BEACH HOUSE

Nancy Evelyn stood under the scorching hot sun. Beads of sweat had began to form on her forehead. She was thankful that she had at least put her ash blonde hair into a pony tail. Reaching into her pocket, she took out her phone and tapped the screen lightly. The time was boldly displayed on her lock screen. It was 3:00pm. Amelia had told Nancy to meet them at the school's parking lot. An hour had gone by and there was no sign of them. 'maybe I mixed up the meeting time' Nancy thought. She had been too excited to get any wink of sleep last night. Getting invited to Amelia's beach house was like a dream come true. Nancy often mulled over why Amelia would invite someone like her. Nancy was the complete opposite of Amelia. She was a nerd who loved indulging herself with games and comic books. Spending time outdoors was a foreign concept to her. Nancy adjusted the collar of her grey hoodie. The amount of sweat trickling down her body would have been enough to fill a bucket. She had accustomed herself to wearing hoodies, sweatshirts and huge T-shirts. Wearing a thick hoodie in the middle of summer was probably the dumbest thing anyone could do, but Nancy didn't have a choice. Her closet was void of summer clothing. From the distance, Nancy could see a black car heading towards her direction. It got closer and stopped right in front of her. The car was a Mercedes E-class cabriolet convertible. It had no roofing which made it possible to see whoever was inside. Amelia was at the drivers seat, giving her a look she couldn't quite comprehend.

"Hey, hop in let's go." Amelia said.

Nancy had expected an apology for the fact that she kept her waiting for so long, but she got none. Brushing it off, she swung her bag over her shoulder and headed towards the convertible.

"Are you listening?"

Maria looked up at him and blinked twice.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

he sighed.

"I really like you Maria, and I want this to work. But it seems like you're not interested in me."

Maria adjusted herself on the chair. Recently she had been trying out blind dates, but none of them had been working out. Today she was on a blind date with Trevor Reagan. He was handsome and all but she subconsciously found herself comparing him to Oliver. ' I want to see Oliver' Maria thought.

"is it the restaurant I picked? You don't like it? Should we go somewhere else?" Trevor asked, his voice getting frantic.

Maria was tired of the date already. She wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"Trevor, I'm sorry this date has to end so soon, but I have something really urgent to take care of." Maria said as she picked up her purse.

"oh..."

Trevor's expression had changed. He looked like a lost puppy which made Maria think he was cute for a second.

"Can I give a ride at least?" he said.

"Thanks for the offer, but that's fine. I'll take a taxi." Maria walked out of the building, reminding herself to never go on a blind date again.

The car ride was much more mentally taxing that Nancy could have ever imagined. Loud music boomed from the speakers and everyone was singing along. Nancy sat at the back seat with three other people. Emily Anderson, who was Amelia best friend, a girl who she had seen multiple times on the cheer squad but didn't know her name and the vice captain of the football team, Leroy Brooks. Amelia's boyfriend sat with her at the front seat. Occasionally, he would get on his feet and holler incomprehensible noises while everyone joined in. Everyone had forgotten about her existence which she was grateful for. She plugged in her ear phones, trying to block out the noise, hoping the ride would end soon.

" There are no hormone abnormalities." the doctor said, while looking at the papers in his hand.

Oliver and Kenna sat at the other side of the desk, their hands intertwined. The doctor looked up at them. " Everything looks normal Mr Lucas."

Oliver scratched the surface of his head.

"So what could be the cause?" Oliver asked.

" Your erectile problem could have been caused by other things." The doctor replied.

Oliver glanced at Kenna. She had a serious look on her face while listening to the doctor attentively. After that night, Kenna had convinced Oliver to see a doctor. Oliver agreed after she persuaded him copiously.

" stress could be a factor." The doctor said.

"I advise getting plenty of rest, and if it persists, I'll recommend some drugs for you."

"Alright, thank you doctor." Oliver said.

Kenna suggested that they take a walk back home instead of taking a taxi. Oliver agreed. He needed to clear his head and a walk was perfect for that. They walked hand in hand, neither saying a word to the other. The sun was retiring for the night, giving the town a yellowish red colour. The wind felt nice on their skin. They took their time walking slowly, savoring the beautiful scenery and the calming atmosphere. They both came to a stop in front of an old children's playground.

"Do you remember this place?" Kenna asked.

"it'll be impossible to forget." Oliver replied, a small smile forming on his lips.

Kenna chuckled.

"Yeah, this was where we first met."

"I remember you running into the playground and looking around desperately." Oliver said.

Kenna walked over to the rusty swing and sat on it, making it creak.

"I'm glad you were here that day, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to find my dog."

Oliver walked over to her and sat down on the swing beside her.

"Well I'm happy your dog got missing, otherwise we wouldn't have met each other." Oliver said, grinning. Kenna slapped his arm playfully as she let out a soft laugh.

"Oliver?" she said, her expression changing.

"Do you love me?"

Oliver stood up from the swing and crouched right in front of her.

"I know you blame yourself for my problem but it's not your fault." Oliver said as he caressed her cheek.

"I love you and nothing's going to change that."

She nodded. Oliver stood up straight and reached out to her.

"It's getting late, let's go home."

Kenna took his hand as they walked back home.

Nancy stood in awe at the view right in front of her. It was the sea. She was fascinated by how scenic it looked. The blue sea was highlighted with streaks of yellowish red light from the sun, giving the sea a very picturesque look. Nancy had never been to the beach before, which was quite embarrassing to say. She looked down at the milkish brown and kicked it lightly.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Nancy turned back to see Amelia giving her a weird look. She shifted her gaze to the large building besides Amelia. Nancy has been so intrigued by the sea that she didn't even glance at the building since they arrived. The beach house was very pretty. It was painted a bright white and had dark blue glass windows. It's front porch was nicely furnished with black wooden chairs, each having a small pillow on it. It looked like the beach houses you'd see in a movie. Nancy walked over to Amelia who was now conversing with Emily. They stopped talking when they noticed She was coming their way.

"Can you be a darling and help carry the luggage um….."

Amelia trailed off. It looked like she was trying to remember something.

"What was your name again?" Amelia said.

This made Emily giggle. Nancy's heart sank. She wondered why she had expected Amelia to know her name.

"it's Nancy."

Amelia shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay Nancy, please help us with the luggage." Amelia said with an innocent look plastered on her face. Nancy nodded and headed towards the car.

The interior of the beach house looked very exquisite. It was lavishly furnished with expensive furniture and items. Potted plants sat at each corner of the living room. Nancy rolled the big luggage up the ceramic stairs, admiring the décor as she went by. She stopped when she got to the top of the stairs. She was extremely exhausted after rolling the heavy luggage up the stairs. The baggage was so heavy that it made her think there was an actual person inside.

"The Grill's at the back!"

Nancy could hear Amelia holler. 'looks like there's gonna be a barbeque' Nancy thought. Her face lit up at the thought of that. Dropping off the luggage, she headed back outside. Jerry and Leroy were setting up the grill while Emily and the cheerleader went in to get the meat and other ingredients. Amelia sat on a wooden chair on the front porch, smoking. It was night time already. The moon illuminated the whole area, giving them enough light. The smell of roasted meat filled the air. Music boomed from the speakers. Everyone looked like they were having fun. Nancy sat on the front porch, staring at the others in the distance. She didn't know how to join in and no one seems to care about her that much. Sighing deeply, she pulled out her phone and decided to play a game. "Hey, could you get more drinks?"

Nancy looked up from her phone. It was the cheerleader. This was the third time they had asked her to run an errand. The first time was to get some paper plates, and the second time was to get drinks. Nancy stood up and went in to get drinks. That was when it finally dawn on her. 'I'm the errand girl' Nancy thought. It all made sense now. There was no way Amelia would invite someone who she has never talked to without a reason. This left Nancy with a wistful feeling. She decided to isolate herself through out the whole night.

"There are just three rooms upstairs." Amelia said.

"I and Jerry will take one room."

Amelia pointed at the cheerleader.

"You don't mind sharing a room with Leroy, right?"

she looked at Leroy who winked at her, making her face turn bright red. Amelia rolled her eyes.

"I'll take that as a no."

Amelia looked at Emily.

"don't worry, I'll sleep alone." Emily said.

"Okay good, that's everyone."

"What about her?" the cheerleader asked, pointing directly at Nancy who was sitting on the sofa.

Amelia gave her a weird look. It was the same look she had been giving her. Nancy had been trying to make out her expression. That was when she realized that it was disgust.

"You'll sleep on the sofa." Amelia said to Nancy.

She shrugged and went back to her game. Nancy didn't expect any good treatment from Amelia. They all went up the stairs noisily, leaving Nancy in solitary. She lay down on the couch, wishing she was anywhere but here.

The warm feeling of hands rubbing her thighs, jerked Nancy awake from her sleep. She had taken off her glasses, which make it hard for her to make out the face of the person on top of her.

"I always knew you had a very alluring body." The person said.

Nancy recognized his voice. It was Leroy. She tried to push him away, but he was stronger than her. He jammed his lips on hers, forcing his tongue into her mouth. She flailed around as she desperately tried to push him away. He grabbed her hands and locked them in a tight grip.

"I've always been interested in you Nancy." He said stroking her cheek.

"Ever since I saw you at school I couldn't get my mind of you. I couldn't talk to you, so all I could do was follow you around."

Goosebumps began to form on Nancy's skin. ' he has been following me around?' she thought. "When Amelia said she was looking for someone to bring along as an errand girl, I told her to invite you. That way we could spend time together like this." Leroy said as he trailed his hand down to her collar bone. "P-Please, let me go." Nancy said in a shaky voice.

"let you go? But we're just beginning."