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~ Day Dreams ~
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~ Chapter One ~
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~ Deep Breaths ~
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~ July-Thirteenth ~
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~ Ten-Years-Old ~
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~ Hazel's POV ~
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"Hey, that's unfair! Jake, stop cheating!" I yelled, laughing. Jake's giggles were muffled under the depths of the ocean waves; he was holding his breath for a ridiculously long time.

Jake Rivers was destined to be a professional swimmer, and he knew it. I, on the other hand, had absolutely no change at all; mind you, Jake had tried teaching me a few things, but I did not do well at anything, aside from maybe doggy paddling.

My long, thick apricot curls floated through the waves and expanded underwater. I felt like a mermaid from a movie Jake and I watched one time, long ago. He hated it, but I always loved using his family's TV.

We continued to splash about under the blaring sun that was soon destined to be swallowed by the dark and looming clouds; a storm was coming, and was only confirmed by the restless waves.

Our favorite thing to do at the beach was to play Marco Polo with Jake on my tail, moving swiftly through the water and swimming toward the sound of my uneven voice. One of his hands partly covered his face while trying to peek through the gaps between his fingers.

Jake usually cheats when he's trying to catch me, and I could see his other hand outstretched in front of him, trying his best to locate me based on how the sounds reverberate, which of course just caused me to squeal loudly with laughter.

I needed an alternative method to try and combat his cheating as well as his natural and undeniable skill in the water. If he manages to tag me, I will stay that way because Jake was a better swimmer than I could ever dream of becoming.

"Jay!" I yelled, smiling a wide grin through a mouthful of muffled, salty giggles. I spun in the other direction as water continued to slosh around me. I doggy paddled towards the shore, the soft sand impacting against the tips of my toes as I crept up the hill of sand; I floated near the shorelines, where the afternoon sun reflected against the ocean below, causing a beautiful and breathtaking scene right before my eyes.

"Carrots!" Jake yelled with a grin as his smile began to mirror mine; the distance between us should have been enough to ensure that Jake couldn't win the game. Jake and I had secret nicknames, with Jake's being 'Jay' and mine being 'Carrots'. Carrots was chosen due to my apricot-coloured hair, along with a reference to the day we first met.

So the nicknames stuck, and here we are two years later, still going strong. At first, I thoroughly disliked 'Carrots' but it had grown on me, and now Jake uses the nickname about 50% of the time—it made it much easier to talk without others knowing the context of our whispers.

Jake and I continued to relax in the clear water, underneath the sunlight filtering through the clouds. Jake's beaming smile shows off his pearly white teeth, alongside the dimples that indented his rosy cheeks. His curly golden brown hair floated like shiny feathers around his face, framing it.

Meanwhile, his ocean blue eyes sparkled underneath the slowly dimming light; we were playing a friendly game of Marco-Polo, but when it came to games we rarely followed the rules. If we played by the rules, it was likely we would be playing forever; the sun would set, and the starry night would be upon us before we knew it.

"Hey! I see you peeking," I exclaimed alongside an indignant pout. I pointed at him, arm outstretched before realizing my sudden movement had caused the water to splash all around me and simultaneously blowing my cover. "Dammit! I had blown my cover," I thought to myself silently, realizing that now Jake was at an advantage.

"Huh, no way!" Jake said between non-stop giggles; he shut his eyes, his smile forming tiny creases around them. His hand was covering his face while the other swung around in what I could only guess was an attempt to search for me.

Jake began to peer through the gaps between his fingers once more as he proceeded to glide through the ripples of the waves, his athletic body barely impacting the water of Seaside, Florida. Seaside is a small beach town with shining blue, crystal clear waters; the white sand shimmered, highlighting the extraordinary view before me.

Seaside had a main beach, but it was always crowded so we hung out far off to the side where less people gathered, making it easier to keep track of our surroundings.

I continued swimming around where the water met the shore, but with Jake's keen eyes and his superior athletic skills, I noticed that my efforts had been futile—Jake had won, for the millionth time. I was always too slow, but Jake's swimming abilities provided him with a natural advantage, and I had basically lost before the game had even begun.

"Ha, got you!" Jake yelled from behind me, waves of water crashing around me as I began to march through the soggy sand to the shore.

"Aw, that wasn't a fair game," I said with a pout. Facing Jake directly, I propped myself up, drops of water running from my soaking hair and swimsuit, hitting my arms and legs as I sat down and crossed them both.

Jake leaped out of the sea, flicking his wet hair to one side and sat on the soft sand next to me; he had a pair of beach-themed swimming trunks and a rash guard on, both complementing his olive complexion. Jake was the captain of the swim team, meaning that he was required to stay in great physical shape and, thanks to his overbearing mother he was the best of the best.

Today was our shared birthday; we always spent the whole day together at the beach we met for the first time. Jake turned eleven today, and in the last two years I had managed to mature into a somewhat mature Ten year old, making us close to the same age... Well, sort of.

"Well, what do you expect, Carrots? This is me we're talking about here," Jake said in a self-important way, his chin raised. Jumping onto his feet and kicking sand at me in the process, he formed his hands into fists and placed them on either side of his hips as if he were posing like a superhero ready to fight crime.

Jake's mouth formed a wide yet innocent smile, his braces glinting in the sunlight; my teeth were a little crooked along the bottom of my jaw and I had a slight overbite, but I had never had dental work, let alone braces as they were far too expensive and would leave me in debt for the rest of my life.

"Hehe," I giggled as we glanced in each other's direction. Jake and I could never stay mad at each other for long, as we had previously promised that we will be best friends forever—this was a promise that we had kept ever since.

I glanced toward the light beaming along the horizon, where the vibrant, glowing sun was beginning to set—that meant I still had time to make a sneaky move and possibly win the game. I leapt to my feet, tagging Jake and kicking sand his way.

I took off, sprinting into the water while laughing, swimming through the soft waves, distancing myself from Jake; I had a few seconds at best to put my somewhat immature plan into action but hey, you only live once, right? I figured I'd better live it while I can.

"Hey! Now that's cheating," Jake yelled, following behind and laughing as he humoured me, acting as though I had moved with lightning speed. In that moment, it felt like I was on top of the world, and that nothing could ruin it.

Looking around, my stomach dropped as I realized that I had somehow swam toward the out of bounds area; without hesitation, I spun around to swim back towards the shore. To my horror, it seemed like an exercise in futility because the water was much stronger than I was and it was tugging me further from the shoreline.

Panic flooded my mind, blood pumping rapidly through my veins; I tried to scream but it came out muffled as it caught in my throat. I reached frantically for Jake, but a strong riptide had taken hold of my fragile body, dragging me further and further away from the beach.

Everything around me seemed to be moving in slow motion, Jake's face lighting up in terror as he began to swim towards me. It started to feel as though I was being swallowed by the sea; the waves thumping relentlessly on my skull, threatening to drag me under. My brain was trying to tell every muscle in my body to move, swim, but I felt so tired. Maybe I could rest, just for a second? One second, that would be okay, right?

It took every ounce of my strength to force my body to move, to fight and stay afloat. I could not stop. I could not give up. Not after everything I had been through, but with each breath I took was interrupted by the harsh, angry water crashing down around me.

Why was the ocean so angry? Water forced its way down my throat and into my lungs, causing me to cough and choke. A wave of remorse hit me; why do I even bother? I was so stupid.

I'm sorry, Jake. It was all my fault... would he ever forgive me?

My vision began to go blurry as I was blinded by the rippling, aggressive waves crashing around me, taking me further away from Jake. Behind my eyes I could see beautiful colours dancing in the sky; it felt as though I was spinning in circles.

Rest sounded so heavenly, like it would take away all of the pain. I think it's time to let go, maybe it's time to rest now...

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Please, tell me in the comments what you thought about Chapter One? 🙈 I'll be greatly appreciated, thank you, you very kind soul!
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~ Chapter One ~
~ Dedications ~
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HeliiBoh
DebMorey
PeterPetruzzella
CaitlinWoodward9
DaniJones_14
ChloeMayerhofer
savvvy1998
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You guys should totally check out PeterPetruzzella short story! Lighthouse. It's amazing! Please also go check out Peter's YouTube account pure56 for awesome content on movies, tv-shows, and game reviews!
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You guys should totally check out ChloeMayerhofer story! Fallen! It's awesome!
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C.Morey 🥕 xoxo
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