Last Heartbeat Read online

  As I head out of the airport to get my luggage, I see Alexia coming to the luggage area. I quickly turn around so she doesn’t see me. Hurry luggage! Get out so that I can hurry out the door before I run into her again! The buzzer goes off at the luggage area and I see my baggage first thing. I grab it and make a run to the door so that I won’t run into her again.

  As I get to my car, which I in the parking garage. I start thinking; I should have asked Alexia if she needed a ride. No. If I did that, I might spill more of my secrets to her. I almost decide that I would go around and see if Alexia had gotten a taxi. I turn my car around and see her coming to the parking garage, before she gets in a parked car.

  Why would she have a parked car here? Maybe she is like me, living off campus and already been flying back and forth from her hometown. I didn’t even ask where she is from. Now I will never know because I am staying away from her. I can’t even think about her.

  When I see her look up at me with those big blue eyes it makes my heart skip a beat. No one has ever done that to me ever. Even the girls I have hooked up with have never done that.

  Well, I better get back to my condo and get ready for my first class tomorrow. As I turn out of the airport, I head toward the beach. I like driving, next to the beach with my windows down so I can smell the salty air and feel the breeze in my hair. It takes longer to get to the condo this way because of the traffic, but I don’t care. It’s worth this feeling of being free and alive.

  My parents had bought my brother a condo on the beach so he wouldn’t have to live at the dorms. They also bought it so that we could visit often to beat the cold Ohio weather. In the summer, while I’m gone, they rent it out to tourists. They are choosey about who gets to rent it. Being picky keeps the cost down for damage. The condo is our little piece of heaven on earth and sometimes, it makes me feel closer to my brother.

  I sure hope the cleaning crew did better with the cleaning this summer than last year. I think my parents would fire them if its not clean. Last time, I had to do most of the cleaning when I got back for school. I really didn’t mind, but my parents said that if they hired someone the do the cleaning, it should be done right. I agree with them, but I’d hate to have someone to lose their job.

  I pull into the condo parking lot and already hear the waves. The breeze relaxes my body. I hurry and take my luggage into the condo. Walking through the front door, I can see the ocean from the big balcony doors. I run and open them to see what is going on at the beach. Knowing that at this time of the day not too many people will be out, I decide to hurry down to put my feet on the sand and in the water.

  Oh, how I have missed this place. I can’t wait until this school year starts tomorrow, and knowing that I get to spend everyday at the beach makes me smile. Maybe I’ll even study more at the beach this year instead of on campus, which is what Alexia said she’d be doing. So maybe that will actually make me study more here at home, than on campus. Just have to see what comes up and see what my friends are doing. My parents would like more studying from me. I do a fair job at school. I could always do better, so maybe this year I will.

  I know I could be on borrowed time because my brother’s gift could reject me at anytime. I like living everyday to the fullest. So far, studying has been to the last thing on my mind. Just have to see what each day brings. Maybe that blue-eyed girl could be the best of everyday. No, I have to leave her alone.

  It’s time for this guy to relax on the beach and stop thinking about the blue-eyed angel. When my friends find out I’m back, time for relaxing will be over. Partying is what they all will want me to do and they think I’ll be back tomorrow. I’m glad I took that earlier flight so no one knows I’m here except Alexia, and no one knows her yet.

  There I go again, thinking about her. I have to stop or no relaxing for me. Can’t relax when I keep seeing her and it rouses me up too much to relax. I hope I don’t have any classes with her on campus. It would be hard being next to her when I need to stay away. The rumors about me being a player might help keep her away from me. I hope so, because right now, if she were here, I would become more than a player and do something I shouldn’t. What is up with this girl I know nothing about? I can’t keep her off my mind and now I want to know more about her.

  That’s it. I’m going to call my friends and go out to clear my mind. Even the beach hasn’t relaxed me. Why is that? I pull my phone out and call my best friend Jacob to meet me at Hamburger Joe’s our favorite burger hangout. As I get there, Jacob is with Tyler, another of or friends, getting our seats. They wave me over and I go sit down. We order our favorite wings and burgers.

  Jacob says, “Phillip! Glad you got back early. Thought you weren’t getting back until before class tomorrow?”

  “Decided on the last minute to come back early,” I answer. “I planned on relaxing a bit and seeing how the cleaners did with the condo. Didn’t want a repeat of last summer.”

  Tyler laughs “Yeah, that was a disastrous mess. Your parents should not have kept that cleaning crew.”

  “I didn’t mind cleaning it. With how much my parents paid them, they should have done better job though. Glad that when I came home this time the place was spotless. I had time to hang out with you guys before tomorrow,” I say but really trying to get that girl out of my head. So far, it isn’t working.

  Jacob smiles “Boy, we are really glad you called. We are going to have fun partying tonight. There’s a party at Megan’s private beach house. Now let’s get eating. The party is supposed to start soon. I hear it will have a lot of people from CCU. Supposed to be the biggest party of the year.”

  “This guy is sure ready for fun tonight.” I smile. Hopefully, I will forget about Miss Blue Eyes tonight.

  Tyler says, “Hope you don’t get all the girls. We know how you like so many different girls and they like you. Don’t be selfish with them all.”

  I laugh. “I don’t get the girls. That is Jacob’s job. Just hope to talk to one or two.” I wink at them.

  After we finish eating, Jacob jumps up and says, “Let’s hit the road. Don’t want to miss this one.”

  We get up so that we can pay and hit the party of the year.

  Just what I need after all, I hope.

  Chapter Three

  Alexia

  As I enter the airport and head off to the baggage claim area, I spot Phillip’s messy head of hair. I stop and think about everything he said. His being a player makes me think that I don’t want to talk to him. I just need to get my luggage and leave without acting like I saw him. That is what I am going to do.

  As I get closer, I see Phillip run up and grab his luggage quickly. Then he is out of the door before I can even breathe. Wow! He must really want to avoid me to get out of the airport so fast. What does that mean? Am I that bad of a person that I need to be avoided? Wait just a minute. This is great! Now I won’t have to be worried about running into him. Yay for me! But why do I feel like that is not what I really wanted?

  So many questions are going on in my head that almost miss seeing my suitcase. I have get my head back in order and that includes no brown-eyed, messy brown-haired boy with those awesome dimples. Okay, Okay. Now I think I’m going crazy. Stop it!

  As I pull my luggage to the parking lot, I am grateful that my parents had my car delivered to the airport parking lot. I will have something to get around town in, and I plan on making many trips to the beach. The college is about twenty-five minutes away from the beach, so I need a car to get around. They also sent most of my belongings to my college dorm room and they will be waiting on me when I get there. They spoil me too much, but at least I am not lugging it to my car right now.

  Great! My car is right where the car should be, and that makes me happy. As I get in my car, I think, Should I make a detour to the beach or go to the campus? Which one, which one? Darn, I wish I didn’t have to go the dorm first to make sure everything is there. I would definitely go to the beach, but I am worried about my things not
being there. I head to the school instead of the beach.

  Pulling onto campus, I am in astonished by all the beauty. I almost make a wrong turn to my dorm. Once I find the parking lot and retrieve my keys, I head to my room. It’s on the second floor, which is lucky for me. Being up high means a lot of steps and that would make me tired. They do have elevators, but I still like getting some exercise.

  I get to my door and wonder if my roommate is here. Should I knock first? It’s my room too. I try the doorknob and it’s unlocked. Yay! She must be here. This makes me both a little nervous and excited. I never had a sister or brother, so hopefully we will get along well.

  I enter the room and see her for the first time. I am a little shocked at what I see. Don’t know why, but she isn’t crazy looking. She is normal like me. We have talked on the phone, so I thought she would be a punk rocker or Goth. This eases my nerves even more.

  She squeals and jumps out of her chair, running to me as fast as she can. “Hi, I’m Kristen! I’m so glad you finally got here!” She gives me a big hug. “I was getting ready to leave to go to the biggest party of the year and now you can go with me. It’s going to be at private beach house and everyone will be there. You need to hurry and get ready. We should leave in about thirty minutes, so we can make it there early. I like watching everyone come in the door and seeing all the hot guys.” She smiles wide at me.

  I look at her surprised. I don’t know what to say. Am I really ready to go to a party since I just got here? I am a little tired from traveling. “I didn’t know there was going to be a party this soon and I just got here. Maybe I should sit this one out and unpack.”

  She looks at me with a big frown on her face and says, “You can’t miss this one! It’s the biggest and best of the year. Mostly upper classmen go, but we got invited, and no one turns down Megan’s invitations. Her parents have a private beach house, and the party is mostly in the backyard, which is the beach. I know you love the beach since we have been talking about it before you got here. Please go! We can drive together. You can unpack tomorrow. How many classes do you have on the first day? I only have one.”

  I really love the beach and I’ve never been to a beach party. It may be nice to go, just to hear the waves and feel the breeze. My classes start late tomorrow. Can I get enough rest? Ugh, I really want to go. Just arriving and turning around to go the beach party might be a bit much though.

  I say, “I have two classes tomorrow and the first one is at ten.”

  She squeals again and says, “Perfect! You would have time to sleep and still go have some fun. Please come! We won’t stay out too long. Even if you want to you can drive. You can leave whenever you need. Please. Please.” She begs. How can I turn her down?

  “Okay, I’ll go, but I’ll drive. I just want to stay about an hour so I can get back and relax a bit. I hope the party isn’t too big though.” I’ve never been to a party, and if it is huge, I might get nervous around so many people.

  “It will be big. If you’re staying for about an hour, not everyone shows up that early. You should be good with the crowd. I’m happy we get to go to our first party already! Now get dressed so we can go.” She smiles and turns to finish getting ready.

  I go to my bags and look for something to wear, still wondering if I should go. I am a little tired and don’t want to push myself too hard. But I really do want to see the beach.

  I pick out my favorite shorts and a cute top. Add in some flip-flops and I’m almost ready to go. After freshening up my make up and brushing my hair back into a ponytail, I’m all set for the beach. Just took me fifteen minutes to finish. Kristen is still putting on makeup.

  “I’m ready” I inform her.

  She looks up and says “Wow, that was fast. Just give me a few more minutes. You’re a natural beauty, but it takes me a long time to look halfway decent.”

  I laugh. “You are a beauty and I am not. I just don’t take a long time to get ready. Doesn’t really matter how I look. Everyone will have eyes on you. I just want to hit the beach.”

  “Look, I am finally ready. Do you want to follow me?”

  “I will follow you. I don’t know where the beach house is and I can leave early.”

  We head out to the party and I like the drive to the house. The sun is still shining, but it’s starting to set. Everything looks amazing with the sun bursting over the water. As we get closer to the ocean, I can see it in between the houses we drive by. This makes me want to hurry and get on the beach. How much farther can it be?

  Luckily, I see Kristen put on her signal light and to turn into a massive beach house. Even the driveway is huge. There are a ton of cars already here. I see where Kristen parks. She gets out. I pull up beside her and ask where the best place to park would be so I can get leave early. She tells me and I direct my car there.

  The front door is massive in size. That makes me a little bit scared to go to this party. I have never seen a house this big up close. These people must be loaded. I get ready to tell Kristen that I’ve change my mind, but the door opens and I am curious to see what this house looks like. Entering the front door, I can only concentrate on is the view of the ocean, through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The sun setting over the ocean makes me feel alive, and I want to walk out to the beach right then.

  Kristen grabs my arm to start introducing me to some of the people she knows. I get introduced to Megan, our party hostess, but she seems to be the typical rich girl type, a little bit stuck up. That’s okay with me.

  I keep moving to the back doors. Kristen hands me a cup of beer and I take it. She doesn’t know I won’t drink it. I can’t with the medication I’m on for my transplant. So I just hold on to it and pretend to sip from it.

  I finally get to the beach and there are people everywhere. I look around to see what everyone is doing. Everyone seems to know each other. Some are so drunk already that they don’t know what is going on. There is dancing, a bonfire, and even a table set up with kegs of beer. Megan really did go all out on this party. I wonder what her parents think about this or how can they afford should a nice house.

  After seeing the perfect spot down the beach a little ways off from everyone, I start sneaking off before Kristen spots me. It’s not that I don’t like her, but all these people are a bit too much and too loud for me.

  As I get to my spot, the last of the sun finally sets with an orange glow, which makes the waves, glow just a little. “Ahhh,” I say to myself. “Now this is what I came to this party for.” I sit there for a while and listen to the waves, the music and all the partygoers, which surprisingly makes me relax. I lie back on the sand and close my eyes. Peace at last.

  I barely have a minute to myself when, all of a sudden, sand flies in my face. I jump up quickly and dust of the sand off my skin. As I look up at the reason for my sandy face, I see him Mister Brown Eyes. No, no! Not this quick! I was hoping to never see Phillip again.

  Phillip stumbles over to me and says, “I am so sorry. I didn’t see you lying there.” He’s smiling at me with a big grin. “Did you fall down and do you need help getting up?” he asks, while looking at my overturned drink cup.

  Oh no. He thinks I’m drunk. I look at him and say, “I am fine. Just go on about your business so I can get on with mine.” Where did that rudeness come from? I’m never rude to anyone, but Phillip just brings it out of me. That’s not me at all. Then I just wave him off and look away before those eyes suck me in.

  He doesn’t leave me like I asked him to. Instead, he sits down next to me speaks, “Truly I’m sorry for kicking sand on you. Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to do it. I was just running and didn’t see you lying on the sand. Are you here for the party? I came with my best friends Jacob and Tyler. They are already drunk, so I’m staying sober to drive them home. If you’re drunk I can take you to campus. I don’t really mind because I sort of owe you that for kicking sand in your face.”

  “Really you don’t have to take me anywhere I’m not drunk, just r
elaxing and you don’t owe me anything. I came to the party with my roommate. I drove because I’m leaving soon.”

  “Who is your roommate?”

  “Her name is Kristen. I just met her, but we have talked on the phone before I got here. She told me about this party and asked me to come. I only came because I wanted to relax at the beach for a little while.” I get up and say, “Well, it’s time for me to go back and unpack. You have a great time partying.”

  He grabs my hand, “You should stay awhile longer. I would like it if you did.”

  I look at him and try to figure him out. “You don’t want me here I might cramp your player status.” The tension between us was growing, and I wondered why.

  He laughs, “Player status? I told you that weren’t true, and you have to keep my secret. It will be our little secret.” He winks at me.

  Then I hear a loud noise. I look up and see two guys stumbling over to us. They laugh at Phillip, mumble. “Who is this or which number?”

  Phillip says something to himself quietly and tells them to shut up. Then he introduces me to them. “This is Jacob and that is Tyler. Guys, this is Alexia. She is starting CCU this year.”

  The Jacob guy laughs, “Nice to meet you. I’m letting you know this guy gets around a lot, but I don’t so maybe we can get to know each other.”

  “Nice to meet you, but I don’t need to get to know either of you,” I reply.

  Tyler laughs. “This girl sure is smart and I like her already. She knows a player when she sees one.”

  “Guys, be quite for a while. You also need to stop drinking so much. Your liver can’t handle much more. I am sorry for these guys acting like drunken losers.” Phillip smiles.