Ben

"Watch out!" I yelped from my spot in the sand, as a massive wave began swelling behind Chris who was paddling atop his board absentmindedly, seemingly unaware of the metre-high wave that was close to crashing down onto his head. He turned, seeing it, then proceeded to sit there, sticking his tongue out at me.

I curled my fists in the sand. "You're an idiot!" I shrieked. 

But of course, just as my heart began pulsing in my chest, he turned around at the last second, swam up to the swelling monster of a wave and stood, surfing it perfectly. He angled away from the shoreline, spinning and sweeping down before gliding back towards me, a smug smile on his face. Jack, our other friend, crowed from where he was riding another wave farther out in the sea.

My face began to turn red - and it wasn't from the sunburn I could feel slowly peeling away at my pasty skin from the sun which was beating down on us from a crystal blue sky. Chris, dripping wet and shining in the sun, came and plonked himself down next to me, planting his surfboard in the sand. 

"Is little Ben worried about me?" he mocked, ruffling my hair.

I swatted his hand away. "No," I replied indignantly.  "I know you can take care of yourself. Don't worry about little old me."

Empathy began swirling in Chris's eyes. "Aw, now don't say that. Of course I'm going to worry about my little old Ben. Is it because of..." he gestured to my leg, stretched out in front of me in its fat red cast, a stark plastic contrast to the soft white sand that surrounded it. Chris knew it was a sensitive topic for me - the...accident which left me having to spend the hottest summer on record in New Zealand in a cast, watching Chris and all of our other friends enjoy the ocean while I sadly remained on the sand. 

Chris always demanded we could do something else, but the only places I ever wanted to be were by the sea, and with him. And I wasn't going to make him sit here with me all summer - not when the ocean was as beautiful and inviting as it was. So that left me sitting alone in the sand all day while he and Jack were off surfing the waves, the way I could before the accident happened.

Not that I minded sitting back and admiring him.

Chris picked up a stick and began drawing patterns in the sand. "I feel bad, making you sit here all day watching the waves," he admitted. "It's not nearly as fun out there without you beside me."

I ruffled his wet blond hair and grabbed his hand, our fingers intertwining together like they were made for each other. "Hey, I'm meant to be the moody one. I'll be back out there soon," I said, trying to muster some optimism for him. "The doctor said the earliest the cast can be removed is January, and the latest is March. You won't get all the fun without me. Besides, I'll have the better tan out of the both of us by the end of this, with all the sunbathing I'm doing." 

Chris looked into my eyes, something I couldn't place written on his face. "What is it?" I asked, holding his hand closer to me.

He didn't reply, leaning his head on my bare shoulder. His wet hair tickled the side of my neck, a cool relief I didn't know I needed. "I wish your leg wasn't broken," he whispered. "So we could run away after Christmas Day."

A shiver ran down my spine as I understood, a cloud suddenly thrown over our sunny day. Christmas was in twenty-three days. Which meant our future would be decided in twenty-three days. 

I didn't reply, only wrapping my arm around Chris and holding him tightly, holding his hand to my lips. "Lovebirds!" Jack yelled from the sea, before promptly falling off his board as another wave swamped him. But we ignored his antics as we stared out towards the sea in silence.

Chris and I had been together for six months, hiding secret kisses between the trees and meeting up by coves and nooks in the rocks for half a year. Besides us, the only person who knew about our secret was Jack, and he only knew because we knew he couldn't care less. 

But these things did not bode well with our town's Christian community.

I pressed a kiss to Chris's hand as he curled into me further, both of us craving each other's warmth from the cold thoughts that were swirling in both of our heads about how our parents would react.

On Christmas Day, the day Christ was born, Chris and I would finally come out to our parents at our traditional barbecue, and tell them we had been together for six months.

And we knew that if their conservative beliefs came between us, we would likely never be able to see each other again.

Hey hey hey

A little explanation: Kuaotonu is a small town in the Coromandel, which is a tiny and beautiful peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. I used to live in another town in the Coromandel (I live in Auckland now) and go there frequently and one of my family's favourite places is Kuaotonu - it's seriously tiny but it's one of my favourite places in the world, so I decided to set it there.

And yes, people do have Christmas in the summer - pretty much the entire southern hemisphere. It's a thing. 

I'm not actually sure if Kuaotonu is a tight Christian town, but many small towns in New Zealand are so that part is mainly fictitious.

I love writing New Zealand stories, as it is my home, so I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it!

residenthobbit49 :) <3