Kaitlin lied on her bed as she thought about tings in her life. She hugged her pillow and rested her head. A knock sounded upon her door.
"It's open," she said loud enough for them to hear.
The door opened. Kaitlin looked to find her mother there. "How are you, dear?" she asked. Kaitlin shrugged not knowing how to feel these days. "How was Jay?"
"He was good. He's happy that we're in town. I met Ava's nephew, the one around my age."
"Really? What do you think of him?"
"I don't know. We didn't talk."
"You will tonight. I guarantee it," her mother said with a smile.
Bradin began to set the table for dinner when the doorbell rang. "Can you get that?" Johnny asked Bradin. Bradin walked up to the door and opened it. It was their guests.
"Hi," he said as he let them in.
As they walked in, Bradin saw Kaitlin wearing a different hoodie than before and her hair was pulled up half way. He smiled at her. "Hey," he said.
"Hi," she said quietly.
"Are you okay?" he asked walking next to her.
"Yeah."
"Hey!" Ava said coming out of the kitchen with a pot in her hand. "I hope you're all hungry," she said placing the pot on the table.
Bradin looked over at Kaitlin and noticed that she looked like she didn't want to be there.
"Aunt Ava," Bradin began, "can Kaitlin and I skip dinner and go out to eat?"
Kaitlin looked at Bradin with a confused expression on her face.
"I made her favorite, though," Ava said.
"Then, can we go out after?"
"You can if it's okay with her parents," she said looking at Kaitlin's parents.
"It's fine," her mother said.
Kaitlin sat at the table playing with the food that she didn't eat, which was a lot.
"Are you okay?" she heard.
She looked up and saw Jay looking at her with concern.
"Yeah. Sure," she said. "May I be excused?" she asked.
"You didn't have dessert yet and I made my famous chocolate pie that you like," Ava said.
"Please?" she asked.
Her mother and father looked at Ava. "Sure," they said.
Kaitlin got up and walked out. Bradin watched as she ran out the back door onto the beach.
Kaitlin sat on the beach looking out in to the water. She had her arms rested upon her knees as her head lied on her arms. She closed her eyes.
"Hey," she heard. She looked behind her and saw Bradin. "Can I sit with you?"
"Sure," she said looking back out at the water and resting her chin on her arms.
"Don't you love it out here?" he asked. Kaitlin looked at him wondering why he was sitting next to and talking to her.
"Why did you offer to take me out for dinner?" she asked.
"You looked like you didn't want to be there. You looked like you were mad and upset and just stopped crying."
"How could you tell?" she asked.
"Your eyes," he said, "For some reason, I know what you're feeling every time I see you. Earlier today at the surf shop, you looked happy but sad at the same time. I think you were happy to see Jay again. I couldn't think of a reason to why you were sad until you mentioned your racing accident."
Kaitlin turned away.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to mention it. I just… I'm sorry."
"Don't be," she said, "I'm just upset and scared."
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.
"No, maybe when I'm over it."
"Okay. So, what do you want to do?" he asked.
"You want to hang out with me?" she asked.
"Yeah. Jay does talk and you do seem cool. Come on. Show me your favorite place in Playa Linda."
"You are the first person to see it," she said standing up. Bradin smiled and stood up as well.
The two walked in silence down the beach. About twenty minutes after they began walking, Kaitlin stopped at a pile of huge rocks. Bradin watched as she climbed the rocks. She looked back and noticed that he wasn't following her.
"Come on," she said. He didn't move. "Don't make me come down there and get you."
Bradin smiled and began to climb the rocks. He followed her until they got to land. Kaitlin began walking again and Bradin followed. Kaitlin stopped at a tree and began to climb it. She got to the top and looked down at him.
"I know. I'm a monkey," she said.
"A cute monkey," he said.
Kaitlin smiled and disappeared into the tree. Bradin kept looking up until he saw a ladder drop.
"Climb it," he heard Kaitlin say.
Bradin looked at the ladder and began to climb it. He climbed until he got into a tree house.
"Kaitlin?" he asked.
Kaitlin walked in and said, "I'm here. I didn't disappear."
He smiled. "This is your favorite place in all of Playa Linda?" he asked looking around.
"Actually, out here," she said walking out onto a balcony.
Bradin walked out and stood next to her. You could see the entire beach from the tree house. "Why did you show me if no one has ever seen this?" he asked.
"Because you're the only one who asked," she told him.
He looked over at her and could see her beauty. The light breeze blew a strand of her hair back. Kiss her, he thought to himself.
"Don't kiss me," she said.
"Huh?" he asked.
"Don't kiss me."
"How'd you know-"
"I may have got into an accident and might not know a lot, but I know when a guy wants to kiss me," she said.
He blushed and looked out to the beach.