13

The rest of July whizzed by, and I have to say that it wasn't completely awful. I became friends with Vivien, Demean and I were basically best friends, and Josh and I had made up. We weren't dating or anything, but I mean there was always the possibility. Louis and I had continued our nighttime meetings and were still close but nothing would ever happen between us because he and Vivien would be together for good, now that all the unpleasant things were behind us.

When August rolled around I was confronted with the horrible realization that I was going to have to register for school. It was a scary, scary thing to think about. After my last year of high school I never wanted to go back, but my parents had already signed me up to go to school. I had a birthday in July and for some reason I hadn't been able to start kindergarten when I was supposed to, so this year I would be a sophomore. That was another depressing thing all my friends were in the grade above me. Well, except for Demean, he was a senior.

I tried to not think about it but there was no way of getting my mind off of it. I had no plans for today and that made me feel even worse. I ran out to the beach and began to cry. I hadn't cried like this in a while. Things had gotten better, but every now and then I just got overwhelmed.

I was sobbing so harshly I didn't notice that someone had walked over to me. At least I didn't notice until that person put their arms around me and began to stroke my hair. I looked up and met eyes with Louis. This made me break into an all new chorus of sobs. I cried for an all new reason. I cried because Louis was just so great, and just so perfect. I knew we would never be together and I felt this wound all over again.

"It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay." Louis cooed, trying to calm me. Eventually my tears subsided and I hugged Louis. "Thank you." I sniffled as I pulled away. "Well, you know Vivien's not going to be around today." I looked at him confused. "Do you know how to swim?" he asked with a mischievous smile.

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"And you're sure Vivien won't mind?" I asked looking down at Vivien's wet suit I was wearing. "You guys are friends, don't friends share clothes?" he asked and I couldn't debate that. We were sitting on the beach with the ocean in front of us and surf boards in our hands. "You do realize I have no idea what I'm doing." Louis laughed. "That's why I'm going to teach you!" he said as he playfully tasseled my hair. I giggled.

"Okay, all u have to do is paddle, and then once you spot a wave, jump, land on your feet, and keep your balance." Louis said demonstrating on land. "That's not really in-depth instructions." I said starting to get really scared. "Don't worry, the less I tell you, the more natural it'll feel." I bit my lip, regretting agreeing to this. "Come on!" he said as he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the edge.

There was no turning back now, so I ran and jumped. We paddled out and waited for a wave. We didn't have to wait very long. "Remember," Louis said. "jump, land on your feet, and keep your balance." I nodded shakily, and then turned me head to view the oncoming wave. JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!, was all I thought. I jumped, landed, and then somehow kept my balance.

This was the greatest feeling I'd ever felt. I smiled one of the biggest smiles of my life. I looked over at Louis, and he was ecstatic. The wave subsided and I had no idea what to do. So I did the only thing I could do, fall. Louis Dived in and brought me back to the shore. He looked down at me sacred. I started laughing hysterically. This caused Louis to start cracking up. Before we knew it we were rolling in the sand laughing.