Walk on the Water - britt nicole

Hope woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. The first night she spent in Diane's home, in Ethan's room, had been awkward, remembering that Ethan had slept there for years. Last night, on the other hand, had been comforting, knowing that she was in a space that he had once called home. Hope had enjoyed her night with Ethan, talking and looking out over the town he grew up in, the town that seemed to call her name. She was amazed at how easy their conversation had been, and excited at the idea of spending time with him again. She knew he would be working that day, but he had promised to call her. She eagerly awaited that call.

After laying in bed and replaying the previous evenings events, Hope stretched and got up. She would be working a few hours that day, but Diane had extra hands on the weekend so Hope wouldn't be as swamped as she had been the previous two days. She wondered what she would do to occupy her time.

Walking sleepily into the kitchen for some cereal, Hope yawned and almost didn't see Diane sitting at the table.

"Good morning, did you two have fun last night?" Diane asked eagerly

Well, no one can accuse her of beating around the bush. Hope thought with a smile.

"Yeah, it was nice. Ethan found a great view of the town and the Rock"

"I'm glad you two had a chance to get to know each other more." Diane had a knowing smile when she said this. Hope wondered if Ethan had told her about his interest (for lack of a better word) in her over the years.

Hope had made a conscious decision the night before not to say anything about Will or what he had told her about Ethan. She knew there had been some sort of falling out between the two and she didn't want to make it worse. She also wasn't sure how Ethan would react if he knew what Will had told her, she certainly didn't want him to back away from her, especially after how nice their evening had been.

"Me too" was all Hope dared to say in reply.

After cereal and some....coffee, Hope returned to her room to get dressed for her day. She had decided to try to find the same path to the hilltop that Ethan had taken the night before. She wanted to do some reflecting... and find a rock to add to her collection and remind her of their time together. Hope felt it had been a sort of break through for her to be able to speak so freely to him and she wanted a physical reminder of that moment.

As soon as her shoes were tied, her phone buzzed. She checked it with nervous excitement and sure enough, it was a text from Ethan.

*I had fun last night with you. It's a full day today so I'll give you a call when I can tonight. Have a good day, Hope*

She was encouraged by his thoughtfulness and kind words. It was new for her to get texts from a guy, and she was happy that his were so sweet. Come to think of it, she realized that Will had never texted her, or called her, or even exchanged numbers with her. It had never crossed her mind because he had always arranged for her to meet him at the beach. Huh, I wonder if he doesn't have a phone...no car either. strange, maybe he doesn't have any money...

Hope shrugged off thoughts of Will and sent a text back to Ethan.

*I had fun too, thanks for the great ocean view! TTYL, Ethan*

She sent the text and got up to start her day.

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The afternoon sun decided to show it's face early that day. Hope was glad for the sunshine, even though she really loved the Morro Bay weather. She was headed to where she thought the path to the hilltop would be, but she found that she couldn't quite remember the way. Her car was winding through various residential streets on the hill, and she knew she was close.

She decided to pull over and look more closely at her surroundings. After stopping her car, she closed her eyes and tried to bring a visual forward of the night before. She remembered a large two story house that stood out in her mind due to its diagonal location on the corner. That seemed to her to be the landmark she needed to find the last turn heading up the path.

With new images to hunt, Hope once again was on the road. She drove another block or two and suddenly, there was the house she was seeking. She gave a little cheer to herself, excited to be on the right track, and made the turn up the path. The road became rockier than the paved street had been. In Ethan's truck it had seemed smoother, but her little car was bouncing quite a bit.

In a few minutes, Hope got to the peak. She found the turnout that Ethan had parked in, so she pulled her car right to it. She sat there for a minute taking in the area, then got out and walked to the spot where they had stood, before getting into the bed of his truck.

Without waiting a moment longer, Hope began scanning the ground for a suitable rock to add to her collection, now in her hoodie pocket. After a few minutes, Hope saw what she was seeking: a semi smooth white stone with flecks of grey and black streaking through the middle. She held it in her hand and closed her fingers around it. For a few minutes she thought about what word should accompany her new acquisition, and then she knew.

Comfortable

It wasn't an exciting word, but Hope was excited to use it to describe herself. She had never felt comfortable, especially in the type of situation she was in the previous night with Ethan. And yet, last night she had been amazingly, miraculously and surprisingly comfortable. Sure, it may be a boring word, but to Hope it was energizing to actually feel that way.

She spent a while just sitting on the ground at the edge of the hill, watching the ocean, the town, even the clouds. She was content, and to Hope it was the best feeling. She allowed that feeling to wash over her. She continued to be surprised by the difference in her and wondered how it had all began, praying that it would remain that way as long as possible.

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That evening, after grabbing dinner down by the docks, Hope spent the evening watching a movie with Diane. They had picked a comedy and for whatever reason, it caught both of them in stitches. Diane said it must be due to exhaustion after the busy week but Hope thought it had more to do with just being in a really good mood. Either way, both women laughed until tears ran down their cheeks, hardly able to breathe.

Just as a fit of laughter rendered Hope unable to speak, her phone rang. Ethan! Hope handed the phone to Diane, pointing at the caller ID, and Diane understood right away that Hope wanted her to answer, seeing as how Hope couldn't speak.

"Hello, son. How are you?"

Hope couldn't hear Ethan's response, but it gave her another wave of laughs thinking of his reaction to hearing his mom answer.

"Yes, she's here, but she's laughing too hard to talk." Diane paused for Ethan. "No, not at you!"

That brought Hope back to seriousness, all laughter ceasing. She reached for the phone and wiped her cheeks at the same time.

"Hi, sorry, we were watching a movie and I guess it just struck us as really funny. I asked your mom to answer because at the time, I couldn't get any words out, I was laughing so hard."

"Oh, okay. I was confused for a minute, but I get it. So, can you talk now or are you still watching..." Ethan started to ask.

"No, I don't need to keep watching. Let's talk" Hope replied as she got up to walk back to her room. She sat on her bed and closed the door a bit. "So, how was your day, busy?"

"Yup, I worked two shifts today at the restaurant. I switched with a buddy so I could have tomorrow off."

"Oh?" Hope asked with anticipation. She wondered if he would come out to visit again since he had the day off.

"Yeah, and I was wondering if you wanted to come out to SLO for the day." He said, sort of quietly. Hope wondered if he thought she would say no. Which would be silly for him to think.

"Of course, that would be great!"

"Good. You can meet me at my place about 10am tomorrow, if that works"

"Works for me" Hope said with a smile. Ethan gave her the directions to his apartment, which she scribbled on a sticky note from her purse.

"So" Ethan began to change the topic, "what were you up to today?"

"Well, after working here for a few hours, I went back to the hilltop for a while" Hope felt a little nervous telling him. She wondered if he would think it was strange.

"Huh, liked it that much did you?" There was no judgement in his voice, to Hope's relief.

"Yes, I did" She decided to tell him her reason for returning to that spot. "I wanted to get a little rock to remind me of that spot. So I drove around until I found it, and then I stayed awhile to watch it in the daylight."

"You didn't stay to watch the sunset did you?"

"No, why?"

"Because I want to be there when you see it up there for the first time." He said, quietly again. Hope blushed.

"I would like that" She said, equally quietly.

"So, a rock, huh. What kind did you find?"

Hope pulled her rocks out of her pocket and found the one from the hill. She described it to him with some detail. She had hesitated to tell him the significance of her rocks. But then she thought, why not. He might as well know everything, it wouldn't do to keep everything private.

So she told him. About her experience at the jetty, her talk with Diane, her time on the sandbar and finding her rocks. She did leave out the parts with Will, once again. She felt unsure about how to broach the subject of Will and what that might bring up in Ethan so she decided to wait until she knew more about what happened with them.

"Wow, Hope. I can't believe all that you've discovered on this trip. It's really inspiring. I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks, I can finally say I'm happy for me too."

"Well, it's getting late and I want you to get here on time tomorrow so, I'm gonna say goodnight, Hope. I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow."

"Me too, good night Ethan."

That night, Hope went to sleep with a smile on her face.

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Author's note

This is another example of a chapter writing itself. This one was not in the plan, but Hope is very reflective and needs to process experiences, feelings and thoughts in order to understand herself and others. She needed this time to herself after spending time with Ethan. She wants to understand everything that's going on. Again, I thought this self-reflection would take up a few paragraphs, but Hope had other ideas.

Note's on chapter title - walk on the water

Brit Nicole is awesome, and this song is one of my favorites. Hope has dealt with a ton of insecurities and the song is one of letting go of those insecurities. I thought this song would be one of the last chapters but it fit so well here. She was letting go in order to be present and in the moment with Ethan, sharing her feelings so honestly. She has to be vulnerable with him, which takes trust. It's fun to write their interactions!

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