I woke up to find that it was 10:30. I can't believe I slept that much after my nap, but I felt good about today. Mia and Izzy were still asleep so I went downstairs and found a note from Lisa.
Hey girls,
I'm going to take a guess and say that you didn't get up until the crack of noon! I had to go to work but I'm pretty sure you guys can manage breakfast. The kitchen is fully stocked, so have a great time. Call me if you need me.
-Lisa
I went back upstairs to get dressed and went out onto the balcony to draw. I looked out to the beach and saw that plenty of people were already arriving. It looked like a big volleyball game was about to start. I saw a pair of volleyball players walk by and the tall blonde one looked up and our eyes locked. He smiled at me and I felt myself smile back at him. I know it didn't mean anything, but that smile made me go all warm and fuzzy. I hadn't felt like that in a long time.
I turned away and focused on my drawing, but I couldn't get him out of my head. He was just a stranger that happened to smile at me. That was it. It didn't matter how hot he looked. It didn't matter, I chanted to myself. I sighed and went down to make breakfast.
Jace P.O.V (finally )
I was walking down the beach with Sebastian when I felt as if there was someone else there. I looked up, ignoring what Sebastian was saying, and saw a girl with fiery red hair. It was hard not to go over there and introduce myself. There was something vulnerable about her, but it looked like if she had to, she could take care of herself. I smiled at her and was rewarded with a small tentative smile in return.
She went back inside and I kept walking, but I couldn't get her out of my head. "Jace are you even listening?" Seb asked, frustrated.
"What?" I asked.
"Get your head in the game dude! We have to kick ass in this volleyball game!" Seb raged.
"Of course we will. You worry too much," I said. I let him rant some more, but my mind kept wandering back to the girl with the fiery red hair.
Clary P.O.V
Last night was the first night that my dreams didn't have any blood in them. I dreamt that I was walking on the beach with some tall angel like guy. He had soft, ebony wings and was about to fly away somewhere, but I couldn't decide if I wanted him to stay or not. Then, the dream ended and I don't know what I chose. For some reason, the blonde haired volleyball player seemed oddly familiar. I dismissed the notion and went downstairs to wait for my roomies to wake up.
They both ended up waking up around 12 and were still a little groggy. So I started making breakfast for us. I was working on the sausage and bacon while they were getting dressed. I finished the eggs and buttered the toast by the time they came downstairs. "Oh! That smells great, but we would have helped you!" Mia exclaimed.
"Speak for yourself," Izzy said.
"Don't worry about it. I was up anyways. Oh, by the way Izzy, there's a special ingredient in yours," I said, pushing the plate towards her.
She looked at it and said, "You didn't put rat poison in it, did you?"
"Oh, no we were all out," I said, mock disappointed.
"That would have been an improvement to your cooking anyways Izzy," Mia mumbled.
"Did you say something Mia," Izzy said with a threat implied in her voice.
"Oh no nothing at all," Mia replied happily. We sat down and ate in silence for a few moments. But I couldn't help but think about my dream and the guy from this morning. I decided not to tell Izzy and Mia because they'd just bombard me with a zillion questions. I couldn't get his smile out of my mind and his hair made me want to run my fingers through it. He looked friendly and open. I also couldn't get over the fact that he reminded me so much of the wing clad hero in my dream. I snapped out of it when I realized that Izzy was talking to me. "I'm sorry what did you say?"
Mia and Izzy exchanged a quick glance when Izzy repeated, "I said, you wanted to go to the beach right?"
"Oh, yea totally! It's not going to be that hot today, so it should be fun," I replied. After we cleaned up the dishes, we went to go put on our bathing suits. Izzy wouldn't even let me bring a one piece. She made me go buy a brand new bathing suit that shows a lot more skin than I preferred, but it's hard to say no to Izzy. As I finished getting ready, I had a sudden image of the boy from this morning. I couldn't stop thinking about the ripple of muscle he must have underneath his shirt. Mentally, I shook myself because a guy like that only cared about sports and which cheerleader he was going to date next.
I went downstairs to find that I was the last one down. "Sheesh, what took you so long?" Mia exclaimed.
"Hey it takes time to look this good!" I joked. We walked out the back porch and the afternoon sun immediately engulfed us with its warm presence. We found a good spot to put the umbrella and out towels. As soon as I made sure we all had on sun block, we headed into the water. I could feel eyes watching our retreating backs. When it came to admirers, Isabel and Mia had an abundant amount of them. I didn't necessarily have a long list of guys waiting for me, but I didn't necessarily make myself available. I dipped my toes into the waters edge; and despite the warmth of the sun, the water was freezing!
"Come on Clary! Get in the water!" Mia yelled as she came up from under the water.
"Uhh," I deliberated, "ahh!" I screamed as both Mia and Izzy splashed me with water.
"Okay, okay! I'm coming!" I said as I walked into the water then dove underneath so I cold get used to it. Once I came up for air, my friends swam over to me.
"It feels great, huh?" Mia asked.
I laughed, "Yeah, it's amazing!" We continued wading in the water for another hour or so. We dried off and put our dresses back on. Then we started walking towards the pier. As we were walking, we could see a huge crowd gathered up ahead. We looked at each other then sped the pace up a little to see what all the commotion was about.
"Looks like a volley ball game," Mia pointed out.
"Thank you captain obvious," Izzy exclaimed.
"No problem," Mia retorted. I looked and saw that it was the same two guys from this morning.
"At least we know who they want to win," Izzy said. She looked pointedly at the girls in the bleachers. Practically every single girl watching the game had their eyes fastened on the players on the left, who happened to be the guys from this morning.
"At least we know why! Those guys are hot!" Mia exclaimed. I couldn't disagree with that.
"Yeah they are, but let's hit the pier. I want to go shopping," I said unenthusiastically. I just wanted to get out of there for some reason. As we were walking away, I lifted my water bottle to take a sip when I felt somebody run into me from the side and then I was lying on the sand with the bronze haired volley ball player on top of me.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" he asked, his beautiful face creased with worry.
"I think I will be…..as soon as you stop crushing me," I gasped.
"Oh, right sorry," he said again. He got up and helped me up.
"Don't worry about it," I said. I started shaking off the sand, but he still hadn't left. I looked up at him and we sort of just smiled at each other until his partner said, "Dude?"
We broke out of our trance and he spoke again, "Sorry again. See you around?"
"Umm, maybe?" I replied, unsure. He turned and went back to the game with one last smile in my direction. I turned to find that Mia and Izzy were staring at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Mia was it just me, or was Clary flirting with a complete stranger?" Izzy asked.
As we continued walking, I complained, "Oh come on you guys! Relax. He bumped into me; and he apologized. There, end of story."
"Okay….." Mia said. We finally made it to the pier by then, so it was time to shop 'til we dropped, or I complained enough, whichever came first.
Jace P.O.V
I was totally in the zone today. Nothing was going to stop Sebastian and me from winning this game. The ball was soaring towards me and I figured I could hit it before it went out, but I was way off. I ended up running into someone very small and soft. She gave a small sound of surprise and I looked down to find that I was staring into the eyes of the red headed beauty from this morning.
For a second, I couldn't say anything. I could only feel her soft body under me and all I wanted to do was just lie there with her. I finally realized that I should apologize so I said, "Oh god, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Oh god, I thought. Who says that? I sound like a nerd. Then I realized what she was saying and got up so I wouldn't be crushing her anymore.
I couldn't help but smile at her and was happy to be rewarded with the most radiant smile I have ever seen. But of course Sebastian had to ruin the moment by bringing me back to reality. "Dude?" he asked. Regretfully, I turned away from her. I definitely had to see her again, but all I said was, "See you around?" How lame is that? I could already not think straight around her and for some reason that made her that much more interesting.
"Umm, maybe," she replied unsure. She walked away with her friends and I wish I could have walked away with her. I served the ball and the rest of the game went by smoothly. I wasn't really into the game anymore though. All I could think about was that red haired beauty. There was just something about her, and I didn't even know her name! I think that was the most frustrating part! It was never hard for me to get a girls name, but this girl was different. She wasn't falling over trying to get my number. And there was just something about those amazing green eyes that practically hypnotized me. Sooner or later though, we'd run into each other again, and this time I won't let her slip through my fingers.
Clary P.O.V
We were looking through stores for about an hour and a half when we decided to head back. "Oh, how about some ice cream?" I exclaimed.
"Yeah sounds good," Izzy, said.
"Then to the ice cream shop!" yelled Mia. We laughed and half ran to the ice cream shop. As we were choosing our ice cream, I saw three guys watching us from the corner of my eye. When we were walking out, the three guys walked up to us and blocked our path. "Well hello there. You come here often?" the guy in the middle asked, who appeared to be the ring leader of the three.
He had to be a local and one with the lamest pick up lines ever at that. "Excuse me, get out of our way please," Izzy said, stepping in front of me. She was still so protective of me and sometimes it comes in handy, but other times, it was kind of insulting that she thinks I can't take care of myself.
"Oh come on now. I believe I was talking to your friend," he said, "I'm Jordan by the way." He only looked at me when he said it and it gave me the creeps.
"Well I don't necessarily feel like talking. So excuse us, but we have to go now," I said as I grabbed Izzy and Mia's arm and steered them away.
"Ugh! What was that guy's problem?" Izzy fumed as soon as we were out of sight.
"It was Clary. She's too hot for her own good," Mia stated as if it were a fact.
"Well I'm sorry if my hotness is a danger to you," I said frostily.
"Oh chill Clary. You know I was only trying to protect you," Izzy defended herself.
"Well I can take care of myself, "I said, "You can't always protect me. Someday, somewhere, you're not going to be there to fix my problems. You have to let me face my own battles. I know you just want to protect me, but I've got to learn to do it on my own."
"Well….okay," Izzy said, speechless.
"Listen, I'm sorry. Do you guys mind if I walk around by myself for awhile? I need time to think," I asked. They looked at each other for a short period of time, then they both nodded.
"Thanks, I'll call you when I head back to the house," I said. I turned and walked away. I promised myself I wouldn't be a downer this summer. We barely got here and I was already picking a fight with Izzy. Hopefully a little time to myself will calm me down.
A/N: Okay so hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing!I really appreciate it. If you guys have any feed back, feel free to let me know! Happy reading!
