who saved who?
Inside the beach house, laughter filled the room, the sun was setting and illuminated everyone with a soft summer glow. Tommy and Trevor were hastily working away at dinner, tossing veggies into the air, and the smell of something baking in the oven made everyone’s mouth water.
While they were waiting on food, the rest of the group settled on playing a few fan favorite board games taken off of the games set. Spencer assured them that it would be okay, since he was quite literally one of the main directors. A few questions were asked but no one really put much thought as to why Angela showed up an hour later than everyone else, but Amanda did not trail behind her.
Angela walked up the stairs and grabbed a change of clothes, she needed to get the sticky- sandy feeling off of her, and she wanted nothing more than to detangle the nest of hair on her head that the waves made her hair into.
She slowly walked to the bathroom but could not shake the bad feeling in her stomach. Why was Amanda still not inside?
Angela pushed the thought down and entered the bathroom. She shut the door and leaned up against it for a moment, her head throbbing. She knew a bath would help, but she wanted to get downstairs and join her friends, so a shower would make the most sense. She ran her hand under the water, testing to see the temperature. At first the water sent an icy cold sensation through every vein in her body, before almost instantly turning scalding hot. Out of instinct she turned the faucet off, and instead of turning it back on, she bolted to the door, and down the stairs.
Each step was firmly planted, she was still a little wet from the beach, and her loud steps caught the attention of her friends.
“Woah Ang! Where are you off to?” Shayne shot her a concerned look, but she was running too fast to hear what he actually said. Her heart was pounding in her ears, she knew something was wrong, something was pulling her further and further to the water. Her mind was completely blank, but her heart ached.
Angela hissed at every step on broken shells, her skin burned from the lack of sunscreen usage earlier, and her lungs could almost burst at the lack of oxygen. Amanda, Amanda, Amanda.
Where was she?
—----------------------
Amanda slowly sank to the bottom of the water, letting each wave send her body further out to sea, and every once in a while she would come up for air, before sinking back down. She needed to meditate in her feelings, to really feel every tear soaked night spent wishing Angela loved her back.
Her tears mixed with the salt of the ocean, and she felt melancholy at the thought of them returning back home. Her fingers laced through the sand, and she sifted out the shells and rocks that went through them, and even though she was very upset, she also felt very peaceful.
Amanda had no idea how long she had been underwater, or how long it had been since Angela walked away from her, but she couldn’t face her after basically assaulting her with her eyes. Amanda thought there was a moment between them and she obviously felt wrong, and she dreaded the moment of climbing into bed, meeting a silent and cold Angela.
She let herself sit in this feeling, forgetting to let herself come up for air.
—------------------------------
Bursting through the waves Angela swam with desperation to find Amanda. She wasn’t in the house, she wasn’t lying on the sand, which means she has to be in the water. However, this was a huge beach, and Amanda was nowhere to be seen. The sun started to set faster, and Angela had to force the idea of sharks coming to feed down deep with her fear of losing Amanda.
Each stroke was filled with all of the strength she has every conjured, adrenaline pushing her forward, eyes searching for anything.
This is when she was so grateful she told Amanda to get the pastel orange bikini.
Angela rushed towards Amanda, who seemed to be at the bottom of the water, was she okay? Was she just swimming? Was she finally letting herself experience the fun of getting knocked down by a wave?
Was she dead?
Please, do not let Amanda Lehan-Canto be dead. Battling the heaviness of her strides, Angela finally reached Amanda. Her arms reach out to take Amanda’s, but she is not moving. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. Why did everyone have to be in the house? She needed help now!
Angela took in a deep breath, and plunged into the water. She took Amanda’s torso in her arms, and moved her up to the surface, mimicking the same rescue that was used on herself only hours earlier. Amanda, eyes half-lidded gasped for air, before finding her footing, and pulling Angela into an eager embrace.
“Ang, what are you doing out here? I thought you went inside?”
“Amanda! I thought you were dead? Why were you laying in the water? Why didn’t you help me get you up? What were you thinki-Amanda. Were you…crying?” Angela paused her lecture, before wiping the tear that slowly ran down Amanda’s cheek, wiping it just before it met the top of her lip.
“I-um. Yes. I was crying.”
“Why?”
“It’s just too much to explain right now. I’m just glad you’re here Angela.”
“Yeah me too, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. I had to come find you.”
“I guess now we are even on who saves who.”
The two of them swam to shore, chatting lightly about dinner plans and possibly watching a movie after everyone goes to bed. The sun was almost completely down at this point, and Amanda pulled out her cellphone to light their way to the house.
“We need to send someone out here to try and figure out the lights on the trail. I really don’t want to step on a snake.”
“Yeah, let’s send Spencer and Shayne to do it, I wouldn’t mind one of them getting bit by a snake.” Angela let out a throaty laugh, a little louder than it should have been, but the anxiety of seeing Amanda laying lifeless still hadn’t left her system.
Amanda noticed a shift in Angela’s composure, and stopped. She took Angela’s hand in hers, and they kept walking. Angela welcomed the hand of her friend, ignoring the feeling starting to rise in her chest. She had to pretend like her heart wasn’t set aflame by the slightest touch of Amanda’s hand.
—-----------------
“Look who decided to join us! Just in time, food’s ready!” Trevor opened the door for Amanda and Angela, and Angela whispered a slight “thank you” to him, grateful that he didn’t push further.
They all helped transfer the food to the table on the deck, enjoying the cool summer breeze on their sunburns, and drinking the night away. Some pulled out their phones to vlog, and Amanda once again tried her best to act casual about having no idea how to vlog or what to do, so she just kept getting into other people’s vlogs, vowing she would try her hand at it at some point on the vacation.
The friends enjoyed their meal until the mosquitoes and heat started to irritate them, and they all moved inside. Amanda and Angela still had to shower the beach off of them, and said their goodnights before heading up stairs. Angela was the first to shower, and Amanda immediately afterwards.
By the time Amanda was dressed, lotioned, and ready for sleep, she walked into their shared bedroom to see Angela had put on a movie. “Hey Ang, what movie did you put on?”
“Ang?”
Amanda moved closer to Angela’s side of the bed, hearing a soft snore and seeing her body move up and down in rhythm, signaling every sign of slumber. Amanda smiled to herself, and climbed into bed next to her. She spooned Angela, running her hands through Angela’s hair, and then moving to rub small circles on Angela’s back. She was greeted with a louder snore, and Angela moved closer into Amanda’s arms.