Swipe Right

Chapter 4: Surfing and Texting

The girls were sitting on the beach right behind Lochlyn’s house. Their surfboards were stuck in the sand next to them. Loch’s end of the beach wasn’t the best for surfing, but it was supposed to storm later today which brought better waves their way. They had been in the water for hours before people started to come out on the beach to enjoy the day. This was the last official act of boyfriend free time for them. It wasn’t like Oakley was going to disappear completely but Lochlyn knew what was going to happen. She was okay with it for the most part. As long as Oakley came surfing or hanging on the beach she didn’t mind if A.J. tagged along or not.

“When is he driving down?” Lochlyn asked looking over at her friend. Oakley smiled and pulled her phone out of her bad.

“Uh it looks like he just got to my parents house.” She said.

 “Does that mean you should probably head out?” Loch asked. Her friend shrugged her shoulders and laid down in the sand.

“Yeah. I’m so excited to see him.” Oakley said a smile on her face.

“A whole what week apart? Tragic.” Lochlyn joked rolling her eyes. Oakley scoffed and flipped her friend off laughing.

“He’s the real deal this time Loch.” Oakley said. Lochlyn was never sure if Oakley ever truly meant the real deal AJ was the third real deal since they started college. She wasn’t exactly sure what was actually different this time but she did hope for her best friend that it was.

“Come on.” She sighed and got up picking up her board and heading back towards the house. It didn’t take long for Oakley to get her stuff and head back to her house. It was late afternoon and she didn’t have much to do. Loch wasn’t expected at work today and some of her other friends from high school hadn’t come back from college yet or were working.

Lochlyn bit her lip and pulled out her phone. She could start looking through that app she downloaded. She took a deep breath and started looking at the profiles. Every time she came across a guy who would have been her “typical” type she swiped left. She was not going to get hurt like she did the last time. After what seemed like a thousand years she finally started swiping right to some guys. They looked normal, and not villains disguised as princes. Yes, we’re talking about Hans from frozen level losers.

There were no immediate matches which kind of hurt her confidence a little bit. Lochlyn decided to put her phone down and head out for a walk on the beach. It was her happy place on most days. The beach was once again almost empty. Most of the houses around where Lochlyn lived were summer houses owned by rich second home vacationers or the owners who just rented the house out for the summer.

By 3 or 4 most of the families had left the beach to go inside for afternoon nap and dinner time. It was another one of Loch’s favorite times to be on the beach. She smiled as the wind ran through her hair. She missed city life but nothing would ever beat the beach.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been gone but she saw her parents setting up dinner on the deck as she climbed the stairs. “Hey!” She called out climbing up the final step.

“Hey baby.” Her mom smiled blowing her a kiss before heading inside.

“We’re having dinner out here…obviously.” Her dad laughed gesturing to the plates on their patio table. Lochlyn laughed and rolled her eyes at him.

“Oh I had no idea.” She joked opening the sliding door and slipping inside. She ran upstairs and grabbed a long sleeved shirt. It wasn’t cold outside but it was still early enough in the summer that once the sun went down the wind made it just chilly enough. Lochlyn was about to head down when she heard her phone chime. She didn’t recognize the tone. Was it that new app?

She grabbed the phone and sure enough there was a notification. You’ve matched! Huh. Loch clicked the match and saw that it was a guy named John. He looked normal. He liked surfing, and fishing. He lived here on the shore. Which was a little bit scary since shore boys weren’t known to be the best. But it looked like he was one of the vacation lived here kind. Which meant he came from money or luck.

She should just delete the match. What if he was just like the others? Lochlyn groaned. This was her who goal right? Meeting pretty much tourists and just trying to find someone who wasn’t interested in Oakley. Lochlyn groaned again closing her eyes. She needed to just delete the match. She should delete the whole app. There were plenty of ways to meet guys without doing so online. She seemed desperate if she wanted to find people online.

While she was debating with herself, her phone chimed again. This time it wasn’t a match but a message.

John: Best place you’ve gone surfing?

That was his opening line? A question about surfing. Lochlyn laughed, well she didn’t really put much in her profile. The poor guy barely had anything to go on. She shook her head and smiled while she typed.

Me: Are we talking on the shore? Or off the shore?

Lochlyn shook her head again and slipped her phone in her pocked before heading down to dinner. They had burgers, her dad’s favorite. Her parents filled her in with the newest drama. There was a new restaurant right outside of town close to the highway that was recently shut down right before tourist season. Apparently, the owners were getting a divorce and one of them stole all the restaurant equipment before the divorce was finalized. It was a huge affair.

She was laughing watching her dad tell the story when her phone chimed. She pulled it out and checked the message.

John: I said the best place. Can be anywhere.  No limits.

Lochlyn smiled at the phone. She had to think. Where was her favorite place to surf?

Me: I went to Hawaii one year. That had to be the best.  It was such a stereotypical answer but it was true. For her parents 20th wedding anniversary a few years ago the three of them traveled to Hawaii where they could just celebrate and have fun. She thought she was a decent surfer till she saw the locals there. At one point she stopped surfing during the trip because she was embarrassed.

Lochlyn stared at her phone for a minute before putting it down on the table. As soon as the phone left her hand it started to buzz. She quickly snatched up back up and checked the message.

John: Damn. Lucky you. It was that good huh? I’m jealous.  Lochlyn bit her lip. She wasn’t really sure what to say. Loch had never been the flirty one in her group. She was able to play off people face to face but through a text she had to try and think of things to say. She couldn’t just smile and fake laugh to get through the conversation.

Me: You should be. It was great. How long are you here for?

She wasn’t sure why she wanted to know. Maybe it was to make sure he wasn’t just here for a week. Or weekends at a time. If he was then he wouldn’t be worth the time…most likely.

John: All summer, at least. You?

The buzz shocked her, which seeing at how quickly they had replied earlier it shouldn’t have. She smiled a little looking at his answer.

Me: I live here so…I’ll be here until I have to go back to school. Lochlyn heard her parents calling her name and she looked up.

“Yeah sorry?” She blinked a few times trying to not be embarrassed.

“Tell Oakley we love her but we want to hang out with our daughter.” Loch’s dad laughed wiggling his finger at her phone.

“You got it dude.” She winked at him and slipped her phone away. Family was the most important anyway.