Fort Myers and Fifteen

 “You're like a character in a movie.” I reread those words over and over again in my head. I wish I still had them in front of me, on a worn piece of hotel notepad paper, in your handwriting. That was the only material thing I had from you. I still can't believe I let the most important piece of paper I had go through the laundry. I cried when I walked into the laundry room and saw the shreds scattered all over the floor. I thought that letter had immortalized our story, yet, now it is gone and, so, I find that I must immortalize our story here before you fade away into the past, like photos in the sun.

The night was crisp and clear. A light breeze off of the ocean wrapped its arms around me and I made sure to wear a sweater out to the pool area. Before I stepped out of the doors, my began to ring. My ex-boyfriend. I quickly went outside and picked up the phone. I noticed a figure sitting in a lounge chair beside the pool so, instead of sitting on the edge of the pool like I had wanted, I made my way to the dark beach. I was impatient with my caller. I reached the beach and the breeze was stronger, making it hard to hear. I ended the conversation hastily, practically hanging up on my ex-boyfriend. Back to the pool I went with my phone continuously vibrating in my pocket as my ex persisted to call. At last I was able to sit down and dip my feet into the warm water.

As I was sitting there, alone, I looked over to where I had noticed a figure. It was a boy who looked my age. Just as I was observing this, he looked towards me and I turned my head down. A few seconds later, I looked back up. His gaze had drifted to his iPod, but then, abruptly, his eyes again met mine. This time, I kept my gaze and eventually we both diverted our eyes away from each other. Still, I could tell he was contemplating whether to come over and I knew, somehow, that soon enough he would.

Out of my peripheral vision, I watched him get up from his spot and make his way over to me. I was in a minor frenzy, worrying about my appearance and trying to figure out the best way to introduce myself. But he had the first word. And it was “hey”. I looked up, smiling, and said “hi” in response. At first, he didn't introduce himself, so I asked him what his same was. He let out a little embarrassed laugh and told me his name was Zach.

“Are you okay,” Zach asked me. I was confused by this. “You looked kind of sad over here by yourself,” he explained.

“Oh, no. I'm fine, thanks,” I replied, still smiling. I was touched that he felt obligated to come over. He didn't seem like the type of guy who just went out of his way to talk to strangers. I invited him to sit down next to me and he seated himself a couple feet to my left. We began talking about how we each ended up there. He was on a family vacation. We covered the basics, too. He told me he was fifteen (so was I), from Massachusetts, going to be freshman (I was going to be a sophomore), played hockey and several other sports, and loved music (most definitely a love we share). I found out that he tried being on the swim team and his friends teased him, calling him “gay” for it. He quit (not for that reason). His parents owned a hotel in Massachusetts. He was Irish, very Irish, and I observed so much seeing his fair, yet in some spots, quite sunburn, complexion. He told me about how he went into the village center down the road and showed me a video he took of a juggler. He was surprised that I loved Rise Against, let alone knew of them. We liked a lot of the same music (he even liked country). He mentioned the song “Ocean Avenue” by Yellowcard. It sounded familiar. I love that song.

He was remarkably easy to talk to, and very cute. At one point, I laid back and looked up at the stars, with light trickling down to shine on us. I recognized the constellation Orion and showed him. He seemed starstruck, not because of the stars, but because of me. I, too, found myself enraptured by him. I didn't want to leave. In fact, he invited me for a swim, but before I could say yes, my mom called me and asked me to come back to the suite. We had been together for an hour. We exchanged phone numbers. He put himself in my phone as “Zach Baker I Love Him” or something like that (I wish I had never changed it).

I said goodnight and went up to my room and straight out to the balcony overlooking the pool. He was there below. I yelled down to him. He said he was going for a swim and as he enjoyed the water, we continued to talk. At one point, he pretended to have drowned, floating face-down in the water. I pretended to be angry with him, but said that if he really did start to drown, I'd rip through the screen covering the balcony and jump down into the water.

I noticed that he had a nice set of abdominal muscles (despite the sunburn, they were impressive). We talked and joked and laughed and smiled. I think it was that very night when I fell for him. At last, he had to go to his room and off to bed I went. Off to dream about him. And I'd never wake up.

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