and it makes me feel so fine
i can't control my b r a i n . . .

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The following Tuesday at work was about as desolate as I had ever seen it. It could have been the extreme heat driving everyone away, or the annual end-of-June "slump" we always experience, but either way, I was bored out of my mind.

My hand was holding my head up, squishing my cheek as I watched a family of four get on the Ferris wheel in the distance. They didn't seem to be bothered by the blazing sun and disgusting humidity. Smiles were on all their faces, while they jumped in their car and slowly wound their way around.

I glanced up at the clock hanging above me that said it was about six minutes before 5 o'clock, and I cheered internally at the end of my shift being so close. The last time I ate was at 2 o'clock for my break, where I only had a soft pretzel and a soda because that's about all I had time to wolf down. I can make it six more minutes.

Another reason why I'm so incredibly impatient today is on account of my seventeenth birthday being in two short days. July 2nd can't come quick enough. Also, the Fourth of July is on Saturday and I'm working, unfortunately, even though I never work weekends here. But it's one of the busiest days we have and we need as much staff to come in as possible.

Having my own little ticket booth means privacy – and privacy means I can groan about my problems without anyone hearing me. So I unleashed a loud, infuriated sigh and sunk back into my stool.

When I picked my head up, my posture immediately straightened at the sight in front of me. Knitting my eyebrows together with my mouth hanging open in shock and denial, I watched a teenage boy meander around the pier. He looked to be in search of something, and when he spun around to face my way, my eyes protruded out of their sockets.

Brody. The lost boy is Brody.

Brody Lambert who I talked to just four days ago. The guy whose number I never got after the party, so I had no way of contacting him. Surfer Boy, who now has a name, which I couldn't stop thinking about for the past couple of weeks.

Holy shit, he's coming over to me.

He started strolling over in the direction of my booth and I suddenly had no idea what to do. I froze, my heartbeat drilling in my eardrums as he grew closer and closer. Does he realize it's me? He probably doesn't even remember me from that party over the weekend. Why would he?

I tried not to look so frightened when he came up and rested his arms on the edge of the counter on the other side of my window, squinting from the bright sun and probably because he was confused. "Excuse me, uh, where's the bathroom in this place?" He asked, putting his hand up to shield his eyes.

"I'll tell you where it is if you tell me that you remember my name," I teased.

Really? Oh my God, why am I an idiot? Way to creep him out!

His forehead wrinkled and he leaned in closer, a sign of recollection coming across his face that gave me a huge relief. Perplexity was replaced by an easygoing smile and an adorable crinkling of his eyes.

"Oh, Lena! I didn't even know it was you," he exclaimed. I had to hold back a squeal at the way he said my name. "The glare on the glass makes it hard to see. Shit, you work here?"

"Yup," I answered chirpily. I was beaming at the fact that he actually remembered me. Am I dreaming? I glanced up at the clock again – two minutes left now. "Actually, I'm getting off now anyway. I can show you where the bathrooms are. It's kind of complicated to explain from here."

That may be true. It could also be an excuse for me to talk to him some more.

"Okay," he nodded, ruffling his damp hair around. In board shorts and a tank top with wet hair, I can only assume he's been surfing.

I hopped off my stool and locked up the register, making sure I did everything correctly before I stepped out into the sweltering heat. The next girl coming in better be thankful for the AC in that booth.

"Follow me," I gestured to the left. The two of us roamed through the pier, him falling into step beside me as he tucked his hands into his pockets. Attempting to make conversation, I brought up the question I couldn't resist asking. "So, what brings you around here?"

"Well, I was surfing earlier this morning. Then I stopped home to get lunch, and my friends wanted to meet me on the beach to hang out," he shrugged and looked down at his feet. "But once I left my house and got to the boardwalk, I realized I needed to piss and the bathrooms are too far away... and I'm too lazy, so I figured there had to be bathrooms in here."

"Ah, I see," I said, slowly nodding. A smile spread across my face as I took a playful dig at him next. "But you didn't have to make up some elaborate story – you could've just said you really wanted to see me."

He rolled his eyes at that, not being able to resist smirking. "Can't I be at least a little subtle?" He went along with my joke.

I drew out a short laugh and bumped his arm with my elbow. "Not at all. Here's the bathrooms," I jerked my head to the small shack in front of us.

"I'll be right out." He was still laughing as he said it, strolling over to the door and shutting it behind him. With my thumbs latched onto the belt loops of my shorts, I rocked back and forth on my heels, waiting for him to get done.

The sun was down enough so that it was blocked by most of the other buildings on the boardwalk, but that didn't deter the temperature. All I really want to do is go home, take a shower and lay in the cool air of my house. But I can sacrifice it for Brody.

After he came out, he walked over to me and rested his folded hands on the back of his head. His arms were flexing, most likely not on purpose, but I couldn't help myself from gazing at them. I could get used to this view.

"You wanna get something to eat?"

"What?" I unintentionally answered because I was overtly ogling his body and obviously not paying attention to what he said.

I ripped my eyes away from his biceps and saw that his focus was elsewhere, his eyes squinted in thought. But I could have sworn he asked me to get something to eat with him.

"Do you wanna get something to eat? I'm starving," he repeated himself, bringing his focus onto me now.

Anticipating my answer, he looked at me with all his attention, blue eyes scanning my own green ones. The only reaction I could assemble was a blank stare. I idiotically thought it was a joke at first, but when he furrowed his brows at my silence, I came to my senses.

Say yes, you dope.

My head nodded for me, and his lips quirking upward was the key to my response. "S-sure, I could go for some food," I finally uttered, mentally cringing at myself because that sounded so dumb. "I just have to stop by my boss's office to clock out."

"No problem," he shook his head. An invisible smack to my own forehead, and we were off to Beverly's office towards the entrance of the pier. Brody waited just outside for me, so I walked in to see Bev sitting at her desk.

Sitting would be an understatement. She was hunched over, glasses on the end of her nose and buried deep in some horrific, fantasy/romance novel. You know, the chubby little books you can find just about anywhere? Usually with a shirtless guy on the cover and some awful, cheesy title. Those are her guilty pleasure.

She just about tore herself out of it to greet me. "Hey Lena," she smiled at me once she saw who I was.

"Hi Bev," I returned the grin, and walked over to the machine on the wall so I could clock out.

Beverly yawned, a thunderous sound ricocheting off the walls of her tiny office. I heard her moving around and adjusting herself in her chair, while I made sure I punched in my correct employee number, and she gasped out of nowhere. "What?" I choked to get the word out, flinging myself around to look at her.

She was standing at the window, gaping through the blinds. "Who... is that?" She panted. Rolling my eyes at her antics, I finished clocking out before I walked over to her and peered out to see whoever it is she's talking about.

And it's Brody.

"Oh, that's my friend Brody," I kept my tone casual when I said it. But the smile forcing its way through couldn't stay back.

Looking away from him now and to me instead, her hazel eyes narrowed. "Your friend?" She reiterated, completely unconvinced of that title.

"Yes, my friend," I imitated her melodramatic voice which made both of us laugh. "I met him at a party over the weekend."

"Mhm," she hummed in exaggeration. "And if you don't snatch him up, someone else will."

Again, I had to roll my eyes. Beverly is only a few years younger than my parents, but she's not married. Being divorced once before has her looking to never get hitched again – so she sticks to blind setups and online dating. I guess she doesn't mind being considered a cougar either.

"Bye, Bev. I'll see you on Saturday," I dismissed myself with a flick of my hand for a wave. She barked out a boisterous laugh, bidding me goodbye as I shut the door behind me.

Brody's head lifted when he heard me coming out of the office, and another captivating smile appeared. There goes my heart.

The two of us moseyed along the boardwalk, having no preference in what we wanted to eat. All I needed was something in my system because a roaring stomach isn't the most attractive thing in the world. I'm surprised it didn't scare him off.

As we got farther down, more towards the middle of the long strip of stores and restaurants, I started to wonder where the hell we were going. He never said anything about a specific place, and neither did I, which confused me even more at this point.

"So, where exactly are we going?" I inquired, raising my eyebrows at him.

A smile was his answer at first, before he glanced down at me for a second and breathed a gentle laugh. What?

Unexpectedly, he stopped walking then. I almost stumbled over my own feet to stop. He stretched his arm out and opened the glass door, when the realization kicked in. I couldn't help but grin.

"Kiko's?" I said, my voice hitching in surprise.

He actually remembered our conversation from Friday.

I led the way inside, pausing once we got in line as we took a gander at the menu board behind the counter. Even though I already know what I want. "Well, I remember you talking about it and I figured it had to be good if you like it, so here we are," Brody shrugged with a laid-back shrug of his shoulders. I looked up at him and saw a hint of a smile on his face, and the heat outside now had nothing to compare to my cheeks.

It's confirmed. This boy is perfect.

"Are you two ready?" The cashier's voice pulled me from my flustered state. Brody looked down at me and bobbed his head as if asking for me to go first, so I cleared my throat and stepped up to the counter.

I'll take one Brody with a side of fries, thank you.

"I'm gonna have the cheddar bacon burger with Kiko sauce, fries, and a small Dr. Pepper," I smiled at my regular order – it's so good that I can't stray away from it.

After he punched my order in, the cashier looked to Brody next. "I'll have a buffalo burger with fries, and a water," he nodded.

"Okay," the cashier trailed off, finalizing our total. "That comes to twenty-four dollars and thirty-two cents." I reached into my back pocket for some money, but before I could even count out half of our total, Brody slyly handed the cashier two twenty dollar bills.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I pursed my lips at Brody even though he was facing the cashier. "I have my own money, I could've split it with you," I muttered as he got his change back.

"It's fine, I got it," he quickly brushed it off.

I had to roll my lips into my mouth to conceal my stupid, giddy smile.

"Alright, we'll bring your order to your table when it's ready," the cashier told us the drill. After thanking him, we picked a booth to sit in towards the back where there weren't as many people. Too many annoying kids were up at the front for my liking.

Brody leaned back in his booth and spread his arms across the top, aiming his eyes right at me. "So you work at WonderPier, huh?"

"Yeah," I nodded my head. "Just a couple days during the week for the few months that it's open. Other than that, I'm usually at The Sand Dollar."

"That's cool," he remarked.

"What do you do? Other than surf," I knit my eyebrows together, suddenly aching to know more about him. Like I said, we really didn't get into detail about our lives when I was talking with him and his friends on Friday night. But right now, sober and on a late Tuesday afternoon, I was intrigued by his everything.

"I work at my uncle's auto body shop in town whenever he needs me. It's like a part-time, random thing because all my life consists of is surfing," he explained with a sigh.

So casual. So breezy and relaxed about life. How does he do it?

"Oh, wow. I've always wanted to know how to surf," I smiled a little, thinking of my younger self wanting so badly to hop up on a board and shred in the sea.

A slightly boastful smirk made its way onto his face, a look that meant I'm-really-good-at-what-I-do. I don't doubt that either. "I could teach you," he suggested.

"Thanks, but I don't think I have the coordination to surf. I'm a klutz, and I'd probably drown before I even got up on the board," I shook my head and giggled.

He laughed at that, causing my heartbeat to stagger. "It's really not that hard."

"Says the guy who could probably surf in his sleep," I retorted jokingly, getting another laugh out of him. And again, I found myself struggling to breathe.

"Well, thanks for the compliment," he replied, his permanent smirk not wavering once.

A server brought our orders out not too much longer after that, and I promised Brody that it would be one of the best burgers he'd ever eat. He didn't really believe me at first, but when he took a bite and his face dropped, I got the pleasure of knowing I was right.

We ate our dinner over another endless talk. Not going into too much detail, but enough to never have any awkward silences. Part of me was dying to crack him open and read every single thing about him, while most of me wanted to savor it and take it slow. I had no idea what could come out of his newfound friendship, but all I know is that I plan on keeping him around for as long as I can.

He was a distraction from all that I wanted to avoid. Mainly meaning Noah. I didn't have to think about him, or my friends, or anything else when I was in Brody's presence. Although this is only our third encounter, it feels like it could be our twenty-third. Something had me hooked from the start, and there's nothing I've found so far that would make me walk away.

Nearing half past six o'clock, we left Kiko's Burgers and started walking aimlessly along the boardwalk. We had no destination in mind, but I remembered that Brody mentioned meeting up with his friends on the beach. I was about to bring it up when he spoke first.

"I'm glad I saw you today," he confessed smoothly. I looked up to see a charming smile on his face, causing me to bashfully bite my lip.

"Me too," I agreed, unable to hide the affection in my voice.

His expression didn't change as he paused, reaching into the pocket of his board shorts to take out his phone. Eyebrows furrowed, he quickly tapped his thumbs against the screen in a text and shoved it back. "My friends probably think I died on the way to meet them," he chuckled. I opened my mouth to respond, but he did first. "You can always come with me, if you want – I'm sure they wouldn't mind. We think you're a pretty cool girl."

I was dumbstruck again. Mouth dangling open, brain trying to comprehend if he really just said what I think he said. My stupor didn't last that long, because his harrowing look at me snapped me out of it.

"Um, well, I mean... I don't have anything to do. I was probably just gonna go home and sleep or... something. But I-I don't want to intrude," I stuttered to answer him. Looks like speaking is off the list for the day.

"Come on," he crooned, an unmistakable grin tugging at his lips. "You know you wanna hang out with us. It's just me, Peter, Aiden, and our other friend Mason."

"Okay," I said before I could screw up the offer, smiling back at him now too.

He beamed a little more and nodded his head excitedly. "Awesome, come on. They're on the beach, but they're only a couple blocks away." So he led the way down the steps to the beach, crossing over the sand dunes as the ocean came into our view.

While walking along the sand, I realized I still had my dorky work t-shirt on, basic khaki-colored shorts, and my white Converse. I cursed at myself, knowing I'd only be able to take off my shoes and that's it. All I want to do is be in a bikini and jump in the waves, but unless I get naked in front of everyone, that's not going to happen.

With people still lingering here and there on the beach, three boys standing by a bunch of their belongings came into our view. Once we got closer, I recognized Aiden and Peter. The other tall, dark-haired boy didn't look familiar, so I assumed he was Mason.

"It's about fucking time!" Aiden screamed, planting his feet and hurdling the football he was holding in our direction.

Me being a child, I squealed and ran out of the way, leaving Brody to catch it while he was coughing over his own laughter.

"It's a football, not a lion," he murmured with a chuckle.

"Shut up," I groused, shooting him a playful glare.

It seemed like they remembered who I was then, because Aiden and Peter both gave each other some kind of look, and then grinned at me.

"Hi Lena," they chorused.

"Hey guys," I smiled, furrowing my eyebrows slightly at their weird behavior.

Mason looked to Brody for a clue on who I was, blue eyes darting back and forth. "Mase, this is Lena. We met her at a party over the weekend," Brody explained for him, and he slowly nodded in understanding. "I found her wandering around on the boardwalk so we got something to eat and I invited her to hang out with us 'cause we think she's so cool."

"I was not wandering, you were the one lost and looking for the bathroom," I corrected him with an elbow jab. "But anyway, hi. I'm Lena."

"I'm Mason," he smiled, showing a rack of pearly teeth as he reached out to shake my hand.

Long, choppy black hair, vivid blue eyes and a solid tan. How are all these guys so attractive? And where the hell did they come from?

So, we hung out on the beach, talked about life and everything good that comes with it. I didn't get home until after 8 o'clock, and my parents were kind of worried because they hadn't heard from me all day and I never came home after work. I just told them I was with friends and they shrugged it off – they like to worry about me because I'm their only kid.

And when I was laying in bed later that night, cozy in my bed, close to drifting off to sleep, I realized something for the second time.

I never got Brody's number.

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A/N - hmmm anymore thoughts on brody? do we love him yet? any predictions? how cute