Anika
The Californian sun beats down on my head as I scrunch my eyes in frustration, placing my hand against my forehead. Why is it so hot today? I've heard there was a major heat wave coming towards us, right in the end of September which is really weird, and this weekend especially it was going to be blazing outside, as I am experiencing right now.
I notice that Ty and Em have already arrived, since his car is parked against the curb as he honks three times. "Hurry up, Ani! We ain't got all day!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'," I mumble, starting to walk a little faster as I near his car.
Once I sit down in the back, Ty and Em, who are in the front, turn their heads back as they both squeal. "Ani, you look so hot! Shaurya is coming to MELT when he sees you!"
"Thanks, even though that's not my main objective," I chuckle, setting my hair aside.
"Uh huh, sure honey," Ty smirks. He looks at the front again and sighs. "Well, let's get this show on the road!" Em bursts out laughing and turns the radio all the way up, blasting the top 40 pop hits of today. I notice that Em's luscious red hair is pulled into a cute loose bun and she seems to be wearing a neon pink bikini. Ty, on the other hand, is wearing ocean blue swim trunks with a gray shirt on the top and sunglasses perched on my forehead. Speaking of sunglasses, I'm so glad I brought those!
Once we get out of my neighborhood, Em blurts out, "So, Ty... how's your love life going?" She nudges Ty on the shoulder and he groans. "It's not even going anywhere. I mean, obviously Jake and I are over because of, well, what I did the other day..." he trails off. "Anyways, that's not my point! My actual point is that, the other guy I made out with, he completely ignored me the other day and it really bothers me," he huffs out.
"It'll be okay, Ty," I lean forward and sooth him by rubbing his arm. "I'm sure you'll find an amazing man very soon."
Once he stops at the red traffic light, he turns back and gleams at me. "You should be lucky that you're one of my best friends because I would've stolen Shaurya a long time ago."
A broad smile grows on my lips as I roll my eyes. Em snorts and adds, "Yeah, if he was actually gay!"
Ty opens his mouth to protest. "You never know, okay!"
Em and I burst out in laughter as Ty death glares back at us. The stop light turns green as Ty presses on the accelerator, setting the car forward.
I start to look out of the window, taking in the views. The bright blue sky, the sun pointing at us with its rays, replenishing us with warmth. There are houses perched on the sidewalks, some of them huge and some of them elegant. Oakland is probably one of the richest counties in California, mainly due to the doctors and the businessmen living here.
About 15-30 minutes later, we reach our destination. We would've arrived here not even in 10 minutes, but since there's so much traffic here, it takes a couple extra minutes. Ty parks the car in the parking lot, where it seems as if the entire parking lot is full at this point. The beach is always filled with people every single day but today there may be more because of Shaurya's party.
Em, Ty, and I get out of the car, the heat immediately casting on my face. "God damn, it's so hot outside," Em mumbles, fanning her face. "Tell me about it," I breathe out. "Did you guys bring some extra water bottles?"
"Of course I did," Ty motions to his bag. "Without it, we'd be dehydrated before you can say 'dehydration'."
Em snorts and leads us to the boardwalk. I hear people chattering and the waves crashing onto the sand. There seem to be at least 10-20 people hoarded by a side on the beach, food and drinks set on a table and some guys playing beach volleyball.
We walk over to the beach as the warm sand fills in between my toes. And by warm, I mean scorching hot. I wince to myself, placing my hand on Ty's shoulder as he also grimaces in pain. "I feel like this sand came from hell," Ty grunts to himself.
As we continue to cuss to ourselves, walking through the 'sand that came from hell,' we arrive at the beach, or specifically where the party is. I hear conversations and people conversing amongst each other, people laughing and drinking and eating and just genuinely having a great time. Ty and Em gasp in excitement as their eyes land on the huge salsa bowl and the pile of chips laid out on the table. "Chips and salsa!" They both squeal. "Ani, you wanna come eat with us?"
"Uh, actually..." I take a deep breath. "I just ate. I'll just chill for a while."
"Are you sure?" Em and Ty ask.
I nod my head in reassurance. They both shrug and say, "We'll be back!" Then they were off before I could even blink.
Sighing, I look around for something else I could do other than eating. Drinking? Nah, not really in the mood right now. Beach volleyball? Nah, I don't feel like moving. Dancing? Nah, I don't feel like doing that either. The only possible option right now is to just lay back on my towel and sunbathe...
"Hey, Anika?"
My mind snap into existence as I hear the very familiar voice saying my name. My eyes waved over to the guy standing in front of me... Shaurya.
And he's shirtless.
Shaurya Roy walks over to me, his hair dripping wet. His hand caresses through his hair as a broad grin grows on his lips. The sun beats down on his body, accentuating his chest and his muscles. I never knew he had abs! And man, were they attractive as well. Each ab was carved delicately and it really shows that he works hard for his body, as if he was carved by the Greek gods themselves. His skin seems very tan against the sun, and his muscles reflect the veins on his arm and one specific vein that seems to disappear into his swim trunks.
"H-hi," I stutter, immediately clearing my throat. "Nice party."
"Thanks," he gleams, a tiny dimple appearing by his cheek.
I nod my head as he walks a little closer to me, my heart rate increasing. His eyes study me as he sighs. "How are you feeling?"
"A little better now," I blurt out.
"That's good," he exclaims.
"Yeah," I breathe out.
There are a few seconds of awkward silence as he then clears his throat. "So... do you wanna do anything? Like eat, drink a little, party, play some beach volleyball?"
"No, I'm fine," I reassure him with a hesitant smile.
"Aw, c'mon!" He starts to grab my hand as a shock of electricity wavers through my body. He's grabbed my hand before but man... the way he grabs it so tightly.
He starts to lead me towards the huge crowd of people. I try to pull away from his grasp, but he holds onto me so tightly that I have no choice but to follow along.
Shaurya pulls me along, chuckling to himself. There are swarms of people huddled, dancing and and conversing amongst themselves. Both of us land into the huge dancing group of people and he exclaims to me, "C'mon, dance with me. Just like we did the other night," he pleads, winking.
"Just like we did the other night?" I raise my eyebrows, a smirk growing on my face.
He beams, rolling his eyes. "Not just like we did the other night. That would be highly inappropriate," he chuckles.
"Exactly," I sigh. Now, I don't know what came across me, but I felt the sudden urge to grab his hand and lead him onto the dance floor. But as soon as I was going to, I heard voices that were calling Shaurya's name. He muttered curses to himself and turned around to the other side. "What is it, Nathan?"
Nathan, the same guy I see Shaurya with at college all the time, has a worried expression on his face. He looked at me warily and whispered into Shaurya's ear. Shaurya's face, which was happy and joyful now drained off color as he frustratingly grabbed his hair. "Shit. Why the hell are they here?" he hisses to Nathan.
"Well, the party was open invite," Nathan mutters.
"Yeah, I know that," he grits through his teeth. "But I honestly thought they weren't going to come. Like, why would they in the first place?"
"I don't know," Nathan shrugs. "But they just arrived. Emma told me," he finished off.
Shaurya groans to himself, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. "Do you mind trying to keep them away from me? I'm just not trying to start anything right now."
"I'll try," Nathan breathes out. "But there's way too many people here and it'll be difficult trying to keep track of them."
"It's okay, just try your best," he reassures. Nathan nods his head and walks off.
I look at Shaurya confusingly. "What happened?"
He murmurs, "Lexie and Brayden are here."
"Lexie as in your ex and Brayden as in your ex's boyfriend?"
"Yup, you got that right:"
"Wow," I mutter. "Is it really that bad having them here?"
"It really is," he nods his head. "Because Lexie is a drama starter, and Brayden just follows along to what she says, which makes things 100 times worse."
"Gosh," I scrunch my nose. He rolls his eyes and starts to walk towards the bar. There are dozens of drinks lined up as he motions towards me. "You want to drink?"
"Uh... sure," I spit out. Where did that come from?
I walk towards him and eye a specific bottle of beer. "I'd like that."
"Comin' right up," he smirks. Grabbing that bottle, he pours it into a cup and hands it to me. "This drink's extra strong, though."
"That's why I got it," I wink, chugging half of it down. Shaurya looks at me astonishingly and crosses his arms over his chest. "Think you're better than me, huh?"
"Uhm... maybe," I grin.
"Well, you're wrong," he raises his eyebrows. Then, he slyly grabs a cup and pours the same drink in halfway. "Wanna race?"
I pretend to think. "Let's race."
I place the cup against my lips as Shaurya does the same. "On the count of three," he murmurs. "Three... two... one, GO!"
I pull my head back and chug the whole drink down in not even three seconds. Why is this drink so freaking strong?! I groan to myself, scrunching my nose as I acknowledge Shaurya is not even finished yet. I chuckle to myself as he finally finishes, astonished that I finished way before him. "What the..." he trails off. "How is that even possible? How did you even do that?!"
I shrug, coyly replying, "A magician never reveals its secrets."
Shaurya smiles and rolls his eyes. "Fine. I guess you won. Congratulations," he murmurs, chuckling.
"Why, thank you," I pretend to curtsy. We continue to laugh as I feel a light tap on my shoulder. I turn around to see Em and Ty gleaming at me. "Best. Chips and salsa. Ever!!" Em squeals. Ty rapidly nods his head and gasps when he sees the drinks behind us. "Oh my God... drinks!" They both give each other a high five and run towards the drinks.
Shaurya smiles at them and says to me, "Hey, you wanna play some beach volleyball now?"
"Sure," I grin.
He leads me to the volleyball net where there seems to be 7 people on each side. Every single one of them says hi to Shaurya and hugs him or gives him a handshake. Must be nice being popular.
Him and I both go on the same side and get into our positions. I'm in the front by the net as Shaurya comes behind me to get any that come behind my view. The whistle blows as the person on the other side serves the ball. The ball comes flying towards me as I set my position and bump the ball, setting it flying over the net. The other person tries to hit it back, but it flails against the net, not going across it. The people cheer as Shaurya comes behind me and squeezes my shoulder. "Good job!" he exclaims.
"Thanks," I smile, getting back into position.
After three more serves, we are winning by a couple of points. Shaurya goes to serve it, overhand obviously, and it flies right over the net as no one even bothers to get it because it was that good.
Everyone cheers Shaurya as he smiles. Why does he have to be so perfect at everything?
Once a few more rounds pass by, we eventually win at the end, 7-0 to be exact. We cheer to ourselves as our entire team engulfs each other in a huge group hug. After the whole team hugs each other, Shaurya and I look at each other willingly as he holds his arms out. "Come here, you."
I beam, walking myself towards him. Then, I place my chin on his shoulder as he wraps his arms around my waist. My arms go around his neck and he whispers into my ear, "Good game."
The hug feels so satisfying, consuming, and never-ending, in a good way. The way his arms feel around me remind me that I'm not alone and show me that there's no reason to be afraid. That's the way he makes me feel, ever since we met each other at the party. And something tells me this hug wasn't just to congratulate each other on the good game.
"Um, excuse me?"
Our hug gets interrupted by a high pitched and shrilly voice. I feel Shaurya stiffen underneath my touch as he slowly releases from my arms. "Lexie?" he breaths out.
Hold up... what?!
I look over at Lexie and... okay, I gotta admit, she is pretty. Her luscious blonde hair that lands to her waist, her curvy body covered in a sparkly silver colored one piece that curves by her chest, revealing a whole bunch of her cleavage, and her tan skin that seems to glow underneath the sun. Who even allowed her to be this pretty?!
Right next to her is a buff and tall guy with brownish hair and pale skin. He seems to play football or maybe just multiple sports. I'm assuming this guy is Brayden, since he appears to be Lexie's girlfriend and also because Shaurya and them are death glaring at each other.
"Um... nice to meet you guys," Shaurya clears his throat, moving a little closer towards me.
Lexie nods her head and looks at me. "And who is this, Shaurya? Is this your girlfriend?"
Oh, God.
*
A/N:
Oh, God indeed, Anika.
Also, the beach party has arrived!! But guess who also arrived...?
That's right! Lexie and Brayden! ð¤
And they also seemed to notice Anika as well. How do you think that's gonna go?
Stay tuned for the next chapter as we find out how things unravel with Lexie, Brayden, Anika and Shaurya.
-Ru <3
P. S. Shaurya is so hot omg ðð