The Beach

Matthew :

There were four of us that day at the beach.We were a pretty close knit bunch.There were no secrets between us and everything was out in the open.But we all have our skeletons in the closet.Jacqueline 'Jackie' Foster was the smart one.It was her idea that we spent the day at the beach near the woods in our town.Her best friend,Leah was my girl friend .She's cool and fun to hang out with and whoever said gentlemen prefer blondes was totally right.Better yet, she wasn't the dimmest bulb of the lot,no,that would be Greg,the jock.Yes, I know it's a cliché but there's a reason it's true! I was more of the sensible,silent guy.I was a keen observer.We were quite the unlikely bunch but somehow we all ended up in the same homeroom , freshman year in high school and became friends.

Greg's honking his car now ,loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.We're waiting for Leah, who as always is running late.Jackie is filing her nails,reading a magazine and also listening to her iPod ,all at the same time, in the front seat.She's always doing this,something 'multitasking' or something she said.I watched Leah come out the front door.She runs across the lawn with a huge blue beach bag which matches her blue flowery dress.She opens the back door and sits next to me.I smell her perfume ,the same old smell that I'm now so familiar with.We all greet each other.Greg mumbles something under his breath and then starts the car and we speed away towards the beach.Jackie asks Leah if she's brought along sunscreen as she has somehow amazingly forgotten hers.(She usually never forgets things). "Yep,I got it ! Hey what's with the weather,it looks as if it's going to rain", she asks in her chirpy voice."I heard the weather forecast on the telly and rain today with all this beautiful sunshine is not possible.There aren't even any dark clouds" ,Jackie replied still reading and filing her nails.She didn't even bother to look up at the sky.She was right though.It was beautiful outside and there was no sign of any dark clouds in the sky.Just warm,bright sunshine.I looked at Leah,she was texting someone with her phone.I asked her who she was texting .She replied it was Michelle,a girl in her Spanish class.Her screen was half-hidden .So I couldn't read what she was typing.I didn't give it much thought after that.

Leah :

I could hear that obnoxious Greg honking his stupid car from up my room.I had to choose something to wear to the dumb beach while I could be out doing something else with a certain someone.Stupid Jackie and her stupid ideas.I didn't know what was up with me but I was starting to get bored doing the same old things with the same old people.For the past few weeks everything they did somehow annoyed me.I finally decided on the blue flowery dress,mom loves so much.She wasn't at home anyway to see.I grab my phone off the bed,pick up my beach bag and go to the dresser and hurriedly spray the same old perfume I've used since seventh grade.I made a mental note to myself to change my perfume.I run out the front door, slamming it shut and then run across the front lawn.I open the back door and slump next to Matthew, who has a toothy grin on his face which I used to think was cute before but now hated.I said hello to everyone in the car and pretended as if nothing was wrong.Jackie asks me if I brought along any sunscreen.I enquired about the weather but Jackie being the miss smarty pants she was,gave me a very prompt reply ,which was a cue for me to shut up.As the car drove past houses,I slowly see the perfect opportunity to text back a reply.Staring at the message on my screen,I slowly turn the phone to my side so that it's half-hidden from Matthew even though I know he's not looking in my direction. /So did you tell him about us yet? /,it was a message from Brian.Alright ,I knew what I am doing is wrong,but this was the best time to tell Matthew about Brian and me.We met a few weeks back at a party and then somehow started dating, behind Matthew's back.We got along like a house on fire.I should have told him earlier.I text back a reply / Will call you after I do,missing you loads btw!! /. Matthew's looking at me now and he asks me who I'm texting .I tell him it's Michelle.He stares at me for a second and then turns his head to look back outside.I drop my phone into my bag and do the same.

Matthew :

The long stretches of houses are monotonous to watch.But they stop abruptly to give way to the green pine trees.We are nearing the beach.Leah seems unusually fidgety.There is something wrong.But I couldn't seem to place it.The pine trees stop and now there, looming before us,is the beach.The beach, a place we discovered ,when we were on a trekking trip, just the four of us, was secluded as always.It was surrounded by the woods which people of our town, rarely go into after dark.The water in the lake, calm and undisturbed in all it's pristine beauty.The sun shined brilliantly on the surface of the water.The golden sands, welcomed us to another day at the beach.Greg parks the car near a fallen log and we all get out.Jackie and Leah hold hands and walk in front of me while Greg having already relieved himself of his shirt and pants races towards the lake and does a cannonball and hits the water with a loud splash." Can't you control yourself, Greg?" ,Jackie asks in her maternal voice.Greg laughs at the comment but doesn't bother to reply.I see Leah rolling her eyes.But I look away before she can see me looking at her.The girls take off their clothes and have their bathing suits on.I take off my shoes and then my cap and then pants and t-shirt in that order.Jackie's already in the water splashing around with Greg now and they're having fun but Leah's standing on the edge of the lake,looking at them.The water washes her feet but she doesn't enter. It's as if she is waiting for something.She turns to look at me and then walks towards me...

Leah :

There is a slight breeze.I feel chilly even in the afternoon.I look at the sky once more.I just know it's going to rain today.I stand on the edge of the lake thinking when to tell Matthew,tell him that its's over.God,break-ups are hard.I watch Jackie making a fool of herself in the water.I look at my toes in the warm water.I turn to see Matthew staring at me.Well,it's now or never! I walked towards him.I tell him we need to talk."Matthew,I'm sorry but I don't think we can be together anymore.I've found someone else....and he's " .He doesn't wait for me to finish.He picks up his clothes and walks away.I call out to him, but he doesn't stop,he keeps walking.I don't if I should chase after him.He enters the woods and then he is out of sight.I

Matthew :

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.I didn't let her finish.I pick up my clothes and hurriedly put them on without stopping.She was actually breaking up with me and here I thought everything was going great guns for us.Heck! I was even going to propose to her.I hear her calling my name but I don't look back ,I just keep walking,walking into the woods.I feel the weight of the ring I was going to give her, in my pocket.I take it out and look at it ,as I continue walking into the woods.I feel sad and dejected and put the ring back into my pocket but I don't notice it not going into my pocket neither do I notice that it has fallen to the ground.A walk would do me good I thought.I find a trail and decide to follow it.
The woods are deep,dark and lonely.........