Chapter 20 - Eavesdropping on the Beach

"You're perfect on the outside but nothing at the core

It's easy to forget when you show up at my door

Stop messing with my mind, 

Cause you'll never have my heart

But your perfect little body ma-ma-makes me fall apart

Your perfect little body ma-ma-makes me fall apart ."

Kiara's POV

That day after school I decided to take the bus and go to the nearest beach. I needed to clear my mind and get away from all the high school drama. I informed Dylan of my need to be alone and fortunately he didn't ask me any further questions.

I arrived at the beach at 5 p.m. and even though it was a cold day, I didn't mind. The beach was empty, until a couple started walking by the sea. I sat in the sand, hidden by the dunes, my knees brought to my chest and I inhaled the salty air, feeling instantly relaxed. The beach always managed to calm me down. I loved water, and I loved the sea. I was drawn to not only the ocean itself, but to the lands beyond it as well. That's what the horizon in the sea meant for me: a world full of mysteries and adventures for me to find out. That's what the water smelled and tasted like: freedom.

Nevertheless, my thoughts went back to my school day, Aiden and Matthew's fight revolving in my mind. Aiden had tried to apologize although he wasn't sorry, but Matthew had simply stayed away.

I sighed and a high pitched voice woke me up from my thoughts. I noticed that the couple I had previously seen was coming in my direction, but they couldn't see me as I was hidden by the dunes. I, however, recognized both of them. Andrea and James, the wonder couple from rowing.

I saw Andrea taking her hands to her head in a gesture of exasperation.

"Gosh, James! Don't you get it? I... I can't, ok? Not anymore! I'm sick and I'm done!"

I saw James' mouth opening and his eyes widening. Mine were too. Andrea and James were known as being the perfect couple, even though they didn't date for that long.

"W-what?" James astonishingly replied.

"We're done! I hope you understand but... I'm just not that into you." Andrea took one last glance towards him and then walked off the beach, leaving him dumbfounded. I didn't know what to do, but before I could at least get away so he wouldn't see me, he walked closer to the dunes where I was and saw me.

He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What are you doing here?"

There was no point in lying.

"Not eavesdropping, I swear. Though I did hear you..."

James threw his hands into the air.

"Oh, great! Just what I needed! My biggest competition in rowing knowing about Andrea breaking up with me!"

I was flattered that he had called me his biggest competition but I wasn't going to show him that.

"Well, if you wanted to make your argument private you should have scanned the beach or gone to a more private place, you know. This is a public space after all, and I have all the right to be here." I replied back. I shouldn't  be sarcastic after what had just happened, but I couldn't help myself.

He sighed.

"I'm not going to argue with you. Not after being dumped."

"Do you still like her?" The words came out of my mouth before I could think about them but maybe talking about other people's problem was what I needed to make me forget about my own. How selfish the human nature was, uh?

Contrary to what I was expecting, he didn't get mad. He simply sighed again and sat next to me.

"Honestly, I can't tell. I don't know. Our relationship lately had been shaky and rough and it was clear for both of us that we were not going through the best of times. But we believed, well, at least I did, that we could go through this and that everything would be alright. And I don't know what it is supposed to feel after a break up so I don't know if I still like her or not."

"Well, I guess you're supposed to feel empty or lost or something. Like you've lost your purpose on this world." My voice was filled with a mocking tone. James lips twisted into a small smile.

"Not very fond of love, are you?"

"Well, do you feel empty or lost?" I ignored his question.

"Actually... I don't." He admitted. "I feel more like... mad. Like afraid of what people might say when they find out Andrea broke up with me and not the other way around. But maybe it was better this way, then they'll know I wasn't the one to finish the wonder couple. But, no, I don't feel lost. I'm angry right now but I know I'll get through this. It's not like I'm hopeless or broken or something."

"Was your relationship serious? Or was it just for fun?" I questioned, but I already knew the answer.

"Andrea's a reckless person. And I guess I liked that about her. The fun I could have with her, the challenge. But, yeah, it was nothing too serious. We didn't talk much, we just enjoyed. Making out and-"

"Too much information." I cut before he could give me any further information. James narrowed his eyes and while doing so his nose wrinkled.

"You're probably thinking I'm just an immature guy who was with Andrea for the... physical part. And you're absolutely right, because it's true. She was, let's say, a temptation hard to resist." Once he said that, my eyebrows raised. I wasn't expecting he would admit that. "But you can't blame it all on me, she was in it just for it too. And once she got tired, she dumped me."

At least James wasn't like Matthew or Aiden, who hooked up with girls who thought they were being serious. At least both James and Andrea agreed they were just having fun. That way there were no heartbreaks.   

"You admitting that makes you a little bit more mature." I declared and then my voice turned amused to decrease the tension. "Now you have the maturity of a five year old child."

"Very funny. But you're a good listener." He commented. "So, now, what about you?"

"I can't believe you are asking about myself, James. I thought we did nothing but compete in the river."

"I'm taking a chance. So, why did you decide to come here in a cold November day?"

You know that thing people say? That sometimes it's easier to tell something to a person you don't know that well than to someone you actually know well? That was what was happening with me and James. I didn't lie. I didn't escape his question. I told him the truth.

"Two guys got in a fight because of me."

"I thought that was every girl's fantasy." James' voice didn't sound surprised, which somehow surprised me. In all honesty, I thought he would widen his eyes and ask in disbelief: Two guys? In a fight? Because of you? But that didn't happen. Instead, he just talked as if he thought it was perfectly plausible for an antisocial girl like me to have not one, but two guys, around her.

"I'm not every girl."

"I've noticed that." Then again, his voice wasn't mean or cold. "And I'm going to take a chance and say that one of the guys was that dude that in one of the rowing practices was flirting with my girl... ex-girlfriend?"

"Yes, he was one of them." I narrowed my eyes. He remembered Mathew. "How did you know?"

James shrugged.

"I'm a guy. I can tell when other guys are interested in girls. He seemed very interested in you."

I didn't respond and James ended up questioning me again. "What about the other guy? Was it Dylan?"

"No! But you know what, it doesn't matter."

"Well, do you like one of the guys? Or is it a love triangle?" James insisted.

"I don't like neither of them." I resolutely answered him. The conversation was starting to annoy me. "And I came here to stop thinking about that."

"Fine. But I need to tell you this. Even if you're not interested in them, you're not indifferent to them, because if you were you wouldn't have come to a beach in a November day to try to take them out of your mind." 

"Whatever." I mumbled. I needed to change the subject to something  lighter. "But hey, do you want to stay here and grumble over your life with me?"

James's eyes sparkled and he smiled. "Yeah, thanks."

Music is "Tickets" by Maroon 5.