6/8/25 

I don’t particularly like hot weather, but the sun being out more often is nice. Noah apparently loves the beach and insisted we take a weekend trip to one. I like swimming but I hate sand, so I tried to talk him into finding a pool or something instead, but he started looking vaguely like a kicked puppy as I was talking so I gave up and agreed. During the drive I tried to mentally prepare myself for the stares and sand that were both sure to stick to me like glue for the next two days. 

We had barely settled into a hotel room when Noah started insisting that we head down as soon as possible, something about getting good spots. As though there wasn’t a giant ocean to find a spot at. I sat on a towel in the sun while Noah found some guys playing volleyball and joined them. I had brought along a bag with some stuff to do figuring I would mostly just use the time to relax in the sun just doing my best to avoid getting sand stuck in my hair or in our stuff. But I found myself focusing more on Noah as he played than the sand and things around me.  

A bit later Noah was still hanging out with his new beach friends, and I had moved on to reading when a tall guy walked up to me and stood in front of the sun. I put the book down and looked up at him feeling a bit weary. He was well built and tan with long curly hair that was blonde at the ends. He looked pretty much like every beach boy model ever. He talked to me for a bit, basic stuff like where I was from. I was wearing just basic black swim trunks, and my pale skin and black marked chest definitely stood out like a sore thumb here. I didn’t see a single mark on him, and most of the other people that looked like they visited the beach daily barely had any. I gave him a tight smile and pointed generally toward Noah explaining I had come with him. The guy looked disappointed and opened his mouth to say something but closed it after looking at Noah and the group of guys again. He stepped back and quickly mentioned being able to show me around later if I wanted. Maybe I had finally learned my lesson after all of these marks.