Until now, this was the worst summer of my life. My next-door neighbor who also was my best friend Javier (I call him Jav) went back to his homeland of Caracas, Venezuela in South America with his parents for a two-month visit.
I had known for over a year that this was going to happen, but when he left, I felt so sad and almost cried. I was having the most boring and loneliest summers of my life. I had other friends that I hung around with, but Jav was my most special and closest friend. I missed not playing baseball with him or going to the movies or playing video games. This was not what I had looked forward to. I spend most of my summer reading some dumb books that was required from school. I also spent a lot of time on my computer, which I loved to do but even that was getting old. I just could not wait for Jav to get back home.
My Mom was feeling real sorry for me because she knew how close Jav and I had become. She suggested that when Jav got home that he would go with us on our annual trip to Ocean City, Maryland. That really cheered me up because I loved going there every year and having Jav come along would make it even better.
Well, the day finally came. I looked outside and there was Jav and his family pulling up in their driveway. I ran out as quickly as I could to see him. "Hey, buddy," I said, "Welcome home, I missed you so much". "I missed you too, Robby, but I had a real good time, and bought you some gifts". I helped Jav and his family unload the luggage from their car and went inside. Jav gave me a neat video game and some special chocolate candy. He talked about the good time he had and I told him how funky my summer had been without him. "Well, I'm back now", Jav said, "We can make up for some lost time." "Yeah, and I have something to ask you - my Mom and Dad and I would like to know if you can go with us to Ocean City next week?" Jav replied "Oh yeah, that sounds like fun, I have never been there before, let me check with my folks."
A week later, we both got up early and after packing the car, Jav, my parents, and me started out for Ocean City. The trip usually took a little over three hours. Jav and I sat in the back seat. Jav was still talking about his trip back home and seeing some of the sights he remembered when growing up. He even got to play some soccer with some of his former friends. We also played some card games to keep our mind occupied on the trip. Both Jav and I were wearing Bermuda shorts and while we were playing cards, our hairy legs rubbed against each other's. For some reason, this was exciting me. I glanced at Jav and all he was doing was paying attention to the hand of cards that he had. I thought to myself, "Why am I thinking these thoughts?"
Well, the time passed quickly and up ahead was the Ocean City skyline with the Atlantic Ocean in the background. We pulled into our hotel. Jav and I shared a room that was adjoining the room that my parents had. We couldn't wait to get to the beach, so we quickly changed into our swimsuits and tee shirts. Mom and Dad told us to have a good time and that they would see us in a couple of hours for dinner.
The hotel we were staying at was right off the boardwalk so it was just a short walk to the beach. It was really a hot summer day and the beach was crowded. We found a space and sat down on our beach towels and checked out the sights. There were all kinds of shapes and sizes of people, young and old, male and female. Jav and I especially were checking out the young girls in very skimpy bikinis. Some of them were really cute and even flirted with us and we flirted right back at them. "Maybe, we can hook up with some of them later", I said to Jav. "Sounds good to me, Robby"
