“Oh, by the way, Brian and Dan want to take us to the beach tomorrow.”

“That’s fine. Have fun and be home by 1:00 a.m.”

“We will. Umm… Dan’s birthday is coming up in June. Can I have a party for him?”

“Won’t his parents want to celebrate it with him?”

I shake my head. “He says they work all the time and I want to do something for him.”

“Then, it's fine if you do, but only a few people and make sure you clean up after yourselves, alright?”

“Of course. I was thinking of a small get together for it. Only Brian, Alla, me and Dan. I thought we’d have a party that afternoon, then Dan and I could go out to do something afterward.”

“When is it?”

“June 19th.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to Nadia and we’ll go do something that day.. Andie… I know I keep saying it, but if you decide to give him your virginity for his birthday, please, use a condom.”

“Oh my God, Mom! Would you stop already! We are not going to have sex!” I take a breath to calm down. “I’m not ready for that and I have no idea when I will be, so can we stop talking about this?”

“No, we can’t. This is a conversation we need to have. I know what you’ve said, but, Baby girl, you aren’t on birth control and we haven’t talked about that either. Look, you never know what can happen in the heat of the moment. That’s all I’m trying to say.”

I sigh and sit back down. “Mom, I don’t want to take birth control. Not after what I read about the side effects it can have. Cancer? Fertility issues? No way, not happening.”

“Baby, you know the chances of that happening are extremely low, right?”

“I know, but any chance is too high. I think I’ll want children, so I don’t want any potential problems. Regardless, I know all of this. We don’t need to keep talking about it, alright? Please, trust me, Mom. I’m not going to have sex with Dan until I am sure about him, us, or whatever you want to call it.”

“Alright, just remember to take precautions. Now, birth control is up to you, but remember to use a condom when you do have sex until you are ready to have children.”

“I’m not ready to even think about children, but okay, I will.”

“Listen Andie, I know you are very responsible and I trust you to do the right thing, but all it takes is one single moment of you not thinking about the consequences for you to destroy your future plans. That’s why I’m talking about this with you. Baby girl, you are so bright and I want to see just how far that potential can take you. Having a baby as a teen? Well, you can write that off. If you got pregnant, you would keep it and raise it regardless of what anyone else would think. With all of that said, that’s all I’m going to say and I won’t bring it back up.”

I nod thinking, ‘She’s right, I would. I believe life is to be cherished and I’d never kill something so precious just for my convenience.’

I can guess what some of you are thinking. You make your own choices and I’ll make mine. I suppose you can say that I think of it this way: not everyone thinks, likes or does the same things, nor should we. This world would be a very boring place if that was the case. So, don’t judge me and I promise not to judge you for the decisions you make, alright? What you decide to do is between you and God.

“I’ll keep it in mind. I’m going to go to talk to Alla and then bed. Night Mom. I love you.”

“Goodnight Baby. Sleep well.”

　◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

[Saturday, May 17]

My alarm wakes me at 6:30. Yes, it’s early, but Alla and I have to go shopping this morning since I don’t have a swimsuit, cover up or beach shoes. Plus, we need to buy a waterproof cover for my cast so I can swim. Honestly, I wish I had thought of getting one earlier because it would’ve made bathing so much easier.

Alla offered to let me borrow one of hers, but I didn’t think they would fit me properly since she’s a bit curvier than I am as well as being larger breast-wise. Plus, I’ll need a few of my own because I definitely plan for Dan to take me to the beach quite a bit this summer.

So, after we shower, dress and eat, we head out to SunBane Swimwear. It takes us about an hour to get there even with traffic being lighter than normal. Wasting no time when we arrive, since we have little to spare, we make our way inside to delve through the racks. First up is finding a clear waterproof cover, which we chose first since it takes very little time. Next, we find two cover ups for me, both of them in lace, one in navy blue and the other in white. That accomplished, we head over and search through the racks of swimwear in my size. After trying on many different styles and colors we settle on a brazilian style in ruby red, cobalt blue, fuchsia, and, of course, basic black because they highlight my hair and fair skin. The red and fuschia ones are strapless and the other two are string type.

Once we pay for them, we head back home and on the way discuss what we'll be wearing today. I chose a red strapless summer mini dress and black sandals when I dressed this morning, and I will be wearing my red bikini at the beach with my white lace coverup. Let’s just say that I’m quite sure Dan will be very happy with how his girlfriend is dressed today.

Back at the house, we gather up and pack everything we will need for our day at the beach, then head downstairs for Mom to put our hair up in tight braids so it doesn’t get tangled when we go swimming. Then we move to the living room to watch TV while we wait for the boys.

Shortly before 10:00, the boys arrive, we load up in Brian's truck and scoot close to Dan for the ride to whatever beach they chose. After we exit the neighborhood, Brian turns south on Highway 1, which makes me curious where we’re going.

“Where are we going today?”

“Sombrero Beach.”

I’ve been there a few times with my parents when I was much younger and it’s a great beach. I always loved the soft, white beach sand and turquoise water, especially at sunset. Even better is the fact that it’s not only out of the way, but isn’t a large beach so there aren’t a lot of people. More of a cosy beach for couples in my opinion. I see it as a lovely place to relax with your boyfriend or family and take it easy, although they do have beach volleyball and other such activities, not that I can do many of them at the moment.

Smiling, I say, “Good choice,” and snuggle against him for the hour long ride.

Once we arrive, Alla and I excuse ourselves and head to the bathroom to change into our bikinis. After we have, we carefully fold our clothes and store them in our bags. Finally we don our cover ups, pick up our bags and we head out to find that Brian and Dan already have the umbrella up and blanket spread out.

Looking around there are about ten other couples here and one family, who are laughing as they watch their two preteen girls pouting over the surf destroying the sandcastle they built. Most everyone else is laying out, basking in the sun or hiding under beach umbrellas while two couples are playing volleyball to our right.

I have to admit, I love everything about living in Florida, well, except hurricanes. The smell of the salt air, the texture of the powder-like white sand beneath my feet, the warmth of the sun upon my skin and the sparkling of the waves as they rush to crash upon the sand combine to provide an idyllic scene before me.

Standing there, I smile as I take it all in until Alla touches my shoulder and breaks me out of my blissful stupor when she says, “Andie?”

Turning to look at her, I say, “I’m alright. Just enjoying the view.”

She smiles. “I like it, too, but Brian and Dan are waiting for us, and we need to get some suntan lotion on us before we burn.”

She’s right, since both of us are very fair skinned and burn far too easily. She takes my hand and we make our way across the sand to them.

Dan’s smile when he looks up and sees me is exactly what I was after. My bikini is a little on the skimpy side, but I knew the moment I saw it that he’d love it. It’s not a micro-bikini or anything close to that, but it doesn’t leave much to the imagination.

Setting down my bag, I remove my suntan lotion and hand it to Dan. “Would you mind putting that on for me?”

After they liberally apply suntan lotion to us, Dan helps me put the sleeve over my cast and then the four of us head down to the water to play.

At one point Dan and I are splashing each other while he occasionally picks me up and tosses me. I’m back to splashing him again and giggling like an idiot when he lunges at me and picks me up to toss me again. Unfortunately, his hands slide up taking my top with it as I slip through his hands.

I quickly cover myself with my hands as I blush furiously. That actually goes for both of us and couldn’t tell you which of us is blushing more over the incident. He stands there looking shocked until I snap him out of it when I harshly whisper, “Don’t just stand there, get my top!”

I’m not angry with him, definitely embarrassed, but not angry. Dan has shown time and time again how much of a gentleman he is, so I know it was an accident. He retrieves it and I turn around so he can help me put it back on. I do catch him sneaking a peek as he does though. Frankly, I’d be surprised, and maybe a little worried, if he didn’t.

Once he reties it, he slips his arms around my waist to pull me against him and murmurs, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that,” in my ear.

Turning around in his arms, I slip my arms around his neck and pull him down to me to give him a quick kiss. “I know you didn’t. It was an accident.” I shrug. “Things like that happen sometimes.”

“What do you say we take a break and get something to eat?”

“I could eat.”

“Good.” He looks over at Alla and Brian, then calls out, “Hey, you two, let’s eat!”

Brain waves back to indicate he heard him and we all wade to shore.

Alla and I watch them as they make their way to the beach shack to get us some cheese burgers as we relax under the umbrella. We don’t even notice the two boys making their way over to us until one one of them, a rather handsome, blonde-haired man, asks, “Excuse me, do you have the time? I accidentally left my phone in the car.”

Alla glances at him, says, “Sure,” and then picks up her phone. “It's 11:21.”

“Thank you. I’m John,” he gestures to the man beside him, “and this is Tim. We were just thinking of getting something to eat. Since you two are by yourselves, would you care to join us?”

Alla politely replies, “No, thank you. We’re actually here with our boyfriends.”

The one named Tim, looks around, smirks, then takes a cocksure stance as he says, “I don’t see anyone good enough to go out with you, other than us.”

Which makes me laugh. “Wow! Can you say overconfident?”

He flushes angrily and snarls, “Wow! What a bitch!”

Alla snaps, “You two approached us. We told you we had boyfriends and you still didn’t get the clue that we weren’t interested. Just leave us alone.” They continue to stand there glaring and she reaches into her bag and pulls out her pepper spray. “Now!”

Thankfully, they leave and I mutter, “What asshats!”

She laughs, “That they are, but there are lots of them out there.”

I nod in agreement. “I don’t understand people like them. Confidence I find somewhat sexy, but no matter how good looking someone is, being conceited is unappealing.”

“Andie, you’re a rare girl.”

I shrug and smile. “Maybe, but I don’t think so. I think most girls would find boys being arrogant like that gross.”

“That it is.”

Brain and Dan come back with our food and we eat, then they throw away the trash and we relax for a while.

At one point, the boys are asked to play volleyball and we watch them as they play. Unfortunately, they lose, but they look as though they had fun. After that, we played in the water some more.

Later, we’re sitting under the umbrella cuddling and watching the sunset.

He lays me down and rests on his elbow as he looks at me. I smile as I stare into those breathtakingly blue eyes of his as I impatiently wait. Slowly, he looks me up and down as he lightly traces his fingers along my abdomen, raising goosebumps. It seems to last for hours, though in reality, it must have been only a few seconds. I want him to kiss me. More than anything, I want to pull him to me and lose myself in our kiss, but I lay unmoving. His eyes stop and linger at my lips, then my eyes for a moment before moving back to lips. I can’t stand it anymore and that’s when I move to pull him down to me, holding him close as my heart beats wildly.

I can’t help it. I have no idea why I’m so drawn to him, nor do I know why he makes me so happy, but I’m not going to question it. He raises up and gives me a short, sweet kiss, which only leaves me wanting more.

He stares into my eyes, which prompts me to ask, “What?”