260 House by the Ocean

Looking out the window of the rented automobile, I can see the sparkling ocean as it reflected the blue sky and the sun above. Accompanying the soft hum of the car engine was the sound of the air conditioner pumping cool air into the interior of the automobile. It was a rather calming ambiance, one that would definitely lull me into sleep if not for the fact that I had just woken up from a quick slumber.

This trip to the beach has all members of the club plus Luna's boyfriend. That makes the total number of people going on this trip to be twelve as there is myself, Alvelyn, Muria, Irina, Erith, Luna, Mura, Emilia, Noah, Zaksus, Loyd, and Luna's boyfriend Zevin. Because there's so many people, two cars had to be rented, with one being the large van that seated eight people and the other being this SUV that seated four people. In this SUV, Emilia was the one that is driving, and seated in the front seat is Noah with Alvelyn and I in the back seats.

"You two finally awake?" Noah said as he looked back at us. "Finally I have someone to talk to?"

"You can't talk to Emilia?" I yawned and responded.

"She's not that exciting to talk with," Noah sighed. "Besides, she's way to oppressive in conversation topics."

"With the topics you want to talk about," Emilia commented, "it is only reasonable that I force you to cease it at once."

I looked at her face in the rear view mirror and saw that there was a light blush. From this, I guess that Noah probably inquired her about something that is...not family friendly or too overly personal. Therefore, I can understand why Emilia would shut the conversation down.

Once again, I gazed out the window and at the blue ocean. We are slowly approaching the small coastal city that the house we had rented out was located in. For this three hour journey, we had to leave the city and head south. However, upon seeing the ocean, I have a feeling that it will be worth it.

"How much longer until we're there?" I asked.

"About half an hour," Emilia responded. "Almost there."

"It's still gonna be a while," Noah whined.

"Won't you ever grow up?" Emilia sighed and shook her head.

Noah's probably simply searching for attention from Emilia. It's sort of obvious that is the case judging off of the almost childlike behavior he exhibited whenever he's around Ralus and Emilia. There's probably a side of Noah that I do not know about, a story that has its own beginning and end.

After half an hour of driving, our car pulled into the small coastal city. We drove towards the beach from here, and it didn't take long for us to find the home that we had rented out online for this summer retreat. It was a two story building with an ocean view. From the front entrance of the house, one can see the sandy coastline as it curved.

"This place is better than we expected," Luna exclaimed as we all disembarked the parked vehicles we rode in to arrive here.

"Let's grab our stuffs and bring them in," Mura said out loud, reengaging us back to the main task at hand.

I walked over to the trunk of the SUV that I rode in and waited for the trunk door to open automatically. Once the trunk door has lifted up completely, I reached in and grabbed the small sports bag that contained my change of clothes and towel. Next to my bag was Alvelyn's, so I grabbed that one as well.

"I'll carry it," I muttered to her when I turned around and saw her waiting.

She's the female me, so she is still me. Helping out myself really isn't that much of a hassle. In fact, I would help myself before I help anyone in this world. That's just how everything goes in life. We all act in our best interest and rarely would we sacrifice for other people. Besides, my bag and her bag didn't weigh much. All that was in there were three days worth of clothing to change into, swimwear, towels, and sunscreen.

With one bag strapped across a shoulder and the other across the other shoulder, I started walking towards the front entrance to the house. As I walked, I passed by the blonde boy that I am still unfamiliar with. He had just retrieved a small suitcase from the truck of the van in addition to a sports bag that seemed to belong to him that he strapped across his shoulder. If I've recalled correctly, his name is...Zevin Leis Leidender, Luna's boyfriend.

My first impression of Zevin was...one that leaned towards the positive side. He's rather normal, the type that one can find at almost every high school they go to. I feel like he would mix well with many people as he's just all in all a...pretty average person. Yet...it is just this normal part about him that made him quite abnormal. It's just...a vague feeling that I cannot decipher.

"I got it," Zevin muttered to Luna as he grabbed the suitcase.

"Thank you," Luna smiled faintly in response to his actions. With her two hands clasped before her and the way she looked at him, she appeared to be just like an ordinary girl. Perhaps the only thing abnormal about this couple are their appearances, with both possessing above average countenance. However, I would say that Zevin's is simply above average and Luna's being extraordinary.

Seeing their interactions for some reason made my mind feel rather heavy, almost as if there was a bitter taste in my mouth that is so faint that it may as well be nonexistent. Yet...it just does exist, and that bothered me somewhat.

"The boys will get the room on the first floor," Mura assigned the rooms. "The girls will have the room upstairs, and Emilia and I will take the smallest room upstairs as well."

With that being said, we all took our belongings to where our sleeping quarters were. Loyd, Zaksus, Noah, and I carried our stuff over to the opened door leading into our room on the ground floor while Zevin lagged behind. It would appear that he was saying a temporary goodbye to Luna, which I do not understand. You're literally downstairs from her.

The room assignments, I would say, is pretty fair. The largest of the three rooms were given to us boys with the second largest given to the five girls. The smallest room of all is then left for the two teachers. This was the best that could be done, but it does not mean that all is ideal, especially for us boys. Upon entering the room, my first thought was that...it's cramped with five boys in their late teens to be in. In addition, since people that would rent this house usually come in groups, instead of multiple beds, there was one single large bed that spanned the length of the room up against the wall. I can see that the design was for everyone to be sleeping on this single large bed, but...it doesn't look to be big enough.

"How will this work?" Noah asked as he stared at the large single bed.

"It'll be cramped," Loyd sighed and smiled weakly, "but I guess we'll have to make it work."

"Let's try it out?" Zaksus suggested.

Then, the five boys, me included, all tried laying down on the bed in a way that would offer us all the most space to sleep with. However, even then, it was rather uncomfortable and cramped.

"This won't work with five people," Noah sighed as we all got back up. "It ain't gonna work. Especially with Zaksus, why do you have to be so damn big?"

"I don't take up that much space!" Zaksus exclaimed.

Zaksus was right. As an athlete, his body is in the best shape out of all of us. His build was rather slim with muscle due to his low body fat percentage.

"It doesn't help that you're so damn tall," Noah rebutted. "Wide-ass shoulders, and shit. Besides, you're too damn muscular. It's like sleeping next to a rock."

"That ain't his fault," Loyd chuckled.

Next to me, Zevin seemed to also be laughing, possibly out of awkwardness. He's the only stranger in our group, so I can understand why he might not be feeling the most comfortable around us at the moment.

"Fine," I sighed and said. "I'll sleep on the couch in the living room."

"You sure about that?" Zevin asked. "I can sleep outside."

"It's fine," I rejected his offer.

In all honesty, I kinda like the idea of sleeping in the living room. There, through the sliding glass doors, I can see the ocean in its full glory. And with the doors slid open, I will be able to hear the waves crash against the beach and let nature sing me a lullaby to sleep.

"Hey," Zaksus spoke up with an excited expression on his face. "I saw a basketball court outside by the beach. Wanna go play real quick? There's a ball here."

"Did you come to the beach just to play ball?" Noah looked at him with a look of bland surprise.

"Come on," Zaksus insisted. "It'll be fun. We're playing by the ocean!"

"Then the wind will just mess with the shot," Noah bantered back. "Besides, not all of us are top high school recruits like you."

"You're a recruit?" Zevin looked over at Zaksus in surprise.

"Don't be surprised," Loyd said. "But you're looking at one of the top high school prospects in the country."

"Professional teams even wanted him to come work out with them," I added in.

"Come on," Zaksus insisted once again. "Let's go play for a bit."