The Rippling Oceanfront

Chapter 1

Darkness compels me while I hear the hushing waves glide closer to me each time. The waves have this sound that over powers the sounds near the beach and yet I only hear the ocean calling to me, telling me that my thoughts are just here to be thought of and that I am able to breathe, to live. I sit here, eyes closed, wondering how I should move on with my life, how I should be able to step up to the plate and hit a homerun but all I can do is stay here, the safety of the ocean near, so I am able to breathe.

I open my eyes and it looks as if I never did, although I see the new waves form and the old ones coming closer to me. But it is as if I wasn’t supposed to be here. That this ocean believes in something that I have yet to discover and it is right next to me. I close my eyes again and think about how all my life I have been put down to the side for Laney, my older sister. How everything seems to revolve around her. I look up and see the moon for the first time tonight and finally I get up. I turn to walk away but once more I look to my safety net and see the new waves forming, only hoping that this ocean will never leave me.

 

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The bell rang to go to lunch, but all I craved for was the ocean. I saw my friends today, being the first day of school. And they saw me. Nothing more than the usual, but why is it that now I wanted nothing more than to be home, next to the ocean.

I walk into the cafeteria and see the same peach-colored walls. I see the same brown tables and the same yellow and blue chairs. I see the same lunch ladies back from freshman year. Everything is supposed to change but everything here is the same.

“Giselle Sapienti.” Hayden comes from behind me and covers my eyes.

            “Have you been doing that to every girl here?” Daisy said while she pulled his hands from my eyes and hugged me. “I haven’t seen you since forever, where have you been?”

“Home.” I couldn’t show that I was depressed, sad, annoyed. Over the summer I had become one with the ocean but now, I can’t control our separation. I would only hope that Daisy and Hayden don’t get too excited from seeing me but I can see that it isn’t true. They tug me along aside them and pulled out chairs from our lunch table since freshman year.

“Can you believe that this is our last year here?” Daisy said in her normal cheery attitude. Her blondish hair slides just under her shoulders and her eyes an ocean blue, oh why the ocean blue eyes. Her skin seems to be tanned and she has some of the cheerleaders jealous of her. It makes me wonder why she is still with Hayden and me.

“I know, I mean I wonder what’s going to happen after this.” Hayden blurts. He looks down at his hands. He has changed, his hair used to be a darker brown but now it looks dirty blonde, his eyes almost a dark green. He hasn’t looked at me once so have I changed as well?

“Yea.” I say. Both of them look at me and I bet they are thinking if something happened over the summer that is keeping me so silent to them. “So what have you two done over the summer?”

“I hung out at the mall a lot to see some cute guys.” Daisy almost smiles at the thought of some guys that just crawled back into her mind. “Oh and I missed you guys.”

Hayden looks up at me, his dark green eyes boring into me. “I spent the summer at my home thinking things over.” He doesn’t smile, he just looks at me. I almost feel hypnotized but someone from behind calls his name and as soon as he looks, I turn as well.

“What about you Gigi?”

“I spent the summer on the beach.” I smile, feeling connected to the ocean water.

“Wow and you barely got a tan.” Daisy laughs. I feel somewhat embarrassed to say that I would only go at night, that I didn’t want them to see this other side of me that formed over this summer.

I look over at Hayden again but he is looking down. What is wrong with him? I mean I got into the mood of him and Daisy being all excited but now he seems to be the one that doesn’t want to get excited.

“I’ll be right back.” Daisy says as she gets up from the table. But to be honest, I don’t notice. I am so transfixed on how Hayden’s hair in front of his eyes yet it’s not long enough to reach his shoulders. He seems to have gained a lot of muscle. I tilt my head to the side and study him. What is it that keeps him silent?

“Are you okay?” I ask him but I didn’t think about asking him.

“I don’t know. I’m thinking about football try-outs.” Football try-outs? He has never been interested in football. Is that why he seems buffer? Is that why he really is quiet? “When is Daisy coming back?”

“I don’t know.” I look to the direction she left and she is talking to some other friends. I look back at Hayden and he is looking at me. It’s as if he can see through me. I stare into his eyes and the bell rings to leave. As soon as he looks away I get up and leave. I walk down the hall fast so I can get away from his eyes. I’m walking down the hall so fast that everything seems to blur until I hear my books drop to the floor.

“Are you okay?” This guy says to me while he bends down to pick up my binders. His hair is a short spiked dark brown. I don’t say anything just yet and he stands and looks into my eyes. His eyes seem to be the same color of his hair and yet it is not rare to find some with brown hair and brown eyes but I can’t look away from his. “Are you okay?” He repeats.

“Yea, I’m so sorry that I bumped into you.”

“Actually,” He pauses and smiles. “You bumped into that pole there but you didn’t fall, it was kind of odd.” He laughed.

“Oh.” I feel the red rush to my cheeks. “Well thanks for picking up my binders.” I turn to walk away.

“Wait!” I turn around and he steps the two steps I have just taken. “What’s your name?”

“Giselle.” I say and look into his eyes once more. I smile at him and he smiles back at me. But only then do I notice who stands behind this guy.

“Come on Giselle, we have to get to class.” Hayden says as he stares at this guy who saved my books.

“Thanks again.” Just then Hayden pulls me along. I turn so Hayden doesn’t have to pull me. “You don’t have to baby sit me.” I say in anger. I walk ahead of Hayden, wanting nothing more than to just be out of his sight.

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Just as I enter my Algebra class, noticing that the day is almost done, the teacher stands in front of us with this stupid smirk on his face. His pants go higher than the waist-line and his shirt is half tucked. His glasses slide down his nose and he wears a Zebra tie.

“Today, I will call your name and you will come up here and get a book. This book will be brought to class everyday and be taken home when you have homework.” He pauses for a moment and looks down on his list of names. “Oh and by the way, my name is Mr. Esposito.”

Kids begin to get called and he looks up from his list to see the kid walking up. He hasn’t assigned seats but he has given homework. The day almost being done and I couldn’t escape without homework.  I look around the room and notice the same things that every other teacher has on the walls. Posters, little comics, and white paint. Boring. Just then I feel a push from my back and look up to Hayden. He nods towards the teacher.

“Giselle?” The teacher looks straight at me.

            “Yes.”

            “You really should pay attention. You may sit anywhere you like but you must start to read the chapter.”

            “Yes sir” I didn’t want to say that I already knew that.

            “We’re not going to get along if you don’t pay attention.” He mumbles but I hear it perfectly clear.

I take my book and sit in the middle on the third row from the door. The rest of the kids get called on and now everyone has a seat. Hayden is on the other side of the room, next to the jock guys. He seems to be talking to them quietly, not listening to what the teacher had instructed. Hayden looks over at me and I look back down into my book. I hear someone get up and walk towards me. I look up to see Hayden walking passed me, towards the teacher and asking to go to the bathroom. Of course, the teacher nods and Hayden leaves the room. Why is he making me hurt like this? He acts like some big shot guy that I hate.

The door opens again but I don’t care to look. “Yes hello, I’m sorry I am late. I was in the office. My name is Bryce. Bryce Sanchez.”

            “Yes.” The teacher says. Again the door opens and the sit in front of me now is taken by Bryce, the new guy.

Bryce turns around and now my heart is filled with a little of joy because it’s the guy that I bumped into earlier, or the pole that the guy saw I bumped into. “Hello Giselle.” He whispers. I smile that he even remembers. Again his eyes seem to take me away because I can’t look away.

“Hello.” I whisper back. “You’re supposed to be reading chapter one, section one.” He smiles and turns back around.

I smile to myself, knowing that this has been the first time I smiled since I was away from the ocean.