Prompt: Ocean and nostalgia.
Team members—@swankydoo and @saallyi
The evening was slowly coming to a close when the car stopped in the beach's parking lot. In the distance Virgil could see the light of the bonfire, indicating that Amy and Xavier were already here. Virgil was equally excited and anxious, it had been a while since they had last seen one another and hadn’t kept in touch much.
As he moved closer to the duo, Virgil looked at the scenery around him. The beach hadn’t changed much. The sun was setting on the horizon and gave both the sky and ocean a fiery blaze and the sand was warm under his feet, having been heated up all day long.
When Amy and Xavier noticed his presence they happily waved at him and gestured at Virgil to come join them around the fire.
As Virgil started walking towards them the wind hit his face. It was the feeling that he used to feel every evening with his best friends.
Virgil approached Amy and Xavier and exchanged greetings, Xavier stood up and gave a hug to Virgil. Then all three of them sat down on the logs across the fire, and the conversation began—
“So, here we are again.” Xavier looked at his two friends with a wide smile
“Yeah, it’s just like the old days.” Amy sighed, relaxing into her picnic chair.
Virgil moved a bit closer to the fire, “Feels awesome to be back here again.”
A few moments of silence passed by before Amy spoke again: “This place is as beautiful as it was before…”
“Yeah, but it could use a bit of cleaning up.” Xavier said while picking up a can off the sand and throwing it in the trash bag.
“It was your turn if I remember correctly!” Virgil teased him.
“Yeah, it was his turn.” Amy laughed.
“Oh come on guys!” He whined and played hurt. His silly acting quickly made the other two burst out laughing and he promptly joined their laughter.
It took them a while to calm down and when they did, Xavier offered everyone a beer, which they all accepted.
“I missed these evenings with you guys…” Virgil announced and smiled at them.
Xavier smiled too and acquiesced.
“Well, we’re here now, aren’t we… Let’s make the most of it!” Amy exclaimed.
“Hell Yeah!” Virgil cheered and the other two others quickly joined him.
"Do y'all remember the last time we came here?" Xavier asked, standing next to the cooler kept on the far end of the beach.
"What kind of a question is that? Of course we do," Amy replied.
"Come here the two of you." Xavier beckoned them towards the rock on which the cooler was kept.
A smile lit up Virgil's face as he read what was inscribed on the rock
'AVX—forever and always.'
"Damn, it's still here." Amy ran her fingers over the inscription. She recalled the day the three of them went skinny dipping in the ocean.
"Remember how loud Virgil was screaming when he got his hand cut on that weird object?" Amy chuckled.
"I wasn't screaming, I caught hold of that thing, like the brave man I was," Virgil said in his defense.
"Whom are you kidding? You were screaming more than a new born baby does, over a little cut," Xavier added.
"Was not." Virgil rolled his eyes.
"We were idiots, weren't we?" Virgil said, with a sigh.
"We were idiots, but the best idiots ever. On our way back to the dorms, we used that weird object to inscribe our initials on this rock. And look! It's still here. Damn you Amy for saying that it was a stupid idea," Virgil said.
Amy raised her hands up in surrender at the accusation. She opened the cooler, passed a can of beer to each, and then the three went back to the bonfire.
"So Mr. 'girls are a waste of time', did you meet your special someone yet?" Amy questioned Xavier.
"Nah. Girls are still a waste of time," Xavier shrugged off the question.
"Oh really?" Virgil drawled out, a certain mocking tone to his voice. "Hey Amy, let me tell you something."
"Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it," Xavier chanted.
"Oh watch me," Virgil said. "Amy, did you kn—"
Xavier sat down next to Virgil, covering his mouth with his hand, preventing Virgil from speaking.
"Did you ugh ugh." Virgil's voice came out muffled.
Amy was laughing, seeing the banter. "Oh screw you Xav, let the guy speak."
Xavier rolled his eyes and sat back down in his earlier place.
"Yeah so as I was saying, Xav had the biggest crush on you the last time we came here." Virgil told Amy as Xavier blushed red.
Amy laughed aloud at that. Xavier sure did know how to hide his crushes.
"Yeah whatever, it's in the past now. Besides, there's a certain someone I fancy who lives next door," Xavier said.
"So, does this certain someone know you exist?" Amy teased.
"Yeah. We're friends." Xavier rolled his eyes.
"Roll your eyes one more time and they'll fall off," Virgil said.
"Lame." Xavier rolled his eyes yet again. "Enough about me though, what about you? You've been engaged for like forever now, when's the wedding, or did you already have it and did not invite us?" Xavier asked Virgil as he laughed.
"Not yet. But continue with that eye rolling of yours and I will be sure to not invite you. Anyways Amy, what about you? Is your love life still the square root of minus one?" Virgil asked.
"Sort of? I have the biggest crush on this co worker of mine, and he seems into me too. But then again, it might be just him being a nice guy and me overthinking it." Amy's cheeks tinged pink.
"Ah Amy Amy, you're looking like a tomato right now," Virgil laughed.
The Sun had completely set by now, giving way to a starry night. Xavier took out more beer from the cooler and passed it around the small group. The three stared at the ocean, memories of all the times they spend there flooding their mind.
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