Chapter 6

I get out my car and walk down the street towards his. The boy gets out of his car and leans on the driver's door. I walk closer to his car and stop a few feet away from him, still not trusting him enough to get closer.

"I am pretty sure what you are doing is called stalking sir."

"I'd say it's called following a beautiful girl home."

Excuse me, but did he just call me beautiful?? Beautiful enough to be followed home? In the midst of being flattered I forget about the fact that I have just been followed home by a stranger.

"You literally left me hanging in the car park after I had told you about all the shitty stuff that's been happening in my family, only to follow me home?"

"I'm really sorry about that," he looks at his feet and runs his hands through his hair. I can tell by his facial expression that he means it. "I'm just really bad at handling emotional situations."

"Try being me, right in the middle of the emotional situation."

"Try being me..." he stops in the middle of his sentence, as if what he is about to say is too painful for him to talk about.

"I have a feeling that I'm not the only one going through a rough patch?"

"I don't want to talk about," he looks down again and clenches his teeth so hard that his jaw tightens.

"I'm Maya."

"Nice name, what does it mean?"

"It's short for Somaya, a Muslim name that means 'A beautiful garden surrounded by roses and flowers'".

"Hah, you don't look Muslim to me," he lets out a little laugh.

"I'm not. My mom once traveled to Saudi Arabia, and to her it was one of the most beautiful countries she had ever visited. During her stay, she made a new friend and her name was Somaya. She never spoke to or saw her ever again, but she vowed to name her first daughter Somaya, so here I am."

"Sweet. Do you want to go for some ice cream Somaya?"

"Point number one- you can call me Maya. Point number two- I was taught from a young age not to wonder of with strangers, so no."

"You just told me a deep story about your name Somaya,I also know pretty much everything that's going on in your family right now, I know where you live, so I think it's pretty safe to say I'm not a stranger anymore," he smiles and runs his hand through his hair again.

He's right. Something about him makes me feel as though I have known him for a long time.

"You look dangerous."

He laughs softly and then looks back directly into my eyes. He has brown eyes that look exactly like Charles'. This slight similarity to my brother increases my affection towards him. He smiles showing perfectly straight teeth.

"I've never heard that one before."

"In a good way," I say quickly. I can feel my face turning red again.

"A good way? Like bad boy dangerous?"

"Yeah like, hot stranger with tons of tattoos and a beautiful body."

"So are you going to get ice-cream with this hot stranger?"

"It's nearly five, it will get dark soon."

"We won't stay long, I'll drive you home."

I feel foolish for giving in this quickly, but I also haven't felt like someone was genuinely interested in spending time with me for a very long time.

"What's the worst that could happen?" he asks after a few seconds of silence.

"You could kill me."

"You see dying as the worst thing that could happen to you?" he chuckles.

"I mean, being dead seems really suckish to me."

"I won't kill you, I promise. Feel free to haunt me if I do though," he smiles. His smile lights up his face in an adorable way. It's contagious too.

I smile back as I make my way to the passenger door.

**

By the time we get to the beach, it's already starting to get dark.

"I don't feel like ice cream actually," I say as we step out of the car. "It's a bit cold."

"Well ice-cream is best enjoyed when it's cold, but I don't feel like it either. I just wanted to go to the beach with you, but I knew you would hesitate. Never underestimate the power of ice-cream, look where we are now." He raises his hands as if to celebrate a victory. "I just wanted to enjoy looking at the stars and hearing the waves crash with a beautiful girl by my side."

I cannot help but blush. Being called beautiful is foreign to me, but the more he says it, the more I grow accustomed to it.

"Why don't we walk down towards the ocean," he suggests.

We walk down together, leaving the indistinct chatters of people behind us, while the sounds of waves cancel out other surrounding noises. We find a spot close enough to feel the intimacy with the water, but far enough to not get wet.

"Damn it's cold," I say feeling foolish for leaving my jersey in my car.

He pulls of his jersey, left with nothing but a black vest underneath. I marvel at his muscular arms. A sleeve of tattoos extends from his left wrist up to his elbow.

"You can take my jersey," he says handing it to me.

"Thanks."

His jersey has an astringent smell, enchantingly masculine.

He pulls out a neatly rolled joint from his pocket.

"You smoke?"

"Mmh."

He lights it up and inhales slowly with his eyes closed, blowing the smoke out through his nose.

"Do you want to try?" he says as he hands the joint to me.

"I've never done this before."

I take the joint from him, cautiously holding it between my thumb and index finger.

"How old are you?"

"I'm 18."

"And you've never smoked weed."

I put the joint in between my lips and pull slowly, feeling the warmth of the smoke in my mouth.

"Okay now inhale slowly, if you take it in too sharply, it won't feel pleasant."

I listen to his instructions and inhale the smoke slowly, feeling a burning sensation in my chest. I cough out the smoke.

"Try it again," he says as he struggles to hold in his laughter.

I inhale the smoke again, feeling it burn the back of my throat and exhale slowly. I resist the urge to cough, not wanting to embarrass myself again, and hand the joint back to him.

We sit in silence for a while until I can breathe properly again.

"How do you feel?"

"My throat hurts. Also is it just me or do the waves seem to be getting higher and higher."

'You, my dear friend, are now high," he smiles as he brings the joint to his lips again.

A foreign sensation overcomes my body. I start to feel a faint vibration from my toes right up to my face. The smell from his jersey gets stronger and the soft wool brushes my skin and I feel like I am enveloped by a cloud. I look up at the full moon. The longer I look at it the brighter it gets.

"Somaya?" His voice sounds like it's calling from miles away, as if it's a figment of my own imagination.

I turn to look at him. His eyes are narrow and he is smiling.

"Are you okay?"

"I feel so calm."

I reach out for his hair and let my hand slide through it. He looks like an angel and a demon at the same time, with his dark hair falling around his face and his brown eyes looking directly into mine.

"You really are a garden of flowers," he says, bringing his hand towards my face. "And is it just me or do your lips look really sexy right now."

I smile, drowning in his eyes.

"Can I?" he asks.

I nod.

He brings his face close to mine and our lips touch. We lose track of time as we sit on the sand, lips pressed together. I want to stay like this forever.

A few minutes, or seconds, later he pulls his face away, leaving me with my eyes still closed.

"I still don't know your name," I say in realization.

"I'm Phoenix, and it has been such a pleasure getting to know you."

I feel dreamily happy, as if I might just open my eyes only to find that I am in my room and this has all been a really great dream.

I open my eyes and I stare directly into his. My mind takes a turn and I start to think about Charles again. I can feel my eyes burning up and warm tears roll down my eyes slowly.

"Are you okay?" he asks concerned, wiping the tears from my cheeks.

"You remind me of my brother."

He pulls me towards him and lays my head on his chest. I can feel and hear his heartbeat against my ear. I close my eyes again, and listen to our breathing, his heartbeat and the sound of the waves crashing.