Hidden Treasure

“Hey Philip,” Lily smiled as she walked up to the window of the ice cream truck.

“Lil Lily!” the sandy blonde smiled as he leaned against the counter. “How’s it going?”

She sighed as she fanned herself. “It’s hot and I need my fix, pronto.”

Philip nodded and ducked back into the truck. “Usual?”

“Please,” she nodded as her best friend, Hana, walked up beside her. “And a cookie dough for Han.”

Hana pulled her long, brown hair into a high pony tail. “I don’t know if I want any cream today, Lil. It’s hot as balls and I really just wanna hit the water asap.”

Lily glanced away from where Philip was scooping ice cream into bowls towards her. “The ‘hot as balls’ part automatically qualifies ice cream as a good idea.”

Hana rolled her eyes and tapped her hand on the counter. “Just a water for me, Lip.”

Philip nodded and set the bowl of cookie dough ice cream to the side before sliding Lily hers of mint chocolate chip. “Tab it?”

“Please,” she smiled. “Thanks Phil!”

She walked over to the picnic table Hana was occupying and sat across from her. They sat in silence as Lily ate her ice cream and watched the different sets coming in, trying to pinpoint the best place to surf for the day as it was ever changing. Hana, as always, had her nose buried in her phone, and it annoyed Lily to no end.

“Do you know all of the wonderful things you’re missing because you’re looking down at that screen?” she asked.

Hana groaned and locked her phone. “Chill out. I was just telling Brendan where we are.”

Lily smirked. Hana and Brendan had had crushes on each other for as long as Lily could remember. They were always too shy to make the first move, so they spent years secretly in love with each other. Thanks to Lily meddling a little, they’d been going strong for close to seven months.

“How’s that going, by the way?” she asked, referring to their relationship.

Hana smiled as she rested her chin on the top of her water bottle and through her brown skin some pinkness poked through on her cheeks.

“Amazing,” she sighed. “Thank you for never being able to mind your own business.”

“I told you that quality would come in handy,” Lily giggled.

Hana rolled her eyes before unscrewing the cap to her water and taking a long gulp. “So, have you heard from whats-his-face lately?”

Lily’s spirit took a tumble a little at the mention of her latest fling, Matt. He was a tourist that was in town for a whopping two weeks. He and Lily ran into one another, formed a connection, and were inseparable the whole time he was there. She was kind of a sucker for the visitors, but she always tried to keep a tight grip on the reigns, because they never stayed forever. Some begged her to come visit them, but she never agreed – she loved her home too much and had no desire to see any place else.

“No,” she shrugged.

“Man,” Hana huffed. “He seemed like a good one.”

“Yeah, well…” Lily shrugged again. “Not even a week after he left he asked me to come stay with him for a while.”

Hana snorted. “No way. Where does he live?”

“Colorado,” Lily shuddered. “Cold, snowy, ocean-less Colorado.”

“I’m sure it’s not cold all the time,” Hana said.

“Maybe not, but it is always without this,” Lily responded, motioning to the beach and the turquoise water that pulled on her heart strings.

“True, I guess,” Hana sighed. “What about the one you were talking to yesterday at the Aloha?”

Lily froze in the middle of bringing a scoop of ice cream to her mouth. “What about him?”

“You seemed to be digging him,” Hana smirked.

“If by ‘digging him’ you mean apologizing for nearly gutting him with my fin, then yeah.”

“So, you don’t think he’s cute?” she teased.

“Well, yeah,” Lily laughed nervously as she set her spoon down in her bowl. “What are you getting at anyway?”

“I’ve seen you flirt with guys you just met and you can turn them into silly putty easily. But when you came back to the table after talking to him, you were the one giddy and blushing.”

“I was not,” Lily scoffed, but after being shot a convincing glare from Hana, she reconsidered. “Was I, really?”

“Yeah, dude,” Hana chuckled. “And don’t think I didn’t notice you glancing at him every two seconds.”

Lily shrugged and she tried to fight back against the smile tugging on her lips. “I don’t know. He’s cute and funny and everything. But do I really want to keep falling for tourists that are just going to leave a few days later.”

“I think you should try with this one,” Hana nodded. “Who knows? He may be the one to get you to leave the island for a bit.”

“But I don’t want to leave the island,” Lily groaned, her head falling back a little.

“Wouldn’t it be sweet though?” Hana asked. “To love someone so much you’re willing to depart from your comfort zone for them?”

“Love,” Lily scoffed. “Easy, tiger. I don’t have time for love. He leaves Sunday.”

“Well bitch,” Hana sighed as she reached across the table and picked up a spoonful of minty ice cream. “You better get busy.”

Notes