It must be love

It must be love

“We’re here” called out Carl, the father of the Fox family as he put the minivan into park just outside of an old house.

Matthew was zoned out typing away on his phone chatting with his friends who were now hundreds of miles away by now back in his hometown. He hated the idea of being dragged all this way from his home to a place he had never been before. His friends had plans for summer vacation, and he was looking forward to joining them in those plans but when one day his father announced they were going to spend the summer at a duplex on the beach he was flabbergasted.

But being seventeen he could not argue much with his father and instead gave in and went along with his father’s idea he had tried to persuade his mother to change his mind. A plan which would prove futile since it was her idea to take the family to the beach and so against his will, so he resigned himself to his fate and went along for the ride.

“Come on look up Matt” His father called him as he often preferred the shortened version of his name, but his mother never went for it and always insisted on calling him by his full name.

Letting out a sigh he looked up. “Wow dad, sure is a beaut.” As his eyes surveyed over the house, he could see it was a beach cottage style duplex that looked like a house was sitting next to a mirror with his other half looking identical to the other.

“Who rented the other half?” asked Mariam, Matthew’s mother as she saw a Frod Explorer parked nearby.

“I think it was someone by the name of Miller, Peter Miller I believe.”

Matthew felt a sudden heavy feeling in his stomach as he heard that name, Miller. He could scarcely believe what he was hearing, and he had to make sure he heard correctly.

“Did you say Miller?” His dad turned to him and nodded “Yeah Miller, something wrong?” Matthew shook his head not wanting to seem like was panicking but deep down he was and when he saw the Ford Explorer it confirmed everything and excused himself as he got out of the car and made his way into their half of the duplex leaving his parents surprised at his actions but ultimately shrugged it off as typical teenager behavior and so proceeded to unpack the car.

Meanwhile, in the other half of the duplex an older man watched from the kitchen window as a blue minivan pulled up to the house. “Looks like the other tenets showed up” he said as his wife walked up behind him and watched the scene unfold outside as they family got out of the car.

“Sarah, the other family has a cute boy I think you might be interested in” she cried out to her daughter sitting in the living room who felt her checks warm up as blood rushed through her body at the level of embarrassment, she felt that her mother was trying to play matchmaker. With no response she could tell she got under her skin about the issue and left the kitchen to take care of a few things before heading out to the beach later.

“Sarah why don’t you hit the beach, make some new friends.” Her father said as he walked into the living room but still no response came from her as she was too engrossed in her phone.

“Okay well then if you don’t want to do that then you could help me unpack the rest of the car.” As he said that she got up and slipped her phone into her pocket. “Now that you mention it, it does seem nice outside, be back later” with that she walked off and out of the house to explore the beach.

Walking outside Sarah took in the view of the ocean and despite her protests about coming here, all that faded away as the view before her took her breath away. In an instant all her cares and worries just slipped away at the sound of the waves crashing against the land. She fell into a trance and walked down walkway leading away from the deck and down the stairs at the end. There was a spot of shade below so she nestled herself there and out of sight anyone who would want to bug her.

As she just relaxed in awe of the ocean, the sound of footsteps on the deck above her snapped her out of her trance and brought her attention back to the present. She ducked hoping not to be noticed and then the person who had been walking along the deck came down the stairs. Sarah nearly stumbled backwards at who it was, it was none other than Matthew Fox, her heart began to race as she looked at him, he was wearing a pair of dark blue swim trucks and white tank top. Her eyes seemed to focus on his form, taking in every detail of his muscles, she began to feel faint and then suddenly she collapsed and fell against the berm.

The sound of someone dropping caught Matthew’s attention and to his heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he saw it was Sarah Miller from school, why was she here, of all places. Despite his hesitation, he jumped to her aid. Quickly getting down beside her, he lifted her head off the ground he did a quick check for any injuries. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for but when he found she was still breathing and seemed unharmed he muscled all his strength and lifted her up and began to carry her back to the house.

“I think she’s coming around” the voice of her mother filled her ears as she opened her eyes to see her mother cradling her in her arms and across the room was her father, then Matthew with his parents all talking to each other. Sarah felt a clenching feeling in her stomach as she saw Matthew and his parents just standing there casually but then something changed. The look of concern in Matthew’s eyes, a way he had never looked at her before.

Was it a genuine concern he felt she asked herself mentally or was it something else, but he didn’t show any signs of discomfort, which was a plus in her book. She had never been the kindest to him in school but secretly admired him. Expressing feelings was never her strong suit and so as long as she knew him, she would berate or tease him whenever she could. But despite all that he never retaliated against her, never said anything mean to her. Which only added to her admiration of him.

“I think I need some air” she said softly trying to find a reason to excuse herself and when her mother was sure she wasn’t going to faint again she nodded and let her walk out of the house.

“Well, you’re welcome to stay for dinner” said Samantha, Sarah’s mother to which Carl nodded with a smile. “That sounds great thank you.”

Dinner was rather lively as the two fathers had a deep conversation about power tools and which brands were the best. As well as Mariam and Samantha chatted about what it was like raising a teenager. At which point Matthew and Sarah shared a look with each other and Sarah rolled her eyes and made a yapping gesture with her hand. Matthew felt himself chuckle a little as she made a joke and for the first time ever, he found himself enjoying her company.

Maybe it was the fact that they were away from school and therefore away from the social pressures of school and the need to look cool over showing compassion or empathy to others. Perhaps this was the real her, he asked himself and the girl she was in school was nothing but façade.

As the two families finished up dinner and Samantha took everyone’s plates to put them into the washer. That night they would all watch a movie together and with each of the parents sitting together that left Sarah and Matthew sitting side by side on the loveseat. To say it was awkward would be a gross understatement but as the movie played the two began to relax more.

Every so often then would even talk about each other’s parents, sharing stories of cringe moments they each had. Soon they began laughing more at each other’s stories than the movie on the screen. Eventually Sarah stood up and excused herself saying she was going to get a drink from the kitchen and as she walked away, she gestured for Matthew to join her.

He looked at her puzzled why she would want him to come along but he was curious to say the least and stood up to walk after her. In the kitchen she pulled out two cans of soda from the fridge and when she offered him one, he kindly accepted. Without saying a word she led out onto the deck and the sun was but a sliver against the horizon now and the deck light shown brightly over them in the fading sunlight.

“I never said thank you.”

Matthew looked at her confused. “For what?” he asked as he just held his drink, finding it of little interest as he stood there listening to her.

“For saving me, for how I treated you at school I’m sure you would have run the other way.”

“I couldn’t just leave you there…” he drifted off as a thought came to his mind. “Speaking of which, why did you faint, was it cause you saw me?”

Taking this opportunity to tease him a little she spoke up. “Yes, cause I saw your hideous face and it knocked me out cold”

He lowered his head hoping he would get an honest answer from her, but the disappointment was clear to her, and she sighed heavily.

“You wanna know the truth?” she asked as she moved to the deck railing and peeled away at the flakes of paint that were coming off, all the while her mouth began to feel dry as she summoned up the courage to tell the truth to the boy she had long admired from afar. Matthew didn’t give too many signs about his feelings but a simple nod as he wanted her to continue.

“I… I… “she tried to speak but the words were not coming out. “I… I like you” she blurted out rather quickly. Matthew’s eyes widened as she said that, and he was taken back by this confession.

“You like me?” he asked wanted to know of this was true. She simply nodded as she felt butterflies in her stomach suddenly and looked away from his gaze not wanting to face him, wishing she could just vanish from sight.

“I have for a while now; I could just never muster up the courage to say anything and…” She stepped away trying to get out of this, but she couldn’t.

“Look I don’t expect you to return my feelings, I’ve put you through so much I wouldn’t blame you if you walked away now.” she said as she turned away and cleared her throat. “So, if you want nothing to do with me, then I will forget this ever happened.”

Sarah stood there in what felt like an eternity as Matthew processed everything while looking out at the ocean and receding sunlight along the ocean surface. He thought long and heard about what he would say next as it would impact his relationship with Sarah and possibly his future.

“You know Sarah, back there just now I saw what I think is the real you, not the Sarah that is trying to prove how cool she is to her friends. And that is the version of you I think I’d like to get to know better”

Sarah’s hear began to pound in her chest, was she hearing what she thought she was hearing. Was he really suggesting that they spend time together, she felt her legs buckle under her and suddenly she felt his arms around her again stopping her fall.

“You got to stop doing that” he said with a warm smile as she propped her back up and she couldn’t hold back any longer and jumped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace and looked up into his loving eyes. Was this reality or was it just fantasy, that line from her favorite song jumped into her head as she was wondering that very thing just now.

“Kiss” a muffled voice cried out drawing Matthew’s and Sarah’s attention to the window where they now saw both sets of parents watching like it was a sporting event. Mariam swatted at Samantha for blowing their cover and she swatted back at her as the father’s just pulled them away from the window to give the two kids their privacy.

“What if this ends up as nothing more then a fling?” Sarah asked with concern in her eyes and Matthew looked at her with reassurance. “I can’t see the future but if I saw is the tip of the iceberg then I think it will be more than just a fling” he said as he held her close again the two stayed in an embrace for a while longer before walking off to explore the beach at night and with the moon shining bright that night it was as romantic as it could get for the young couple.