Chapter Three: A Change in the Air
203 Words
As the sun climbed higher in the sky, the girls found themselves sprawled across colorful beach towels, the scent of coconut sunscreen thick in the air. Lila lay on her stomach, absently tracing patterns in the warm sand as Cassidy flipped through a magazine. Annie stretched her arms over her head, letting out a contented sigh.
“I could stay here forever,” Annie mused, tilting her face toward the sky.
Cassidy snorted. “Until your next adventure calls.”
Lila smiled, but her mind was elsewhere. She couldn’t shake the weight of Noah’s words from the night before. She had never thought much about choices—her life had always been mapped out for her. But now, the path ahead felt wide open, uncharted.
“Lila, you’re totally zoned out,” Cassidy nudged her with her foot. “Thinking about a certain boy?”
Lila sat up, brushing sand from her legs. “Just thinking about summer. About change.”
Annie gave her a knowing look. “Sometimes, change is exactly what we need.”
As a wave crashed against the shore, sending a cool mist over their sun-warmed skin, Lila realized that maybe, just maybe, she was ready to embrace it.
- Writer
