Here you go, Bethany(: I love you!
Bethany
I'm a shy person. I'm not really built to be wild and crazy. But this guy… he could be the one!
Chase after him? Not likely. I'm not exactly in the mood to look like a crazy lunatic. I'll just follow him slowly… take the stalker approach…
He was moving slowly as well, probably stopping to smell the ocean or something. How romantic! My head silently cheered him on.
The boardwalk was crowded, and it was getting harder to follow him. People were walking in and out of my line of vision.
Hello? Mystery man? Come out, come out, wherever you are…
Before I knew it, my vision was covered in tourists, all of whom I didn't know.
I mean – technically, I don't know anyone on this beach.
But that guy… I swear I've seen him before. Summer camp?
Work?
Ugh, that's gonna bother me.
…That's not the main issue, though. The fact is, HE'S GONE. It's as if my dream boy vanished.
Completely washed off the face of the earth.
What am I going to do? I just lost my one chance at true love… it's GONE.
"Hey… are you okay?" a girl who looked about my age poked my shoulder. "You look upset. Need some help?"
"M-me?" I all but choked out. "N-no. I'm fine, thanks."
"Oh alright." She tossed her wavy brown hair over her shoulder. "I'm Lauren, by the way. You look new to this part of town."
"I am." I smiled, relieved to at least know someone now. "I'm Bethany."
…Even if the person I'm really interested in is M.I.A.
"Well I'M not." She smiled. "Let me help you out."
Before I knew it, she grabbed my hand and was pulling me in the opposite direction of where I wanted to go.
"Lauren! Lauren!" I called after her, trying to make her stop.
"Yes?" she stopped dragging me. "You are really dragging me down, girly! Literally AND metaphorically…"
"I apologize…" I mumbled, brushing my shirt off, "but you see, I REALLY have to go… that way." I pointed in the direction we just came from.
"Why's that?" she cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow at me.
"There's someone… over there…that I want to meet…" I tried to explain without giving too much away.
She nodded absent-mindedly, focusing on something in the background.
I paused and waited for her to respond. When she didn't I asked, "Lauren?"
"Oh! I'm sorry, what?" she shook her head, symbolically clearing her thoughts.
"I need to go that way…" I pointed again.
"Well why didn't you just SAY so?" she grabbed my hand once more and we ran off in the direction we just came from, towards the boardwalk that overlooked the beach.
"I tried!" I mumbled to myself, finally realizing that arguing with her was a lost cause.
Before I knew it, we were weaving between tourists to get to the other side of the crowd.
"There's a GREAT restaurant down here!" yelled Lauren over the ominous noise of a zillion people talking. "I'm meeting my friend there now, care to join?"
I almost wanted to decline, but the way she said it, it seemed like I didn't exactly have a choice. "Uhm… sure!"
By now I could see a clearing between the bodies. We were almost out of the tourist crowd… so… close…
We finally busted through and made it to the restaurant, it was a quaint little sea side shack, located right on the beach.
We took a seat and she pulled out her phone, sighing. "He'll be here soon enough."
Wait. He? It took my mind a second to register her pronoun use. For some reason, I was expecting a girl…
"…And there he is! Jesse! Over here!" she waved lightly over her head as her friend took a seat. I was too engrossed in the menu to look up, but once I finally did, I was staring straight into the eyes of my mystery man…
My breathing hitched for a second as I found myself lost in surprise.
"Bethany…? You okay…?" Lauren asked cautiously, "This is my friend Jesse. Maybe he can help you find whoever you're looking for."
I already found him. My mind answered for me.
"Uh… thanks." I gulped, still lost in nervousness. "I'm uh… I'm Bethany."
He extended his hand and smiled coolly at me.
"I'm Jesse, pleasure to meet you."