“Uh-Oh, fox alert,” I said with a grin to the group of girls I spend two weeks with every summer at the Cape. All six of us, perched on the railing at the top of the stairs leading down to the beach, turned to see the potential male headed in our direction.


“The beach was great to-” I stopped in mid-sentence as the boy came into perfect view. He had dark brown hair that was peeking out underneath a sun bleached Red Sox hat, a navy blue sweatshirt that had the letters “AB” written on it, and khaki shorts. He was looking down, but as he walked by he shifted his gaze, making eye contact with me. My eyes followed him intently as he headed down the stairs and onto the beach, walking towards the jetty.

After a few minutes I started walking down to the jetty that he was sitting on. Millions of butterflies burst inside of me, as I shielded my eyes from the bright sun and saw his dark figure sitting alone with the beautiful sunset behind him. I was about five feet away from him when he looked up from his phone and said in a friendly voice, “Hey, what’s going on?”

I glanced down quickly at my bare feet that were sprinkled with sand, smiled, and responded, “Just hanging out with a few friends. My name is Marissa, what’s yours?”

Looking me directly in the eyes, he replied, “Dan.” His eyes were the most intense blue I had ever seen in my life. The deep blue reminded me of the ocean that I wanted to dive into. “Where are you from, do you live down here?” his facial expression seemed anxious to hear my answer.

“No, I live in Springfield; I’m down here at my house for two weeks, how about you?”

“Me too, I live in Acton, but I spend summers here,” he said. At this point I had taken a seat next to him and felt a connection between him and I. The sun was setting diagonally from us, casting beautiful rays on the open water. The moment didn’t feel real, it was like I was in a perfect dream.

We had talked for a while longer; the sun already hiding behind the horizon leaving the last of its powerful glow. I was craving ice cream so I invited him to come with me.

“Did you want to get some ice cream from the Sundae School?” I asked smiling, with an innocent twinkle of hope in my eyes.

“That sounds like a great idea,” he said pushing himself off of the rocks.

After we had ice cream, we walked back to the beach. The moon and the trillions of stars had come out from hiding in the big, black blanket of night. We sat on the ocean misted bench and took in the peaceful sight and sound of the waves crashing on the shore. It was already late and Dan had to work in the morning.

“I can give you my phone number if you want,” he said, getting up off the bench and sticking his hands in his pockets.

“That would be great,” unzipping my wristlet and reaching for my phone, “I will give you my number too.”

“Awesome, would it be cool if I gave you a call tomorrow?” he implied.

My heart was racing, it was just the beginning of my two week vacation and it had already been one of the best nights.