The next day, Kenzie lathered up on the sunscreen. She wasn’t as pale as Isaiah, and though she wasn’t a vampire, her skin still burned very easily if it was exposed to those violent UV rays for too long.
Before leaving, she called Jillian’s cell phone, and was relieved when she didn’t hear any suggestive noises on the other end of the line from Isaiah’s hotel room. She told Jillian she’d meet her and Isaiah at the beach later, and she also said that she was glad she’d found a nice guy at last.
“You mean I’ve got a good one that you like?” she teased.
“Yes,” Kenzie laughed. “Isaiah is a great guy. I’m glad you’re both following my advice. You finally found a good guy and he’s actually living.”
“What?”
“Oh, I mean, living it up, you know? He was kind of a wall flower in Bridgeport.”
“You wouldn’t know that with him in bed,” Jillian whispered seductively.
“JILL! I could have gone the rest of my life without knowing that!”
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. Oh no, he heard me! He’s tickling me! Kenzie, help!”
Kenzie laughed out loud and breathed into the phone, “Sorry Jill, you’re on your own for that one!”
Jillian’s shrieks echoed through the phone so loudly that Kenzie had to hold it away from her ear. When they finally subsided, she was still laughing as she said, “Thanks, Kenzie. It means a lot to me that you like Isaiah.”
“I’m glad. I’ll see you later.”
“Can’t wait!”
Kenzie hung up and dug through her suitcase for her swimsuit. She normally didn’t like wearing it to the beach, but she figured she might as well live it up. She may be turning 25 in a couple of months, but that didn’t mean she was too old to have fun.
Later that day, she met Jillian and Isaiah (who was covered in sun block and surrounded by at least three heavy umbrellas, much to the amusement of other onlookers on the beach), as well as Austin and Cheyenne.
That green-eyed monster came back slightly when Kenzie saw that Cheyenne was brave enough to wear a two-piece swimsuit, even with a slightly fuller figure. She wasn’t as hefty as Kenzie, but she wasn’t petite either. In fact, she reminded Kenzie of what she’d looked like when she’d been a size 12.
That’s what she gets for ingesting comfort food.
Kenzie, Jillian, and Isaiah had strung their beach towels together to create a lounging area in the sand, and when Austin and Cheyenne came closer, Kenzie rose from her lounge chair and approached them with a shy smile.
“I just want to say again how sorry I am for the way I acted before,” she told Cheyenne sincerely. “I have no excuse for that, and I hope you can forgive me.”
“I’m sorry, too. I should have just been honest with you to begin with. It would have made everything so much easier. If I was honest, maybe Jillian and I wouldn’t have been kidnapped.”
“Yeah, but what I did was truly unforgiveable.”
“No, I think what I did was worse.”
“Look at that, Kenzie,” Austin laughed. “You finally found someone else just as stubborn as you are.”
Kenzie chuckled too. “Well, I forgive you, Cheyenne. Do you forgive me?”
“Of course I do. But this whole thing was hardly your fault. That guy was always nuts. I don’t know what I ever saw in him.”
“I wonder the same thing sometimes when I look at some of my exes.”
“Does that include Austin?”
Kenzie raised an eyebrow and looked at Austin quizzically.
“You told her?”
“I figured it was time she knew the truth.”
“It did help me understand better,” Cheyenne agreed. “Now I get why you were so jealous. It wasn’t just because Austin had a new girlfriend. It was because you two used to date.”
“Yeah...it was a long time ago.”
“Not that long ago. And he did say that you attempted to start over last fall, but you both thought it would be for the best if you were just friends. So I can understand why you’d feel a little jealous, since that was only a few months ago. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous too.”
“What do you have to be jealous of?”
“I could never measure up to a girl like you. You’re successful, determined, and you never give up. I’ve got a little pipe dream of my own and somehow snagged a great guy like this.”
“You two aren’t going to start fighting over me are you?” Austin asked as his face turned crimson and he awkwardly shook his head.
Kenzie laughed. “I don’t plan on fighting. And Cheyenne, you don’t have to worry. I’m not the type to steal someone else’s boyfriend. Austin and I...well, we have a past, but our futures are different. I don’t know what’s in store for any of us, but I want you both to know that I wish you the best. And I hope we can start over and forget about all that stupid drama with Eron.”
“Everyone deserves a second chance. And thank you so much, again, for saving me,” Cheyenne said with a smile. Kenzie smiled back.
“This calls for a celebration!” Austin declared. “Somebody grab a beach ball!”
“You guys go ahead,” Isaiah called from the towel he was lounging on. “I’ll watch.”
“Oh come on, you can’t burn that easy,” Jillian teased. “Even Kenzie doesn’t burn that easy.”
“I’d rather not risk it. Besides, if I sit out, you can have two teams of two.”
“How about a best friend versus boyfriend/girlfriend match?” Kenzie suggested.
“Okay, but don’t think I’ll go easy on you,” Cheyenne taunted with a chortle.
“I’d expect no less.”
The game of volleyball ensued, though each team had a more athletic member than the other. Jillian and Cheyenne were the fierce competitors, and the game finally ended with a draw. Everyone took pictures of each other, and all too soon, Austin and Cheyenne said their goodbyes and returned home. Cheyenne exchanged contact information with everyone, as did Isaiah. Kenzie felt truly content just to see all her friends happy.
Eron had been right about one thing he’d said – everyone gets jealous, and Kenzie was no exception. She felt jealous over her friends’ careers and relationships, but perhaps she’d been looking at everything the wrong way. She’d been looking at her life as though her dream had been taken away from her, but maybe it was a calling. Maybe it was meant to happen so she could begin a new chapter in her life.
Kenzie didn’t know what the future held for her, but for now, just enjoying this moment was enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment