3: The Pastel Sky

Kara's POV:

Through the rest of the car ride, Ryder and I were mostly silent. He'd hummed to the music in his car, but that was about it.

After a while of driving, the car finally stopped at a cliff, with the whole ocean standing gloriously below us.

The sun was barely setting. The sky was pastel pink and orange and purple. I had never seen a sunset this beautiful in the city.

"Well little sis, I present to you, Hawaii." Ryder said proudly. "Not too bad, huh?"

"Wow. This is even better than my desktop wallpaper," I said in awe as I took my phone out to snap a couple pics.

"This here is one of my favorite spots on the island. Sometimes I come here when I want to be alone and think..." somehow Ryder found himself staring at me, and not at the view.

But when I turn to him and caught him looking at me, he quickly turned away and opened his car door. "Come on," he said.

He went out and leaned against the front part of his truck. I decided to follow him out, taking the spot next to him.

I could smell the ocean from up here. Warm summer breeze was blowing softly through my hair. Below us, I saw the waves came colliding towards the shore, again and again. And that sound was like music to my ears.

I couldn't help but to smile.

"Can't get this view in New York City, huh?" Ryder said, taking off his sunglasses.

"Yeah, you really can't" I said with a bright smile. Somehow I found myself looking at Ryder again. This was the first time I got to see his eyes in close proximity. It was a deep shade of blue and it seemed to hold many stories, many mysteries.

Ryder's eyes were fixed towards the ocean with a longing gaze. A somewhat melancholy gaze. And suddenly, he turned to me and caught me looking at him, again. Dang. I quickly flipped my brain, trying to find something to say to distract him.

"Err... hey Ry, what's that tattoo about? What's it say there?" I pointed to a tattoo on Ryder's arm. He pulled out his arm to give me a better look. The tattoo spelled "Layla".

"This one is a special one," Ryder said.

"Layla... is that your girlfriend?" I laughed teasingly. "What is that 05 09 09? Is that like when you guys started dating?"

His face suddenly became serious. "Layla was my mother's name. And that was the date she died."

I felt my heart dropped to my stomach. My smile fell to the ground. I couldn't believe how insensitive I was.

"Oh I'm sorry.." I said slowly.

"I would never tattoo a girl's name on my body," he said with a scoff. "It's only for my mom," he said again, and I knew he meant it.

The atmosphere became somewhat gloomy as the topic of Ryder's dead mother came up.

"I'm really sorry, Ry, I didn't mean to.. uh.." I mumbled my words out.

"It's fine. It's been a long time. She's in a better place now."

Both of us were looking to the front now, towards the sky, and not at each other.

"It's funny that you call me Ry. All my friends call me RJ, only my family calls me Ry. My mom gave me that nickname,"

"Oh.. well, should I just start calling you RJ, then?"

"No. You can call me Ry," he smiled, and it was one of those really genuine smiles that you don't often see on his face.

Ryder narrowed his eyes, looking intently at the churning waves below us.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked.

"Nothing." he said shortly. But I knew it wasn't nothing. I could tell that his mind was filled with something; some thoughts, maybe even some painful thoughts.

"If there's something on your mind, you can tell me, you know." I said nonchalantly. One of the perks of being an introvert like me, is that I am very sensitive towards people in pain.

He was quiet, probably debating whether or not he should say anything.

"When my mom died, we spread her ashes there in the ocean. I think that's why I like surfing so much... In a weird way it makes me feel like I'm near her again." he paused for a moment. "She is one of the reasons why I wanted to be a pro surfer."

My heart broke a little.

"I think your mom would be really proud of you," I said softly.

"And another reason is..." he said again as he turned to me, "surfers get laid."

I smacked his arm almost instantly. He just laughed away.

"Is that all that you can think about? Girls and sex?" I said.

"And surf," he added while laughing.

Oh my days. I swore, he was just like one of those Jersey Shore man-whores I saw on TV. Except it wasn't Gym-Tanning-Laundry for Ryder, it was Girls-Surf-And More Girls. I smacked his arm again as he wouldn't stop laughing.

"It's what they call 'the good life' little sis, you should try it sometime."

"Thanks. But I'll pass," I rolled my eyes at him.

As his laughter winded down, suddenly he turned to me and said, "You're surprisingly fun to talk to."

I didn't understand what he meant by that. So I just mumbled "whatever," under my breath.

"You've got character. You're... intriguing." he said again.

My breath hitched. Is he... flirting with me?

"Well it's only because your character lacks depth," I spat back.

Don't let that smooth mudderfudder get to you.

His mouth fell open. But he was still smirking, and his eyes grew wider.

Well, at least that shut him up.

I turned my gaze back towards the sky. It was a beautiful day and it was a beautiful place. Let's just take a moment to appreciate this and ignore the blabbing manslut next to me.

So I closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and I felt the warm air gently brushing over my face. I focused my ears to the sound of the waves.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

For the longest time, there was silence between us.

My eyes were open slightly, and on the corner of my eye, I noticed Ryder looking at me. My long brown hair was blowing in the air. His eyes darted from my lips to my cheeks, then to my eyelashes, the tip of my nose, and back again on my lips.

There was something about the way he was looking at me. I didn't know what had gotten into him, but all of a sudden, he reached his hand out to touch my face. His hand landed on my cheek, and his fingers tilted my chin to bring my lips closer to him.

My eyes were open wide in shock. His dark blue eyes were fixed unto mine, like he was searching for something.

For a moment we just looked at each other. I wasn't sure of what he was thinking. I wasn't sure of what I myself was thinking of. With his hand resting on the side of my face, I stood frozen still.

Ryder's hand slowly caressed my check and then the side of my lips. His hand moved so slowly, so gently, as if I was a fragile thing and he could break me if he moved too much too fast.

I could feel the knot in my stomach coming back now, and it was stronger than ever before.

Ryder slowly moved closer towards me and his hand gently pulled my face closer towards him.

It felt like an eternity. He held his gaze unto mine. I looked up at him, waiting for the uncertainty. Our noses were now touching and I felt the butterflies in my stomach fluttering. My heart was beating so fast, I was afraid that he might have heard it.

A subtle smile appeared on Ryder's face, so small that you would miss it if you didn't pay attention. But I noticed.

I could feel Ryder's warm breath on my cheeks, and he smelled like Vanilla milkshake. It made me wonder if he'd taste like it too.

The anticipation was killing me.

Both of our lips were parted as they were a mere inch away from one another, getting ready for what's to come. And as they barely touched...

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To Be Continued.