Beach Trip

*Tessa*

I stared in the mirror, taking in my swimsuit. It was a bikini with a burgundy top and white bottoms. I paired it with a white cover up and black flip flops. I had braided my hair into two dutch braids to complete the look. As I looked at myself, I couldn't help but feel sad. Not because I'd be riding with Spencer or I was insecure about my body, but that I would be at a beach that wasn't in California. My friends and I always went to the beach together, but now I wouldn't have those moments.

"Tessa! Spencer's car pulled up!" Mason yelled, taking me away from my thoughts.

I took one last look in the mirror and saw tears were coming down my face. I wiped them away and ran downstairs, not forgetting my beach bag. The door bell rang as soon as I got to the bottom, and I ran to the door.

"Hey." I said, opening the door. I looked at Spencer's outfit. It was simple red trunks with a black t-shirt.

"Hey. You ready?" I nodded and followed him out of the house. I got in the passenger seat and waited for him.

I felt very uncomfortable. Last we talked, I was angry at him and complaining he shoved me in the janitor's closet. Not the greatest moment in our short history together.

"So." I said, trying to break the awkward silence between us. Spencer sighed and took a deep breath in.

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to push you the way I had. I was just confused. We had been doing fine, and then my dad and sister got in a fight and you were having some sort of panic attack. Then after, you were lying, not getting sleep, and I was concerned. You started crying, and I had no idea what to do."

"Spencer-" He cut me off before I could continue.

"Let me finish. I'm not asking you what happened. You aren't ready to tell me, or anyone I guess. If you aren't ready to tell me, I respect that. When or if you are ready, I will listen. I do want to be friends with you, Tessa. Minus you being so uptight all the time, I do."

"Hey!" I yelled, slightly offended but mainly amused.

"Anyway, it is true. I want to be your friend. We have all the same classes and have mutual friends. I don't want to be the guy you hate. So I want to propose a deal with you."

"What deal?"

"I will leave you alone about what happened, as long as you forget how I hurt you. And, if whatever happened at my house happens again, I want to be able to help you, but you have to let me in. I won't push you to tell me why, just how to help."

"I'll do it. Despite what you may think, I do want to be your friend. It is just that one topic is hard to talk about." Spencer nodded.

"I understand that. So do we have a deal?"

"I believe we do." We sat in comfortable silence until I spoke again. "Am I really that uptight?" Spencer laughed loudly and nodded.

"Yes, you definitely are."

"Says the guy that can't let his sister be alone with a thirteen year old for ten minutes!"

"That is not fair! Boys are so perverted. I would know!" I burst out laughing at his last sentence.

"Do you really think a thirteen-year old boy's mind is as horny as seventeen-year old's mind?"

"It better not be!" I gasped understanding the meaning of that sentence.

"I don't think I should be alone in the car with you."

"Trust me Tessa, I'm not gonna do anything. You are so not my type." I raised my brows. "You can't raise one brow can you?" I gasped and whacked him with my towel. "Hey! No hitting the driver!" I laughed and hit him again.

"Okay then, so what is your type?"

"A girl that doesn't hit the driver." I whacked him again. He just laughed. "But seriously, I don't know. I don't think I necessarily like specific girls that look a certain way. Like I don't prefer a certain hair color or anything."

"What about personality?"

"A girl who doesn't act like a bitch."

"Wow, so specific."

"Okay Miss Sarcastic. What is your type?"

"Okay, let's see. I like a guy who is-"

"Wait. Are you one of those girls with a list of like twenty things?"

"And if I was?"

"Oh god, you are." I laughed at that. "Give me three things and I will give you three things."

"Okay. I prefer a guy is not a douche bag that will actually treat me right and like a princess. I don't want him to call me a friend in front of his friends just to look cool. I want him to show me off. Then I like a guy who never stops caring. Like if I am feeling sad, I want him to help me be happy again. I want him to make sure I'm okay in every way possible. I don't want him to dismiss my feelings. Finally, I want him to be able to trust me. I don't want him to just be my boyfriend. I want him to be my best friend that trusts me and will go to me. I want him to be honest."

"Damn. You give long explanations you know that?"

"Shut up. Now what are your three?"

"I want her to be funny. She can't be a no nonsense, no fun, always uptight kind of person. Then I want my girlfriend to be herself. A lot of girls think they should mold into something they aren't. For me, I want to like the genuine girl. Not the cookie cutter version. Finally I want honesty. If she doesn't like me, I want to know right away. I don't want her cheating. If she is sad, I want her to tell me and not have me guess."

"Huh, who knew you had a sweet side." He glared at me playfully.

"You better not tell anyone what I told you."

"What? Would it ruin your rep?"

"It's not that. I just don't enjoy it when Carlos uses everything he has against me. He would never let it go."

"Gotcha. Why are you so protective over your sisters?"

"Honestly? I don't want them getting hurt the way I was. Emma can handle herself, I get that. But Lena. She's different. Lena is sweet, innocent, and kind. I mean she's not eight-year old innocent, but she is innocent. If she was hurt, she would break. I can't risk that."

"You said Emma was strong. Are you still protective over her?"

"Yeah, but she doesn't let me show it. If she starts to like a guy she makes me promise I won't go into big brother mode. She has this temper. If a guy hurts her, she won't let him get away with it."

"Mason isn't going to hurt Lena by the way. He's got a good heart."

"I know. I've met you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You have a good heart and Mason does too. When you were having that moment, Mason was right there to help. I know if Lena was dealing with something, he would help her. I just can't risk it with her."

"You know, you act like this brooding badass, but you are actually really sweet. The way you talk about your sisters. I love it."

"As I said before, don't tell anyone." We both chuckled and fell back into silence. Talking with Spencer actually wasn't bad. I knew he would be a good friend to have. The way he protected his sister made me see a knew side of him. The big brother side. I just hoped that side was the bigger part of his personality.

*****

"We're here." Spencer stopped the car in a parking space and we both got out. I smelled the salt air, and it reminded me of home. "You good?" I looked up with a confused face. "You looked sad."

"I'm fine. This place just reminds me of California. Guess I'll never get that feeling again." We were silent for a little bit so I started chuckling a little and smiling. "Doesn't matter though. It isn't your problem. Plus now I can make memories here. Let's go." We both got out of the car and walked to the beach. I looked around for Carlos, but I didn't see him. "Where's Carlos?"

"Probably on his way. He brings the tent canopy, and I don't see it, so he is probably still on his way." I gave Spencer a questioning look. "What?"

"You guys bring a tent canopy?" Spencer chuckled.

"Yes, we do. Well, Carlos brings the tent canopy. Rocky brings the drinks. And before you ask, nonalcoholic. I just bring myself and all the actual fun." I rolled my eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

"So-"

"Yo Spence! Help a bro out would you?" We both turned and saw Carlos trying to haul a giant closed up tent canopy. Spencer shook his head smiling and ran up to help his best friend. I stood on the sand and waited for them to get it where they wanted. Five disagreements later, they set it down in a spot and started to open and set it up. Spencer looked back at me.

"Are you gonna stand there, or help us out?" My eyes widened in realization and I put my bag on the ground and walked over to help them. "You know I was kidding right? You don't actually have to help." I shrugged and smirked.

"You guys looked like you needed help. It hurt to watch." Spencer rolled his eyes and Carlos chuckled.

"You're so annoying. I'll show you. Go over there and watch the real men do this." I laughed.

"Where are the men? All I see are two prissy boys." Spencer rolled his eyes and continued to help set up the canopy. When it was done I walked over to it. "Well, would you look at that? You are actually capable of things other than annoying people." Spencer stuck his tongue out and took out his stuff. I laid my towel down on the sand under the canopy and put my bag beside it.

"Are we gonna wait for Rocky to get here before getting in the water?" I looked at Carlos who asked the question.

"Doesn't matter. If you guys want to go in the water, I can wait so she knows we didn't ditch her."

"Really?" I nodded. "Okay, Spencer come on. You can admired Tessa's legs later. Let's go in the water." My eyes widened and I looked at Spencer who was blushing deep red.

"I wasn't looking at her legs." His voice was strained.

"Uh-huh, sure. Cute joke. Let's go." Spencer swallowed and followed Carlos, not meeting my eyes. I shrugged it off though. He was a hormonal teenager, of course he would do something like that.

I sat down on my towel and took out a book to read while waiting for Rocky to show up. Not even ten minutes later, I heard Rocky yelling my name. Standing up, I waved at her and she ran down.

"Hey girl! Why aren't you in the water with the boys?" I looked at where she point and saw Carlos and Spencer splashing each other and tackling.

"Thought I'd wait for you. Plus, water is cold." Rocky rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm here. Now take that coverup off and let's hit the waves!" Rocky took off the shirt she was wearing over her swimsuit and I did the same with my coverup. Rocky's brows raised. "Damn sister! You look hot!" I laughed and flipped one of my braids behind my back.

"Thank you. Might I say, you look gorgeous." Rocky chuckled and grabbed my hand.

"Let's go before they decide to get out of the water. I want to get some splashing in." I laughed and we ran down to the water. The boys were further deep and splashing each other. A plan formed in my mind and I put my finger to my lips, looking at Rocky before going under water. I swam quietly up to Spencer's feet. He was splashing Carlos and moving his feet a lot, making it difficult to grab one. The good thing was he was so busy, he didn't notice me.

I waited for the right moment and BAM! I grabbed Spencer's ankles and yanked him down. He splashed down in the water and I resurfaced, gathering some air and laughing my ass off. I saw Carlos and Rocky laughing too. Spencer sat up and looked around in confusion before settling his eyes on my soaking wet form.

Instead of talking, he grabbed my leg and pulled me down with him, me yelping. I splashed him lightly with water. Carlos and Rocky were still laughing.

"Damn girl! That was hilarious!" Carlos said, laughing. I smiled and looked at Spencer. He was shaking his head, but I saw the smile.

"Just admit it, I'm better than you." He rolled his eyes and shoved my shoulder.

"Not even close. I could take you down in one minute."

"I'd like to see you try." I started to stand up and Spencer suddenly grabbed my waist, yanking me down once again, this time on top of him. I fell on his stomach and instantly blushed. "What the hell was that for?" I asked, trying to cover up my blush.

"I'm proving that I'm better. Now get off, you're heavy." I gasped and splashed him in the face.

"Rude." I said, climbing off of him.

"You know, there are other people here you know. Ones that don't want to see you two flirt with each other." I glared at Rocky who spoke.

"We were not flirting!" I stood up, Spencer following my movements.

"Mm-hmm. No one cares what you have to say. Now, how about we play Chicken Fight? I call Carlos!"

"What if I wanted Carlos?"

"Hey!" Spencer interjected.

"Hush child. I get Carlos. You get your boyfriend." Rocky said. My brows furrowed.

"He isn't my boyfriend. But you and Carlos though..I don't know. Something looks suspicious." Instead of it being taken as a joke, my comment made them go quiet. "What did I say?" I asked after a good ten seconds of silence. Rocky snapped out of it first.

"Nothing. Carlos an I actually tried dating but it didn't work." I nodded, but her tone was rushed, and she looked nervous. Either things ended bad, or she was telling a lie. I shrugged it off.

"Okay. Chicken Fight?" Rocky smirked and got on Carlos's shoulders. I got on Spencer's and was immediately lifted up, like my weight was nothing for him.

"Three! Two! One!" Spencer charged us forward to the others and Rocky and I went against each other. Our hands pressed against each other and Rocky's whole stomach was open. I reached one hand down and started tickling her stomach. She began laughing and getting uncontrolled, allowing me to shove her and Carlos down.

"Yes! Victory!" Spencer yelled. I laughed and saw Rocky getting up from the water.

"Oh it is on."