Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Good Morning, Sunshine

The sun was beating through the windows and the temperature was rising in the bedroom already.  Ayden rolled over and looked at the clock on the bedside table which read 8:47.  It was going to be unbearably hot again today, just like every other day this summer since she and Meg had arrived.  Why did she agree to this summer adventure with Meg?  It was her last summer of freedom before her job started in the fall.  It would be her one last chance to spend a little time with Meg.  Meg had been her best friend growing up in their little hometown and her college roommate.  They had decided to rent the little beach house for the summer before Meg moved off across the country to her new executive position with a Marketing firm whose name was so long Ayden could never remember it.  They had been at the beach house a total of five hours when Meg had met an over tanned surfer with a phony white smile.  Since then it seemed Meg was barely around the bungalow long enough to change her clothes before heading off for another day at the beach with her surfer, doing whatever it was that surfers did all day.  She glanced over at Meg’s bed and the covers were just as neat as the day they arrived.  Ayden wondered if Meg would ever even use the bed before summer was over.  Ayden stretched the kinks out of her back and ran her fingers through her long brown hair.  Meg had beautiful blond hair with just a hint of a curl and all the boys at college had regularly fallen over themselves to save her a seat at the football games, they all wanted to be near her and Ayden could not blame them after all Meg was her best friend.  Ayden lay there pondering why she was not more adventurous and outgoing like Meg, but slowly rolled herself out of bed and moved towards the bathroom and a nice cool shower to wake herself up.

She smiled as she entered the bathroom.  It was almost too cliché even for the beach but at least it was cooler in here.  She and Meg had enjoyed a good laugh when they first saw it with its light blue paint and lighthouse tiles.  There was even a string of sand dollars hanging from the mirror like a long forgotten Christmas garland, probably left over from some other tourists' vacation in the summers before theirs.  They had promised each other they would look for sand dollars to add to it before they left in the fall.  Ayden reached up and gently ran her finger over the rough edges and realized she missed having Meg around. 

She turned on the water and it sputtered and spit but eventually settled into a steady stream of clear water.  She slid out of her bra and let her soft cotton panties drop to the floor and stepped into the water.  It danced across her skin and felt wonderfully cool as she closed her eyes and dropped her head back into the stream and let it pelt down on her face before it raced over her body and down the drain, washing the summer’s heat away.  She shampooed her hair twice before reaching for the bar of soap.  Meg always smelled of lavender and Ayden rolled the bar over in her hands making it lather and sniffed at the bar of soap smiling.  She thought as she let the bar slide across her stomach that, "Today she would be the one smelling like the delicate flower on the beach".  Slowly she led the bar in circles around her breasts letting the water wash away the lather and leaving her skin feeling soft and smooth.  Her guided the small bar down her thighs washing over her calves and coming back up to gently lather between her legs, before carefully shaving her legs and rinsing off.  Turning off the water she reached for a towel and found them both still wet and she knew that Meg had at least been there for a few minutes this morning.  She did her best to dry her body off on what little of the ends of the towels that were not damp before gathering everything up and depositing it all in the hamper, vowing to do the laundry in the evening when it cooled off a bit. 

Standing before the mirror she swiped away the steam that had collected there and ran a comb quickly through her hair before she pulled it up in a tight ponytail and reached for the baby oil.  She knew it is a bit old fashioned and she would pay for the abuse to her skin when she was a little older but she loved the way it felt against her skin.  She rubbed just a bit over her skin stealing glances at her naked body in the mirror as she did.  The boys might save seats for blond haired Meg, she thought, but Ayden had gotten a little attention in college too.  She had two boyfriends over the course of the four years and they had each enjoyed the small curves of her hips and the way her breasts filled out their dress shirts in the morning.  She did love to wake up early and fix them a nice breakfast on Saturday mornings and it just seemed easy to grab a clean shirt from their closet.  She absently massaged in the last of the oil making her nipples harden slightly as she remembered the musky smell of those soft dress shirts and a smile spread across her face. 

Once again she caught her reflection in the mirror and it brought her back to reality.  Ayden grabbed the little blue bikini, hanging on the rack and slipped it on.  She remembered how they had shopped for days before finding it.  Meg had been so excited and promised it would be perfect for the beach.  As Ayden passed through the bedroom, on her way to the kitchen, she snagged her old familiar college T-shirt, which often substituted for a nightshirt.  It was still lying on the end of the bed and she threw it on, over her bikini.  She walked into the kitchen humming the old Beach Boys’ song, “Fun, Fun, Fun” but got stuck on the chorus and could not remember the rest of the words.  Seeing the pile of dishes in the sink she guessed Meg had not come by alone and wondered how it was she had not woken up.  Ayden sighed, but a smile crept across her face as she shook her head and picked up the bowl from the table that was still half full of milk and had a few stray Cheerios still floating in the white liquid, like little life preservers.  With the dishes rinsed and tucked into the dishwasher she went to the refrigerator to see if there was anything left.  She located an apple and two peaches which would have to do for breakfast and lunch.  Once they were washed and wrapped to keep them cool inside of her bag she headed out the door to the beach.

The beach was only half a block away and as soon as the door was closed she could smell the cool salt water calling to her.  There were little tourist boutiques lining all of the streets along the beach.  They sold everything from snow cones to tourist T-shirts proclaiming, “My grandma and grandpa went to the beach and all I got was this silly tee.”  There were little cafes with small tables lined up in front and bars that seemed quiet during the day, but drew large crowds at night.  Ayden meant to explore a couple of the nicer bars in the evenings but going alone did not seem as much fun as going there with Meg.  At the very corner, right across the street from the beach access was even an old LP record shop that had bongo drums hanging from the awning out front.  She wondered if the shop had been there since the 1960s.  The beach was busy but not as crowded as it would get over the weekend and it was still just late morning so she found a nice location on the beach and set up her towel.  The sand was already getting warm and her toes were burning from the walk over and getting everything set up so she headed directly to the water’s edge to soak them in the cool surf.  The roar of the waves filled her ears and she watched each one roll in.  The surfers were sitting on their boards, lined up like toy soldiers standing sentry.  They were doing their best to find the perfect wave but this morning they were small and so the surfers mostly stayed out away from the beach.  It was so hot and with the small waves and the surfers all staying so far out she was sure it would be safe to venture in a little deeper.  She gingerly stepped a little deeper, ever slowly creeping further into the water until she had to hop a little for each wave as it rolled towards the beach.  She laughed at herself and enjoyed the feeling of being a little kid again playing in the surf.  She had gone a bit further than she should and further than she ever had before but the water made her feel so alive and cool.  She had been out longer than she intended and turned to check on her bag still back on the beach when an unusually large wave caught her from behind spinning her over.  Her head was pulled under water and she was being tossed and tumbled about like she had been thrown into a washing machine.  She could not find the surface.  She was not even sure if she was right side up or upside down.  The waves seemed to be crashing in on her as they tossed her over and over.  For a moment her head was above water and she gasped for air but as quickly as the air appeared it was gone again and she was swallowing water.  She fought frantically clawing for the surface, for another small gulp of air.  Her lungs burned but all she could see were bubbles and green everywhere.  Surely, she thought, someone had to see her go under.  Someone would pull her free, but slowly the water faded to black.