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Natalie stood in front of her half-empty closet. The dorm room was cluttered with her rejected clothes. Bianca walked in the room and stared at the mess, "Did your closet throw up or something?"

Amazed that Bianca said something to her after a week of avoiding and silent treatment, Natalie couldn’t speak for a minute, “Sorry Bee, I will clean it up later.”

“So what is all of this for anyway?”

Natalie bit her lip. “Ryan is taking me out to dinner.”

“So are you guys like together now?”

Natalie stared at her, trying to decide how to answer. Finally she decided on, “Yes.”

“What about Cam?”

“What about him?”

Bianca fell backwards on her bed. “He is like in love with you Natalie.”

“He is not,” Natalie said in disbelief.

“Totally is. That day he saw you in the cafeteria, sitting on Ryan’s lap. That devastated him.”

“Well, what am I supposed to do now?”

Bianca stared at the ceiling. “Whatever you want I guess.”

Natalie pulled out a dark blue dress. “You should wear that. It is really pretty with your eyes,” Bianca said. Natalie stood in front of the mirror. She turned around with the dress pressed against her chest.

“Oh my god! You are right! I don’t have any shoes to go with it though.”

“Don’t worry! I just saw some really cute silver shoes at Vivere that would be perfect.”

“Thanks Bee! Do you want to come with me to get them?”

“Of course!” Natalie smiled and pulled her phone out of her pocket.

“Ciao Natalie,” Ian answered.

“Ciao. Bianca and I need a ride to Vivere.”

“Okay. I will be right there.”

At Vivere, Bianca ran, practically dragging Natalie with her, to the shoes. “What size do you wear?”

“Eight”

“Me too!” Bianca scanned the rows of shoe boxes, looking for an eight. She found one and handed the shoe box to Natalie.

“They are amazing!” Natalie tried on the shoes and hugged Bianca. They paid for the shoes and went back to the school.

Natalie slipped into the dress and slid her feet into the shoes. Standing in front of the long mirror, she twirled, making her dress lift just a little bit. “So what do you think?” Natalie asked Bianca.

Bianca glanced up from her book and gasped, “You look,” Natalie waited as Bianca carefully chose her words. “Positively stunning!”

“So it’s not to much?” Natalie asked, glancing at the mirror again.

“Absolutely not! Ryan is going to love it.”

There was a soft knock at the door and Bianca jumped off her bed to answer it. “Right on time!” Bianca whispered to Natalie, as she opened the door.

"Hey Bianca. Is Natalie here?" Ryan asked stiffly. He ran his fingers through his hair as he asked.

"Natalie! Ryan is here," Bianca said, glaring at him.

Natalie walked to the door, "Hey Ryan." She hugged Bianca, "I will be back later,"

"Okay," Bianca said, still glaring at Ryan.

"Come on Nat," Ryan said as he grabbed her hand.

Natalie let him hold it as he led her outside. “So where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

She looked around the driveway and didn’t see any cars. “Shall I call Ian?”

“It’s fine Nat. It’s not very far. It won’t kill us to walk.”

“Okay.” He led her down the black and turned right. They walked straight for a couple of minutes and turned down what looked like a walkway to a hidden house.

Natalie could smell a salty aroma, but couldn’t figure out what it was. Ryan stopped and so did Natalie. “I want you to be surprised when you see it. Close your eyes.”

Natalie opened her mouth to protest, but Ryan cut her off. “Close your eyes,” he insisted. Natalie closed her eyes and let Ryan lead her down the sidewalk. The salty smell got stronger with each step they took.

“Okay,” Ryan said as he stopped. “You can open them now.”

Natalie opened her eyes. “Oh my god! It’s amazing Ryan.” They were standing in front of a small beach with the whitest sand she had ever seen. The water was a clear blue. Off to the side, near the trees was a picnic basket.

She turned to Ryan and softly kissed him. “It’s gorgeous Ryan.”

“So are you,” he grinned. “Hold on.” Ryan let go of Natalie and ran over to the picnic. He opened the basket and pulled out two unlit candles. Ryan hit play on the CD player and the beach instantly filled with music.

Ryan walked back over to Natalie and held out his hand. Natalie gently placed her hand on his and he led her the middle of the beach. “Ouch,” Natalie muttered as her heel got stuck in the sand again.

“Maybe you should take those off,” Ryan suggested, glancing at her feet.

“Yes it would be much easier to dance barefoot than to keep getting stuck.” Natalie leaned over to take off her shoes, while Ryan stood behind her, nonchalantly checking her out. Natalie stood up and lightly threw her heels off to the side. “All better,” Natalie said as she wiggled her toes in the soft grainy sand.

Natalie and Ryan started dancing, but they got hungry. They walked over and sat down on the blanket. “Sandwich?” Ryan asked, pulling out two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches out of the basket.

“Yum,” Natalie said as she took a sandwich from Ryan. They ate quietly, subtly glancing at each other between bites. When Natalie was finished, she gazed out across the water, watching the sunset. “I wish I brought my camera,” she said, not taking her eyes off the sunset.

Ryan rummaged around the basket and pulled out her camera. “I knew you would,” he shrugged as he handed it to her.

“Thanks,” she said, amazed that he thought of something like that. After taking a few pictures, the sun completely set and stars started to become visible in the dark blue sky. “If I knew you were bringing me to the beach, I would have brought a swimsuit.”

“We can still swim,” Ryan said calmly.

“But my dress with get ruined.”

“You can take it off.”

Natalie stared at him, “I am so not swimming naked Ryan!”

Ryan pulled a skimpy swimsuit out of the basket. When she curiously looked at him, he said, “It is my sister’s. You can go change over there,” Ryan pointed to a patch of think woods.

Natalie walked over to the patch of trees and quickly changed. She had always been afraid of changing in public. What if someone saw her?

“Race ya!” Natalie yelled, sprinting to the water after laying her dress on the towel.

“Hey! No fair!” Ryan called, running after her. “I didn’t even get a chance to properly check you out in the new outfit!”

Natalie stopped and turned around to look at him, but he was already passed her and now in the water. “Cheater!” She stepped into the water and shivered. “God it’s cold.”

Ryan came over and wrapped his arms around her, “Better?”

“N-not really.”

Ryan dunked her backwards into the water, “There. Now you should be good,” he winked as she struggled against the waves to get up. She wouldn’t accept his hand so he could help her up.

When Natalie finally got back up, she pushed Ryan into the water and swam farther from the beach. They played around in the moonlit water until the cold was unbearable. They walked back to the school, quietly, holding hands, and glancing at each other after every couple of steps.