"Karis, are you home!!" JC yelled through her screen door the next day. He had on a pair of Bermuda shorts that were extremely tacky, but he rationalized it as being on vacation and not caring; a plain white button up shirt which he left open revealing the tan he had gotten the previous day; sunglasses covering his eyes completed the outfit.
"Yeah, come on in!" he heard her call from somewhere in the house.
"If your day is free, I've got something for us to do," he yelled, sitting on the couch. In only the few short days they had known each other, JC and Karis were already like old friends.
"Really? I hope it's exciting," Karis laughed, coming out of her room. JC watched her as she walked down the hall, trying to put her hair in a clip. She wore a bright orange two piece suit that left just enough to the imagination. Over the suit she had wrapped around a knee length purple sarong.
"It will be, trust me," JC grinned up at her.
"Well, stop keeping me in suspense. What is this exciting thing you have planned for us?" she urged, sitting across from him in one of the chairs.
"Well, its not that exciting really, but I thought we could rent one of the boats at the docks and take it out to that island and have a picnic," JC explained. He watch as Karis sat for a moment, looking as though she was in deep thought.
"Sure, on one condition," she finally said.
"What's that?" JC asked.
"I get to drive," she said, a devilish smile forming across her face.
JC laughed. "I suppose, if you promise not to kill us."
"Why, Mr. Chasez, why would you ever think that I would do that," she said dramatically. JC rolled his eyes and laughed. He waited patiently as Karis got her things together that she would need for the trip. After she had everything, they headed over to JC's, where he already had everything on the front porch.
"Planning on me saying yes?" Karis asked, raising her eyebrows.
"No, 'cause if you said no, I was going to go anyway, by myself," JC said, smirking. Karis laughed lightly, linking her arm through JC's as they walked toward the docks near town. Once they got there, JC walked up to the little hut that rented out the boats. Karis stood behind, looking at all the water crafts. She wondered what it would be like to buy one of the large sail boats and go free sailing around the world. She laughed bitterly, knowing that would never happen.
"What's funny?" JC asked, walking up to her.
"Nothing, just thinking of something, that's all. Did we get a boat?" she asked, changing the subject.
"You bet, that little beauty over there," JC said, pointing to a boat a few feet away. It was a one level speed boat painted red and bright yellow.
"Awesome, let's go then," Karis grinned as her eyes shined with excitement, while walking towards the boat. Once the boat was untied from the dock, JC navigated it carefully out of the port.
"So, do you know how to drive a boat?" JC asked when they were finally out of the no wake zone.
"I've never before, but it doesn't look that hard. I can do it," Karis said.
"Well, how about I give you a quick run down..." JC said, but before he could finish, Karis had pushed him aside and taken over. She immediately pushed the lever, taking the boat to its maximum speed. JC gripped the handle next to him.
"Isn't this great!!??" Karis yelled over the wind.
"Yeah, but slow down a little. There's a lot of boats out today," JC pleaded.
Karis looked at him and laughed, continuing her same speed. Thirty minutes later, they arrived safely at the island. JC had convinced Karis to let him park the boat by the dock after much argument.
"I could've done it, you know," she said as they walked up the dock.
"Not going 90 miles an hour you couldn't have. Besides, I wanted to do some of the driving," JC smiled, shaking his head lightly.
"Ok, so where do we want to have this picnic? In the woods or out on the beach?" Karis asked, searching through her bag for her sunglasses.
"Um, I think the beach. It's too nice not to, and that way we can do some swimming, too," JC answered.
"Sounds great. That's what I was thinking, too," Karis said, producing the glasses and putting them on. JC nodded and headed down the boardwalk toward the white, sandy beach.
"Ooh, sands hot," Karis mumbled from behind JC as they walked to find a spot.
"I can pick you up and carry you if you'd like?" he joked.
"That's ok. I'm a big girl. I can manage," she laughed, lightly pushing him from behind. A few minutes later JC stopped and threw his things down, "This is the spot."
"Why here? There's nobody around," Karis asked, glancing on each side of them.
"I know. That way, we have the water and sand to ourselves," JC mumbled, spreading out the blanket. Karis stood, looking at him for a moment before shrugging and helping him with the blanket.
"So, are you seeing anyone back where you live?" JC asked suddenly while they ate their lunch.
"Um....no, not really," Karis answered quietly. JC was sure there was more to it than she was saying, but didn't press the subject.
"How about you?" she finally asked after a few awkward minutes of silence.
"Me? No, just got out of a relationship a few months ago and ever since, I haven't really wanted to date," JC said.
"Oh, really? What went wrong?" Karis asked, wondering if she was stepping over a boundary.
"Just didn't work out, I guess. She didn't understand that my work means a lot and wanted more of my time, but I just wasn't willing to give that because I didn't see the relationship amounting to much, ya know?" he said.
"Yeah, so it wasn't love then. Have you ever been in love before?" she asked, looking at him.
"Love," JC repeated quietly, as though he were thinking about it. "Once, in high school. It was young love, though. I had a feeling it wasn't going to last. We were both going in different directions. I still keep in touch with her, though. It's kind of turned into a friendship love. What about you? Have you ever been in love?" he asked.
"I was once, too, a couple years ago. Things didn't work out in our favor, though. There were just too many obstacles we would've had to over come, and he wasn't willing to try it. I couldn't be the only person in the relationship; it would've been too hard for me so we broke up, not on good terms. I did love him, though. In some way, I know I did. Who knows? Maybe that was my one chance and I blew it, 'cause I sure haven't seen any signs of new love lately," she said quietly.
"You never know. Love's a funny thing sometimes. It can show up in the strangest places," JC said, trying to see what was behind her eyes. They had clouded over when the subject was brought up, and he wanted to know why.
Before he had a chance to ask she was standing up, inviting him in the water.