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"That line was entirely too long," Max says, shaking his head as pours a bit of ice cold water onto a wad of brown, paper napkinds. "People get entirely too mad when you try and cut to the front."

He starts to dab at her knees, but Cece takes the napkins from him. "I can do this, and you should just sit down and relax."

"Does it still burn?"

"No, not too much. Thank you, by the way."

He shakes his head. "Don't thank me, I'm probably the reason you fell."

Cece rolls her eyes, wiping a bit of dried blood from her left knee. "It's not that big of a deal. And, besides, the day is not over just yet. How about we get some pizza or something?"

"Sounds good to me. I was also thinking that we could stop by a party on the beach later on. One of my friends is hosting one for his frat buddies tonight."

"So you go to college, too?" Cece asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I go to the University of California. What about you?"

She sighs, looking down at her beat-up knees again. She feels like she's flaunting when she says "I go to Yale."

Max's eyes widen in surprise and awe. "Wow, that's really impressive."

"Not really," she replies, trying to downplay it. "My parents pushed me into going there."

"Well, if I were you, I'd take more pride in myself. You must be crazy smart to be a student there."

The complement makes her feel warm inside, and the way he said it makes her feel like he really meant it, too. "Well, thank you. Enough of this college talk, though, it's summer, and I'm kind of hungry. Where's the best pizza place around here?"

"They all taste the same to me, so lets just go to whatever one is the emptiest," he replies, picking up his skateboard. "Are you okay skating or do you want to put your sneakers on?"

"Sneakers," Cece says.

Max digs her shoes out of his backpack and hand them to her. Somehow, a pair of sunglasses happened to have fallen into her right shoe, so she puts them on and takes off her skates. "How do these look on me?" she asks him, smirking.

"Pretty good, to be honest," Max replies, shifting them on her face so they sit leveled on her nose.

The pair of college kids walk to the nearest pizza place and take a seat at the counter. Cece loves beachside restaurants because they are always hot, crowded, and loud. Families are talking to each other and workers are yelling orders to each other, and everything seems disorderly and busy.

"How can I help you two?'' a waiter asks, pointing at us as he pulls a pizza out of the oven and sliding it into a cardboard box.

"I'd like two slices of pineapple pizza and a lemonade," Cece yells to him.

"You got it, sweetheart. And for you, sir?"

"I'll take two slices of pepperoni and a large Coke."

"We only have Pepsi products."

"Then make it a Pepsi."

While they wait for their food, Cece pushes Max's sunglasses on top of her head and wonders about Max's life. Is he rich or poor? Has he ever owned a dog? Or stole from a store? Or rode a bus to school?

"Do you have any siblings?" Cece finally asks, propping her chin up with her hand.

"Yeah, I have a younger brother and an older sister."

"Ah, so you're the middle child."

He shrugs, thanking the waiter when he sets his Pepsi on the counter. "They say the middle child is the opposite of the first born, and I have to say, I'm nothing like my older sister."

"Well, what's she like?" Cece sips on her lemonade, hanging on to his every word.

"May is studious and pretty boring."

"What about your brother?"

"He's only 12, so he's pretty loud and is obsessed with riding his bike everywhere he goes."

"It sound like you have a fun family," Cece says, wishing her family was that laid back and cool. She's stuck with a materialistic mom and a dad who pays more attention to the maid than to his own daughter.

Max smiles. "I feel pretty blessed to have had a stable childhood. But what about you? Do you have an annoying, little brother or sister?"

"Nope. It's just me and my parents."

"Well, nothing's wrong with that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Their pizza arrives at the exact moment when Cece's stomach growls. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until the smell of pineapple pizza reached her nose.

"This is the shit," she says, biting into her piece of greasy goodness. Who knew pizza could taste so good?

"I second that," Max laughs, stuffing half of his piece into his mouth.

The pair eats their food in a comfortable silence as the sun sets in the sky. "I'm still sorry about almost destroying your camera."

"Don't worry about it. I literally forgot it even happened," he replies, playfully nudging her arm with his elbow. "Lighten up."

Cece smiles at Max in reply, studying his defined cheekbones and prominent dimples. As much as she tried to fight her urges, her heart beats faster every single time they make eye contact. She really does like Max as a friend, but he's cute enough to be a good fling as well.

But Cece doesn't want to ruin the relationship they have, even if it will inevitably last for the single week she's staying on vacation in California.

"You've got a bit of pizza sauce in the corner of your mouth," Cecelia giggles.

"So that's why you were staring at me for so long," Max replies, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

That's not the exact reason why she was studying his beautiful face, but Cece will definitely let that mistake go uncorrected.

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