19 Chapter 18

was woken by giggles from little kids. It was quite embarrassing to look up into their eyes while they laughed at us for sleeping in the sand. As soon as David opened his eyes the kids scurried away while Deroara still slept through it all. Sand decorated our hair like confetti. The thought made me miss the times me and my other friends went to music festivals.

"Damn, I'm hungry," David interrupted my thoughts. I could use some food myself, I thought as my stomach rumbled.

"Ugh me too," Derora suddenly sat upright. David looked out across the sea, I couldn't help but notice his eyes matched the water. "Since we're fishers, we could try to catch a meal?" he suggested. I instantly sucked in my breath as I waited for Derora's response. She didn't disappoint when she stuck her finger under his face, and her temper flaming up. "Not even over my dead body," she threatened him. I should've warned him, I thought as I tried to stifle a giggle.

"Let's go steal peaches from Chris and Alfred, I can distract them," I suggested. We all agreed on that plan.

***

I caught them painting their blue door in bright red. The paint had a weird smell and I scrunched up my nose. Chris turned around and smiled when he saw me.

"Hey what are you doing?" I tried to distract him as I saw Derora climbing the tree in the side of my eye. Chris rested his arm on my shoulder as he admired his work.

"We couldn't let this can of paint go to waste in our basement," was his reply. I liked the blue door more, but I didn't say it out loud. David and Derora came around the corner with fruit stuffed in their shirts. Chris saw them approaching and leaned forward to whisper something into my ear, "Meet me here at 8 tonight, I have something to show you." My cheeks got hot and I was sure it made my whole face red too. Derora looked really uncomfortable with the peaches stuffed in her clothes.

"Leona, my mom called for us!" she lied and abruptly walked away, not giving me a choice but to follow. David followed with a stiff walk. We sat on the side of the road. They lifted their shirts and emptied their pockets, letting a dozen peaches fall out. They really went out of their way. I gradually ate three while they had the rest.

"What did Chris tell you?" David scooted closer to me. I realized he really didn't like Chris that much. How could that be when they didn't even know each other. If I told David he intended on showing me something, he might flip out. "He told me you guys walked funny," I said instead. David's face relaxed, although I could see he started scheming.

The rest of the day we walked through Greece as tourists. Looking at the cute street markets, and later swimming in the ocean. Of course I also had to be stung by a jellyfish. All the time I just waited for the night.

***

Night was falling where we sat between the dunes again. I was pretty sure it was already past eight, but I had to wait for sandman to visit Derora and David. It wasn't long before the moon rose again, although it looked a little pink this time. It had to be an effect of the clouds or something. The two looked passed out after a while so I took my chance and ran up the street towards the cabin. Old music and candlelight drifted through the window. I saw Chris's silhouette through the window. I hoped I wasn't too late. The summer breeze played with my hair as I ran to the house. Chris sat on his bed reading Frankenstein. I see he liked horror, and wanted to see if I could scare him. Quietly as possible I picked up a branch and started scratching at the windows. I saw his reflection in his mirror, and he looked confused. He stood up and walked towards his window.

"Did I scare you?" I laughed as he saw me outside. "It takes more than that to scare me. I thought you weren't going to come," he said as he opened the window for me to climb in. It was a neat and simple bedroom. Whitewashed walls with a single bed in the middle. The other side of the room was decorated with a bookshelf, a closet and a surfboard.

"Sorry I'm late, It took longer to sneak away than I thought," I said embarrassed. Chris just shrugged it off. He offered me chips and I sat on his bed. Chris rummaged for something in his closet. "What did you want to show me?" I asked curiously. With his head still in the closet he replied, "There isn't something, I just wanted to see you." I rolled my eyes, How romantic.

Finally his head peeked out from the closet, and he had a guitar in his hands. He's a surfer, a book nerd, and he can sing? He seemed perfect, almost too perfect. Chris sat next to me, and started playing "Oh Darling" from The Beatles. I pretended to be surprised, "Oh wow, you're going to sing for me?" He smiled and proceeded with his song. After his beautiful voice filled my ears, I asked "Why do you like me, you barely know me?"

My heart skipped more than one beat as he started playing with my hair. "Do I need to, is there a rule-book that tells you?" he asked a rhetorical question. I smiled and Chris did the same. For a moment his teeth looked like razors and his eyes had a haze over them. I blinked and he looked normal again. It must've been my imagination playing games with me.

Chris dragged me by one finger to his lips. Hook, line and before the sinker I realized it wasn't his hands I wanted around my waist. The universe provided, in the form of David throwing a pebble through the window. Both me and Chris jumped up. "David what the hell are you doing here?" we both yelled. He peeked his head through the Window.

"Leona, I need to tell you something urgent!" he said. I was so glad David was there, but obviously it would be embarrassing to tell him that. "You could have waited," I tried to make my act more believable. The look in his eyes told me it really couldn't wait. I looked from David to Chris and started climbing out the window.

"I'm really sorry," I apologized to Chris. His face looked stone cold, but he didn't say anything. He watched me and David walk away. As soon as we were away from the house I started questioning David, "Why did you follow me? What is so urgent you need to tell me right now? Why don't you like Chris?"

David let out a big sigh.

"He is my uncle."

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