Excerpt:

At the start of the water, however, I find reason to pause. As I’ve said just before, I’m not very used to going places with friends, and I’m too old to go with parents or siblings (especially as my siblings are nothing like me and would not enjoy such a mundane thing as going to the beach with their elder sister). The point is that I haven’t been to the beach in years and the crashing waves and shifting sand and the sheer unpredictability of what could be hidden in the deeper depths suddenly send a shiver of fear in me.

Let me clear this up before I continue to spin my tale: I am not afraid of the water. I, like any other sensible human aware of my own fragility, am terrified of the unknown. Although there is a stinger net surrounding the patch of water I’m about to enter, there is always the off chance that a jelly slipped in or a sting ray is hidden in the sand. Hoping not to alert Alex to my sudden terror, I sink down to sit in knee deep water and let the waves swirl around me. Sand and water instantaneously sate curiosity by sneaking beneath my clothing.

Somehow, I don’t think she is fooled. But I feel calmer now and when she raises her eyebrows and half lifts one eyelid from its customary closed state, I smile at her and mock exaggerate my exhaustion from the walk to the beach. She didn’t buy it (for as much as Alex is amazing with reading people, she is very transparent. I already know fact though we have not been friends that long and before that only knew each other math class. I am therefore reassured of the sincerity of the word ‘very transparent’ when I use it). But, she knew I was alright. Although the eyelid did not drop back down she smiled and was content to leave me in order to swim further into the sea, leaving me feeling like a kid in a paddling pool who’s friend has just gone off to do some laps in the ‘big kids’ pool. Or perhaps that is an untrue… for if I were that kid, I probably would not be able to so sophisticatedly (if I do say so myself) comprehend the situation.