A/N: Guys. I'm sorry -_- BUT! Back and ready for some Lapidot greatness c:
And thank everyone for reading, voting, and commenting! Couldn't do it without you guys! -Sara
She smirked, hands coming up to run through her wet hair. Her breathing was a little fast, but it was nothing compared to the girl before her who was glaring with obsidian eyes. Eyes that could've killed, as the saying went.
"No fair," the girl sneered, misty ocean blue board being tossed down rather harshly. She sneered as she eyed Lapis with fervor. "You had to have cheated!" It was rather amusing, watching her mouth and nose contort like they were doing.
"Maybe you're just not as good as you like to think," Lapis replied pointedly, beginning to turn around to head back over to the towel she'd brought to tan on.
She heard the girl swear, could just envision the thought of clobbering her that was flying through that head. But, luckily for her, she was just called a few choice words before being left alone.
She wasn't much for competition. She didn't see a point in things like that; they just didn't really appeal to her. But it was definitely satisfying to see someone throw a hissy fit after talking smack like that. Those wins were always worth the pain of being back-talked by some prissy brat or rich kid.
The sun was perfect, air warm and inviting without being stuffy. The sand was a tad bit uncomfortable, but once she laid back out on her magenta towel, that wasn't a problem. She sighed in relief as she closed her eyes and rested her cheek on her forearms. Now, it was alone time, and she was just going to enjoy it.
She must have dozed off, because her eyes were jolted open when a voice spoke up near her. She groaned; the skin on her back felt too tight, and her muscles cramped when she tried swiveling her head. Yeah, she could just feel the pain of a sunburn settling in.
That voice didn't sound familiar, just really loud and obnoxious. Like it was pulling at her eardrums and making her wince because it was too high and too all-knowing.
She pushed herself up gently, groaning again when she tried sitting on her butt, only to realize the backs of her thighs were like hot coal where they touched the towel's material. It wasn't necessarily painful, just unpleasant.
She looked over to find the source of the intrusion, a tall, lanky girl with shortly clipped brunette hair and clothes that screamed five years old. She was facing the opposite direction, phone pressed to her ear, talking loudly and gesturing profusely to someone who couldn't see. Lapis had the mean thought that if she was on the other end of that line, she'd definitely hang up.
Lapis sighed, wincing as she stretched, trying to ignore the burning in her flesh as she ran her hands over her face and down her neck, yawning quietly. Probably time to go home. Or, just go home long enough to change and then head out for dinner.
Yeah, that sounded better. Frankly, she didn't feel like dealing with the depression that permeated every microscopic particle in that house.
It took a couple minutes to successfully stand and gather her things, slipping on the jacket she'd brought and balling the towel up beneath her arm. She turned to walk further down the beach instead of towards the town, hoping to avoid the still present woman.
It was a longer walk, made longer still by the tightness in her muscles. And, honestly, it was kind of eerie. She loved the sound of the waves, loved the sound of distant sea gulls. But this was different. Without people, it made things ethereal.
That's why it sort of shocked her to suddenly spot a figure in the distance, seemingly emerging from nothing save the flowing, pinkish-orange sunlight as it reflected off the water. Tall, bulky, staring off into the horizon. It reminded Lapis of one of those sappy romantic dramas one of her cousins had been addicted to.
The thought to turn back around occurred to her, certainly. If this person was this far out, away from the normally crowded sections of beach, then they probably didn't want company. She'd be invading. But that thought was short lived.
Because she recognized this person. The closer she got, the less it looked like just a darkened silhouette and the more features became discernible.
It was a girl, the same one she'd seen days before. Just as buff, hair just as tangled as the faint breeze caught hold of it, making it flutter around her shoulders. Her face was twisted, though, into something akin to a sneer. Like her veins were boiling with the sight of the setting sun.
Lapis wasn't being loud. On the contrary, her steps were silent thanks to the sifting sand beneath and between her toes. But the girl looked her way, as if sensing her drawing ever closer, and Lapis actually felt a pang of sympathy run through her. It was unlike her to feel that way, so it surprised her as her body came to a stop less than eight feet away.
The girl cocked her head, face softening. In the gentle lighting, her eyes took on a glow that offered something more. Something better. The tear tracks on her cheeks spoke the truth, though. She was hurting, and she didn't know what to do.
"Hi," she spoke, and her voice was just as deep but now it cracked under pressure. Lapis wondered how many people had seen her like this; she didn't give off the aura of someone all that intoned with extreme emotions.
Lapis shifted her weight. "Hi," she voiced.
A pause, long but surprisingly not awkward. The girl was the first to break contact, turning her head back to the water. "What are you doing here?"
Lapis frowned, following that gaze but finding nothing but the distant frothing of lapping waves. She once more contemplated just turning away and leaving. A cruel thought, perhaps.
"Nothing," she murmured honestly, subconsciously tightening her grip on the towel. "You?"
A shrug answered her, and she watched in quiet fascination as the girl shook her head, shoving her hands in her jeans and absently kicking at the sand. It sent a shell sliding down the slight slope towards the beach's edge.
"It's complicated. Or, maybe it's not. I don't know. I just had to get away a moment, you know?" There it was again, that raw emotion. It washed over them, obviously negatively affecting the girl. Lapis took a step forward before her mind could catch up and stop her.
There they stood for an insufferable moment, the sun ever sinking and the water growing more and more adventurous as it reached out for their feet. Quiet and loud, alone but together, reality but mindful fantasy. It felt nicely terrible.
Until Lapis sighed, letting her towel drop to the sand. She shuffled forward, following an imaginary line in the sand. The girl didn't look at her; Lapis wasn't fully sure the girl even heard her moving.
She bent down when she made it, wincing at the pain in her thighs but waving it away mentally as she scooped up both pebbles and a shell. It was smooth thanks to the water, dulled with age. An honest teal color that could be lost with the tide if given the chance.
For a moment, her thoughts wandered. She remembered moments just like this, once upon a time. When she was a mere child, running through the dunes of scratchy earth and treasure hunting with her mother's voice always in the background, either laughing at her fanatics or warning her to be careful. It was bittersweet. It was painful.
She shook it away, though. She didn't need that, a mental overview of what had and still had time to go wrong. Those were for another time, another day. Maybe never if she was kind to herself.
She turned back to the girl to find those glowing eyes staring at her, into her, through her. They were probing, and yet they were offering at the same time. It was strange and unwelcome, yet oddly intriguing. Something akin to a perverted sense of mutual distress.
Her smile was almost forced, the smallest twitch of thin lips trying to come up in some sort of reassurance. She had to shuffle a few feet to be able to reach out, shell in hand, and offer it.
"'Tides will drift, but tides return,'" she mused quietly. (quote by Steph Barrak, Hardwired)
The girl furrowed her brow heavily, but she took the shell. Their eyes locked once again, and Lapis nodded once. It felt right.
And then they were drifting apart, and the water was washing over Lapis' bare legs as she watched the girl turn and walk away. The shell kept catching the light, shining when the girl's arms would move. As if it were a beacon.
Hope in the form of a beautiful metaphor.