Chapter One – Meet Cute
Elle and I sat below the Santa Monica pier as Pacific Park goers walked above us. The air around us carried sounds of the arcade games, laughter and screams, the roar of the rollercoaster some distance away. The waves steadily rolled in and covered our bare legs, rinsing off dried sand back into the ocean. The water glistened on the tattoo on my ankle, and I watched as the water separated into droplets and roll back into the ocean. I passed the joint to Elle and fell back to rest on my forearms. I exhaled the smoke into the air as I looked up at the bottom of the pier. Elle dropped the roach and buried it in the sand, and then she joined me on her forearms. "What are you thinking about?" she asked after I've been quiet for longer than she liked. Elle was quite the talker, a great conversationalist. I preferred the quiet, though.
"I've been thinking about immigrating to America," I admitted rather sheepishly.
Elle sat up straight and looked at me with wide eyes. "What?"
I closed my eyes and fell back into the sand, a smirk on my face. I knew it was driving Elle crazy that I wasn't saying anything more about the matter. "When were you planning on telling me?" asked Elle.
I opened my eyes and turned my face to look at Elle. "What are you talking about?" I sat up and put my legs in the lotus position. "I just told you." The fringe on my suede vest tickled my bare thighs, and the Buddha tattoo on my left thigh wrinkled ever so slightly, and it looked like he was expressing a thought.
"Yeah, you just told me but when did you start having such thoughts? That's the point I'm trying to make! You probably thought about this a while ago, but you're not just deciding to tell me!" Elle was exasperated. I looked at her and rolled my eyes, tempted to roll another joint but wanted a beer, too.
"Really, Elle, don't be such a drama queen. Yes, it was a recent thought but I wasn't sure until this past hour. You're my best friend, but you live so far away from me. Our friendship isn't really ideal, though absence does make the heart grow fonder."
Elle stuck her tongue out at me and smiled. "I think it would be great if you moved to America. Promise me you'll live with me!" Elle grasped my hand in her own two hands. I smiled at her.
"You know I don't make promises, Elle. They just lead to disappointment."
"You know what I mean! The rent would be really cheap, I promise!" Elle emphasized her promise and winked at me.
"We'll see what happens; America might not accept me."
Elle's eyes widened, "How could they not? You're the best Canadian around!"
"I don't want to toot my own horn, but I'm alright." I couldn't help but smiling, though.
"True facts," said Elle. "Now, how about getting something from the Coffee Bean?"
I perked up at that, we didn't have a Coffee Bean in Vancouver. Starbucks was good, but completely overrated. The no-name coffee shops were good, too. But the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was by far the best I've ever had. I stood and brushed sand off my body and shook it out of my hair. "That sounds excellent. I could really use the washroom." Elle snorted. "You Canadians..."
Elle and I were blinded by the sun as we came out from under the pier. I had to dig into my purse for a pair of sunglasses, and once I found them I thrust them onto my face. It felt so much hotter out in the sun than in the shade under the pier, and I could feel myself starting to sweat. The ocean water looked tempting as I watched children being thrown off the shoulders of their parents, screaming and laughing until their sound was muted. I was mildly afraid of the ocean because of something that happened to me when I was a teenager, so I didn't go in as often as I did growing up on Vancouver Island. My parents had practically lived in the sea, and I was their only child so it was natural that I was fish, too. My mom had actually given birth to me via water birth. When the incident happened, I moved to downtown Vancouver with my boyfriend to get away from the water.
I was quiet as Elle jabbered about all of the things we could do once I lived with her. I listened but it all went in one ear and out the other. Elle always had a lot to say; she was adorable that way but it was also an annoying quality I found rather endearing. As I pretended to listen, I watched the faces of people that passed us as we walked along the boardwalk. A lot of people paid no mind to us, and some seemed indifferent to my appearance, while some acted as if I were going to steal their precious souvenirs.
I'm sure people thought I looked trashy, that's how it seemed to be when others looked at people like me. I remember being compared to a lot of girls in high school. They used tanning beds and they dressed in clothes that barely covered any skin, and they wore gobs of makeup. That was considered beautiful and sexy in my school, when I was the trashy girl with tattoos and ratty hair and little to no makeup. I didn't pretend to understand their insanity.
I'm a thicker girl, but still relatively slim. I have a swimmer's body because I had been on the swim team all my life, during high school and during the short time I managed in college until I figured out it wasn't for me. I kept up with swimming laps every day once I dropped out because it was one of the few things I actually enjoyed spending time on. Back home, I was considered pale but I had started to get tan from my stay here under the California sun. The freckles on my face were becoming more and more obvious, and that actually made me smile; I loved my freckles. It was a trait I had gotten from my father, and about the only thing I had left of him after his death when I was a teenager.
My dark blond hair hung from my head in dreads of different sizes. I grew up with not caring about brushing my hair, and I started to get dreads from a young age. My parents thought it was cool, as did I. They were messy, but to me that's the rebellious aspect of it. There's a story behind dreadlocks and a lot of people didn't understand it. They went and got them done professionally because they liked the way they looked. That's cool, I won't judge them but it still annoyed me because they were ignorant and just following a fad. But I said I wouldn't judge... Mine dreads were ratty and some were different colors, and I had feather extensions. I love my hair, it was relatively easy maintenance. I didn't spend forever straightening it like other girls did. That was appealing to me.
My nose has been pierced for 6 years; my mom pierced my nose when I was 16 years old. I have scars below my bottom lip from all of the times I got it pierced and took it out. I was thinking about getting it pierced again, but I probably wouldn't. I seemed to go through phases with that. I had many tattoos all over my body, all of them meaning something to me. So, if that's trashy to you, cool. My exes thought it was sexy and I'm not trying to please anyone but myself.
I looked over the crowd and my eyes caught a face that seemed vaguely familiar. I quickly looked to Elle and interrupted her, "Hey, does that look like..." I looked back to where I had seen the face, but it was gone so now I couldn't be sure. "Never mind," I told her. "Where's the Coffee Bean?" I asked instead.
"It's just up ahead. Can we stop into this shop real quick? I want to see if a friend is working."
I gasped and feigned shock, "You mean to say I'm not your only friend? I feel betrayed!"
Elle snorted loudly with laughter. "Hey, you're the best friend anyone could have!"
"Blah, blah, blah..." I hooked my arm in Elle's and pulled into the shop she was talking about. It was a small gift shop with a lot of cheesy items. Elle gabbed with the cute guy working behind the counter while I pretended to look at key chains. I had a massive key ring with a lot of decorative items and barely any keys, so I looked for another addition while I spied on Elle. She seemed to be laying on her flirt a little thick, which didn't surprise me. Elle would flirt with anything because she's a good looking girl. It's just this guy looked to be way younger than Elle at her 24 years of age. She had always been such a tease, and today she was wearing her skimpy bikini. I picked a plastic flip flop key chain that has California written on the bottom of it and brought it to the counter. I bumped Elle out of my way with my elbow and put the item on the glass counter, giving Elle a dirty, knowing look. She blushed but continued to sway her hips as she rested her chin in her palm. Her breasts looked ready to pop from her top onto the counter. I paid for my item and dragged Elle away. "Tell Charlie I said hello," she called to the youngster behind the counter.
Elle and I exited the shop and I moved away from the door so I could dig into my purse for my key chain. "You're a slut, Elle." A woman next to me gasped and pushed her child ahead of her as she shot me a dirty look and moved away. Elle and I both laughed.
"I'm so thirsty, let's go to the Coffee Bean now," I said. We pushed our way through the throng of people on the boardwalk. Finally, the entrance to the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf came into view. I yanked open the door and knocked bodies with someone trying to exit the shop. I felt this person's cold beverage splash across my breasts and trickle down my body. I swore loudly as I tore off my sunglasses and shoved them on top of my head. "I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you. These stupid sunglasses," I joked by my laughter caught in my throat as I realized who I had just bumped into. It took only seconds for this to happen, and suddenly he was wiping his napkin on my chest and against the curve of my breasts. I could feel an ice cube caught behind the edge of my bikini and I hoped he wouldn't try and get it.
