Through the point of view of Beatrix
By the time I wake up, the sun's already brightened my room. I have to squint my eyes before they finally adjust to light, and I notice that Anthony's gotten up.
Where would he have gone so early?
I check the bathroom, the closet and when I don't see him I finally go out into the hall.
He's sitting right down at my kitchen island, a plate of pancakes placed in the middle of two other plates from my kitchen.
Anthony seems to be deeply focused as he sets the other silverware onto the table. He's so focused that he doesn't notice or hear me creeping up behind him.
I can't help but stare at him. Though I can only see the back of him, it's quite a nice sight.
His shoulders are much broader than I remembered .. which me realize how big he is compared to me.
He jolts when I poke his back with my finger, and I laugh as he turns to me with a slightly startled expression.
"How dare you sneak up on me," Anthony grabs my finger, bending down and bringing it to his lips. He pretends to bite it and I make a disgusted sound.
"Stop it, you weirdo." I say, pulling my finger away.
"Says the weirdo who just snuck up on me. Were you watching me?" He feigns disgust as he asks the question and I roll my eyes at his stupidity.
"You wish." I tell him, pushing him over to help set the table. Anthony laughs as I place a napkin on each of our places at the table.
"So how did you sleep?" Anthony asks as we both sit down. I grab my fork and butter knife as he passes me the plate of pancakes.
"Good actually. What about you? I didn't move around too much did I?" I take two pancakes and put them on my plate before handing them back to Anthony.
He shakes his head as I reach for the butter.
"Course not, you slept like a big baby." Anthony says, making me quirk an eyebrow at him. He puts a couple pancakes on his plate and I pass him the butter silently.
"Are you doing anything today?" I ask, cutting my food into a smaller piece. Anthony answers as I take a bite.
"Yeah, my friends and I planned to go down to this waterfall to swim for a couple hours. Did you want to come?" The question almost makes me choke on my food and I clear my throat nervously.
He wants me to go? With him? And other people?
I couldn't even remember the last time I hung out around people my age in a group setting..
What if I say something stupid and they think I'm weird?
What if they don't like me?
What if-
"Beatrix." Anthony's voice has my thoughts halting instantly.
I look at him, unable to hide my nerves at this point.
His brown eyes are warm, and are very soft as they stare at me. I watch his lips quirk up into a small smile as he begins to speak to me.
"There's nothing for you to be nervous about. I'm inviting you because I want them to meet you. It'll only be about 5 people." My nerves diminish slight at his comforting words and soft voice, but it's his expression that really has me caving in.
It's a kind expression, one that's filled with warmth and a certain softness.
"But if you don't want to go, I understand and won't pressure you about it anymore. We can just have our breakfast," Anthony cuts a piece of a pancake off as he finishes.
"I'll go." I say quietly, but he freezes as he hears the words.
"I just don't want to intrude or anything like that.." Anthony's eyes are beaming as I express my agreement to join.
"Hush. You could never," He waves me off and I smile.
After finishing our breakfast, Anthony tells me he'll get dressed at his place and meet me back at my dorm in 20.
Once he leaves out the door, I shut it and practically dash to my room to find the bathing suits I packed. I rummage through my drawers for ten while minutes before I find a selection to choose from.
My first option is a black one piece bathing suit, it is a bit skimpy and has holes on either side.
I don't know if that would be appropriate for meeting a group of people for the first time.
The second option I had was a plain white frilly bathing suit, the bottoms were a cute little skirt and I used to love wearing it in the summer.
My third and final option is a pink one piece, it's pretty plain but has a slit in the middle of the chest area.
I end up choosing the white bathing suit and put my braids up into a small bun, not wanting to get my hair too wet.
The time is 10:00 and I've got five minutes left, so I pack a small bag of sunscreen, sunglasses, a pair shirt and shorts and lastly some white sandals.
I also put a shirt and some denim shorts over my bathing suit, because I was not walking into the hallway like this..
After a couple minutes, I hear a knock at my door and I hurry to answer it.
Anthony standing on the other side of the door with a bag in his hand and he smiles when he sees me.
"Could you have taken any longer?" He teases, as I shut the door behind me and lock it.
I tell him to shut up as I throw my keys into my bag. Anthony takes the bag from me and holds it on his shoulder as he tells me where we're going.
"So it's going to be me, you and my friends; Bailey, Leo, and Hannah. We have this tradition where we go to this place every 3 weeks." I listen to Anthony fill me in as we walk out into the parking lot.
"Is the water going to be cold?" I ask and he laughs at my question.
"No, it's going to be pretty hot today so the water should be warm when we get there." We stop at a sleek, black car.
Anthony holds the front door open for me and I get in, thanking him. I send my mom a short text of where I'm going as he puts our bags into the trunk.
It's sent when Anthony gets into the front, and I put my phone in my lap as he starts the engine.
"Do you want to put on some music? The drive is a little long," He offers me and an aux chord and I take it slowly.
I plug my phone in and put on the song, Lovely Day by Bill Withers.
We pull out of the parking lot as the song starts and fills the car with a soft vibe. Anthony nods his head at the sound and I find myself smiling at him.
The car is quiet, but not in the awkward way. It's silent and peaceful, with each of us silently humming along to the song.
It's a nice feeling to be honest. I can't remember feeling so calm in a while.
I turn down the window and allow the breeze to fan over my face, the air is so warm and lovely today .. it feels really amazing.