Disclaimed

There he is again. His hair a chocolaty brown, smooth like the ocean. His smile so genuine with a perfect set of teeth. His body, built as ever. Abs that make girls swoon. Biceps that cause guys to get jealous. And an upper chest that made you feel safe a warm.

But it isn't until you look past all that. Past the hair, the smile, and the body, that you'll finally notice the eyes. Oh his eyes, a mesmerizing emerald green that you get lost in. You don't notice them at first glance but when you do, it's the only thing that you can see. The way the light catches it and how its never the same shade green as the day before. Always having that certain twinkle that made you feel special. It's harder to notice it nowadays. He's always so sad.

He sits there everyday. So in thought, you couldn't distract him. He came at the same time everyday day, right on the dot. No matter what he was wearing, whether it was a suit and tie or swim trunks and tank top, he was there. Sitting right by the shore to where the water just barely reached his toes. Sunny, rainy, windy, snowy, you could always count on him being there. Sometimes he had an apple with him that he would eat then continue to throw it in the trash as he left.

He never spoke to anyone. Never said a word. It was a wonder why he was always there in the first place. 7:00 in the afternoon everyday. Right as the sun set, but as soon as the sky was dark, the sun said goodnight, and the stars sparkled above, he was gone. No one ever saw him leave, but he was always gone. You can always see him come in and sit down, but you never see him leave. And that's just the way things were. No one really tried to watch him leave he wasn't that interesting to just watch. But every now and then someone watches him come and sit and they'd question what he was doing but they never got an answer.

He watched the waves in the ocean, never the sunset, just the waves. They moved in and out of the shore, sometimes reaching his toes but never covering his feet.

If you looked closely you would find a seashell around his neck. It was a very plain shell, probably found on the very same beach, but he always had it on. You could tell it was handmade too. The way the string was tied around his neck and how the shell was cracked straight down the middle and glued together again. Very rarely would he reach up to the shell and just hold it, or rub it. Never for more than a minute or two.

You could always go up and ask him your questions, and many have, but no one ever retells what they've heard. And not everyone gets an answer. Some just get one word, or silence. There's a rumor that one girl was able to get him to tell her the full story. Everything. But she never told a soul what was exchanged between the two.

You could find he girl sitting down on the same beach. She watched the boy understandingly. She sat further back, where the sand was dry and very fine. Although she never came at the same times everyday, she was always there to watch the boy for at least a minute or two.

She was a very gorgeous girl. Long sleek black hair that flowed down to her mid-back. She had long stunning legs that any model would be jealous of. In fact, she should've been a mode herself. Her skin was clear and flawless, not a pimple in sight. But what really made her stand out, was her eyes. They were a dark, dark brown. Almost black. She had an intense gaze. Almost like she could see through your soul.

Many have tried to talk to her about the boy, but she waved it off as if it were nothing. Avoiding the questions, she always seemed to turn the interrogation around and soon enough YOU were telling HER your life-story. Maybe that's how she got the boy to talk to her. She had a way of getting what she wanted. It was her eyes. They bore into you, peeling back every layer and breaking down every wall until there was nothing left but a scared child sitting in the corner, hiding from your fears.

You could tell from the way she watched him, she had very strong feelings for him. She seemed like the kind of girl who could get any guy her heart desired, but her heart wanted the one guy that had closed his own heart off to the world. She watched him with longing in her eyes.

But you could tell from the way the boy watched the ocean, he had strong feelings for someone. The same longing look was in his eyes too. Who for, is the question. She must've been one special girl to have this much of an effect on the boy.

And then it hits you.

A couple months ago there was a story in the newspaper about a girl. At first glance she seemed to be no ordinary girl, but you took a closer look and you noticed all the beautiful qualities she had. Her hair a dishwater blonde, in perfect waves, lead to the very top of her bottom. It had a silky shine to it. And you didn't know it, but when she walked by you could smell her shampoo ever so slightly that you couldn't even tell what the smell was, but my god it's the most intoxicating thing your nose had ever sniffed. Her long tan legs sprouting from an hourglass figure. She wasn't too big in any area but she was proportioned, which made you overlook her body. Her smile, from the photo they showed, seemed like it was effortless. Like it was so used to being upon the girls face that it pretty much never left. Her eyes a soft blue with a hint of gray flecks in the them. The same color as the ocean waves when they wash up the shore. Sitting on her neck would be a seashell necklace. Definitely handmade, although it looked like it was made really carefully and neatly. Unlike the one on the boys neck, this one was nicer looking. But both necklaces seemed to have the same shell and string, the only difference was the boy's looked worn out, or broken.

You remember the story saying when the accident happened, 7:00pm. You remember the amount of people that showed up to the funeral. You remember finding only 9 people there. But you had just moved in, you had no idea who she was or what her effect was on all these people. You remember the mother, already lost a husband and now a daughter too. You remember not going in at all. You remember the apple in the girls hand, a chunk of it already bitten out. You remember the boy being there. You remember seeing the black haired girl there too.

The pieces seem to fall into place as you remember reading a certain line from the article about the girls boyfriend.

Watching the waves…her eyes

The necklace…it was hers

The apples…her favorite food

The timing…her death

The reason barely anyone paid attention to the boy…they already knew

The reason the black haired girl is the only one who he talked to…they were friends

The boy…Zach Goode

The black haired girl…Macey McHenry

The girl that now lies 6 feet under…Cammie Morgan

You can't believe what you just figured out. How could you not remember them? The way they were all broken inside when you looked through the window. It all made sense but instead of feeling satisfied that you're no longer wondering about the boy, you feel misery and guilt because you never walked in to give your condolences. You never bothered or gave them a second thought because you figured "eh, there's only 9 people, cant e that important." But you were wrong. She was very important to those 9 people.

It takes you a while to find the story online and when you do you re-read everything. You find out they were dating for 2 and a half years and that this was supposed to be their senior year. You read that of the 9 people, 6 were her best friends, one was her mother, and one was Zachery Goode.

She was in a car accident on her way to her house from his during a thunderstorm. They had just gotten into a fight and she was driving very recklessly. She made a sharp turn, the tires slid, and the driver's side was slammed straight into a tree off to the side of the road. It was past midnight so it wasn't until many hours later that someone saw the wreck and called an ambulance. She was dead long before they got there.

The next day you come back to the beach at 7:00 and see the boy. Before he goes to sit down you intercept him. You have no idea what you're doing but you knew you had to do it. You hug him. It doesn't take long before he hugs you back. You ask him about the girl, but the way you talk lets him know that you already know the whole story. It lets him know you care. You both sit down on the beach with your toes barely ever getting wet from the waves that crash against the shore.

"We were fighting because I thought she was cheating on my with this other guy, Josh. She wasn't"

You don't know what to say so you just keep listening to him talk, nodding every now and then to let him know you're still there.

"I should've believed her! She would never do anything like that to me and I don't know why I was so stupid!" By now he was yelling with anger. "She told me the rumors weren't true! She told me that she loved me! She loved me."he had stopped yelling and you could see the tears threatening to fall. You finally say something.

"She still loves you, from wherever she is, she loves you."

He looks you in the eyes and speaks again in a very quiet voice, "I couldn't even say it back." No one says anything for a while, but its him who breaks the silence.

"Her last words to me was that she loved…er…loves me. My last words to her was that I didn't know if it were true or not. She was crying and I hated to see her like that, but I couldn't help but picture her with that Jimmy guy." I thought his name was Josh? "She finally gave up left. I never thought this would happen. I should've told her I love her."

"No matter what your last words to her were, she knows you love her. She knows that things were just a little too complicated at the time."

"She would still be here if I just said those three words."

"Life has a way or working itself out. Don't worry. Though no one could replace her, there's someone out there that you can learn to love the way you love her."

"Thanks. It really means a lot to be able to talk to someone about her. So far I only could talk to Macey, but I can tell she was only trying to help me get over Cammie so that I would date her."

"Maybe give this Macey a chance, you're gonna have to give someone one and you might as well start with her."

"Maybe. I'm Zach Goode by the way." you stuck out his hand and when I looked up I could see his eyes red but I didn't comment on it.

"Nice to meet you, the name's Joe Soloman."

Please review! I really want to become a better writer. I accept all criticism, though please don't be rude about it. Thank you so much for taking your time to read, it means a lot to me. Love y'all!

~Caitlynp15