YA romance

Chapter One

“You wanna play?”

“Yeah, okay.” I didn’t really but these girls were pretty cute, especially the blonde one.

“Throw the rings over the Eiffel tower.” The blonde girl pointed to the miniature Eiffel behind her. “You get a French treat for each one you get over.”

Her hand brushed mine as she handed me the rings, and I glanced up into stunning blue eyes. She turned away, and I traced the shape of her sleek, young body, my eyes lingering on the gentle curve of her hips and butt. I blinked and concentrated on the model Eiffel. I didn’t wanna make a fool of myself in front of these girls.

I threw the first ring, and got it over. Both girls cheered and I almost laughed at their enthusiasm. I tried to focus again but was too hurried this time and missed.

“Ohhh that was close.”

“Come on, you can do it.”

I threw the last ring, and the girls cheered again. I couldn’t help but grin at them. I wondered what my French treat would be. A French kiss?

The dark-haired girl held up a tray with some kind of tart on it and a bread stick with a French flag toothpick stuck through it.

I took my prizes. “You made these?”

“Yeah.” She smiled.

“Mmm . . . it’s good.” I stood there eating, not wanting to move away just yet. “So . . . how come you’re doing this beach festival?”

“It’s a camp activity. It was Lizzie’s idea to do a taste of Paris.” The blonde girl glanced at her friend, then smiled at me with such natural ease, her pretty face blooming into beautiful.

I glanced at the dark-haired girl I presumed was Lizzie. She looked plain now compared to her friend.

“That’s cool. So you’re camping here?”

“Yeah, with our parents.” The blonde girl smiled with such unguarded friendliness it took my breath away. “We come here every year.” Her lips were a soft, natural pink. “It’s a family camp.” Her long, golden hair shimmered as she combed her fingertips around one ear.

“What about you?” Lizzie, asked, distracting me from my stare.

“Uh, I live here. My parents own the convenience store up the road.” It sounded lame, but oh well.

“You’re lucky. . .”

I looked at the pretty girl again as Lizzie continued to talk. When she fell silent I realized I hadn’t heard a word she’d said, and now she was looking at me expectantly.

“Um, yeah,” I said, non-committal-like.

Lizzie smiled. “Me too.”

“I’d love to live near the sea.” The pretty girl looked into my eyes then glanced away, a slight blush coming to her cheeks. The skin of her throat down to her neckline was so smooth it shone with reflected sunlight. “It’s beautiful here.” She looked again into my eyes, and this time she held my gaze. I was shocked at how pretty she was. We were just staring at each other, and I knew I had to say something, but the conversational part of my brain had stopped working. I swallowed.

“You wanna play?” Lizzie called, looking past me. I turned to see a young boy approaching the booth, and stepped back to give him some room. The blonde girl gave me a wistful smile. I flashed her a smile, turned and walked away.

I was on an adrenaline high, it was such a rush talking to a pretty girl like that. I wonder how old she is? I started replaying our conversation in my head, inwardly groaning that I hadn’t even said one semi-intelligent or witty thing the whole time.

“Hey!”

I turned, and my heart jumped. She was right there behind me.

“What’s your name?” She asked.

“Uh . . . Zach.”

She grinned. “I’m Joanna.” She stood there for a moment, just looking at me. “Well, it was nice meeting you, Zach. Hope I see you ‘round some time.”

“Yeah. . .”

She whirled and danced away before I could say anything else.

Wow. I stood watching after her. She really was something to look at.

•••

The next day, full of nervous energy, I jumped the fence and took a shortcut through the campground. I could hear the noise of the festival through the trees, and caught a whiff of popcorn and hotdogs, reminding my stomach I hadn’t eaten yet. I came out into the wide-open blue of sparkling ocean stretching to the horizon, and joined the festivities on the beach.

Various stalls and booths were set around a stage area, where a small crowd had gathered to watch a performance. I wandered past them to the booth with the painted backdrop of the Eiffel tower and the words ‘Taste of Paris’ scrawled above it. She wasn’t there, only Lizzie sitting on a stool.

“Hi, where’s Joanna?”

“She went somewhere with her parents.”

“When’ll she be back?”

“Donno.”

I decided to stick around a while and wait for her. I leaned up against the booth.

Lizzie smiled. “She likes you, ya know.”

“She does?”

“Yeah, she talks about you.”

I smiled. “How old is she anyway?”

“Fifteen, same as me.”

Fifteen? She didn’t look that young.

Lizzie gave me a sideways look. “Why? How old are you?”

“I’m eighteen.” I watched her face for a reaction, but she just looked away.

“Hi!” A bubbly voice said behind me.

I swung around to see Joanna with a beaming smile, obviously pleased to see me. She was wearing a dress with string straps, showing off her smooth, tanned shoulders.

“Hi,” I said, suddenly self-conscious.

“We were just talking about you.” Lizzie smirked.

“What were you saying?” Joanna looked from her friend, to me, and back again.

“Oh, nothing,” Lizzie teased, and I laughed.

Joanna tried to frown at us, but couldn’t hold her expression long before breaking into a big grin. “Hey, you wanna go to the games room with me?” She looked right at me, waiting so expectantly for my answer that for a moment everything seemed frozen in time.

“Okay,” I said, breaking the spell, and she smiled happily.

We walked through the campground, the girls leading the way. Joanna danced around me as she talked, spinning in front of me and walking backwards, then spinning around again. She was so excited . . . and so exciting.

Man, what am I doing? This girl’s way too young for me. But we can still hang out and have some fun, right? We’ll just be friends.

We came to a building, and Joanna grabbed my arm, pulling me through the side door. Arcade games lined the walls. There was a lounge area where some teenagers were playing cards, and in the middle of the room was a ping-pong table. A group of kids of various ages stood in line beside it.

Joanna followed my gaze. “Ins and outs. You wanna play?”

“Sure.” I was pretty good at table tennis.

The three of us got in line, and it wasn’t long until it was my turn, as an older boy was getting all the little kids out. He’d met his match with me though, and I quickly dispatched him to the back of the line. The little kids cheered, glad the boy was finally out. I looked at Joanna, who was next in line. She gave me a big smile then pushed Lizzie ahead of her. I laughed.

“Be nice. I’m not too good at this,” Lizzie pleaded.

I gave her a gentle, loping serve, and she managed to hit it back a couple of times before she got out.

Joanna took the paddle from her. “Be nice to me too.”

I served her a nice, easy one, which she smashed back at me, low and fast. I tried to get to it but the ball flew past me. I looked at her in amazement, and she gave me a big, cheeky grin. I laughed, shaking my head as I went to the back of the line.

I watched her while I waited for my turn. She was nice to the little kids, giving them easy shots they could hit, but not so generous with the older ones, especially the boys.

She was still in when it was my turn again, and I soon got my revenge, smashing her loopy serve. She made a face at me, poking out her tongue as she went to the back of the line.

A real camaraderie soon developed among our little group of players. We teased each other with silly banter, and I sometimes lost to the younger kids just to make things interesting for them. I was enjoying hanging out, giving them high-fives and encouragement. I kept glancing at Joanna, and I noticed she was looking at me a lot, too.

I started showing off, acting like a professional tennis player, keeping light on my toes and grunting as I returned the ball. I did big tennis-like serves, throwing the ball into the air and whacking it as it came down. I was enjoying myself and getting laughs, especially from Joanna, the crazy girl was giggling at everything. When I played her again, she beat me. She laughed at my exaggerated expression of shock.

Other kids in the room had noticed how much fun we were having, and the line became so long the people at the end could sit on the sofas in the lounge area. I went and sat down on one of the love seats and was soon joined by Joanna herself. She’d lost to a little kid and everyone was teasing her about it. I wondered if she’d lost deliberately so she could come and sit with me.

A little boy nudged me, “Hey, you’re sitting next to a girl. That means you must like her!”

“Yeah, she’s my girlfriend,” I joked, then glanced at Joanna. She was blushing, but she grinned back at me. She didn’t seem to mind that the boy was loudly telling everyone what I’d said.

When Lizzie got out again, she came over and whispered something to Joanna.

“Hey Zach, we have to go.” Joanna gave me a cute, little pout.

“It’s okay, I better get going too.”

Some of the younger kids begged us not to leave, even pulling at my arms to keep me there, but most of them decided to quit along with us, and the game looked like it had come to an end.

Joanna was waiting for me by the door. “That was fun.”

“Yeah it was. We should do it again sometime.”

“How ‘bout tomorrow?” She grinned.

“I could meet you here after five?”

“Okay.” She nodded and smiled.

I walked home feeling light and happy. Joanna obviously liked me, and I liked her. She was pretty, and funny, and . . . pretty. I couldn’t wait to see her again.

•••

The next day, after I got off work, I headed over to the games room. As soon as Joanna caught sight of me she broke into a beautiful smile, and I couldn’t help but smile too. This girl just had a way of making me feel so good. Lizzie wasn’t with her this time, in fact there was hardly anyone in the games room, and no one was playing ping-pong.

“Where is everyone?”

“I don’t know, there’s no paddles, but I found this under the chair.” She held up a ping-pong ball. “You wanna play with me?” She grinned.

“Without paddles?”

“Yeah, just use your hands.” She giggled.

It was actually a lot of fun. The ball didn’t travel as far from our hands, but it made it over the net and was easy enough to return with a good slap. Joanna was giggling a lot, and I soon caught her mood.

“Sorry I’m being so crazy.”

“It’s okay, I like you like this.”

“You do?” She giggled.

“Yeah.”

We stood there grinning at each other.

“Let’s play a proper game.” She slapped the ball at me.

We played a game up to 21. Lizzie came in and watched us while we were playing.

“You guys wanna go to the beach?”

“You want to, Zach?”

I didn’t want to. I was having too much fun with Joanna all to myself.

“Let’s keep playing for a while.”

“Okay.” Joanna smiled at me, then gave Lizzie her cute, little “sorry” pout.

Lizzie slumped onto the couch. “When are you guys gonna be finished? I’m so bored.”

We kept playing for a while, but it wasn’t the same with Lizzie there—Joanna wasn’t giggling anymore, the mood was broken.

I sighed. “Alright, let’s go to the beach.”

We hopped over the hot, white sand and found a place to sit. A couple of guys came and joined us, and Joanna introduced them to me. One was Matt—blond, tanned, and muscular. Her friends didn’t seem to mind me being part of their group.

“Let’s go swimming,” Joanna said, looking at me. She got up and pulled her t-shirt over her head, revealing a light-blue bikini top underneath. Whoa! Is she really only fifteen?

“Come on.” She grabbed my arm to pull me up.

“I’m not wearing swim shorts.”

“So?” She grinned and pushed off her shorts, revealing a matching bikini bottom.

Wow. I sat staring up at her, unable to take my eyes from that perfect skin, taking in every curve of her smooth, sculptured body. She just stood there letting me look.

When my eyes finally met hers, she smiled and held out her hand. “Come on.”

I didn’t know what to do. I could swim in the shorts I was wearing, but for some reason I felt uncomfortable swimming with her like that. None of her friends were getting up either.

“Come on, Zach.” She tugged at my arm, trying to get me up, but I resisted, staying firmly seated on the sand. I was feeling so awkward and unsure of myself.

She left me there and went down to the water’s edge. I thought she’d given up on me, but she came right back, her hands full of wet sand, and splattered me with it, giggling with glee as she rubbed it through my hair. Her friends were all laughing as I stood up, shaking my head and feeling wet sand dripping down my back. I took off my shirt and chased a squealing Joanna down to the sea.

She looked back to see me coming in after her. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She laughed and screamed as I came closer. “Zach . . . I’m sorry!”

I was close enough to grab her, but I hesitated. I was still shy about touching her like that, especially when she was hardly wearing anything.

We stood there looking at each other for a moment, until a big wave broke over us, wetting the last of our dry skin, making Joanna squeal. I laughed, and she lunged at me, but I easily resisted, grabbing her around the middle and lifting her up. Her screams were cut short as she plunged head first into the water. I swam away, and she gave chase, grabbing my legs and dunking me. We played in the surf, splashing and laughing and innocently touching each other as much as possible, and somehow we ended up holding hands and floating over the waves together.

Something was stirring in me. Don’t get any ideas about her, Zach, she’s too young. But as I looked into those perfect, blue eyes, I knew it was already too late.

When we came out of the water and joined her friends on the warm sand, there was another guy there with them. He’d been passing something around that they’d quickly put away when they saw us coming. I didn’t wanna hang with her friends, I just wanted to be alone with Joanna.

“Let’s go for a walk,” I whispered.

“Okay.” She smiled.

We strolled along the beach, the evening sea breeze cooling our wet skin, making us shiver. I placed my unbuttoned shirt around Joanna’s shoulders to keep her warm, and she wrapped it around herself, smiling up at me appreciatively.

“Sorry ‘bout my friends.”

“What were they doing? Is it drugs?”

She nodded. “Not Lizzie though, she’s not into that.”

“What about you?”

“Of course not, I’m a good girl.” She laughed. I was glad about that. For some reason it mattered to me.

“So, where are you from?” I changed the subject.

“Colorado.”

“That far. How long are you staying?”

“Two weeks.” She spoke with a noticeable shiver.

At the end of the beach was a large rock. I put my arm around her and directed her towards it, and we squatted down out of the wind. I kept my arm there and she didn’t seem to mind.

“It got cold all of a sudden.” Her teeth chattered.

“Yeah, it can do that.” I pulled her a little closer. “So . . . what kinda things do you do at your camp?”

“We do activities and stuff, like the beach festival, and there’s a talent show. We’ve been here before, so I know lots of people here. That’s how I knew Matt and Lizzie, from last year. It’s cool, you know. What about you?”

“I just live here.”

“I know that.” She exaggerated her words. “Tell me something about you, like . . . how old are you?”

“Eighteen.” I wondered if my age bothered her.

“I’m sixteen,” she said matter-of-factly. I gave her a doubtful look, and she blushed. “Well, I’m nearly sixteen. . . in August.”

I laughed. August was still a couple of months away.

“Are you going to college?” She changed the subject.

“I’m still deciding what I wanna do. I was thinking about art school.”

“You’re an artist?”

“Yeah . . . well, I paint. I wouldn’t call myself an artist. I hate all the baggage that goes with that label.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, artists have that whole mystique, like they’re something special just because they’re artists. Most of the art these days isn’t even that creative. It doesn’t have much to say about anything, and most of it isn’t even beautiful. It’s meaningless, and anyone can do meaningless. There’s nothing to it.”

“Maybe you’ll be a different kind of artist.”

“Yeah.” I smiled. She was sweet. I watched as a drop of water from her hair trickled down her face, pooling briefly at the corner of her lips. Even now, loosely wrapped in my shirt, her hair limp, her skin blotched with sand, she was still so beautiful.

“You’re very pretty.”

She smiled. “What’s pretty about me?”

“Everything.” I laughed. “You have really pretty eyes . . . like pieces of the sky, and when you smile, your whole face lights up, it’s amazing.”

“Keep going.” Joanna coaxed.

I laughed, and looked at her again. “I actually think you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever met.”

“Wow, I thought you’d say something dumb, but that was pretty good.” She laughed.

“What did you think I’d say?”

“I donno, Matt once told me I looked good in a bikini.” She giggled. “I thought guys only noticed boobs and butts.”

“Well, they’re nice too.” I grinned.

She laughed and playfully smacked my arm, then she became coy, lowering her eyes. “I like the way you look, too.” She tilted her head to one side and smiled at me.

“What do you like about me?”

“Umm. . .” She giggled. “I don’t know. . .” She stroked my arm. “You feel strong,” she glanced up into my eyes, “and I like your face, and your eyes. You smile a lot.”

“So do you.” I laughed.

“You have a nice laugh too.” She grinned.

I felt her shiver, and pulled her close again.

“Can we go somewhere warmer? Where’s your place?” She looked up at me with large eyes.

“My place?”

“Yeah, just somewhere warm—”

“It’s up there.” I pointed up the hill behind us.

I stood up from behind the rock, and offered her my hand, just as I caught sight of an old friend from high school walking his dog on the beach.

He saw me. “Hey, Zach, what ya doing there?”

Joanna stood up next to me, and my friend’s expression kind of froze. I didn’t say anything, just smiled awkwardly.

“Come on.” I took Joanna’s hand, and we started walking up the hill towards the road.

“Who was that?”

“No one, just a guy I know.”

“Are you embarrassed to be seen with me or something?”

“No, it was just an awkward moment, that’s all.” I slowed down a little, and we walked hand in hand. I looked at her again, her face aglow in the warm colors of the waning sun. How could I be embarrassed to be seen with her?

We walked into the parking lot of my parent’s store.

“That’s my parent’s house over there, behind the store. This is my little shack back here.” I led her to the dilapidated guest house in the backyard.

We went inside and she looked around my room. It was a bit of a mess. My computer desk and dresser were piled high with junk. The set of shelves against the wall were filled with books and art supplies, and on the floor were some dirty clothes, which I pushed under the bed with my foot. I straightened my bed so she had somewhere to sit.

“Oh, you’ve got a guitar.”

“Yeah,” I grabbed a new shirt from my closet. “I just started learning it. I’ve mastered three whole chords so far.”

She laughed. “Can I play it?”

“Sure.”

She got my guitar, sat down on the bed with it, and started to play, her fingers expertly plucking the strings.

“You’re pretty good.”

“Yeah, I started learning piano when I was five, and picked up the guitar when I was, like, ten, so. . . .”

“You could be a pop star. You have the looks for it.”

She laughed.

“I’m serious.” I finished buttoning my shirt. “I better go say hi to my parents. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

I went over to the house and called through the door, “I’m home.” I could hear the television blaring in the living room.

“Is that you, Zach? Your dinner’s cold. You want me to heat it up for you?”

“No Mom, I’m not hungry. I’ll eat later.”

I went back to the shack, and Joanna was still sitting on my bed strumming the guitar.

“I see you’ve got a shower back there.” She nodded in the direction of my bathroom. “Do you mind if I take one? I just wanna get warmed up a little.”

“Sure.”

She put down my guitar and went into the bathroom. “I’ll be quick,” she smiled and closed the door.

I sat on the bed, my back against the wall, listening to the sounds of Joanna in the shower. The water stopped, and my eyes were drawn to the bathroom door. What’s she going to change into? The door opened and she came out with just a towel around her, tucked into itself over her chest, the small towel barely reaching to her legs. My heart was already pounding, but I tried to stay cool, like it was nothing unusual to have a girl this close to naked with me in my bedroom.

She noticed I was staring at her, and she blushed. “Do you have anything I can wear? I didn’t wanna put my wet things back on.”

“Ah, yeah.” I went to my dresser and fumbled through the drawers, handing her a t-shirt and some shorts.

“Thanks.” She smiled. “Um, can you turn around?”

“Oh yeah.” I laughed.

I turned and faced the window. The last of the sun was setting into the ocean, leaving brilliant towers of castle cloud on the horizon, but I was more interested in the faint reflection I could just make out in the glass.

“Your shorts are too big for me, but this t-shirt’s so long it’s like a dress anyway.” She giggled.

Whoa! She looked so cute with my t-shirt hanging down like a mini dress. It was even sexier than the towel had been, I could see her shape through the thin cotton. She handed back the shorts, which I tossed behind me without taking my eyes off her. My heart was racing. Does she even know what effect she’s having on me right now?

She didn’t seem to. She was casually wandering around my room looking at all my stuff. She studied a poster on the wall. “Do you surf?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s so cool. I wish I could do that.”

“Maybe I could teach you sometime.”

“That’d be awesome.” She turned and smiled at me, and we stood there looking at each other, neither of us moving or saying anything, the tension building between us.

“Maybe I should go.” She glanced at the door, then back at me.

“If you want to.” I didn’t want her to.

“Okay.” She moved towards the door, then suddenly veered and kissed me on the lips. “Bye,” she whispered.

Her kiss, and the softness of her lips, took me by surprise. She looked up at me with such large eyes, not moving away.

I leaned in and gently caressed her soft lips with mine. The kiss lasted longer than I’d intended, but I couldn’t pull myself away. She didn’t pull away either. The touch of our lips had kindled something in us. I pulled her close and she willingly gave herself to me, my hands slipping beneath her t-shirt, feeling the warmth of her bare skin. We were both breathing hard, and I could feel her body trembling as my hands moved higher under her shirt, slowly lifting it up, revealing her body to my hungry eyes.

A phrase suddenly leapt into my mind—‘Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.’ It made me pause, my hands hesitating their advance towards her breasts. What am I doing?

Joanna pushed me away, looking dazed as she straightened her t-shirt down.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s okay, I have to go.” She backed towards the door, her hand reaching behind her for the handle. “Bye.” And she was gone.

I was stunned, my heart was pounding, I couldn’t make sense of anything. Did that really happen? I slumped onto the bed, still reeling with the passion that had overwhelmed me. I couldn’t believe what had happened. I was in some kind of shock. I lay there trying to calm myself down so I could think. She’s fifteen! How could I be so stupid? She must hate me now. And what was that phrase, do not arouse or awaken love? Where did that come from?

After a while, I got up and went to the house to get some dinner. My parents were sitting in front of the TV.

“Hey Mom, have you ever heard the phrase, ‘Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires’?”

“Yes, that’s from Song of Solomon, isn’t it?” She turned to Dad for confirmation.

“I think so.”

“Song of Solomon? What’s that?”

“It’s in the Bible.” My mom looked at me curiously but didn’t ask why I wanted to know. I’d never shown any interest in the Bible before.

Both my parents were Christians, but I hadn’t followed in their footsteps—not since I was old enough to stay at home by myself when they went to church. It wasn’t that I didn’t wanna believe in it or anything, just that I’d found it all so boring.

I grabbed a Bible off their bookshelf and took it back with me to the shack. Song of Solomon was listed in the contents, and I flipped to it. I was sure I’d never heard of it before. I read through all eight chapters. It was like a poem about love and desire, and some of it I definitely could relate to.

Your voice is sweet,

and your face is lovely.

You have stolen my heart

with one glance of your eyes,

How beautiful you are and how pleasing,

Your stature is like that of the palm,

and your breasts like clusters of fruit.

I said, “I will climb the palm tree;

I will take hold of its fruit.”

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:

Do not arouse or awaken love

until it so desires.

That night, when I got ready for bed, I found her bikini on my bathroom floor. It was dry now, and touching the two pieces stirred feelings in me all over again.

I lay in bed trying to sleep, but my mind was filled with thoughts of Joanna. I remembered her kiss, and the touch of her skin.

Am I falling in love? I’ve never felt like this before. I feel so confused and . . . I tried to think of the right word . . . anguished? But it can’t be love, I hardly even know her. You don’t fall in love this easy. Man she’s sexy though. I like her so much.

When I finally fell asleep, I dreamed of her. She was in the shower again, and I was waiting for her. This time she came out completely naked, and just stood there letting me admire all of her. Then I saw that I was naked too, and she was looking at me in the same way. I could tell she liked me and accepted me the way I was. I felt no shame.

I woke up, the sun was seeping through the gap in the curtain, and I lay there thinking about the dream. My dreams were usually pretty unmemorable, but this one felt like it meant something.

I got out of bed and took a look at the ocean. I couldn’t see the beach from my window, but the ocean swell looked good from here. I grabbed my gear and headed out the door.

Down at the beach, I pulled on my wetsuit, grabbed my board, and ran into the sea. There were a couple of surfers out the back already, and I paddled out to join them.

“How’s it?” I asked a guy I knew, and he gave me a thumbs-up.

I waited for the next set of swells. In the early morning light everything felt clean and fresh. A big wave came in and I went for it, cutting a swath across its glassy face.

After a good morning’s surf, I headed back to shore. I saw a friend of mine on the beach with his board.

“Hey Josh, better get out there before the tide changes.”

“Hey man, what’s this I hear ‘bout you bein’ a cradle robber?”

“What?”

“Heard she’s only twelve, bro.”

I knew my friend was baiting me, but it was hitting a little close this time.

“Try sixteen. Anyway, what’s it to you?”

I walked away. Everyone’s probably talking about it now.

I lugged my board back up the hill. I had to get ready for work. I don’t care what anyone thinks, I have to see her again.

You can read more of this novel on scribd here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/17728959/Arousing-Love-complete-novel