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Thirteen

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Finally outside, April took a deep breath of the briny yet ocean fresh air, not being able to ignore the beauty of the beach at midday. The sea looked jewel blue from the distance she stood at, getting more sparkly and rippled till the point where it kissed the silk blue sky at the horizon line. The sky in itself was hosting a gathering of wizard white, tufty clouds, looking as peaceful and comfortable as ever. If only her mind were as clear as that.

"So...your schedule cleared up fast," Shawn commented, walking close beside her.

"Err... Yeah, sorta," she replied, looking round at the countless foot imprints in the soft, warm sand. "Stuff cleared up."

"Busy woman," he teased. "I like that."

She chuckled. He had no idea.
They kept walking in a straight line, farther and farther away from the area of the beach she was familiar with. She would worry, but Shawn had promised not to take her anywhere creepy, so she relaxed and powered on. "Where are you taking me?" She finally asked for the sake of conversation.

"It's a surprise."

"I don't like surprises," she noted without thinking.

"So you like everything going as predicted, that's good I guess."

She shrugged. "It's easier. That way you can stay healthy. Did you know shock is surprise at its worst? Kidnapping is also by surprise because the victims don't suspect it. And assassination by sniper comes as a surprise because no one sees it coming."

"How do you even get this stuff in your head?" He asked, getting a laugh about of both of them.

He smiled and waved at a bunch of guys by the shore to their far right. "Sometimes it feels good to be surprised," he noted in an undertone.

One of the guys gestured wildly with his arms, as if trying to capture their attention. He jumped and crossed his arms over his head, yelling something that sounded like 'high glides', whatever that meant.

"Hey look, your friend's waving at you."

He turned to face him, then brought his head back down with a wide grin. "Yeah, don't pay him attention or we'll have to–"

The guy called out to the remaining, and in a second, about six different guys and three girls were all leaving the sea side, jogging in their direction.

"And now they're coming," Shawn said through his teeth. "Don't pay attention to them."

April raised her brows at him. Whose call was that to make?

The group reached them and she got to see them up close. To be honest, they left her wishing she'd been head clear enough for that meeting. The amount of abs present and on display was enough to drive a pyramid of cheerleaders crazy, and the smell of ocean and cologne was enough to make even relatively uninterested girls like April pay attention.

"Hi!" She chirped back at the group, who wasted no time in exchanging greetings and shoulder punches with Shawn.

"Why didn't you introduce us?" A tall blond guy asked Shawn before facing April with a wink. "I'm Dexter, by the way."

She grinned. "It seems we have the same last name. I'm also April Bytheway."

Everyone laughed, including Shawn, who placed his arm around her shoulder somewhat protectively. Dexter noticed and took a step back, holding both hands up in surrender.

"So where are you from, April?" A short girl in a blue bikini asked.

"Tennessee? I hear that's where most tens come from." This time, it was a dark skinned guy with the most built body in the pack. April laughed and rolled her eyes at his silly line.

"I'm actually from Seattle. Here on vacation with family."

The same guy cocked his head. "Anybody look like you?"

"Is your mom single by any chance?" Dexter asked with another wink.

A round of laughter followed the question, followed by more frivolities before Shawn cut in, grabbing April by her hand. "Alright you guys, leave us alone."

"You're such a buzz kill, dude. You should dump him, Appy. Better things await you in my bosom."

She snorted at the nickname. "I think I'm good, thanks."

"You heard her, you guys leave."

They chorused their unwillingness for a little while longer before finally dispersing. April laughed and waved back at them. She liked them a lot, especially since they gave off the same kind of energy she got from her dance crew back in Seattle.

When they finally cleared up, Shawn cleared his throat. "Sorry about that. They get wild sometimes, makes me wonder why I hang out with them."

"I like them." She grinned and turned her head to see the happy bunch again, but they were already far ahead, jumping into the sea one after the other. "They're fun."

"In that case, they're my family."

April laughed and bumped his elbow with hers. "Sure."

Their walk lasted another ten minutes before Shawn stopped. When April turned to find out why, his eyes were locked on something to their left. When she turned her head, she spotted a bamboo smoothie shack, complete with paper lanterns and Christmas lights, even though it was summer.

The roof was thatched like most, but it had a collection of fake grass hanging from it, making it look like it had been built as a fort in the wilderness. April liked it. Two chairs each were placed on opposite sides of about fifteen round, plastic tables, most occupied by customers, while waiters and waitresses in beach attire went to and from the counter, holding all sorts of cups and glasses with straws of all shapes and sizes.

From the tropic scent of mango and other varieties reached that reached her nose, she could only guess the level of loveliness of the place.

"This where you're taking me? Or is it the forest behind it?" She asked, trying to insert humor into her excitedness.

He laughed and tugged her closer to the shack. "The forest wouldn't be a bad idea though, would it?"

She laughed. "Actually, it would. I might have to kill you inside for not taking me here instead."

He changed direction. "In that case, the forest it is!"

A devious smile crossed her lips. "I said kill you," she noted.

He nodded. "I heard, but then what guy would pass on the opportunity of having your hands around his neck?"

She wasn't blushing– not yet, but her smile got broader.

•~❉᯽❉~•

The porch of their beach house had been a place Javier adored, until his father had suddenly decided to use it as a lecture site.

They sat, as usual with him holding his breath in anticipation of the older man's words, and his father glued to his phone, with nothing but silence etched into his features.

He cursed Malia again for causing his predicament all because of her feelings, and himself too because someone else needed to be blamed for this. April could carry some of it, after all she was the one who had made him available for Malia to notice, but then again blaming her at a time like this proved somewhat...wrong.

He tapped his finger noiselessly against the table top, waiting for the man before him to say something–anything–to release him from the suspense.

"How's the trip going, son?"

He raised his head to be sure it was his emotionally distant father talking, and not his mind playing games.

"Yes sir?"

"How's the trip going for you?" He asked again, setting his phone on the wooden tabletop.

Javier still didn't respond yet.

"Do you want me to write it out for you?"

"It's... going well?" He forced out, somewhat questioningly.

"Good," came the reply as he folded his arms. "Your mother thought it'd be a good idea to...bond with you at some point of this vacation and I thought I'd invite you for a chat since you weren't busy..." he furrowed his brows. "You're not, are you?"

Javier shook his head. "No, no, not at all, I was jus–"

"That's enough till you learn to use actual words," he interrupted with a chuckle.

Javier forced a smile, finally calming down. "Where's mom?" He asked carefully. He suspected she was extremely busy, since his father was suddenly free to talk to him.

"Ah, she's talking to Patrick's wife, you know women and their gossip."

A nod was all he could give, because he didn't know whether that had been disgust or humor in his voice. Probably humor, since his mother was involve.

"Are you up for a walk? Your mother and I went to this small restaurant a few days ago. She thought I should take you for snacks."

Another bombshell. His eyes widened and his chest thumped as instant fear clouded his body in dread of the 'walk'. What would he possibly want with him?

"Did you hear me?"

He nodded. "Sure, okay."

•~❉᯽❉~•

Shawn led April toward one of the tables and pulled out a chair for her.

"Gentleman shit?" She asked him with a giggle, sitting down. "What's my line now? Thank you?"

He waved a hand at the server, then sat across from her. "You're ready to kill me, aren't you?" He asked her, making them both laugh as she pushed hair strands from her face. Even the breeze here was delightful.

"Maybe," she grinned, finally giving into the urge to look around like a kid in a candy store. When she turned back to her date, she caught him staring at her.

"What color are your eyes?"

"Question for me or you?" She asked in return, sending yet another smile his way. "See for yourself." She'd done this before—ask a guy to look into her eyes as a flirt— she couldn't remember who the date had been or when it had happened, but this wasn't new.

He cocked his head to the side, dramatically leaning in and peering her face with his eyes, which soon moved from her eyes to her lips.

Nope, she couldn't kiss him. Not till she was sure he wasn't interested in actually dating her.

"What color did you see?" She asked, breaking the eye contact.

"Brown?" He chuckled. "I didn't —"

The sound of a clearing throat snapped them out of the flirt session. April raised her head to meet the wagging eyebrows of the waitress.

She held her short blonde hair in a pony tail and was dressed in the typical multicolored beach shirt, tucked stylishly into a short white skirt. Very fashion forward, April thought, smiling back at her.

"What can I get you guys?" She asked, tapping her pen against her small notepad.

April really couldn't wait to try what her nose wouldn't stop doing on its own. "Mango smoothies and–" She paused, catching sight of spaghetti, written on the back of the pad in her hand, which she just realised was a menu. "Wait you guys have pasta?"

"We have things we're not supposed to," the waitress chuckled, scribbling down on her menu/notepad. "Can I get you lovely couple anything else?"

"From you, Jess, no." Shawn laughed, waving her off.

April squinted and flipped hair over her left shoulder. "She's your friend too?"

He nodded. "Kind of. I mean, she's more like..." his words faded to background noise as April's eyes caught on to the outline of a person—no, two people— walking in their direction.

They were almost the same height, with the younger one having about two inches on the older man. From the way he kept looking over his shoulder, she could guess that the son would've rather been anywhere but there. She understood him completely, because he wasn't the only one weirded out by the sight of the both of them casually strolling like brothers.

The old man had never so much as smiled in her presence through all her years of knowing him, and as for the son, she didn't know what supernatural force kept pulling him to her, but she couldn't think about that, right now. Her mind was occupied with one thing.

Javier and his father had somehow reconciled, and were walking towards her and Shawn.