On a hot summer day in 1987 Scott Walker and Marina Korzun were driving in Scott's 1983 Ford Mustang to the beach. His father had bought it for him as a high school graduation gift. Scott and Marina were both 19 and for different reasons had graduated a year late. Now high school and all its troubles were behind them. Scott groaned as he saw that the beach was already packed.
Parking would be very difficult. Still Scott and Marina had driven to far to just go and turn back now. Eventually they managed to find a parking space. The sun was shining in the sky and Scott knew that all the best spots for shade had been taken. Scott was wearing a gray no sleeve shirt and blue swim trunks. He had a mop of dark blond hair and green eyes. He was a nice-looking guy who always did his best to stay in shape. He wore white sneakers on his feet with no socks while Marina wore brown sandals.
Marina had dark blue eyes and short black hair that only went slightly past her ears. Her face was very pretty, but she had a natural intensity to her stare that only a Russian could have. She wore a black one-piece bathing suit and a yellow windbreaker since it was too hot for her to wear any other kind of coat. She carried a striped beach bag that held their towels and beach umbrella. While Scott carried a bag of matching design filled with water bottles and snacks.
There of course was a food truck at the beach, but Scott knew from personal experience that the prices were a complete rip off. Scott and Marina held hands and went down the wooden walk way. The two of them had been dating for three months and this was their first trip to the beach together.
Already it seemed like a complete disaster. There was literally no place for them to lay there towels down and set their umbral up. Marina frowned. "Are all the beaches in America like this?"
Although Marina spoke perfect English there was no hiding her strong Russian accent. Marina was getting looks from some of the beach goers that she would rather not have. Scott replied. "Only on days when you have heatwaves like this."
"Do you think we should have come here earlier?"
"We would have had to come at like 5:00 am to get a good spot. Do you want to try the pool?"
"Won't the pool be crowded to?"
"Scott, Marina?"
Scott and Marina turned to the right and saw their history teacher Miss Natalie Porter walking up to them. She was 27, but looked youthful enough to pass for a high school senior. Natalie wore a red bikini that left little to the imagination and give her many envious stares from women all over the beach. She had long flowing scarlet hair and kind brown eyes. A huge grin appeared on Natalie's face as she waved at them and walked over.
Marina and Scott happily greeted her. They hadn't seen Natalie since they had graduated almost a month ago. Scott had had a huge crush on her throughout high school until he had meet Marina, but it had never completely gone away. As for Marina Natalie had taught her all about American culture and made her feel welcomed at school. It had been her who had given Marina the courage to ask Scott out. Scott did his best not to let his eyes wonder as he said. "So Miss Porter what brings you to the beach?"
"Scott you're not in high school anymore. You and Marina can just call me Natalie. Anyway, I came to get some sun and enjoy the waves."
Marina glanced at the sea which was so packed with people that the constant waves were making everyone bump into one another. There really wasn't any room for people to have fun or even get comfortable. "I don't think there's any enjoyment to be had here," Marina replied.
Scott nodded in agreement. "Yeah unless there's another beach we can go to I think today is going to be a total bust."
Natalie knew that there was another beach that they could all go to. She hadn't been there since last summer when she had broken up with her boyfriend. The break up hadn't been anyone's fault things just hadn't worked out. Which was pretty much the story of all of Natalie's past relationships. Still she had had lot of fun there and she knew that it would be far less crowded than this place.
Never the less she was a bit nervous about bringing Scott and Marina there. Then again they were legal adults and if they didn't like it they could just leave. Natalie raised her arm to block some sun that was shining in her eyes and said. "There's a private beach that I'm a member of that's a 30-minute drive from here. It's a lot smaller than this one, but if you want to go with me that would be great."
Scott and Marina both enthusiastically said yes and they got into their car and followed Natalie. Scott turned on the radio and they listened to
Edge of Seventeen
which was Marina's favorite American song. They arrived at a wooded area and there was a dirt trail going through the woods. It led the three of them to a hidden beach, it was only big enough to comfortable fit a dozen people.
It was part of a salt water lake and not the ocean so the waves were small. However, not a piece of litter was on the sand and there was plenty of shade. But most important of all, no one else was there. Scott and Marina smiled like kids on Christmas and rushed down to the beach. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw a white sign that gave them the shock of their lives.