the beach.
"Oh, c'mon!" Riley pleaded with him. He looked outside to where Kaylen was adjusting her Prada sunglasses. "Kaylen!"
"Yeah?" She turned to look inside.
"Come here! Tell Markus he needs some relaxation time on the beach with us!" Kaylen walked up the front stoop and back inside. She grabbed Markus' hand and dragged him in the grand staircase to where his "servant" suite was located. Riley followed them with her envious blue eyes.
"Is this really appropriate? Shouldn't we talk to your mother to see if I can take this break?" Kaylen ignored his question as she opened the door to Markus' suite and suddenly realized she had never even seen this part of the house before. It was beautifully decorated with paisley fabrics and antique furniture.
"Wow, you have your own little apartment here." Markus smiled and walked in to the front room before her.
"Yes, and I absolutely love it!" They both laughed. He headed off towards the back of the front room where a door was barely open and a dim light poked through. Kaylen didn't even think about it when she followed right behind him. The room had a large canopy and was decorated with the same décor as the foyer-type room. Kaylen sat down on the bench at the foot of the bed while Markus went off into the walk-in closet to change. She looked around at the size of the room and couldn't believe she was unaware of such a large portion of a house she had spent every summer of her life in.
Markus came out from the closet sporting a pair of white board shorts with a black design on them. She was stunned when she noticed his toned torso and how completely flawless the rest of his body was. Maybe Riley was right. Markus was French which is a turn on, he was twenty-three, only six years older than her and he had beautiful eyes and a sunning smile. Kaylen stood up slowly.
"Markus?"
"Yes?" He walked over and stood in front of Kaylen.
"I just wanna, um, thank you." Kaylen was never at a loss of words when it came to guys, but for some reason Markus took her breathe away. "Thank you for everything you have done for me in the past few months. I really appreciate it."
"Not a problem. I am here for you anytime you need me," His hint of a French accent came out when he spoke. Kaylen wasn't sure what to do next so she leaned in to hug him. He hugged her back but when he started to let go, she didn't want to. He held her small waist in his big hands and she held onto his upper arms. She smiled slightly while trying to think about what to say. Kaylen did what she usually did when she was at a loss for words with a cute boy. She kissed him. His lips against her sent a chill up and down her spine. Suddenly they both realized what was happening and immediately let go of one another. They both looked away worried about what might happen. Kaylen walked out of the room and Markus followed. She stopped and turned around.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I am really sorry." Kaylen looked down at her feet.
"Don't be. I could have stopped you, but I allowed it to happen." Markus touched her arm and she looked up at him. His big warm green eyes were staring down at her and just by looking at her, she could tell it was going to be fine. Neither of them would tell anybody, it would be their little secret. "Kaylen?"
"Yeah?"
"I want to tell you something that I probably should keep to myself, but as long as we are here doing this, I feel as though you should know." Kaylen looked confused but nodded to allow him to continue. "I allowed it to happen, only because I had the same feeling. I liked it, and I shouldn't have. I have fallen for you during all the time we have spent together but I could never tell you because of our relationship. I don't want this affecting our friendship and I hope this can be our secret."
"Wow Mark, I don't know what to say. I-I-I- " He put his index finger on her lips and hushed her.
"You don't need to respond as long as we can promise to tell nobody."
"I promise." She smiled up at him and they hugged again. They left the suite together and headed back to the foyer where Riley was waiting for them.
"Took ya long enough!" Her voice echoed throughout the foyer. "Let's go already!" Kaylen saw Markus look over at her through the corner of her eye, whipped her bangs out of her face and headed out the front down. Riley linked her arm with Kaylen's and laughed.
"What? Did I do something?" Kaylen asked worried that Riley had already figured out what happened.
"No, you didn't do anything!" They turned out of the driveway and continued walking down the road. "It's what Cam texted me while you guys were upstairs." Cam was Riley's unofficial boyfriend. They had been seeing each other for a few weeks but he never officially asked her out. He just happened to go to St. Bernard's and was one of Justin's best friends.
Kaylen smiled, "What did he say?"
"Justin's parents rented a house down here for two weeks! He's bringing Cam with him! They'll be herein a few hours! They wanna meet at Calaloo." Kaylen stiffened. She turned around to see where Markus was. He was just a few strides behind them. "Kay? Isn't that great?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, great." Kaylen had completely forgotten about Justin until Riley mentioned him.
"Wow, I thought you might be a little more excited. Your future husband is gonna be living next door for two weeks and you sound less than happy about it."
"Next door?!" Kaylen let Riley's linked arm go and stopped walking.
"Yeah, so?"
"So? Next door! That's like, really close!" Riley laughed and kept walking. Kaylen followed and Markus had caught up with them.
"No kidding, silly! Markus! If the love of your life was gonna live next door to you for two weeks, how excited would you be?" Kaylen snuck a look at him who looked back down at her.
"I do not know how I would react. Slightly scared because she would always be around but then happy at the same time because she would always be near me." Kaylen looked at him and smiled.
"See Kaylen! It's not so bad!"
"Why do you ask?"
"The guy Kaylen has had a crush on for like two years is renting the place next to hers for two weeks and she's not enthusiastic about it at all!"
"I'm nervous, ok?!" Kaylen cried out.
"Oh sweetie, what's there to be nervous about?" They reached the beach, took their flip flops off and walked across the sand to where their other friends were already laying out.
"Don't worry about it. It's just something Justin told me last week that kind of makes me uncomfortable. Can we not talk about it now?"
"Sure, sweetie. Sorry to interrogate you." Riley smiled, "Hey guys!" She waved at their group of friends from back home that also had houses down on the Outer Banks.
"Hey Kaylen!" A guy with thick black rimmed glasses shot up from a towel.
"Hey Zach." Kaylen seemed disinterested in Zach, the overly enthusiastic dork from St. Bernard's that was in love with her.
"Who's the stud, Riley?" One of their best friends Haley Williams asked.
"Guys! This is Markus! He's, uh, well he's, um-"
"My friend visiting from France." Kaylen saved Markus' reputation from her judgmental friends.
"Hi, Markus, I'm Haley. How long are you gonna be here?" Haley flipped her almost-neon-red-died-blonde-tipped hair out of her face.
"He's here until the end of the second semester; he's staying a whole year!" Kaylen was trying desperately to save Markus from the interrogation he was going to receive from her overly curious friends. Riley began spreading out her towel and stripping down to her bathing suit. Kaylen took Markus' hand and led him over to an empty spot. They unraveled their towels on the hot sand and sat down.
"So Kaylen, what are you girls up to tonight?" Zach slowly moved closer to her.
"Zach! Cam didn't tell you? He and Justin are coming down in a few hours! And then we are meeting them at Calaloo." Riley chimed in knowing that Kaylen hated how much Zach fawned over her.
"Oh, really? That's, uh, great, I guess. Me and Haley were gonna head over there, too" Zach was pretty aware of Kaylens' obsession with Justin was he was not so fond of the fact that he was going to be around, too.
"Why does no one seem excited that they are coming?" Riley joked around.
"Because none of us are in love with Cam like you are!" Haley nudged Riley and they all laughed. Riley blushed but quickly recovered because she knew it was obvious how much she liked him.
"Hey, you wanna go for a walk?" Kaylen leaned over and whispered in Markus' ear.
"Okay," He stood and helped her get up. They walked down to the water and began walking south-bound. Kaylen dug her feet into the sand and watched her foot steps disappear as the tide came up the beach.
2.
"Dude, I am so amped for the beach!" Cameron Stewart glanced over at his best friend, Justin Kennedy, sitting in the passenger seat.
"Yeah, only because Riley's gonna be down there!" They both laughed, but knew it was true. The four of them had known each other since they were running around in diapers but ever since Riley "developed boobs," as Justin put it, Cam had had a huge crush on her.
"You know, Kaylen is down there, too." Cam reminded Justin,
"Yeah, I don't know, she's really cute and everything but I just don't feel like there's anything there." Justin gazed out the window at the passing Chesapeake Bay. He had really liked Kaylen freshman year but after she started dating Duke Britingham he kind of lost his interest in her. Now that they had broken up, Justin wanted to like her again, but almost couldn't make himself do it. He was torn between her heart and his mind. His heart wanted this beautiful, fun, smart girl but his mind told him that he couldn't date his best friend of seventeen years.
"Dude, give a shot. What's the worst that could happen?"
"Oh, I don't know, our friendship could end, harshly."
"You gotta point. Well do what you want but I'm finally gonna hook up with Riley this week, and no friendship is stopping me." They were both laughing when Justin's phone began vibrating in his pocket.
"It's Haley. Hey, what's up?"
"You better get down here fast!"
"What? Why? What's going on?" Justin sounded worried and Cam glanced frequently at Justin.
"It's Kaylen!"
"Haley, what the hell is going on? Is she okay?" Justin was getting aggravated with Haley now.
"Chill, man, she's fine! She has this French friend. He's bangin'. They just left for a walk on the beach. He's stealing your woman!"
"Jesus, Haley, you scared the shit outta me!" Cam mouthed what's going on and Justin put his index finger indicating he would fill Cam in when he was done talking to Haley. "Who is this guy?"
"She said he's a friend from France. But you got some serious competition now!"
"Haley, I don't like Kaylen. Seriously." Justin was trying to convince himself more than Haley.
"Whatever you say, man, but he's hot! Just get down here! And tell Cam that Riley's waiting for him, in a biki- ow! Riley! Gotta g- stop it Riley!" Haley hung up and Justin shoved his phone back in his pocket.
"What's going on, dude?" Cam asked intensely.
"It's not that big of a deal. Kaylen is all up on some French guy that none of them know." Justin tried to act like he didn't care but deep down he was worried that he had lost his chances with her. "Haley claims he's 'stealing my woman' because they are on a walk on the beach together."
"So?"
"That's what I said."
"Do you still like her, though?" Cam knew the answer to that and it was obvious it was a yes.
"Yeah, I do, I think, but if she's into this guy it's really no big deal."
"Text her, I'm sure she has her phone."
"What good will that do?"
"It will momentarily take her mind of this other guy and it will remind her that you're still around when this guy leaves."
"Good point." Justin took his phone back out of his pocket, found Kaylen in his phone book and texted her, Hey, we're almost here, can't wait to see you!!
"Now she will have her mind on you instead of this French guy, and who knows, maybe they really are just friends." Cam always knew how to handle girls and Justin wondered why he couldn't be like that. He was always so confused when it came to girls but Cam knew just what to do. Thank god Justin had Cam or else there might be a problem, "Here's the exit! Just a few more minutes and we'll be surfin' the waves with beautiful girls admiring us." Cam turned off the highway and onto a less crowded road passed an Eckerd. Justin's pocket vibrated once indicating a new text message.
"It's Kaylen. She said 'Can't wait to see you either! Its gonna be soo much fun ;)' What should I say back?"
"She winked? She totally wants you, dude!"
"You think so?"
"Definitely! Ok, say 'You bet it is ;)' That way you're not promising that anything will happen but you also sound interested." Justin texted the message to Kaylen and shoved his phone back in his pocket.
"So you think she likes me?"
"Yeah, for sure. She winked, unless she's playing with your head. This is possible. Kaylen is known for that."
"And so am I." They both laughed because they knew it was true. Justin was known for messing with girls heads. "I just hope she doesn't think I'm messing with her and she's playing along or something."
"I doubt it; she can probably tell you're being serious."
"I sure hope so."
3.
Seth Cole grabbed his guitar case and shoved it in the trunk of his beat up Subaru Outback. His was already late for his gig at the bar a few blocks down but he figured his band could hold out a few more minutes without him. His step sister Aubrey Morton and her idiot boyfriend Duke Britingham were coming down to visit from New Jersey for the next two weeks and he had to call her. He punched her number into his ancient cell phone and let it ring.
"H-h-hello?" Aubrey's uniquely high-pitched voice rang through the ear piece.
"It's me, Seth. What time are you guys coming?"
"I-I-I d-don't know y-y-yet." She sounded like she had just been crying.
"Are you okay?" He didn't really care but he had to ask, just to seem nice.
"NO! Me and D-d-duke got in a-a-a-a-a FIGHT!" She sounded furiously upset and Seth didn't really want to get involved, but he knew it would effect him for the next two weeks if he didn't act nice now.
"Did you guys…break up?"
"YES! But we are still coming." Her voice seemed distant, "Seth wants to know when we'll be there. He said in an hour."
"Ok well I'm gonna be at my show, but I'll leave the door open. I gotta go, but feel better."
"Thanks, Seth it's just we-"He hung up before she could finish. He shoved his phone in his pocket and started the car. He backed slowly out of the driveway, being careful not to hit any crazy renters on the way. His Subaru bounced on every single bump in the road, sending his guitar flying around in the trunk. His phone began to vibrate, it was his band-mate and best friend Sean O'Rourke.
"Yo, I'll be there in like two minutes."
"Yeah, ok, great. But, um-"Seth could hear the Sean was worried about something, and it didn't sound good.
"What happened?"
"Dave couldn't fit his drum kit in his car."
"What the fuck? He usually can! So, what? Now we don't have a drummer?"
"He usually has his car but it broke down so he has his mom's little Mercedes convertible. So, yeah, no drums. We're going acoustic." Seth sighed audibly, agreed to the situation and hung up. He rounded the corner onto the street where the lunch bar was and pulled into the back of the building.
"Seth! There are so many people here!" Sean came out the back door walking towards Seth.
"What? Why?" He grabbed his guitar out of the back and slammed the trunk shut.
"I don't know. And they are all like, our age." The Calaloo lunch bar was not known to teens, typically. It was usually the older people who couldn't stay out on the beach all day and enjoyed some mid-day entertainment. Seth had never expected for kids his age to be there.
The boys walked in through the backdoor to what the manager of the restaurant called the backstage. There was about three feet between the back wall of the building and the curtain in which they preformed in front of. Seth poked his head of from behind the curtain and saw the room filled with young people, seventeen and eighteen year olds. He turned around to Sean and gave him a confused look.
"What is going on, man?" Seth asked almost sounding concerned.
"Maybe the sun was too much for them?"
"Boys! You go on in five!" Some woman walked over to them warning them to get ready. They unpacked their guitars and strapped them around their shoulders.
The woman's voice came over the microphone and announced the band, "Everyone, put your hands together for The Lost Socks!" The crown roared and Seth and Sean stepped out onto the tiny stage. The shimmer of a blonde head in the dim light caught Seth's attention immediately. His gaze was stuck on her until he heard Sean start to play the first chords of their song. She flashed him a smile and he began to play.
After the show, Seth and Sean packed up their guitars and headed out back.
"Dude, did you see that girl?" Seth asked about the blonde girl he saw out in the audience.
"There were a bunch of girls, which one?"
"She was blonde, and she smiled at me before we started playing."
"No, sorry, I don't notice when girls smile at you. It's a flaw I need to fix." Sean said sarcastically. "Go back in and find her. Introduce yourself."
"Ok, I'll meet you back at my place?"
"You bet." Seth turned to walk back inside, but quickly turned back around.
"Be cautious. Aubrey and her boyfriend broke up today but they are waiting for me back at the house. Just don't say anything besides your name." Sean laughed, got in his car and drove off towards Seth's house.
Seth walked in the building through the front as to make sure he didn't miss her. He shuffled his way through the crowd and out of the corner of his eye, he saw her hair glistening in the lights. He walked over towards and saw she was with a group of people. Suddenly he didn't feel like talking to her anymore. He noticed her being flirtatious with the jock-looking guy and figured it was her boyfriend. She noticed him looking at her and made eye contact with him. She smiled and started walking towards him. He immediately stiffened and his heart sunk.
"Hi, my name is Kaylen." She stuck her hand out for him to shake.
"Hi, nice to meet you, I'm, um, Seth." She giggled and took his hand.
"C'mon, I wanna introduce you to my friends." She dragged him over to the group of people she was standing with when he walked in. "Guys, this is Seth. He was just playing up there. Seth, this is Riley, Zach, Justin, Cam and Haley." Everyone smiled at him and he smiled back.
"So, um, I'm having some people over my house, if you guys wanna come?"
"Do you live here?" Haley inched closer to his side.
"Yup, full time." Seth seemed a bit put off by her forwardness.
"That's awesome!" She cried, in his ear. "Let's go over, guys!" Everyone one agreed and left Calaloo. They all piled into separate cars and followed Seth the few blocks back to his house.
"That looks like-"Cam was cut off by Justin before he could finish.
"Duke Britinghams car." Justin suddenly wasn't so happy to be at the beach.
"You guys know him?" Seth asked, confused.
"Uh, yeah! Kaylen only-"Kaylen elbowed Haley hard before she could finish "She almost dated him"
"Almost? Ha! Try almost married him!" Cam laughed not knowing that nobody appreciated what he had said.
"So that means Aubrey is here?" Zach finally spoke up.
"She's my step sister."
"Oh, you poor, poor thing!" Riley gave him a hug in sympathy. It was a known fact that nobody really liked her back at school.
"Uh, thanks?" Seth tried to back up from her, "But they broke up this morning so I don't know what is gonna happen." Everybody turned towards Kaylen and she had no idea why. Seth led everybody into the house and called out for Sean, Aubrey and Duke. Sean came out of the kitchen holding a bag of potato chips and a mouthful of soda. He quickly swallowed the soda when he saw the group of people.
"Seth, you didn't tell me you were having a party."
"This is Sean, he was the other guy playing tonight. Sean, this is Haley, Zach, Riley, Cam, Justin and Kaylen." The second Seth said Kaylen, Duke and Aubrey came down the stairs wearing just towels and looking wet.
"Well that's just awkward." Cam commented.
"Uh, hey guys." Duke tightened his towel around his waist and walked over to everyone. "What are you doing here?" He looked over, specifically at Kaylen.
"We met Seth at his show this afternoon and he invited us over." Haley chimed in, trying to save Kaylen from embarrassing herself.
"That's cool. We came down to visit Seth. He's my step brother." Aubrey pulled her towel up.
"Right. So, we're, uh, gonna go get dressed. See you in a few." Duke turned around and went back up the stairs with Aubrey in tow.
"You guys know them?" Seth seemed confused. They all looked around at each other, unsure of how to phrase their relationship with Duke and Aubrey.
"Kaylen dated Duke for two years." Justin blurted out, not realizing what he had said. Kaylen turned bright red and covered her face in her hands.
"Oh." Seth seemed somewhat disappointed but was unsure as to why, since Justin had said she "dated" Duke not "is dating" him.
"So…who wants food?" Sean tried to break the awkward air quickly filling the room. He turned around and walked back into the kitchen. Everyone slowly followed him in.
"So, Seth, you live here full time, huh?" Cam inquired. He could tell Seth was kind of into Kaylen, and tried to distract him from her so Justin wouldn't have any competition. Not like Justin ever has competition, no one can compare to him.
"Yeah, all year." He glanced over at Kaylen, who was chatting with Justin and Zach.
"It must get boring, all by your self." Haley scooted close to him leaning against the marble island counter.
"No, not really. I have a bunch of friends down here. I do go to school here." Seth was still put off by Haley's forward-ness and found it completely unattractive. He left her side to go talk with Kaylen, Justin and Zach.
"What are you doing tomorrow, babe?" Zach took her hand, and leaned into kiss it. Before he could, though, she pulled it away.
"Stop calling me that, Zach. I have no plans, yet." She looked out of the corner of her eye to see Seth coming over. "Maybe I'll hang out with Seth!" She reached for him to give him a hug.
"Huh? Oh, sure, of course." He hugged her back.
"Rie! We're gonna hang out with Seth and Sean tomorrow!" Kaylen turned around to find her best friend getting pretty close with Sean in a separate corner of the kitchen.
"Fantastic!" Riley shouted back.
"So," Kaylen took Seth's hand and led him away from Justin and Zach, "Tell me about you."
"Well, my name is Seth Cole, I'm seventeen, I go to Duck County High School, I play in a 'band' and I have a dog, somewhere." Kaylen giggled and squeezed his hand. "Your turn."
"My name is Kaylen Wilson, I'm seventeen, I go to The Gill School for Girls, I live in Warren, New Jersey, I love the beach and I've always wanted to learn how to surf."
"Surf, huh? I think I could help you out with that."
"You surf?!"
"Sure do. If you're up to it, maybe we can try it out tomorrow?"
"I would love to!" Kaylen jumped up and kissed him on the cheek, not realizing that Justin was watching her from across the room.
"Riley! We're learning how to surf!" Kaylen looked at the corner where Riley was standing with Sean, but they were no where to be found.
"They ran off." Cam replied to Kaylen, monotonously. Cam was beginning to realize how much he liked Riley, and that as much as he can help his friends out with girls, he was hopeless in his own efforts.