Page 6 of Lost in the Current of You

“Keep dreaming, Fischer,” I said. I went to nudge his shoulder, but he caught my hand before I could, bringing us closer together with our chests mere inches apart.

“You’re always in my dreams, Summers.” His eyes were bright and full of amusement. It was like all that time had disappeared and a wedge wasn’t forged between us.

We were us again. A friendship that brewed in the evenings by the water.

Someone cleared their throat, snapping us out of the bubble we were absorbed in. The cool wind replaced the warmth of his hand as he dropped it in his haste to step back from me.

“I think maybe we should go check in and find our flight, should we not? Or, you know, you guys can stay here and we will catch the flight and have fun in Airlie.” Avery wore a sarcastic smile while throwing a thumb over her shoulder. This was her way of telling me she would very much like to get settled and know where she was going before boarding time.

She needed to be early, and organised; otherwise, her anxiety would lead her to panic if we weren’t where we needed to be at the right time. We had to be at least fifteen minutes early for every movie, dinner reservation, train, or bus ride. There had only been a couple of times in the years we had been friends when we had been running late for something, and her anxiety flared up.

She guided me, Alex, and Reece through the airport. Reece’s friends, Jake and Sage, who I didn’t see before Avery interrupted us, followed close behind. I greeted Reece’s friends, having only met them once before. Jake was the more talkative one, filling me in on all things baseball.

I tried to concentrate, but I couldn’t shake the feel of Reece’s eyes on me. It was like a laser shooting through the side of my head and warming my cheeks. The more I met his gaze, regret became more pronounced as we moved further through the airport. Once we were through security and had a bit of time to grab something to eat, he pulled me to the back of our group, out of earshot.

“I wanted to apologise. I know I was a bit of a… dick, shall we say, towards you.” His statement made me laugh and his lips twitched before it disappeared. “I know none of this will make up for me acting distant and cold towards you, but I am sorry. I just…”

His voice died off and his lips pressed together. It was like he was trying to piece together his thoughts while mine had flashed back to those moments. From the second he ghosted me, then completely ignored my existence when he came to visit my brother after becoming friends playing baseball.

They were close during Nate's last season before he moved away; Reece was the only friend Nate had over. I never attended any of Nate or Liam’s baseball games so I never met their friends. It was just my luck for this to happen right after Liam and I broke up.

Reece seemed to be over at least twice a week for those few weeks. They’d always retreat straight to Nate's room to play video games. Reece would ignore me, walking straight past me if I was anywhere near the path towards my brother's room. That continued for a month before Nate's departure at the end of February and it was the last time I saw Reece.

But now, it felt like none of that time passed.

I interrupted, “It’s okay. I guess I can forgive you. As long as you don’t disappear on me again because, you know.” I tilted my face to look at him as we walked. “I do value you as a friend, Reece.”

He met my eyes at that, gaze soft with a ghost of a smile.

It was the truth. I told Reece things I could never tell anyone and it was nice to be able to share things in confidence without getting unsolicited advice in return. He was kind of an outlet for the thoughts and emotions I kept to myself and vice versa. He took what I said and threw back whatever wild thoughts he had in his head for me to absorb.

With the seriousness the conversation was heading, I decided to lighten it when I leaned in to whisper the next bit, “Just don’t go falling for me. I’ll break your heart.”

Something passed through his eyes then, but was gone in the next moment before he chuckled. “Look who’s dreaming now.”

I lightly punched his arm and he feigned being wounded before he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and messed with my hair. I pushed him away as he snorted while I fixed my hair.

After boarding the plane, it collectively sunk in for everyone where we were and where we were headed. Avery breathed out a sigh, Alex could not stop smiling, and I sank into my seat right after putting my phone on airplane mode. A weight came off me at that moment.

It was only an hour and a half flight and the tires were touching down on the tarmac before we knew it. There were trees upon trees with no signs of life apart from the tiny little airport we had arrived at. A shuttle bus took us from the airport to our hotel along the coastline. The three of us sat right in the back with Reece and his friends in the row in front of us.

I’d been to the beach many times before, but this felt different. Maybe it was because this was my first holiday without my parents around. Or maybe it was the different scenery. The vast blue water with no end, knowing that underneath there was a world of coral and a variety of sea life. That was what I was most excited for: exploring just a tiny part of the Great Barrier Reef.

I was so mesmerized by all the scenery buzzing past us that I didn’t realize when we had pulled up at our hotel. There was so much to see that I was afraid to blink and miss any of it.

We prepared to disembark when I noticed Reece and his friends not moving. There were about eight hotels to choose from on the site, and we’d already passed three of them.

“I guess this is where we part,” he said with a hand on his heart and a sparkle in his eye.

I maintained character as I placed my own hand to cover my heart. “It has been a pleasure being in your company.”

“And as with you.”

I cracked with a smile and a shake of my head, but as I went to pass him, he grabbed my arm to halt me.

“You still have my number, right?”

I nodded. Of course, I still had it. I could have never deleted it, even if we never spoke for another five years.

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