“You’re not going to push me off a cliff, are you?” he asked in jest, but I could still hear the faint trace of seriousness that he’d tried to hide behind the joke.
“Do you really think I would do that?” I asked him curiously.
“Well, I know you really hate me,” Paul said with a shrug.
“I don’t hate you.”
Paul snorted. “You could have fooled me.”
“You know I don’t hate you,” I insisted because his reaction had bothered me in a way that I hadn’t expected. I’d never really cared about what Paul thought before.
“Do I? What would give you that impression? I mean, I know that I said that I hoped you felt the same way, but when you looked at me with that blank expression, I knew in that moment that it really all was just hate.”
“I don’t understand why you would think that. I never wanted you to be a part of my family. I never wanted my mom to get replaced by that cheap substitute that my father brought home, but that doesn’t mean I hate you. I mean, if things were different, we’d probably be friends.”
“Is that a compliment I heard in there somewhere? Did Isabella Longfoot just admit that she would be my friend if things were different?”
“Don’t get too big-headed,” I said as I turned quickly and almost tripped him up. I reached out to pull him up and for a moment our hands brushed together. I pulled mine back quickly and tried to ignore the strange tingling sensation that his touch had left on my skin. “Enjoy your trip?” I asked him with a smirk as he straightened himself back up.
“You’re so funny,” Paul said dryly.
“I like to think so,” I said with a grin and bright eyes.
Paul rolled his eyes at me. “Are we nearly there yet?” he asked when I stopped and turned in another direction again.
“Almost,” I said as I looked for the small path that would lead us down to the beach. I’d never shared my secret path with anybody before. It was something I’d found as a child and I’d been captured by the magic of it all. It led to a small piece of secluded beach that was cut off from the commercial beach by huge jagged rocks that went too far out into the ocean to simply swim around. I wasn’t sure who else knew about my little discovery, but I’d never personally seen anybody there, so I knew it couldn’t be a well-known spot, even for the locals.
I spotted the start of the old, half worn-out path and made my way towards it. Paul and I walked in silence along it, until it started to slope down and then, after a few moments had passed, we could both see the opening of the crystal-clear ocean and golden sandy beach.
“How long have you known about this place?” Paul asked me with wide eyes as he took in the small, secluded paradise that I’d kept hidden.
“I found it a few years ago,” I said with a causal shrug. I could feel a smile playing against my lips over his reaction to it. I’d been hoping that he’d like it since we had set off.
“And you didn’t think to share your discovery?”
“I liked having somewhere all to myself. I mean, I’ve never seen anybody down there, and it was nice to go and just have a bit of silence. I don’t mean to be constantly digging at your mom or anything, but she never shuts up and her voice goes right through me.”
Paul laughed. “I know what you mean, but at least whenever she starts talking to you, you can just walk away. Have you ever considered the fact that I’ve had to put up with her in my face all of my life?”
“I can’t say I’ve ever thought about it like that, but now that I have, I’m truly sorry for your suffering. I know it must have been a great deal to live with,” I said in a half sarcastic but truthful way.
“Thank you,” Paul said with a grin as he threw himself down onto the sand and gestured for me to copy him.
“I’m not sitting down,” I said as I stepped away from his arm that he’d been reaching out with to pull me down next to him.
“Why not?” he asked.
“I don’t want to get sand everywhere,” I said with my nose wrinkled.
“You came to a beach, but you don’t want to get sand everywhere? You know, Isabella, you make no sense sometimes, or all the time—I’m not quite sure yet.”
“I just like to look out at the ocean,” I explained. “I mean, have you seen it? It’s just that wonderful, vast open space where you can escape and never be found again. It’s calming to know that the world might be crowded, but peace can still be found.”
Paul looked at me intently for a moment. I could feel his eyes piercing into mine, as he seemed to look at me in the way that one might look at a person for the first time, not the millionth.
“What?” I asked him when his gaze became too intense for my discomfort to allow.
“I don’t know. I guess you just caught me off guard with the crazy, deep answer. I mean, I’m not saying that I’ve ever thought you were shallow or anything, but I just didn’t think you were the type to think that deeply into something as simple as the ocean,” he said as he shrugged.
“Well, I guess I’m just full of surprises today,” I said dryly but with a smile on my lips.
“I guess so,” Paul agreed. “So, why after all the years of secrecy have you shown me your little hiding spot? I mean, I love it, it’s beautiful and I’m glad you have, but why now?”
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “I guess I won’t need it for a while, so what’s the point in leaving it going to waste?”
“I guess,” Paul said, but there was something in his tone that told me he didn’t believe the reason I had given him.
“You know, I am happy for you about your app and all the money and stuff,” I said without looking at him. “I know that I got angry with you yesterday, but that wasn’t because I wasn’t happy for you. It’s good to know that you’ve found a purpose.”
“Thanks,” Paul said with a gentle smile falling over his lips. “That really does mean a lot.”
“Don’t mention it,” I said with a shrug. “What does the app do, anyway? You never got around to telling me.”
“That’s because you didn’t give me a chance to,” Paul said with a light tone that told me he wasn’t having it.
“Well, I suppose you could put it like that if you wanted me to come out looking like a jerk.”
“Well, you said it,” Paul said and then he grinned at me. “No, I’m only joking. I know why you got mad yesterday, and I totally understand. I didn’t want anybody to find out until after your graduation?
?I really didn’t.”
“I know,” I said with more certainty than I knew I felt.
“Good.” Paul’s eyes met mine and for a moment there was something unspoken said between us. I could feel an understanding being made, where we both knew that neither one nor the other had hate. “So, anyway, my app is kind of like eBay, except you pay a small membership fee rather than interest on your sales, etc. I wasn’t really expecting it to leave the town, but then word got out and overnight it’d had, like, a million downloads. It’s crazy,” Paul finished, his head shaking in disbelief.
It did sound crazy, but I had no doubts that it was true. Paul had spent nearly all of his life on computers and playing video games. It had been something that even I’d struggled to keep up with, especially considering the hours of study I was putting in every day. So, it was no surprise really that he was making his fortune from them. If there was ever going to be a fortune waiting for him, it was definitely in technology.
“You’ll have to show me how to use it sometime.”
“You’re a smart girl; you’ll figure it out,” Paul said as he dismissed what I’d said.
Neither of us spoke for a moment and the ocean’s lazy rolls were the only sound to be heard. I looked out over the small waves that were starting to claw their way up the shore and lost myself in a moment of thought, before Paul sitting up drew my attention back to him.
My eyes glanced over his face and noticed the change straight away. When we’d been talking he’d seemed so laid back and relaxed, but there were strong lines of stress etching their way into his forehead and I could tell something was troubling him without him needing to voice it.
“What’s up?” I asked him, because I couldn’t understand the sudden change to his mood.
“This,” Paul said as he gestured between the two of us.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, confused at his words and scowl.
“You spend most of your life ignoring me and then, what, you just take me to your magical little beach spot and act as though you care? I don’t get you, Isabella. I want to get you. I want to understand how your complicated little mind works, but I can’t and it’s so frustrating.”