Everything was blue...

Like a thousand different shades of blue he’d never seen before all layered on top of each other like someone had painted the ocean with a palette that only existed down here.

Light filtered down from above in wavering columns, dancing across the sandy bottom in patterns that shifted with every wave.

’Holy shit...’ Wren thought with his eyes going wide behind the mask.

He’d expected it to be cool, sure. He’d seen pictures of coral reefs in books and documentaries but actually being here, suspended in the water with his face submerged was completely different.

The coral formations stretched out in every direction... Some looked like massive brain-shaped boulders while others branched upward like underwater trees with hundreds of delicate fingers reaching toward the surface and colors he couldn’t even name properly dotted the reef.

There were deep purples, bright oranges, electric yellows and even soft pinks.

Small fish darted between the coral heads in schools that moved like they shared one brain, turning and banking in perfect synchronized formation and something warm touched his hand.

Wren glanced to his left as Isabella was floating beside him, her blonde hair spreading out in the water like some kind of ethereal halo.

She’d reached out and taken his hand as her fingers interlaced with his. Even through the snorkel mask covering half her face, Wren could see her eyes looking bright and excited.

’She’s beautiful,’ Wren thought.

He’d known Isabella was attractive... That was just an objective fact but seeing her here, suspended in the blue water with sunlight catching in her hair and highlighting the curves of her body in that swimsuit, completely at ease in this environment...

Yeah, Beautiful was the right word.

Isabella pointed downward with her free hand, then kicked her legs gently. She was a natural swimmer despite what she’d said about not doing it often... her movements were smooth like the water welcomed her and Wren followed, kicking harder than necessary because he still didn’t quite trust his ability to stay afloat.

They descended a bit deeper, maybe ten feet down now and the pressure in his ears built slightly and Wren equalized it the way Isabella had shown him earlier, pinching his nose through the mask and blowing gently.

A sea turtle drifted past them, completely unbothered by their presence. It was massive... probably three feet across the shell and moved lazily that made everything else look rushed by comparison.

Isabella’s hand squeezed his, drawing his attention.

She was smiling around the snorkel with her eyes crinkling at the corners as she pointed at the turtle with her other hand.

’Even the water is beautiful,’ Wren thought, watching the way light refracted through it in shifting patterns. ’The corals, the fish, everything down here...’

But his eyes kept drifting back to Isabella.

They swam along the reef together with her hands still clasped. Isabella would point out interesting things... a bright yellow fish hiding in an anemone, a spiny sea urchin wedged in a crack and even a small octopus that changed colors when it noticed them watching.

Wren’s lungs were starting to burn a bit from breathing through the snorkel, but he didn’t want to surface yet. This was too good... too perfect...

Water rushed into his mouth and Wren’s eyes went wide as he accidentally breathed in through his mouth instead of keeping it sealed around the snorkel.

Saltwater hit the back of his throat and his body immediately panicked, trying to cough while simultaneously trying not to breathe in more water.

He let go of Isabella’s hand and kicked upward, breaking the surface with a desperate gasp.

"Gah... hack... " Wren coughed hard, spitting out seawater and yanking the snorkel out of his mouth. "Fuck, that’s... cough... salty..."

Isabella surfaced beside him a second later, pulling her own snorkel free.

"You okay?" she asked, treading water easily while Wren flailed slightly.

"Yeah, just—"

He coughed some more. "I breathed in instead of out or something like that. I don’t know but I fucked it up."

Isabella moved closer with one hand coming up to rest on his shoulder. "Here, tilt your head back. Let the water drain out of the snorkel tube."

Wren did as instructed, feeling the water gurgle out. His throat still burned from the salt, but the coughing was subsiding.

"Better?" Isabella asked with her face closer now.

"Yeah. Sorry, that was stupid."

"It’s your first time snorkeling so it’s natural," Isabella said with a small smile. "Besides, you’re doing fine. I choked on water my first three times."

"Three times?"

"Of course, I did it until I learned how to... I’m not a quitter after all." Her smile widened slightly. "Want to go back down? We can take it slower."

"Sure..." Wren said. "But maybe you should hold my hand again... You know, for safety."

Isabella’s cheeks went slightly pink, but she reached out and took his hand again anyway. "For safety... right so you don’t go off again."

They put the snorkels back in and descended together with their hands clasped tight and this time Wren was more careful, breathing slowly and deliberately through the tube.

The rhythm was weird... in through the mouth via the snorkel, out through the mouth into the water but he was getting the hang of it.

Isabella squeezed his hand and pointed to their right.

A entire school of silvery fish moved past them like a living ribbon with each individual fish no bigger than Wren’s hand but there had to be hundreds of them and all were moving in perfect sync as they flowed around a coral outcropping then disappeared into the blue distance.

’This is insane,’ Wren thought, kicking gently to follow Isabella deeper.

The racer was completely in her element down here. She knew exactly how to move her body to glide through the water with minimal effort, how to equalize her ears before the pressure became uncomfortable, and where to look for the most interesting marine life.

Isabella turned to look at him, and even through the mask and distortion of water... Wren could see her eyes were bright with excitement as usual.

She was grinning around the snorkel, clearly loving every second of this.

’She’s even more beautiful when she’s happy...’ Wren thought again, It wasn’t just the physical stuff... though yeah, seeing her in that swimsuit with her hair floating around her face like some kind of ocean goddess definitely wasn’t hurting.

It was the pure joy on her face, the way she lit up when showing him things and how patient she was when he messed up. Despite how complicated women were, they were really pretty.

Isabella pointed down at something, and Wren followed her finger.

A bright blue starfish was attached to a rock, its five arms spread wide. It was such a vibrant, almost electric blue that it looked fake like someone had photoshopped it into reality.

Isabella’s thoughts were running on a similar track, though she’d never admit it out loud.

’He’s picking this up fast,’ she thought, watching Wren maneuver around a coral head without accidentally kicking it. ’Most people panic underwater their first time, but he’s just... rolling with it.’

She liked that about him. The way he threw himself into new experiences even when he was clearly out of his depth... literally, in this case.

And the way he looked at her...

Isabella’s cheeks felt warm even in the cool ocean water.

’Stop it,’ she told herself firmly. ’You have a boyfriend and Marcus will get pretty mad if he hears of this...’

They surfaced together after another few minutes with both pulling their snorkels out to breathe real air.

"Haah... Haah... Why don’t we try something different now?"

"Like what?"

...

"Alright, paddleboards!" Isabella announced, hauling one of the bright blue boards from the rental shack toward the water. "Ever done this before?"

"Not even once," Wren admitted, grabbing his own board. The thing was huge and awkward, like trying to carry a surfboard that had eaten too many carbs.

"It’s easy," Isabella said, which is what people always said right before something turned out to be incredibly difficult. "You just stand on it and paddle and the ocean does most of the work."

"Uh-huh."

They waded out until the water was waist-deep, then Isabella demonstrated by lying flat on her board and paddling out a bit further.

Once she was in deeper water, she smoothly transitioned from lying down to kneeling, then stood up in one fluid motion like she’d done this a thousand times and she made it look effortless.

"Your turn!" Isabella called, standing perfectly balanced on her board while the gentle waves rocked beneath her.

Wren tried to copy her movements... He got the lying-down part fine, the paddling out part was okay and the kneeling part was a bit wobbly but manageable but the standing up part sent him directly into the ocean.

SPLASH!

Wren surfaced, spitting out seawater for the second time that day as his paddleboard was already drifting away like it wanted nothing to do with him.

Isabella’s laugh sounded across the water.

"Oh come on, it’s not that hard!" she called out while still perfectly balanced on her own board.

"Easy for you to say," Wren muttered, attempting to swim after his runaway board and failing however a guy pushed it back to him and he caught it with a wave to the guy. "You’ve probably been doing this since you were five."

"Twelve, actually... and I fell off plenty of times."

Wren climbed back onto his board, this time staying on his knees. He paddled over to where Isabella was standing, looking up at her from his much lower vantage point.

"Show off." He said and she grinned and sat down cross-legged on her board, bringing herself closer to his level.

"Better?"

"Much better..."

They paddled around together for a while with Wren eventually managing to stand up for about fifteen seconds before another wave knocked him off balance however Isabella caught his hand right before he fell.

"There you go," she said softly. "Just keep your knees slightly bent like you’re crouching."

Wren adjusted his stance, and suddenly it clicked. He was standing... actually standing, on a paddleboard, in the middle of the ocean.

"Holy shit, I’m doing it!"

"You’re doing it!" Isabella matched his excitement, bouncing slightly on her own board.

They paddled around the bay together, sometimes standing, sometimes sitting, occasionally racing each other in short bursts that always ended with Wren losing because Isabella was just better at this.

"How are you so good at everything?" Wren asked, slightly out of breath from trying to keep up.

Isabella laughed.

"I’m not good at everything. You should see me try to cook."

Cooking? He wasn’t that good at it so...

"Meh, it can’t be that bad."

"I once set water on fire."

Wren blinked. "That’s... actually impressive. How did you—"

"Don’t ask... It’s a painful memory." She paddled in a lazy circle around him. "But sports stuff? Yeah, I’ve been doing that my whole life. F1 racing, paddleboarding, swimming, rock climbing... if it involves moving and potential injury, I’m probably decent at it."

"Potential injury is a weird selling point for you to try something..."

"Says the guy who agreed to go snorkeling without knowing how to swim properly."

"Well, you’re the one who dragged me so I guess we should blame you."

"Clearly." Isabella grinned at him, then suddenly paddled forward and splashed water in his direction with her paddle and the spray hit Wren right in the face.

"Oh, that’s how it is?" Wren said while grinning back. He tried to splash her back, but his board wobbled dangerously and he had to drop back to his knees to avoid falling off again.

Isabella’s laugh echoed across the water once more. "Nice try, Ren-Ren!"

"Don’t call me that in public," Wren said, but he was smiling.

"Why not? It’s cute."

"I mean it’s embarrassing."

"That’s why it’s cute." She paddled closer, her board bumping gently against his. "Besides, you gave me a nickname too... That makes us even."

"But the nickname I gave you isn’t th–"

Wren was very aware of how close she was now. She was close enough that he could see the water droplets on her shoulders, the way her hair was starting to dry in the sun and the small scar on her left collarbone that he’d never noticed before.

"We should probably head back," Isabella said, but she didn’t move away. "I want to meet your friends too and what if my manager is here too?"

"Probably," Wren agreed though neither of them moved.

Then a wave rolled under them, rocking both boards, and the moment broke. Isabella pushed off with her paddle, putting some distance between them.

"Come on," she called back. "Race you to shore and the Winner doesn’t have to help carry the boards back."

"That’s cheating, you’re way better at this than—"

She was already paddling with smooth strokes while Wren sighed and followed, knowing he was going to lose but he didn’t really mind.

’Beach days can be this fun, huh?’ He was more used to studying and trying to maintain his GPA.

...

They returned to shore properly around early afternoon, Isabella wearing her cap again plus a nose mask to protect from the sun as the white fabric covered the lower half of her face, leaving only her eyes visible.

Wren couldn’t help himself. "You look like you’re about to rob a convenience store."

Isabella’s eyes narrowed above the mask. "What?"

"Like a really athletic bank robber. ’Nobody move, this is a fitness robbery, give me all your protein bars...’"

She punched him in the side, it wasn’t hard but enough to make him grunt.

"Ow! I’m just saying—"

There was another punch but this one was slightly harder.

"Okay, okay, I’ll stop!"

Isabella adjusted her cap as her eyes were crinkling in what was probably a smile under the mask. "You’re lucky we’re friends but I don’t look that weird do I?"

Before Wren could process that statement, voices came over from further down the beach as the girls and guys were coming back.

Leah was in front, Dani followed close behind, looking much better than she had that morning while Zoe brought up the rear and the rest of them too.

They all stopped when they noticed the new person standing next to Wren.

"You must be Leah, right?" Isabella said and Leah blinked while being visibly surprised. "How did you know...?"

"Ren-Ren told me about you yesterday," Isabella said casually.

Dani perked up immediately. "Ren-Ren?"

Isabella nodded. "It’s a nickname. He gave me one too."

Everyone turned to stare at Wren with varying expressions of shock and confusion while Wren felt the sudden need to be literally anywhere else.

His eyes landed on the beach volleyball courts set up further down the shore, and more importantly, on the volleyball that was somehow still sitting on one of the chairs from his earlier setup.

Wren grabbed it, grateful for the distraction, and turned to face the group while pointing at the courts.

"Why don’t we play some Beach Ball?" he said, maybe a bit too enthusiastically. He would do anything to get out of this situation before Zoe started teasing him on it.

... 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Derek dunked the ball upward with both hands with his height giving him an advantage as the volleyball arced high into the air, spinning as it crossed the net.

On the opposite side, Isabella was already moving.

She jumped... and spiked the ball before it could hit the sand, sending it screaming back toward the other side of the court.

"Got it, got it!" Dani called out, running toward where the ball was descending. Her foot hit a patch of loose sand wrong and she slipped, going down hard on one knee but somehow, she managed to punch the ball upward with her fist as she fell, sending it high into the air on their side of the net.

"Hah!" Dani said with a smile as Isabella was already moving toward where the ball would land. "Take that!"

But she wouldn’t make it in time... the ball was coming down too fast and too far away from her current position but Wren was there instead.

He’d been hanging back, letting the others make the flashier plays but now he moved as his abs glistened with sweat under the afternoon sun as he sprinted across the sand.

He jumped and slammed the ball downward with everything he had.

BOOM!

The volleyball hit the sand right next to where Dani was still on her knees with the impact sending up a small spray of sand.

Dani flinched, her eyes going wide as she looked up at Wren, then down at the ball, then back at Wren.

"That’s unfair!" She shouted. "You’re much taller and stronger too!"