p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"strongA/N:/strong Thank you for the wonderful reviews! :) As requested, here is chapter two! It is MUCH longer than chapter one, and I hope you love reading it as much as I loved writing it!/p
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"strongI do not own Jai Courtney, Divergent Trilogy, or anything else mentioned in this story. This story is pure fiction and not real. The only characters I own are Kayla, Keegan, Susanna, Eli, and Mel because they're original characters I created./strong/p
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"Enjoy! And please continue to post reviews! I love reading what you guys think of my writing./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"strongspan style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px; font-family: Georgia;"Chapter Two – The Beach/span/strong/p
p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"strongspan style="font-family: Georgia;"Kayla/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""So, what's everyone doing this morning?" I asked as I came out of the guest room – my bedroom for the summer./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Work." The four of them replied at the same time. My heart sank./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""You can go to the beach if you want to, though." Susanna beamed at me. "By the looks of it, you could use the sunshine." I hit her arm playfully and giggled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I know, I know… I'm a ghost! It's the lack of sunshine in the States." I joked. The four of them joined in on my laughter./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Well, if you go take my car," Keegan tossed me his keys. "I catch a ride with a co-worker." I heard a horn honk outside. "And that's him. See you guys later." Keegan walked to the door, opened it, and left. Soon after, the rest of them left. Susanna wished me a good time at the beach before leaving. I went into my room and got changed into my swimsuit and sundress that I bought to use as a cover-up. I grabbed my towel, sunblock, and sunglasses, shoving them all into my beach bag. I slid on my sandals and walked out the door, Keegan's keys in my hand. I got into the car and started it, heading to the beach./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;"When I got there, I got out of the car and saw the waves crashing on some of the big rocks. I noticed a handful of guys taking turns going out to surf the waves to my right as I walked towards the water. I set my bag down close to the water, but not close enough to soak it if the tide came in. I took off my sundress, revealing my two-piece bikini and headed for the water./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""The tide's strong today! Careful out there!" I heard one of the guys yell. I looked over and returned his smile, waving./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Thanks for the heads up!" I replied. Out of the corner of my eye, I kept looking over at him. He looked to be about 6'1, short dirty blonde-looking hair and a little more than a 5 o'clock shadow for a beard. He looked athletic and muscular as well. Very attractive-looking./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;"I continued to make my way out to the water. I stood by one of the smaller rocks in the water. He was right; the tide is strong as it almost knocks me over. I slowly inch my way farther out into the water and away from the rock. I start to feel more confident as the tide calms a little, so I begin to inch out farther and farther. I get to where the water touches my midriff and smile. I looked over to see the same guy who had given me the heads up, and suddenly everything went black./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"strongspan style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;"Jai/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;"My mates and I were having a good time watching one another surf the strong waves, yelling and whooping to one another as each one either successfully rode the wave, or crashed into the water. Laughter usually followed when one of us crashed. We all knew never to swim alone though, that was very dangerous. Just as one of my buddies crashed into the water, I saw her to my left. She looked rather short, her light brown hair in a ponytail. My eyes followed her as she moved, watching her in her blue and white striped sundress. She stopped, set down her stuff, and then took off her sundress, revealing her slim body and blue bikini. She looked pretty hot in my opinion, judging just from her body anyway. I watched her as she walked out towards the water. Remembering that I got hammered by a wave my first time out today, I called out to her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""The tide's strong today! Careful out there!" I hollered./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Thanks for the heads up!" she called back and continued to make her way out to the water. I continued to talk to one of my buddies that stood beside me and glanced in her direction occasionally, keeping an eye on her. I watched as she moved from the rock and inched out little by little. She must've been feeling confident because when she got a good distance from the shore and the rock, she turned to look at me with a smile. I smiled back and within seconds she was gone./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Shit!" I began running in her direction without thinking about it a second time. I got into the water, fighting the tide and dove under. I hoped and prayed that I would get to her before the tide dragged her out too far. After all, there were sharks out here if you went out far enough. Thankfully, she'd only been moved just a tad and I was able to grab her, bring her head above the water and start swimming toward the shore. When we got to the shore, I picked her up and carried her over to where I had a towel already laid out. I placed her on it and checked to see if she was /"She's not breathing," I told my mate next to me who, amongst the chaos, had asked me if she was okay. I thought I heard him begin to call an ambulance, but I wasn't sure. I began doing CPR to resuscitate her, hoping that it worked. I'd never seen anyone drown before and I emdefinitely/em didn't want today to be the day to change that. After a few moments, I heard her cough so I quickly turned her to her side so she could spit up the water. As she was catching her breath, I called out to my mate and told him she was okay./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Miss, do you know where you are?" I asked her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""The beach, I think… in Australia," she replied a little unsure./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Yes, you are," I confirmed for her. "You were out in the water and the tide knocked you under. I ran in to rescue you." I told her. She looked at me like she couldn't believe I was sitting in front of her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Wait a minute," she paused. "Don't I know you from somewhere?" she asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I'm not sure. Do you?" I responded. I wanted to see what she said she'd knew me from. So far since I'd been home, I'd gotten Divergent, I Frankenstein, Felony, the new Die Hard movie, and Jack Reacher./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I've seen you before…" she paused, looking away. I could tell she was trying hard to think about it. "No way, I must be dreaming…" she looked at me again. "Eric? From Divergent?" yep… there it was. "Jai Courtney?" oh, she emdid/em know my name./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""You would be correct." I grinned. "And no, you're not dreaming," I added./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Wait a minute, let me see if I get this straight. You, Jai Courtney, happened to be at the same beach where I – foolishly – got pummeled by the tide coming in and almost drowned, and you saved me?" she asked me like it was so hard to believe./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Yes," I replied. It was cute watching her this way. Before I could say anything else the paramedics arrived to take a look at her. I backed away to let them do their job and went to talk to my mates. I could hear one of the paramedics continuously tell her they needed her to look at them, which only confirmed my feeling as if someone had been staring at me. They asked her several different times if she was feeling okay and if she needed them to take her to the hospital. Even though she kept reassuring them she was fine and didn't need to go, they continued asking. I excused myself from my friends and made my way over./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Are you sure?" I heard the paramedic in front of her ask for the hundredth time./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Yes, I'm sure. I'm fine. I don't need to go to the hospital." she reassured them./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""If she feels bad later, I'll bring her in guys." I offered, knowing it was the only way they were going to back off. With that, they packed up their gear and left./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Thank you, so much." she looked at me with a smile./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""It's really no trouble." I returned the smile. "Do you have friends on another part of the beach?" I asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""No. I'm here by myself," she replied. "My friends are all at work."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Would you want some company until they got home? I'm not sure I feel comfortable leaving you alone after what happened out there." I gestured to the water./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""If it would make you feel better, then sure," she responded. I could tell she didn't want to seem too eager to accept my offer but didn't want to come off like she didn't care either./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""If you're okay to drive, I can follow you back to where you're staying, and then we can go out to lunch in my car." I offer./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Sure," she replied. I said bye to my friends, and then followed her to grab her stuff. She threw her dress back on and we went to the parking lot. When we got back to her place, I parked behind /"I need to go get changed before we go. Wanna come in and wait?" she asked me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Sure." I paused, walking up to the door right behind her. "I didn't know you were staying with Keegan," I said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I didn't know you two knew each other," she replied. "I'm staying here for the summer."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I figured you weren't from here." I grinned as we went inside and she walked to her room./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Oh yeah? How's that?" she asked me as she went into her room./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Because you sound American," I called to her. A few minutes later she came back out in jean shorts and a light purple halter top, purple sandals on her feet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""That's because I emam/em American," she replied. "Ready?" I nodded and followed her out the front door. She locked it as I walked to the passenger side and opened the door for her. She got in, thanking me for opening the door and I got into the driver's side. After pulling out of the driveway, I spoke up./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""So, what are you in the mood for?" I asked. She looked at me funny. "For lunch," I added. Part of me wondered where her mind went before I clarified, but I quickly shook it off./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Know any good places to get pizza?" she asked me. emA girl after my own heart/em, I thought./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I do." I grinned, heading for the pizza place I always went to. When we got there I shut the car off, got out, and opened the door for her. I held out my hand to help her out of the car and she thanked me with a smile. When we got to the doors of the pizza place, I opened the door for her that was labeled 'enter'./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Do you do that a lot?" she asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Do what?" I asked, not sure what she meant./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Open the doors." she clarified. I was a little surprised that it seemed foreign to her that a guy was gallant./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""All the time, for any woman I'm with," I responded with a smile. I enjoyed being a good guy, and my mum taught me to be a gentleman. She gave me a surprised look. "Why so surprised?" I asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I thought chivalry was dead," she responded flatly./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Not in me, it's not," I said proudly. "And it never will be," I added. She smiled at me, almost as if I restored a little bit of her faith in men. We sat down at our table and talked until a waitress came over to take our drink orders. I asked for a sprite, and she asked for a coke. Shortly after that, the waitress brought our drinks and took our order. Amongst the conversation, a thought hit me straight out of the left-field of my brain./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""You know, it just occurred to me that you never told me your name," I said. Feeling a little embarrassed, she looked over at me with a grin./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I'm Kayla," she replied, giggling a little bit./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I like that name, Kayla. It's a very pretty name, for a beautiful young lady." I returned her grin, making her flush a light pink in her cheeks. We continued to talk about a variety of different things. She mentioned she was from Los Angeles, to which I replied that I lived there part-time when I was working on a film. We got on the topic of her being here for the summer, and I mentioned I was only here for the summer as well and then I was going back to LA and back to work on a new movie. We discussed our love for pizza, sports – to which she said that she loved baseball… the Detroit Tigers being her favorite team. We talked about funny things that happened on the set of Divergent, and she asked me more about the different movies I'd worked on so far. Her laugh was infectious, which made me very happy. She had a beautiful smile and her voice was like music to my ears./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;"After we ate lunch, I offered to drive her back to Keegan's. When we pulled in, he was sitting on the front porch, playing on his smartphone. I shut the car off and opened her door for her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Were you locked out?" she asked him. He nodded. "I'm sorry Keeg! I didn't think to ask you what time you got off this morning when you left."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""It's fine Kayla, really," he reassured her with a smile before turning to look at me. "I see you met one of my best buds." he opened his arms to hug me. "It's good to see you, mate."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""You too, bro. How've you been?" I asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Not bad, not bad. How was LA?" he asked as we all went inside./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Good, good. It's a helluva lot cooler temperature-wise there than it is here." I chuckled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Of course it is," he paused. "As long as you're not there." he joked. The three of us laughed. We all hung out for a while, playing video games. I explained to Keegan and the other three people he lived with how I had saved Kayla and that was how we met. Keegan also boasted about my ability to play guitar and brought his out for me to play a little bit for Kayla. Before I knew it, it was getting late at night./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Well," I stood up. "I'd better be off. I'm going surfing again in the morning." I added./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I'll walk you out, Jai." Kayla stood up, walking over to me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""It was great to see you again, Jai!" Susanna smiled at me. I smiled back and nodded as Kayla and I made our way to the door. She came outside with me and smiled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Thank you for saving me. I didn't think to say it earlier." she looked at me sheepishly. emBeautiful/em was the only word in my mind at that point./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""It's no trouble. I'm glad I bumped into you up there, regardless of the reason. I had a great day with you." I grinned. She slowly leaned forward, hesitating for a minute. I could tell she was moving in for a hug, so I moved the rest of the way, putting my arms around her. The hug lasted probably a little longer than it should have, but I honestly didn't want to let go and it seemed like she didn't either. It was nice, feeling someone against me again. I hadn't felt anyone against me like that in a long time./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I'm really glad I got to meet you, even though it was because you saved my life." she giggled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Would you want to come up to the beach with me and the fellas? Just to watch us surf?" I asked nervously. Why was I so nervous all of the sudden?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Sure." she grinned at me and my heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Okay then," I beamed. "I'll be here to pick you up at 8 tomorrow morning, okay?" I began walking to my car./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Sounds great," she replied, making my heart leap again. "I'll see you then."/span/p
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"strongI do not own Jai Courtney, Divergent Trilogy, or anything else mentioned in this story. This story is pure fiction and not real. The only characters I own are Kayla, Keegan, Susanna, Eli, and Mel because they're original characters I created./strong/p
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"Enjoy! And please continue to post reviews! I love reading what you guys think of my writing./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"strongspan style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px; font-family: Georgia;"Chapter Two – The Beach/span/strong/p
p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"strongspan style="font-family: Georgia;"Kayla/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""So, what's everyone doing this morning?" I asked as I came out of the guest room – my bedroom for the summer./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Work." The four of them replied at the same time. My heart sank./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""You can go to the beach if you want to, though." Susanna beamed at me. "By the looks of it, you could use the sunshine." I hit her arm playfully and giggled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I know, I know… I'm a ghost! It's the lack of sunshine in the States." I joked. The four of them joined in on my laughter./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Well, if you go take my car," Keegan tossed me his keys. "I catch a ride with a co-worker." I heard a horn honk outside. "And that's him. See you guys later." Keegan walked to the door, opened it, and left. Soon after, the rest of them left. Susanna wished me a good time at the beach before leaving. I went into my room and got changed into my swimsuit and sundress that I bought to use as a cover-up. I grabbed my towel, sunblock, and sunglasses, shoving them all into my beach bag. I slid on my sandals and walked out the door, Keegan's keys in my hand. I got into the car and started it, heading to the beach./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;"When I got there, I got out of the car and saw the waves crashing on some of the big rocks. I noticed a handful of guys taking turns going out to surf the waves to my right as I walked towards the water. I set my bag down close to the water, but not close enough to soak it if the tide came in. I took off my sundress, revealing my two-piece bikini and headed for the water./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""The tide's strong today! Careful out there!" I heard one of the guys yell. I looked over and returned his smile, waving./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Thanks for the heads up!" I replied. Out of the corner of my eye, I kept looking over at him. He looked to be about 6'1, short dirty blonde-looking hair and a little more than a 5 o'clock shadow for a beard. He looked athletic and muscular as well. Very attractive-looking./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;"I continued to make my way out to the water. I stood by one of the smaller rocks in the water. He was right; the tide is strong as it almost knocks me over. I slowly inch my way farther out into the water and away from the rock. I start to feel more confident as the tide calms a little, so I begin to inch out farther and farther. I get to where the water touches my midriff and smile. I looked over to see the same guy who had given me the heads up, and suddenly everything went black./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"strongspan style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;"Jai/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;"My mates and I were having a good time watching one another surf the strong waves, yelling and whooping to one another as each one either successfully rode the wave, or crashed into the water. Laughter usually followed when one of us crashed. We all knew never to swim alone though, that was very dangerous. Just as one of my buddies crashed into the water, I saw her to my left. She looked rather short, her light brown hair in a ponytail. My eyes followed her as she moved, watching her in her blue and white striped sundress. She stopped, set down her stuff, and then took off her sundress, revealing her slim body and blue bikini. She looked pretty hot in my opinion, judging just from her body anyway. I watched her as she walked out towards the water. Remembering that I got hammered by a wave my first time out today, I called out to her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""The tide's strong today! Careful out there!" I hollered./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Thanks for the heads up!" she called back and continued to make her way out to the water. I continued to talk to one of my buddies that stood beside me and glanced in her direction occasionally, keeping an eye on her. I watched as she moved from the rock and inched out little by little. She must've been feeling confident because when she got a good distance from the shore and the rock, she turned to look at me with a smile. I smiled back and within seconds she was gone./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Shit!" I began running in her direction without thinking about it a second time. I got into the water, fighting the tide and dove under. I hoped and prayed that I would get to her before the tide dragged her out too far. After all, there were sharks out here if you went out far enough. Thankfully, she'd only been moved just a tad and I was able to grab her, bring her head above the water and start swimming toward the shore. When we got to the shore, I picked her up and carried her over to where I had a towel already laid out. I placed her on it and checked to see if she was /"She's not breathing," I told my mate next to me who, amongst the chaos, had asked me if she was okay. I thought I heard him begin to call an ambulance, but I wasn't sure. I began doing CPR to resuscitate her, hoping that it worked. I'd never seen anyone drown before and I emdefinitely/em didn't want today to be the day to change that. After a few moments, I heard her cough so I quickly turned her to her side so she could spit up the water. As she was catching her breath, I called out to my mate and told him she was okay./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Miss, do you know where you are?" I asked her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""The beach, I think… in Australia," she replied a little unsure./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Yes, you are," I confirmed for her. "You were out in the water and the tide knocked you under. I ran in to rescue you." I told her. She looked at me like she couldn't believe I was sitting in front of her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Wait a minute," she paused. "Don't I know you from somewhere?" she asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I'm not sure. Do you?" I responded. I wanted to see what she said she'd knew me from. So far since I'd been home, I'd gotten Divergent, I Frankenstein, Felony, the new Die Hard movie, and Jack Reacher./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I've seen you before…" she paused, looking away. I could tell she was trying hard to think about it. "No way, I must be dreaming…" she looked at me again. "Eric? From Divergent?" yep… there it was. "Jai Courtney?" oh, she emdid/em know my name./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""You would be correct." I grinned. "And no, you're not dreaming," I added./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Wait a minute, let me see if I get this straight. You, Jai Courtney, happened to be at the same beach where I – foolishly – got pummeled by the tide coming in and almost drowned, and you saved me?" she asked me like it was so hard to believe./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Yes," I replied. It was cute watching her this way. Before I could say anything else the paramedics arrived to take a look at her. I backed away to let them do their job and went to talk to my mates. I could hear one of the paramedics continuously tell her they needed her to look at them, which only confirmed my feeling as if someone had been staring at me. They asked her several different times if she was feeling okay and if she needed them to take her to the hospital. Even though she kept reassuring them she was fine and didn't need to go, they continued asking. I excused myself from my friends and made my way over./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Are you sure?" I heard the paramedic in front of her ask for the hundredth time./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Yes, I'm sure. I'm fine. I don't need to go to the hospital." she reassured them./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""If she feels bad later, I'll bring her in guys." I offered, knowing it was the only way they were going to back off. With that, they packed up their gear and left./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Thank you, so much." she looked at me with a smile./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""It's really no trouble." I returned the smile. "Do you have friends on another part of the beach?" I asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""No. I'm here by myself," she replied. "My friends are all at work."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Would you want some company until they got home? I'm not sure I feel comfortable leaving you alone after what happened out there." I gestured to the water./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""If it would make you feel better, then sure," she responded. I could tell she didn't want to seem too eager to accept my offer but didn't want to come off like she didn't care either./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""If you're okay to drive, I can follow you back to where you're staying, and then we can go out to lunch in my car." I offer./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Sure," she replied. I said bye to my friends, and then followed her to grab her stuff. She threw her dress back on and we went to the parking lot. When we got back to her place, I parked behind /"I need to go get changed before we go. Wanna come in and wait?" she asked me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Sure." I paused, walking up to the door right behind her. "I didn't know you were staying with Keegan," I said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I didn't know you two knew each other," she replied. "I'm staying here for the summer."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I figured you weren't from here." I grinned as we went inside and she walked to her room./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Oh yeah? How's that?" she asked me as she went into her room./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Because you sound American," I called to her. A few minutes later she came back out in jean shorts and a light purple halter top, purple sandals on her feet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""That's because I emam/em American," she replied. "Ready?" I nodded and followed her out the front door. She locked it as I walked to the passenger side and opened the door for her. She got in, thanking me for opening the door and I got into the driver's side. After pulling out of the driveway, I spoke up./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""So, what are you in the mood for?" I asked. She looked at me funny. "For lunch," I added. Part of me wondered where her mind went before I clarified, but I quickly shook it off./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Know any good places to get pizza?" she asked me. emA girl after my own heart/em, I thought./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I do." I grinned, heading for the pizza place I always went to. When we got there I shut the car off, got out, and opened the door for her. I held out my hand to help her out of the car and she thanked me with a smile. When we got to the doors of the pizza place, I opened the door for her that was labeled 'enter'./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Do you do that a lot?" she asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Do what?" I asked, not sure what she meant./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Open the doors." she clarified. I was a little surprised that it seemed foreign to her that a guy was gallant./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""All the time, for any woman I'm with," I responded with a smile. I enjoyed being a good guy, and my mum taught me to be a gentleman. She gave me a surprised look. "Why so surprised?" I asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I thought chivalry was dead," she responded flatly./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Not in me, it's not," I said proudly. "And it never will be," I added. She smiled at me, almost as if I restored a little bit of her faith in men. We sat down at our table and talked until a waitress came over to take our drink orders. I asked for a sprite, and she asked for a coke. Shortly after that, the waitress brought our drinks and took our order. Amongst the conversation, a thought hit me straight out of the left-field of my brain./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""You know, it just occurred to me that you never told me your name," I said. Feeling a little embarrassed, she looked over at me with a grin./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I'm Kayla," she replied, giggling a little bit./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I like that name, Kayla. It's a very pretty name, for a beautiful young lady." I returned her grin, making her flush a light pink in her cheeks. We continued to talk about a variety of different things. She mentioned she was from Los Angeles, to which I replied that I lived there part-time when I was working on a film. We got on the topic of her being here for the summer, and I mentioned I was only here for the summer as well and then I was going back to LA and back to work on a new movie. We discussed our love for pizza, sports – to which she said that she loved baseball… the Detroit Tigers being her favorite team. We talked about funny things that happened on the set of Divergent, and she asked me more about the different movies I'd worked on so far. Her laugh was infectious, which made me very happy. She had a beautiful smile and her voice was like music to my ears./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;"After we ate lunch, I offered to drive her back to Keegan's. When we pulled in, he was sitting on the front porch, playing on his smartphone. I shut the car off and opened her door for her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Were you locked out?" she asked him. He nodded. "I'm sorry Keeg! I didn't think to ask you what time you got off this morning when you left."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""It's fine Kayla, really," he reassured her with a smile before turning to look at me. "I see you met one of my best buds." he opened his arms to hug me. "It's good to see you, mate."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""You too, bro. How've you been?" I asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Not bad, not bad. How was LA?" he asked as we all went inside./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Good, good. It's a helluva lot cooler temperature-wise there than it is here." I chuckled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Of course it is," he paused. "As long as you're not there." he joked. The three of us laughed. We all hung out for a while, playing video games. I explained to Keegan and the other three people he lived with how I had saved Kayla and that was how we met. Keegan also boasted about my ability to play guitar and brought his out for me to play a little bit for Kayla. Before I knew it, it was getting late at night./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Well," I stood up. "I'd better be off. I'm going surfing again in the morning." I added./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I'll walk you out, Jai." Kayla stood up, walking over to me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""It was great to see you again, Jai!" Susanna smiled at me. I smiled back and nodded as Kayla and I made our way to the door. She came outside with me and smiled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Thank you for saving me. I didn't think to say it earlier." she looked at me sheepishly. emBeautiful/em was the only word in my mind at that point./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""It's no trouble. I'm glad I bumped into you up there, regardless of the reason. I had a great day with you." I grinned. She slowly leaned forward, hesitating for a minute. I could tell she was moving in for a hug, so I moved the rest of the way, putting my arms around her. The hug lasted probably a little longer than it should have, but I honestly didn't want to let go and it seemed like she didn't either. It was nice, feeling someone against me again. I hadn't felt anyone against me like that in a long time./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""I'm really glad I got to meet you, even though it was because you saved my life." she giggled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Would you want to come up to the beach with me and the fellas? Just to watch us surf?" I asked nervously. Why was I so nervous all of the sudden?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Sure." she grinned at me and my heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Okay then," I beamed. "I'll be here to pick you up at 8 tomorrow morning, okay?" I began walking to my car./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 16.8667px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-family: Georgia;""Sounds great," she replied, making my heart leap again. "I'll see you then."/span/p