She was standing on the edge of the beach talking on her cellphone. Her wavy dark hair blew around her face as she squinted in concentration, battling the sunlight.

What had she been thinking when she bought that bikini? Whatever she was thinking, it worked. It looked good. Even on her funny little figure. He wasn't sure where her boobs were but that ass...

She was kinda cute.

Minus the nose. He could see that beak from where he stood.

Maybe that was because he was walking towards her.

The girl with no boobs and a big nose and a nice ass ended her phone call and tied her windy hair up into a bun. She looked totally bored. He could relate.

"Hey." Cory greeted, awkwardly looking down at her. Why did she have to be so short while he was so big? Made all conversation uncomfortable and probably creepy on her end. The girl gave him a strange look, furrowing her brow and looking him over with big brown eyes.

Those eyes... Forget the ass, what the hell were those things on her face? They sucked you in. It was like they were looking into your soul.

"I couldn't help but notice you were just standin' here." Cory pointed out, giving a child-like smile and swaying back and forth on his feet, proud of his observation.

"Yeah I was talking on the phone." The girl answered with a nod, folding her arms and looking out at the water. Was that it? No conversation starter?

"Cool...Well I just came over here because you were uh...by yourself so I wanted to invite you to play volleyball!"
Nice save Cory. He was a smooth talker. Definitely.

"Oh!" The girl seemed to liven up, a giant smile taking over half of her face. "Yeah that sounds like fun! Those are your friends?" She asked, tucking a brown curl behind her hair and nodding over to a volleyball game.

Crap.

"Uh yeah! Yeah you wanna join?" Keeping his goofy grin plastered to his face, the tall boy made his way over to the group of strangers. "Hey!" He waved awkwardly, taking a position on one side of the court. "Why don't you go over there so the teams are fair."

The short girl smiled and nodded, giving a friendly wave to a few of the confused looking players. Before anyone could say anything, the ball flew over the net and Short-Stuff spiked it right back.

"Damn! Nice! You play?" A boy asked.

"I played last year on the team at my school. Just for fun." She beamed, clapping her hand and hopping in place as her side scored a point.

Well. At least no one was complaining.


"Later!" Cory waved, shoving his hands into his pockets and parting with their new friends.

"You didn't know any of them, did you?" The tiny girl smirked, shaking her head. "I could tell right when we invaded their game. Lucky for you, I know how to play. If we both had your ability they might've kicked us out!" She gave a loud and silly-sounding laugh and it made Cory smile despite her insult.

"Well thaaaanks..." He rolled his eyes, sarcastically "I'm Cory by the way."

"Lea Michele." She held out a tiny hand and shook his firmly. "Nice to meet you. Where are you from, Cory?"

"Nice to meet you too, Lea Michele." He chuckled. "Uh Canada actually! Yeah. My mom wanted to getaway for a while so we're here for the summer. Staying in that hotel right over there! What about you?"

Lea's eyes widened in surprise at his location as she shrugged her shoulders. "Very nice. I'm from New York. Born and raised! I'm in a show there so this school year was pretty intense. I was busy bee so to speak. My parents wanted me to take the summer off and spend some time with them. My aunt has a summer home about two blocks from here...here I am!"

"Cool. Wait, what do you mean 'show'? Like on TV?"

"Nooo!" She laughed, glancing upward. "A live show! A Broadway show! Crazy I know but I started when I was eight."

"Whoa. Eight? I don't know much about musicals but isn't that a big deal in New York or somethin'. That's awesome. You must be good."

"Yeah...Hey. Wanna go in the water? Come on!" Lea giggled, tugging at his arm and pulling him down to the beach. Cory blushed and tossed off his shirt, splashing behind her as they moved into the blue. He could see her head poking out of the ocean as she dog-paddled around. The water barely reached his chest.

"C-C-Cold! Watch out for the shaaaarks!" She warned, screeching with laughter. Cory laughed and dove under water, swimming under her body and giving her back a light poke. She automatically flailed, her legs kicking him square in the face. "Ahh..." He breathed, bobbing up to the surface.

"Oh my god...Oh my god, was that you?"Her hand flew over her heart in panic. "Don't ever do that again. Oh my god, did I kick you in the face?" There was that loud laugh again before her expression grew serious. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

"Yeah! Totally. I'm fine!" He laughed, playfully shaking out his face. "No more sneak attacks I promise. You got some legs there!"

He swam around with her a little more, offering to pick her up and throw her (she seemed to like that) and before he knew it they were back on the beach, letting the sun dry their bodies as they laid on their beach towels.
She was tan and he liked the way the tiny beads of water settled on her skin.

"I never asked. How old are you? You're in college aren't you." Lea grinned, turning her head to face his.

"Just turned 20 so you're kinda close! That age area...thing...I guess." He laughed.
Staying silent for a moment, Cory turned his face back to the sky. "Not in school. Haven't been since freshman year of high school."

Out of the corner of his eye he could see her turn her head towards him. Why was he even telling her this? Totally a turn-off.

"Had some problems. Got into the wrong crowd and stuff, ya know? Bad times." He let her digest the information, turning to her face once again. "The last year and a half have been a total transformation for me. Cleaned up. Got my act together. Touring with my band right now." The lanky boy said proudly, a small half-smile inching onto his face. "We aren't really big or anything but we got some gigs. Never played in New York though."

"You're in a band? Wow...I think that says a lot that you were able to overcome all of that. You sound like you've got your life together. Do you sing? Or what do you play?"

"Back-up vocals, yeah! Probably not anything like you, Broadway girl!" Cory shrugged, messing up his damp hair. "Drums mostly. It's pretty fun."

Lea tapped her feet together, giving the boy a playful nudge. "Well you'll have to let me be the judge of that singing voice sometime. I'm full of tips and constructive criticisms!"

Cory laughed and nudged her back softly. "I bet you are, Broadway. Bet you are."