The Oceanside Hotel

         The ocean flows up and down at a steady pace, in time with my heartbeat.  The setting sun struggles to stay visible against the darkening sky.  One or two birds can be heard singing farewell songs in the distance.  Life from the view of my hotel balcony is perfect, a picture of how the world should be.  Nature is in harmony and all is peaceful.  That’s what makes knowing so much harder.  Knowing that my father’s company is about to tear down such a beautiful environment.  I let a single tear glide down my face, glowing in the salty sea air.  The phrase “heaven on earth” crosses my mind momentarily.  I let a small smile cross my lips as I realize this wouldn’t have mattered to me two months ago.  In fact, not much had mattered two months ago. 

         “Jennie!” my dad calls from inside the condo.  I give one last longing look to sea and regretfully turn away to find my father.

One Month Prior

         “Jennie please!  How long does it take?” my mother scolded as I rushed about our house for the last time, gathering junk.

“A lot longer than you would think Mom!  It’s not like we’re taking all of our stuff when we move or anything.”  I shot back sarcastically.  My brother already sat in the car, IPod lodged in his ears, and head disappearing into his giant hoodie.  The good thing about having an older brother was that he generally kept to himself.  Skyler dominated the 12th grade while I ducked    through 11th.  At home, he dropped his macho attitude and went into loner mode.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Finally, I threw all of my junk in the car and hobbled in.

         “I’m glad Jennie decided to join us.” my dad joked.  I rolled my eyes as I pulled my long brown hair into a ponytail.

         “Why are we going to a condo first?” Skyler questioned.

         “We want to scout the area before we pick a house.” My mom explained.”  We need somewhere to stay while we do this.”  Satisfied with the answer, Skyler turned back to his iPod.  I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the soft back of the seat.  It was going to be a long drive from Oklahoma to Florida.

         My eyes hadn’t been closed for five minutes before I heard the annoying clicking of my brother’s cell phone.  Momentarily, I regretted not getting an iPod when I had the chance.  I pulled out my phone and looked at it.  No messages.  I headed to the address book, four contacts: my mom, my dad, my brother, and my one friend.  I guess you could consider her my best friend.  I didn’t inherit the social butterfly genes the rest of my family possessed.  I scrolled over my friend’s name and clicked “send message.”  My heard jumped five feet in the air at the startling beep from my phone.    Only I could forget phones made sounds, even with my brother next to me.  I typed the first thing that popped into my head, “Hey Kim”, then pressed send.  She wasn’t going to respond, she never did.  I don’t know why we even bothered having each other’s numbers.

         “I’m hungry!” Skyler announced, breaking my thoughts.

         “We can get food later, Skyler.” my mom replied nonchalantly.

         “Mom, you force me to move away from all of my friends and my life, and you won’t get me food? Really?” Skyler was definitely the most dramatic twelfth grade boy I had ever had the joy of knowing. 

         Needless to say, we eventually found food due to Skyler’s persistent whining.  I didn’t think we were ever going to make it to Florida.  Thankfully, however, we finally did.

         Our car pulled into the regal Oceanside Hotel.  Its grandeur dominated the skyline with a palette of golds and blues.  Behind the hotel I could see the enormous kingdom of an ocean.  Never having seen an ocean before, I found its size to be incredible.  The breathtaking beauty you were supposed to experience at the beach didn’t affect me, however.

         My mother stopped to take pictures, squealing with delight.  I followed the unphased men of the family inside.  We located our condo without trouble, floor 10 room 1067.  The rest of my family changed into swimsuits and headed for the beach.  I lay on the bed and turned on the TV.  I started to drowse off into a calm sleep when a sharp rap at the door startled me awake.  I dragged myself off the bed and trudged to the door, looking through the peep hole.  I saw a tall male figure holding a stack of something in his arms.  “Must be a maid or something.” I thought to myself.  I unlocked the door and swung it open. 

         My peep hole was very wrong.  It wasn’t a man, it was a boy.  A very good looking boy.  From the look on his face I realized I must have the freshly awakened look.  Of course.

         “We got a call that you wanted some beach towels up here.  I apologize they’re so late.” His voice was enchanting.  I felt like words were flowing out of his mouth like soft silk.  I snapped back into reality and realized I had been staring at him with a somewhat embarrassing gaping mouth. 

         “Oh, sorry.” I mumbled, immediately dropping my eyes to the ground.  “My parents must have called for them, but they already went down to the beach.” He smiled at my embarrassment.  “I’ll just bring the towels down to them.” I said, reaching out my arms.  He handed them to me and I followed him out the door.  He walked down the hallway and I stood there, unsure as to where the beach was.  He looked back momentarily, realizing I hadn’t moved.  I smiled sheepishly.

         “Where’s the beach?” he laughed at my lack of knowledge and walked back to me.

         “I’ll take you there.” He started walking and I followed, painfully aware that my darkish self could never land a guy like this.  “If you’ve never been here before, it’s pretty easy to get lost.” He smiled, relieving some of the tension.

         “Well at least it’s not just me.” I laughed.  “So do you work here or something?”

         “Yeah, I’m a lifeguard down at the pool.”

         “Then why do they have you delivering towels?” I questioned.

         “I’m still an intern here.” He said with a scowl.

         “Do you live here?” I asked as he pushed an elevator button on the wall.

         “Just during the summer.  I live about half an hour away, so the commute wouldn’t be bad, just a hassle.” The elevator door chimed open and we stepped in. “I’m sorry, I never introduced myself.” He said politely.  “I’m Tyler Watson.” He extended his hand.

         “I’m Jennie Thompson.” I smiled, meeting his hand with mine.  He had a strong grip and soft hands.  Soft hands are key.  The elevator abruptly stopped and opened, revealing my family.



To be continued, because there is a page limit on my stories.