Callie yawned as Abram pulled into the driveway of Ana’s beach house.  It was beautiful, with the ocean waves crashing in the background, but she was too tired to care.  She didn’t even mind that she had been asleep through the whole ferry ride, her favorite part.  She stretched her arms and rested her head on Ana’s shoulder.  She knew that she wasn’t very happy with her after her three am drunken distress call, but they we’re best friends.  She’d get over it.

She watched as Abram got out of the van and opened up the back doors so everyone could get their stuff.  He was kind of hot in a tortured soul kind of way.  And she had always had a soft spot for those kinds of boys, even though her roster of boys senior year had ranged from clean-cut captain of the debate team, to grungy, liberal hippie, 21 year old that went to the local art school.  So maybe she had no particular type, but Abram seemed to fit her standards at the moment.  She let out a yawn as she jumped out of the backseat door and made her way up to the front entrance of the house.  She breathed in the salty air and was immediately at peace.

“Which room do ya want, best friend?” Callie asked Ana, who was dragging her suitcase up the stairs.

“Let’s take the one with the two full-sized beds.  The boys can fight over the one with the futon and twin beds.” Ana replied, plopping her suitcase on one of the beds.

“I like the way you think” Callie said, laying down on the bed by the window. “So, what’s new with you and Jake?  You looked pretty chummy on the way down.” She said, taking off her sandals.

“Nothing is going on.  You know that I hate relationships,” Ana said, taking off her USC sweatshirt.

“Amen, sistah.  I’m going to take a nap.  I think I still have excessive amounts of Vodka in my system.  Is your crazy friend Lexie coming over tonight?” Callie asked, yawning.

“Most likely.  After she gets off from work.” Ana replied, leaving.  She shut the door behind her.

Callie lay her head back on the pillows and drifted off to sleep. About three hours later, she woke up and went downstairs.  Everyone had left, except for Abram.  It was their chance to finally be alone.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Abram said with his signature crooked smile.

Callie laughed as she opened the fridge and grabbed an Arnold Palmer.  She sat down on the couch and asked, “Where are mi amigos?”

“They went to go buy food, I guess.” Abram answered, feverishly tapping his fingers on the granite countertops.

“Something wrong?” Callie asked, taking her hair out of her elastic.

“Trying to quit smoking.  I didn’t bring any cigarettes with me and now I’m going crazy.” He said, sitting down next to her.

Callie simply frowned as she got up to throw her can away.  She sat back down next to his and said, “Want to go to the beach?  It is right outside,” Callie said, yawning.

“I guess,” Abram said.

Callie smiled as she made her way upstairs.  She put on her tribal print bikini and her oversized Arizona State t-shirt, where she would be attending next year.  She grabbed her oversized sunglasses and padded downstairs, to wait for Abram.  He emerged from his room, wearing swim trunks and his sleeveless ripped Connecticut Huskies t-shirt.  Callie grabbed her portable Ipod speakers from her purse and followed Abram down to the beach, two beers in his hand.  The waves were nice, but the water was freezing.  Callie slipped her shirt off of her body and sat down on her towel, feeling the warm sun on her skin.

“So, where are you going for school next year?” Callie asked, pushing her sunglasses up her freckled nose.  She pushed play on her Ipod and 311’s Amber started to play through the speakers.

“Not going.  Pursuing the open road with the band.”  Abram said, looking down at her.  Callie smiled.  Right.  He was in a band.  This made him even more attractive in her eyes.

“Well you should come visit me at ASU sometime.  We can party down.”  She said, reaching over him for a Miller Lite.  She opened it up and let the cold liquid seep down her throat.

“That can be done.  I’m sure you know how to party,” He said, taking a sip of his beer, alluring to Callie’s party girl reputation.

“That’s what the legends say,” Callie said with a giggle, tracing lines in the warm sand.  She really wanted to lean over and kiss him, but she would wait until later.  Until she was sure that he would be into it.  The song changed to Glee’s ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’.  Callie blushed and quickly changed it to the next song.

“Sorry about that, I’m a closeted musical freak.”

“It’s okay, I think it’s cute.” Abram said with a laugh, finishing his drink.

Callie blushed again and sat up and leaned towards him, “You’re the only guy that thinks so.  My ex-boyfriend found my RENT soundtrack, and I never lived that one down.” She said, rolling her green eyes.  Then Abram pushed a piece of wavy hair away from her eyes, and laid down on his towel, looking up at the sky.  Callie did the same and they observed clouds for the rest of the afternoon.

***

Sam hummed the Cab’s Bounce as he pushed the small grocery cart around the tiny Stop & Shop.  He grabbed a few boxes of Lucky Charms and Cocoa Puffs, and watched Ana’s look of disgust as he laid them in the cart.

“How can you eat that?” She asked, playfully jabbing him in the stomach.

“How can you eat THAT?” Sam said in reply, gesturing to the organic rice crackers that she had put in the cart.

Ana simply rolled her eyes and dragged him along the produce section.  Jake hadn’t come with them because he needed to do some pre-season workout for soccer at SDSU.  This was good, because it would’ve been awkward grocery shopping with two boys that she had once hooked up with.  It would have been like a really bad movie, with a train wreck ending.

“So can you tell me what happened between you and Alyssa?” Ana asked, putting a few grapefruits in a bag and tossing them in the cart.

Sam let out a sharp sigh and started to tell the story, “So I went over her house, and as soon as she opens the door, I can tell something is up.  I can hear that John Mayer CD that I bought her playing upstairs, which she never listens too.  And, all of a sudden, she just jumps me.  It all went downhill from there.”

“That sounds horrible.  I would’ve sprinted out of there.” Ana said, laughing at Sam’s expense.

“I kind of did.  And she was pissed.  Awesome way to start the summer, right?” Sam said, pushing the cart over towards the checkout line.

Ana nodded and handed the cashier the credit card that her parents had given her for the trip.  She punched her pin number in, and grabbed the receipt.  She and Sam grabbed the bags and made their way over to the van.  They loaded all of the food into the back, got into the van, and then drove away.  Ana laid her head back on the head rest as she breathed in the fresh ocean air.  She could tell that Sam was watching her out of the corner of his eye so she sat up.  She could feel an awkward atmosphere between them.  All of a sudden she saw Jake out of the corner of her eye, sprinting up the sidewalk.

“Pull over,” she said to Sam.  She didn’t give him a reason, but she knew he would anyway.

She yelled out the window, “Get in lard-a;ss.”  Jake smiled as he stopped running and took his earphones out.  He wiped the sweat off of his forhead and climbed into the back seat.

“Have a nice run?” Ana asked, turning around to talk to him.

Jake simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “The usual seven miles of hell.”

Ana nodded and settled her head back on the head rest.  See, it wasn’t that awkward having two guys that she was kind of in love with in the same place.  Oh, if only she knew.