Suds - The Season Premiere

What is he doing? Carefully hidden in the shadows, Shantel glared at Darien from near the dark sidewalk. Her eyes darted across the moonlit beach. Darien stood at the shore staring at the ocean. His linen pants hugged his strong legs as the warm breeze blew. He must be waiting for someone. Palm trees swayed in the star-sprinkled sky as she combed the beach with her eyes. Her search came up empty. Shantel returned her glare to her mocha colored ex-boyfriend. He fingered his braided hair, tracing a zigzag cornrow to the end. I used to braid his hair, she fumed silently as she imagined Darien’s hair being braided by random girls during his “time to himself.” She wondered which of her “friends” were chasing after her ex. College guys are so fickle. A pit of rage burrowed inside her. He could have at least been honest. If he wanted to see other people, he should have said that, not, ‘I need some time to myself’. Time for what? Shantel rolled her eyes. She took a deep breath and surveyed the shore once more, only darkness.

Darien’s lips were moving. She tried to inch into earshot, but couldn’t risk being seen. Instead, she focused her attention on reading his lips.
“Man,” she whispered, mimicking his mouthing. “I can’t believe this God.”
God? He’s talking to God? Shantel slowly crawled across the concrete sidewalk, staying low to the ground. “This is serious,” she read his lips, crouching behind a lounge chair on the resort. “God,” he continued. “I don’t know if I can do this.” He paced back in forth along the shore. Shantel strained to see his lips. Grains of sand scraped against her knees as she crawled closer. Darien stopped pacing and smiled. A boyish innocence spread across his face. She froze feeling her stomach flutter the same way it had when they met in the fall. Suddenly, she didn’t care if he saw her. In fact, she wanted him to see her. She wanted him to remember that they belonged together. Shantel daydreamed of locking eyes with Darien, standing in her short summer dress to reveal sand stained knees, and him running toward her. He would embrace her, and vow never to let her go again. They would tell their children the story of how Mommy and Daddy reunited on spring break in the Dominican Republic.

Dimples of satisfaction pierced Shantel’s cheeks as she stood beside the beach lounger, waiting for Darien to look over, see her, and fall in love all over again.
“Is there something you want to tell me?” a voice from behind boomed. Shantel whirled around. Terrance glowered over her shoulder in Darien’s direction.
“Oh, h-hey Baby,” she stammered, nervously.