The Beach
I woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on Sunday morning. As soon as the sun peeked into my window, I was up. I cleaned my bedroom and finished up any homework I had left over that I didn't accomplish on Friday. I even wrote another email to Renee; she seemed excited by my last one to her. She demanded a call when I had the spare time.
I buzzed around the house eagerly, waiting to leave.
Charlie had enjoyed the amount of time I spent with Julie; he could sleep in now.
I checked the weather radar; a clear day, in the upper fifties, maybe even sixty. I wondered if Jules would want to go to the beach today, if she wanted a break from the garage.
I packed some sandwiches, some fresh fruit into a cooler and put it in the truck. My outfit for the day was simple; a plain t-shirt, jeans, and high-top sneakers.
Hesitantly, I grabbed a book and put it in the car as well. Maybe I could combine an old hobby and a new hobby.
I arrived at the Black household just after eight. Billy was sitting outside, drinking a cup of coffee.
"She's already working on the car," he gestured uphill to the garage. "I don't think she got a wink of sleep last night."
"Thanks, Billy." I handed him a chicken biscuit that I grabbed on the drive and headed up the hill. I'd left everything besides the greasy bag of fast food breakfast in the truck.
The red motorcycle was standing upright, not the sad lean of death it bad before. It even looked good. Perhaps road-worthy.
I started to hand Jules the food and then noticed the state of her hands. "Wash up first."
She groaned, getting up from the ground and going to wash the oil and grime off. Clean, she started chowing down.
"Is mine actually done?" I asked, gesturing to the bike.
She nodded. "Mine shouldn't be too much longer. They should both be ready by Tuesday."
"You're beyond skilled, Jules. Seriously."
She smiled. "Maybe if I was smarter, I'd stretch it out a bit more."
"Why's that?" I picked up a hashbrown from the bag and chewed on it carefully.
"What would you say if I couldn't fix the bikes?" She asked in a small voice. She sounded shy suddenly.
I swallowed my food. "I'd say it sucks, but I'm sure we could find something else to do to amused ourselves."
Jules smiled. "So you'd still want to hang out, even without my vehicle expertise?"
"I genuinely just enjoy being around you, Jules." I finished the hashbrown. I wondered if it would be rude to pop down and ask Billy for a cup of coffee.
"Hoping to see Quil again?" She asked in a joking tone. She knelt back to the ground, assessing her bike.
With a roll of my eyes, I said, "You caught me."
She chuckled and continued working.
"Hey, what do you say to taking a day off and heading down to the beach? It's supposed to be nice."
"We're still not cliff-diving yet," she warned. "I'm serious, Bells, it can be dangerous to a newbie like you. And you're... delicate."
"I just bruise easily."
"Well you have about two bruises on your elbow alone. Not to mention that giant scar on your wrist."
I studied my wrists, citing the one she was referring to. I felt an icy sting in my stomach. The one I'd received by being bitten by James; I'd been fortunate enough that the venom could be sucked out in time.
At my silence, she continued. "You know, that cold one. Well the one that's colder than the rest of you. Where'd you get it, anyway? Dog bite?"
I scoffed. "You think I remember where I get all of my scars?"
"And that's why we're waiting for the perfect weather for you to go cliff-diving."
"Well I didn't want to go cliff-diving today," I argued. "I just wanted to enjoy the beach while it was decent out. I even packed snacks."
"Snacks," she mused. "I guess I could take a break from this beautiful scenery."
We looked around the dimly lit garage. She grinned and stood up again.
"Fine, let me get out of this mess. Are we swimming?"
"You can." I grimaced at the thought of cold, wet sand between my toes.
We walked down the hill to the house. Jules went inside to change and came back out in a bikini top that barely fit her and a pair of basketball shorts. Her long hair was tied up into a bun. She had a bag filled with bottles of water.
"You ready to go?" Julie asked.
I didn't say anything. I was staring. Shamelessly.
"Or I could drive?"
Still nothing.
"Are you... checking meout?" She asked with raised brows.
"When did you... Don't they hurt?"
"Isabella Marie Swan--"
"How do you know my middle name?"
"Are you asking about my tits?" Jules said with a laugh.
I floundering and couldn't come up with anything remotely intelligent to say. So I said nothing once again.
Julie scoffed and loaded the bottled water into the truck bed. "To answer your question: No, they don't hurt, but they get sore. They might if I run though. And they started growing in a few months ago. I think I've upped a cup size. Or two. I haven't gotten a new bikini top that fits yet."
"Oh, my God."
She grinned. "Give me the car keys. You can keep oggling while I drive."
"And you have abs." I thought you got one or the other. She had both and I had neither.
Logically, I'm sure the reason I was so floored by Julie's body is simply because I wasn't used to seeing so much of it. She liked to wear baggy clothes, yet she was still actively growing out of them. Her shirts were starting to show off her midriff but wow.
Maybe the sports bras she normally wore had a compression factor. Did that not hurt?
And her stomach; no wonder she felt like a brick wall. Where did all of the food she consumed even go? The abs were soft but still there, forming a tiny v into the dip of her hips.
The only other person who even remotely looked like Jules was in a magazine or maybe Rosalie Cullen. Models strived to look like them. I tried to tame the envy.
I hadn't noticed that we'd arrived at the beach. Jules grabbed a blanket from the truck bed and opened my door for me, helping me step down.
She held my hand as we walked down to the same old, uprooted tree from over a year ago. I sat on the trunk as she set up the blanket in front of it.
"I should have grabbed my book--"
She wordlessly produced the book. "I tucked it inside of the blanket in case you wanted to read."
I smiled awkwardly and set it on the blanket anyway. "Thanks."
"You wanna walk around? I know you like looking at the fish."
I nodded and held my hand out.
We walked around the beach, looking at the little tide pools. We watched the fish dart around. I marveled at the little multi-colored ecosystems and hidden worlds. Jules caught me three times as I slipped along the slick rocks. She never let me fall, try as I might.
When I was finally tired the pools, it was almost noon. We grabbed the food from the truck and ate on the blanket. I nibbled on grapes and read while Jules took off into the water, swimming easily.
She seemed completely unphased by how cold the water should have been.
I got about three chapters into my book before I got bored with it and focused on watching the ocean. I would see Julie's head bob around with the waves. She grinned and waved frantically a few times before taking another lap.
Eventually she got tired enough to join me on the shore. She plopped beside me, soaking wet, and laid her head on my shoulder. She'd been polite enough to keep her head above water so her hair wasn't sopping wet.
"How'd it go with the book?" She asked.
I offered her a grape. She opened her mouth. I fed her while grinning.
"Decent. Standard plot, I feel like I know the ending already."
"When I read, I always jump to the end so I know what happens. And then as I read, the ending slowly starts to make sense."
"You read?" I thought of her hatred of Shakespeare.
"On occasion," she beamed.
"You're getting sand all over the blanket," I pointed out.
She shook her sandy calf at me. We laughed and settled into watching the waves again.
I sighed. "I'm not going to be able to see you until Tuesday."
"That's just two days away. You're clingy, you know that?" Julie didn't sound upset by it.
"Yeah," I sighed again.
"We should be able to start our riding lessons on Tuesday," she promised. "We're going to start slow though. I'd hate to see you be a smear on the pavement."
I grimaced. "A smear?"
"A very pretty smear," she offered.
"I'll take it." I offered her another grape. "Tuesday?"
"Tuesday."
Dinner at the Black household was a wild affair. I remembered the Clearwaters from my childhood summers spent in Forks; Harry and Sue, and their kids Leah and Seth. Leah was a senior like me, beyond beautiful and completely uninterested in socializing. She stayed on Billy's phone the entire meal. Seth was only fourteen, and followed Julie around like a puppy.
We ended up eating outside because the house was too small for us all. Sue teased Harry to eat something green and leafy, which he refused. She noted concern about his cholesterol and blood pressure.
Seth followed around Jules and I, eager to be a part of the conversation.
I caught Charlie watching us with a small smile, pleased but cautious.