Looking at the ground, she could tell they were smirking victorious. Shuffling from foot, she lifted her eyes to look at them. Derek crossed her arms and smirked at her. Burke had his eyebrow raised. And Mark had that smirk on his face letting her know he had won. Shaking her head slowly, she turned to the fridge not wanting to look at their self-confident faces. She looked through the fridge for something to eat but nothing was breaking the surface of her thoughts. They didn't know her. They knew six year old Meredith Grey. They didn't know about her life. The pain. The hurt. The broken promises. Slamming the door to the fridge, she turned on her heel and walked out.
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She left for the beach before they were awake the next morning. She didn't want to deal with them nor did she want to see them. Putting on her bikini, cover up, and flip-flops, she grabbed the beach bag and headed down stairs. Setting the bag by the door, she walked into the kitchen to get her money. She walked in almost startled to see Preston sitting there.
"What are you doing up?" She snapped slightly a little harsher than she had expected but brushed it off. He didn't answer and continued to sip his coffee and read the newspaper. Not bothering to say anything, she walked looked around for her purse. "Can I have that pen?" She mumbled pointing to the pen sitting on the other side of the bar.
"Your house." He snapped quietly.
She rolled her eyes taking the pen turning away. "Whatever." She jotted down a quick note to her mother and walked out. Grabbing her bag, she walked out quickly. After taping the note to the door of her mother's house, she walked to the garage and typed in the code. The door slowly pulled up revealing a tarp-covered car. She pulled the tarp off as she walked in. Underneath was a black convertible.
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She had been lying on the beach listening to her Ipod for about an hour. Her tanning skin glistened in the sun. Living in California, she knew the tricks to telling guys to stay away from her. She knew the way to make sure she wasn't in the mood to flirt or 'have a good time.' Pretending to sleep was the strategy she had chosen. Her sunglasses were close to her hands. Her cell phone rested beside her head, and she lied on her stomach and positioned so the sun directly hit her back, not that she really needed anymore of a tan.
She could feel a shadow cast over her back causing her to tense up slightly. Little pieces of sand blew onto her face from the now loose sand the person had kicked up. Annoyed that the person wouldn't go away. Letting out an irritated sigh, she used her forearms to prop herself up. Peeling her eyes open slowly, she looked up at the person. The brightness caused her eyes to strain to see. Dennis stood there looking down at her. Mark, Derek, and Preston didn't stand far behind causing her to feel slightly insecure but didn't let it show.
"Hey, Dennis." She mumbled rolling onto her back pulling the headphones out of her ears.
"Hey, Mer." He said back and she glanced over at Richard, Ellis, Carol, Jane, Steven, Larry, and Nina who were assembling a small circle of chairs.
"Good Morning, Mer." The adults all said at one time as if planned.
"Morning." She smiled back notice that the guys had sat away from her but she didn't care.
"Mer? Mer? Mer?"
"What? What? What?" She mimicked her little brother.
"Come in the water with me!" He said happily.
"Okay, okay." Struggling into the sitting position, she wrapped her headphones around her Ipod and returned it to the bag. Standing up, she smiled at her brother.
"Bet you can't catch me!" He yelled taking off.
"You want to bet." She giggled as his squeals filled her air. She knew that other people were sending her glares but she didn't care. She also knew that there were probably quite a few gazes on her, but it no longer bothered her.
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He watched her run down the beach after her brother. Her perfect body move like an angel. Her hair flowed behind her. And everything that was supposed to bounce bounced perfectly and nothing that wasn't supposed to bounce did. Her watched her jump into the water catching her brother in her arms. He squealed loudly laughing at the same time along with his sister. They broke apart and Dennis kicked water up at her. She got this cute fake offended look and splashed him back. This continued until a large wave took them by surprise knocking them down to the ground. She quickly grabbed his arm to keep him from hurting himself. The water rolled over her face as another wave toppled the two. As the wave calmed, she scrambled to her knees and quickly lifted Dennis up. He could tell she asked him if her were okay by the way she touched his arm. He nodded and laughed filled the air between the two. She stumbled to her feet and brushed her hair back out of her eyes.
"Mark?" He jumped at the sound of his name.
"Huh?" He looked at his friends.
"What's with you?" Burke said.
"Nothing." He sighed. "Just some hot chick caught my eye."
"Go for it."
"She looks taken." His eyes traveled down the beach.