When Spring Break came, Cameron found himself on a beach a little closer to home than the one he'd spent tanning on for seven straight days last year.  Every year, the house went to Florida for some collegiate, Spring Break debauchery.  He'd talked about it weeks before with Kith, and she'd offered no complaint.  Cameron actually considered going because beaches in Florida during Spring Break were always a memorable time.  There were drinks, scantily clad girls, wet t-shirt contests, and red cups everywhere.  It was beautiful.

    All the guys were amped, talking about the hotel and the madness that was sure to ensue.  They're excitement got him excited, and then mildly depressed after concluding that he would have to sit it out.  Kith was down, but she wasn't just some girl.  Their circumstances were different than most, and Miami would just have to miss out on him and his pregnant girlfriend.  There would be other Spring Breaks.  He watched longingly from the living room as the guys trickled out the front door and piled into the vans, prepared for a week of memories and stories never to be repeated.  Hands pressed to the glass, he gazed at their luggage, their board shorts, their smiling faces.  They waved to him, offered their condolences, and then the house fell eerily silent.  It was just him and Kith.

    This beach wasn't that bad.  It wasn't as rowdy and reckless, but it had its perks.  For one, they had a perfect, unobstructed view of the ocean.  Last year, the only way to secure a decent oceanic view was to wake up at dawn.  Thinking to himself, Cameron couldn't really come up with any other reasons.  No one was drunk, there was no loud music, and he sincerely doubted that a wet t-shirt contest would spontaneously erupt. 
People were just sitting in their beach chairs beneath their enormous umbrellas, reading novels and newspapers.  Scanning the beach, he stopped on a group of guys throwing a Frisbee around.  None of them looked older than sixteen.  And for some unexplainable reason, Cameron wanted to hit every single one of them.  He kept looking.

    There were a lot more old people here than in Miami.

    Sighing, he ran his hands over his navy blue board shorts.  He stared at a group of girls in bikinis as they walked past, giggling.  One waved; Cameron offered a smile in return.  They bunched even closer, still giggling, and continued walking.  Kith approached slowly, black hair sticking to her face and her shoulders.  Cameron brightened up considerably.  Her green and yellow tie-dye bikini was soaked.

    "There you are."

    "This is fun," she got down on her knees and then crawled onto her yellow beach towel.  Easing around, she sat down and grimaced a little.

    "What's the matter?" he asked immediately.

    "Nothing," she shook her head and dug through her bag.  Extracting a comb, she combed through the knots and tied her hair up in a wet bun.  Salt water dripped down her face and onto her shoulders. "I'm sorry for ruining your third consecutive break."

    "You're not ruining anything," he countered.  She studied his face, disbelieving him. "What? This?" He gestured to the plain scene before them. "This is awesome."

    "You're such a liar," rolling her eyes, she crammed her comb back in her bag.

    "No, okay," he consented. "This isn't anything close to the Spring Break I had last year, but it's fun."

    "You haven't even gotten in the water," she pointed out.  

    "I don't want to mess up my hair," he replied.

    A small smile tugged at her lips, but she fought it.  Cameron glanced up at the fiery edges of the sun before gazing back at her face. "I like this, Kith. Don't worry about it."

    "What'd you do last Spring Break, then?" she questioned.

    Pausing, he just stared at her.  Cameron didn't want to tell her directly. "Well, uh... I'd like to believe that you know me pretty well by now, so what do you think I did?" He decided turning the situation around on her was a far better idea.

    Kith inhaled deeply and analyzed his face. "Well, Cameron, I'm gonna guess that you got drunk?"

    "Excellent guess," he congratulated her. "And?"

    "And you," squinting her eyes, she thought. "Slept around?"

    "You're damn right I did," he said proudly.  Clearing his throat, he lost the smirk when she made a face. "Just once though. Well, not just once. It was several times but same girl. So it was like it was only once."

    "Thank you, Cameron," she held up a hand.

    "Sorry," he cleared his throat again. "What about you?"

    "What?"

    "What'd you do last Spring Break?"

    "This," she answered plainly, gesturing to the simple beach. "My friends and I came here almost every day."

    "That's it?" he wrinkled his forehead.  There had to be some crazy details she was leaving out.

    "Yeah," she nodded. "Isn't that what you did during high school Spring Breaks?"

    "Yeah, but I mean, I did some other stuff, too," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck.  It felt like she was judging him.  She probably wasn't doing it intentionally, but that's how it felt beneath her blue eyes.

    "I'm not really big on drinking, never have been," Kith responded. "And I'm not a much of a partier. That's probably why my stories aren't that entertaining to you."

    "You're very entertaining," he said quickly.  She smiled a bit.  Compliments always worked.

    "When'd you start drinking?"

    "Like in college?" he played dumb.

    "No," she said sharply.  "In life."

    "Umm. Well, let's see," he pretended to think just to stall.  He wondered why she wanted to know that before responding. "Fifteen."

    "Fifteen?" she echoed.

    "I-yeah," he nodded. "It was only a shot of rum at a friend's party." Brushing sand off of his board shorts, he stared over the ocean.  It'd been the worst feeling ever, and he decided that if all alcohol burned and tasted like that, he was never drinking again.  Thankfully at another party, he'd been enlightened. "When'd you start?"

    "Sixteen," she replied. "I had a beer at this party and it was disgusting."

    "Beer's not so bad," he shrugged.

    "'Cause you're a guy," Kith rolled her eyes.

    "I enjoy other alcohols," he tore his eyes from the white-washed waves to look back at her. "I can do rum, like I said. I like-actually, I love vodka. If I'm drunk enough, I can even enjoy some wine."

    "I like wine."

    "Wine is disgusting," Cameron wrinkled his nose. "How do you like wine and not beer?"

    "Wine is classy," Kith countered.

    "Beer is just as classy!" Cameron argued.

    "How?" Kith folded her arms.

    "If you put in a fancy glass, it's fancy," he fired back.  He could tell from her face that it was bad reasoning.  She didn't say anything back. "Like a nice, crystalline... I didn't know we were playing the investigate Cameron's life game."

    "You're doing a fine job," she said sarcastically.

    "What else do you want to know?" he fired back just as derisively.  He'd been honest about everything.  And half the fun was always seeing her reaction.

    "When'd you lose it?"

    "Lose what?"

    "Your virginity."

    "Same age I got my driver's license. Sixteen," he explained, shrugging at the end like it was nothing. "In fact, if I remember correctly, I think I got my license, and drove over to my girlfriend at the time's house to get laid."

    "Cute."

    "I'm kidding, Kith," he dropped the sarcasm. "Don't look so pissed."

    "I'm not pissed," she stretched out carefully on her back. "I'm just trying to figure out if high school you was just as slutty as you are now."

    "Don't slut-shame me," bringing a hand to his chest, he took mock-offense. "I am not a slut, Kith. I told you that if we're not counting drunken hook-ups, I've only had sex with six girls, which really isn't that bad."

    "Some people go their whole lives without having sex with that many people," she said back.

    "Well," he had nothing to say to that.  In his mind, six wasn't that high of a number.  There were definitely some people on his campus, girls included, who'd had sex with way more people.  Even if she wanted to include the other five, bringing his number up to the true eleven, that still didn't seem so awful. "In response to your inquiry, no, I wasn't as 'slutty' in high school as I am now. Girls didn't really like me then."

    "Yeah, okay," she scoffed.

    "I'm serious," Cameron said ardently, turning to face her. "Don't get me wrong, I was fucking awesome in high school. But girls, for some reason, didn't really want anything to do with me. I guess it was fine because I wasn't that good at dating or relationships."

    "Kind of like now, huh?"

    Cameron shrugged. "All I know is, I came to college, and girls started looking. So I gave 'em what they wanted."

    "Ugh," Kith scoffed again.

    "Kith, don't deny that I'm a hot piece of ass, alright?" he made a face.  Bringing her hands up, she rest her head on them and watched him. "Look at this body." He showcased his abs like a girl on a game show. "And look at my face." He pointed a confident index finger at it. "Even you think I'm cute."

    Shaking her head, Kith smiled in another direction.

    "It's okay, I understand. I think you're beautiful and you think I'm hot. We're made for each other," he returned his eyes to the waves rolling in.  Kids screeched and ran back to their parents at the unexpected power.  Cameron intently watched a guy carrying his daughter on his shoulders.  He walked waist-deep into the water, took her off his shoulders, and flew her over it like a plane.  The girl, who looked about two, appeared to be thoroughly enjoying it.

    Cameron wanted to ask Kith the same question, but slightly feared the outcome.  Her reaction to his initial revealing of his number had grossed her out, so he knew she hadn't slept with that many people, or anyone at all.  Biting his thumb nail, he kept thinking.  Had she had even had sex with anyone before...?  Probably not.  She'd told him on several occasions that her dad hadn't allowed her to date. 
And Kith didn't come across as the kind of girl who would have sex with someone without being romantically involved with them.  So her number was either zero or... one.  But thinking about that infuriated him.  Grinding his teeth, he looked down at his lap.

    "Can I touch you?" he inquired.

    Kith opened her eyes. "What?"

    "Your stomach," he clarified.  Even after easing into some sort of dating-but-not-dating relationship, Cameron kept his hands to himself a majority of the time.

    "You're the boyfriend," she shrugged. "As you drunkenly proclaimed last month."

    "I wasn't drunk," he said a little loudly.  People looked over so he shielded his face until the coast seemed clear.  Reaching a hand over, he planted his palm at the very top, right where it peaked.  Tristan kicked at that exact moment.

    "Ow," Kith muttered.

    "I wasn't drunk, Tristan," Cameron repeated, rubbing his hand back and forth across her smooth stomach.  It was like a rock at the very bottom of a stream, edgeless and inviting. "Your mom likes to exaggerate."

    "You were definitely drunk."

    "I was tipsy at best," he clarified.

    "Weren't you crying, too?" she raised an eyebrow.  Cameron made a face at her instead of answering.  It didn't count as crying if there were no tears involved.  He'd just been emotional.  Smirking, she closed her eyes and went back to napping.

    "No, I wasn't crying," he said quietly to her stomach.

    "Yes he was, Tristan," she said seconds after his rebuttal. "He was drunk and crying."

DRUNK AND CRYING.