MenuPromptsContestsStoriesBlogIce Cream With Awkward SprinklesSubmitted into Contest #81 in response to: Write about someone

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Ice Cream With Awkward Sprinkles

Submitted into Contest #81 in response to: Write about someone asking out an old crush, only to realize their crush doesn’t remember they’ve ever met before.... view prompt

Amany Sayed

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ROMANCE HIGH SCHOOL FUNNY

Cris had never regretted dying her hair blonde more than the fateful Sunday she decided to go to the beach.

Or maybe, she had never been more grateful.

Nonetheless, nothing could have prepared her for what would happen on the day she self consciously stepped out of her car, dyed hair in a ponytail and the sun mercilessly beating down on her.

Going to the beach alone is not a fun way to spend a Sunday, but sitting home alone is almost worse, so she decided she’d rather at least take the chance of finding shells or swimming and maybe having fun rather than being yelled at by her mom again as she would’ve been had she stayed home.

She grabbed her phone, sunglasses, and purse from her car before slamming the door and curling her toes in her run-down sneakers.

She started walking towards the sand when her foot caught on something or another and she fell smack dab on her face.

She wasn’t one for makeup, so the only thing bruised was her pride, though thankfully, no one was watching(she hoped).

She huffed and picked herself up, checked her phone for cracks, and set off again. The walk was long, the wind-nonexistent, the noise-extreme, the heat -neverending, the hair-on her face.

When she reached the sand, she had just about decided to walk right back to her car and drive herself to an ice cream shop when the look of the lifeguard caught her eye.

The brown hair was the same as she remembered, the cheekbones a little more defined, and of course, he looked older, but it was unmistakably him.

Middle school memories suffocated Cris in a blur and she nearly fell again before steeling her legs and sighing. She forced herself to look away and bit the inside of her cheek, wondering if he would remember her. Of course, she remembered him.

Middle school crushes are like that one time you might have not answered the phone, and your mom never let you forget it.

They always come back at the worst times.

Cris adjusted her fingers around her phone and wondered how much money she had in her car.

Maybe a couple twenty dollar bills.

How many pints of ice cream could she buy with that?

A light gust of hot wind blew by, reminding her how hot it was.

She brought her eyes to the lifeguard chair again, glancing for a quick second before turning away.

Five minutes.

She would take a dip in the water to cool herself down before leaving.

That was all.

She walked with her head held up high and it took every fiber in her being not to look back at the person sitting in the lifeguard chair.

And it turned out, she didn’t need to make any effort.

He was coming down.

It was evidently the end of his shift, and he was replaced by another guy, someone in his late teens as well. Cris tried to pay him no mind as she neared the shore, setting down her towel and phone to the side. She set them down a considerable distance from the water, took her sneakers off, and then inched closer herself. She plopped down and dipped her toes in the water, which was at just the right temperature.

Of course, it would be perfectly normal for her to maybe stay for a little longer, and then go home, and that would be that.

But this is a story, and there’s obviously more.

Middle school was a very interesting time for Cris. She went through about three friend groups, braces, multiple sports, and only one crush.

His name...well, you wouldn’t believe me, but his name is Romeo.

Serious.

Cris wiggled her toes in the waves, staring at her pedicured nails. Peacefully.

At least, it was peaceful until someone sat down next to her.

She was almost too scared to look to her side, but she forced herself to, and there, in sunbathed glory, was no, not Romeo, but Lorelle.

One of the girls from Cris’s first friend group.

If she wasn’t talking, she was eating, and Cris wondered if she could escape before being forced to engage in small talk.

“Hi! I’m Lorelle, what’s your name?”

Evidently, she couldn’t. Cris held her breath, wishing to become invisible.

“Hello?”

“Are all the people from my middle school past coming to haunt me?”

“What?”

“What?”

Lorelle laughed, dragging her finger in the wet sand.

“You’re funny, I like you. What’re you doing at the beach?”

Cris stifled an eye roll. Classic, nosy Lorelle.

“Cooling down a little.”

“Cool, me too! I was here with one of my friends, Nova, but she left earlier. Nova’s funny too, you’d like her I think- what’s your name again?”

Cris was spared that much at least. The whole reason she broke away from the first friend group was Nova.

The girl was involved in drama like somebody paid her to do it.

“I didn’t say.” Cris tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. If she didn