I groaned inwardly as our car pulled into a little lot right at the edge of the sand. Why did I have to come? It wasn't as though it was my friend we were meeting. But when Father announced that an old acquaintance was in town, Mother decided that it would be just lovely to meet them down at the beach, and why not make a family trip of it? Beckett and Myles were on board immediately, of course, so despite my persistent arguments that I was far old enough to be left home alone for a few hours, I was forced to come along as well. "Come on, Arty," Mother had pleaded with me, "The family hardly ever gets to spend any time together. Just come, it'll only be for a few hours."

"There they are!" Father called, smiling and pointing a little ways down the beach.

Wait a second. They? I looked at the spot he was gesturing to and was surprised to find not one person, as my dad had led me to believe, but three: A middle-aged couple, one of whom must have been Father's friend, and a teenage girl, probably about my age. We got out of the car and began walking towards them. I was trudging at a slower pace, behind even Beckett and Myles, who continually tripped each other and fell face-first the sand, because I knew what was going to happen. Instead of being able to find a quiet spot on the beach to continue my studies as I had planned, my parents were surely going to make spend time with this girl. And why not?, you must be asking yourself. Certainly it would seem that we would both have much more fun if we had a companion our own age, right. But it never ended up well. I guess you could say I don't play well with others. But I prefer to think I don't play well with kids. Never had the patience, really. Maybe this time I would say something odd and the girl would decide I was a freak. Or I might decide she's simply too dull to be a suitable companion. Or maybe both.

If you couldn't tell, socializing has never really been my strong suit.

I was jarred from my thoughts when I heard Father say my name.

"…and these are my children, Artemis, Beckett and Myles."

"Nice to meet you," The man said, reaching out to shake my hand, though I didn't respond in kind. "My name is Dan. Your father and I went to school together many years ago."

Dan introduced the other members of his party as his wife, Clare, and his daughter, Amy. After he finished, he went off on some other tangent about all the antics he got into with Father back when they went to school together. But as I looked around the beach, desperately searching for something more interesting than some prank that two middle-aged men pulled as adolescents, something caught my eye.

That something was Amy.

I don't know what it was that was so special about her. Of course I'd seen many girls before, and I couldn't tell how Amy was any different. From the few sentences I'd heard her say, she was of average intelligence, maybe slightly above but nowhere near me - in other words, nowhere close to high enough to spark my interest. She had straight, average brown hair that reached past her elbows with a round, child-like face. I looked at her face and noticed she had light freckles across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. And then I saw her eyes.

Somehow in those soft, light brown eyes, I saw every color. The light made them sparkle and as I watched it seemed to dance, igniting her eyes in a beautiful, colorful fire. And I could see happiness in her eyes, too. Happiness beyond what I'd ever felt and...

Oh god. Amy's looking at me. Having noticed my stare she shot me a quizzical, but not necessarily upset, glance, and I felt my cheeks burn bright red. But what was even more mortifying was what she said next.

"Mom, can Artemis and I go over there by the water?"

"Of course, Amy," Her mother said, with an odd twinkle in her eye.

"C'mon, Artemis!" Amy called, already sprinting towards the water, stopping only a few feet of dry sand short of the ocean.

I reluctantly got up and followed her. How was I supposed to talk to her? It would have been one thing just to talk to her before. But for some reason I felt especially drawn to her. And to make matters worse, she had caught me looking at her. For once, I wouldn't have the upper hand.

When I got to where she was sitting cross-legged, I wasn't sure what to say. Luckily, however, she had something in mind.

"I saw you watching me back there." It was odd the way she said it. She wasn't angry, or upset, or anything that I would expect. She looked happy, if a little bit mischievous. I bit my lip and tried not meet her gaze. But when I had decided what to say, I made the mistake of looking up, and noticed that here, with the light reflecting of the water and into her eyes, the sparkles danced even faster, it was amazing like magic and-

I have got to stop letting Amy distract me. I had planned to deny her accusations and insist that I was looking at a spot behind her, or maybe even that she imagined the whole thing. But now that I had done it again, and there was no escape. She knew it too; I could tell by the impish smile on her face. I sighed.

"Yes, Amy, I was staring at you before," I said. I tried to feign a bored, uninterested tone, but I failed miserably and ended up with a squeaky, shaky mumble.

"And again over here."

"Yes. What about it?" I asked, my pulse rising. I was not accustomed to this feeling.

"What do you think?" She asked, her tone containing just a hint of irritation. "I want to know why."

By her expression, I could tell she already knew. Or at least she had a theory. I may as well tell her.

"Amy, I…" I broke of mid-sentence, my voice was shaking so bad. "I l-like you," I say, barely above a whisper. What am I doing? I've never felt this way about a girl before, and then suddenly I like a girl that I just met today? What's wrong with me?

"Artemis, I like you too," she replies. Her voice is quiet, but it unlike mine it's steady. This girl, so clearly below me, has the sort of confidence I've never been able to pull off.

"As a friend?" I reply, looking up at her through watery eyes. I'm prepared to be disappointed, for her to say that of course we are just friends. A blow to my self-esteem to be sure, but I'll get over it.

"No. More than that."

I can't believe my ears. Is this really happening? I look over at Amy, and this time I'm not afraid to get lost in her eyes like I did before.

"Look," Amy says, pointing out at the horizon.

I follow her hand and see that the sunset has produced the most beautiful colors, reflecting everything from red to gold onto the ocean in a bright halo on the surface of the waves. I look back at Amy and she is smiling at me, her perfect white teeth almost as radiant as the sunset against her cherry-red lips, but still no match for her eyes. I decide to do something I never dreamed of before today. Maybe it's crazy, and maybe it's fate.

I lean slowly in towards her, gently pressing my chapped lips to her smooth ones. She doesn't pull away, and I feel her kissing me back.

Finally we break away for air.

Tentatively I wrap my arms around her small frame, and we look off at the setting sun again, somehow the colors looking even more beautiful than they did before.