Chapter 8: Midnight Swim

As I laid in bed, all I could think about was Kai. He made me feel like I belonged in this town, he made me feel like I actually fit in for once. I looked at the clock, it was nearing 2 o'clock a.m. and I had still not fallen asleep since the festival.

I couldn't wait until summer when he set up his beach house, and I could see him anytime I wanted. Kai had left back to the city to get all his supplies, but he told me he would be back on the 30th of Spring. I guess I would just have to wait patiently until then.

The next week went by extra fast, everyday I did my regular chores, and took my regular walk around the town, always making sure to catch up on the latest gossip with the girls. Karen and I had become great friends, but I also made fairly good friends with all the rest of the girls in Mineral town, including Ann.

I even got up the courage to talk to Cliff, and even though neither of us ever spoke about what had happened, we were once again on speaking terms. Every time I saw him I still felt that sting of what he had done to me and those hidden feeling that I still held, but I promised myself that I wouldn't let that get to me, because ever since I had met Kai, things were always looking better.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP!" I reached over and smacked my alarm clock, and looked at the calendar. Today was the day! I pulled on my clothes and rushed out the door. Quickly finishing my chores, I ran out of the farm towards town. My first thing was to pick up some seeds for the summer season. I ran into the shop and called out to Karen.

"Karen, I need some summer seeds, do you got any advice, I'm in a hurry," I said with a smile.

"Wow, You're looking happy today. I'm guessing today is the 30th?" She questioned me with a smirk.

"Well you guessed right. So are you gonna help me or not?"

"You bet! I'm just glad to see you're happy for once. Ever since that whole Cliff thing, I never use to see you smile. But enough of that, here take these seeds," she said handing my 6 bags.

"Thanks a lot Karen, you're the best!" I smiled quickly hugging her and then running out the door. I stuffed the seeds into my bag as I entered Rose Square.

"Ok, here it goes," I said to myself. I pulled my hair behind my ears and took a deep breath. I didn't want to look too desperate, so I casually walked down the stairs to the beach. I looked over toward the beach shack, and saw Kai unpacking some boxes. I slowly walked over to him. He looked over and spotted me.

"Hey Jen, it's great to see you again," He called out to me, dropping the box that was in his hands.

"It's great to see you too Kai," I smiled. I felt myself blush a little, but I quickly started to talk to break the silence. "Well, I hope I'm not interrupting you or anything, you probably have a lot of work to do before you're shop opens."

"No, it's ok. Nobody comes until the 1st anyways. It's great to have some company."

"That's good to hear," I replied, and almost immediately after we said hello we started to talk. We talked about anything that came to out heads, including our family, and why we both came to Mineral town. I even told him about Cliff, which was weird because the only other person I had told about that was Karen. As we talked I helped him unpack his things and set up the beach shack. By the time we finished it was already dusk.

Kai and I sat on the end of the dock and watched the sun set over the ocean.

"It's really beautiful, isn't it?" He asked me.

"It sure is," I said to him. I laid my head on his shoulder. I know things were moving really fast, but for some reason I led myself to believe that it was okay. We continued to watch the sun set over the horizon, but this time neither of us talked for a while. Kai then broke the silence.

"Jen", he said to me.

"Yeah," I mumbled sleepily.

"Would you consider going out with me tomorrow night? It is the beach festival, and I was hoping after the swimming races, you would take a walk with me or something" He asked. I was quite shocked that he had asked me this, because we had only truly met today, but I found myself answering Yes.

"Great," he said. "I'm sorry if I seem to forward, but I really like you," he said looking directly at me. I couldn't reply, I was too happy. Kai started to lean toward me.

"Please don't do this, I don't want this to end up like Cliff," I said to myself, but I found myself doing nothing to stop him. Once he came close enough, his lips softly touched mine and then backed away. I looked into his eyes and then we both redirected our eyes toward the small sun that was left. I peered out of the corner of my eye, and saw him grin. I smiled to myself. All of a sudden Kai turned toward me.

"Do you want to go swimming?" He asked. I was stunned. "The water is pretty warm, after all, tomorrow is the first day of summer."

"Sure," I replied giggling. Kai stood up and pulled off his shirt. He had a great body. Scared that I was drooling and I also stood up. I had on a cami and shorts, so I was safe to swim in that. The dock was about 2 meters off the water. Kai back up and leaped off the edge of the dock doing a cannon ball into the dark waters. The water splashed up and died down. Kai surfaced, and looked up to me.

"Aren't you coming," He grinned.

"Just give me a second," I replied. I back up and also ran off the dock, doing a graceful swan dive into the water. When I hit the water it was fairly warm, but I could see nothing. When I surface, I looked around, unable to find Kai. All of a sudden I felt someone pull me under the water's surface. When I resurface I was face to face with Kai.

He smiled and started to do the backstroke away from me. I leapt on him and pulled him under. We played like this for nearly 2 hours, until finally we could hear the town clock chime midnight. We both swam toward shore, but as we neared the beach, Kai playfully picked me up and carried me on shore. He collapsed on the beach, and there we laid, regaining our breath.

I rolled over on my side to face him. He rolled over toward me.

"So... do you still want to go out with me tomorrow night? He asked me, creating designs in the sand.

"Of course," I replied. "I can't wait." Kai stood up and shook the sand off his shirt. He helped me up.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the beach festival," I said to him.

"Yeah, are you gonna cheer for me in the race?" He asked me smirking.

"Of course," I laughed. "Well I have to get home. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow."

"Let me walk you home," He said. He took my hand in his, and we slowly walked toward Kanter Ranch. The streetlights shined dimly over the cobblestone pathway as we walked, and when we neared the farm, I wished that they would go on forever so I could continue to walk with Kai.

"Well, here we are," He said letting go of my hand. "I'll see you tomorrow I guess?"

"See ya then," I replied and he kissed me again. When he backed away my lips tingled. I turned around and walked into the house. I looked out the window and watched Kai head back toward the Beach. I couldn't wait until tomorrow.