Page 110 of The Perfect Spiral
Hearing his hands paddle towards me on the board, he reaches beside me and puts his larger, tanned hand on my thigh nearest to him.
“I’d like to get to know you, Alex, even if you are a mess,” he smiles, showing his perfectly straight teeth that are incredibly white. I give him a tight smile and nod my head. Well, here goes nothing.
“Alright then, well, giving you the condensed version, I’m twenty-three, in UCLA studying Mechanical Engineering as my third masters. I have two others in Software Engineering and Coding and another in Mathematics.
I have a photographic memory. I have two nieces and one nephew and I treat Knox’s nephew as my own. I have one older sister and three older brothers, so that makes me the youngest.
I’m from New York. My mom remarried when I was nine and is still with him. My family and the Carters are really close, his parents are like my own.
Knox and I despised each other up until recently and now I’m back to square one with him. I surf to get away from my thoughts. My granddad bought me this board. It’s my favorite. He showed me how to surf, he paid for all my lessons... and... I miss him. He died three years ago and I still haven’t visited his grave. He lived down in Savannah, Georgia, my mom is from there too.
I go down every summer with my family and extended family like my brother’s best friends’ families. My granddad and my brothers protected me from...”
I stayed quiet for a while, looking out into the sea, biting my lower lip.
“From who?” Ben asked carefully, still holding onto me.
I turn to look at him and down at the scar on the left side of my stomach.
“You see this?” He nodded, looking down at it. I took a shakydeep breath. It’s been a while since I’ve talked about him.
“My senior year, my father stabbed me. I was home alone, my mom and brothers out gathering supplies for my brother’s prom. I’d opted out of prom—it just didn’t resonate with me.
He broke into our house, chasing me with a knife. When they all returned, he drove the blade into me twice, twisting it while it was still lodged in my flesh.
I was unconscious in the hospital for three days, having lost a significant amount of blood. He’s in prison now, but he’s due to be released soon. I still have nightmares about it. The most recent one was so vivid, I thought he was actually in the house. I ran to the kitchen to arm myself with a knife.”
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. To add to it, last semester I walked in on my ex-boyfriend in bed with another girl. It was the second time I’d caught someone in the act.
The first time was my own father, and I was with my mom. Then it was my own boyfriend. I’ve been keeping my distance from Knox because I’m not mentally prepared to deal with the media right now.
Every day, I just feel so numb. I can’t explain it. I just wish I could start over, with everything.”
“Wow, for such a small person, you carry a lot of weight on your shoulders. But you seem strong,” he sighed.
“I’m sorry for unloading all of this on you. It’s not usually this bad, just going through a rough patch, you know?” I offered him a weak smile.
“It’s alright, sweet cheeks. I know we just met, but I think I’m going to enjoy this little relationship we have going on. You’re not like most girls I know.”
“Same here. I’m usually awkward around people, but I find it easy to talk to you. For some strange reason... Haha, yeah, I hear that a lot.”
“I hear that a lot too.” I laughed at him and he joined in. We sat in silence for a bit, scanning the horizon for any sign of a wave. But the ocean was calm. I decided to stay for a little while longer before heading out to eat.
“How about you? What’s your story?” I asked him, looking him straight in the eyes. He started to smile.
“Damn! And here I was thinking you were going to confess your undying love for me?” He said sarcastically, slapping his hand lightly on the water and tapping his other on my thigh.
“Twenty-six?! Are you—sorry, go on.” I stopped talking when he gave me a deadpan look.
“As I was saying, I’m twenty-six. I work at Google as a programmer. I live in that house over there. I have one older brother, one younger one, and a younger sister who’s the same age as you.
My dad died when I was thirteen from lung cancer—he was a smoker. I played high school and college football, got injured, and was told I couldn’t play again. I could’ve gone pro. Went to UCLA too, got cheated on there too.
I took up surfing to get away from people. My brother, who’s a pro surfer, taught me. I love my mom—she says I’m the best. My mouth sometimes lands me in trouble, especially when I was younger.
I love sports—anything sports-oriented, I love. I’m big on the ladies too, may I add. I work out every day, but I’m not big on thehealthy eating stuff. I like a balance. I’m a family man, although I don’t want one of my own just yet.
I’m very protective of my sister Haley, the one who bought the swimsuit. She stresses me out too much though. She’d die if she knew I was talking to you. She’s obsessed with Carter, like all girls.”
