As expected, when Sean went downstairs for breakfast the next morning, his parents were there waiting for him to impart the details of the previous evening. Having had a good night's sleep and time to think, he obliged, “The food was good and we all did lots of dancing. Everyone there was really friendly and just wanted to have a good time.”

“Oh really?” mother remarked cocking an eyebrow. “Did you do lots of slow dancing”

“That was the best part,” Sean smirked.

“I heard that there was a gay couple there,” Father interrupted.

“Yes, but they were cool.” Sean affirmed.

“Maybe so, but that's what you get when you go to a freak prom,” he spat.

Mother threw her husband another dagger look which ended the conversation and a knock at the door re-directed their attention. Sean went and answered it to his Aunt Becky and Uncle Frank. Both were in their mid forties but made efforts to make themselves look younger. Aunt Becky had bleached blonde hair and Uncle Frank always wore his trademark Philadelphia Phillies cap to hide the fact he was bald. However, both put lots of pride into their physical appearance, spending lots of time at the gym and flaunted this fact right down to their gold chains.

Sean led his aunt and uncle to the kitchen where they sat at the table. Mom already had the coffee on the go. Sean went to an empty chair to have his cereal. As he began eating, Aunt Becky began, “Your mother tells me you're quite the romantic. Did you have a good time at your prom?”

After Sean gave his affirmation, she continued, “I think that it's sweet that you took a girl with Down Syndrome.”

Not sure if Aunt Becky was being patronising, Sean responded, “I just like her,” before throwing a quick glance at his father, noting his unamused expression.

“Are you seeing her today?” she pressed further.

“Yeah, we're going to the beach and then tonight, her family is taking us to the boardwalk in Bay City.”

“Oooh, you can reenact the beach scene in 'From Here to Eternity'” Uncle Frank joked out loud.

“Oh, behave,” Aunt Becky bemused, slapping her husband on his muscular arm.

“What's 'From Here to Eternity?” Sean innocently asked before he caught the unimpressed looks from both of his parents.

“It's an old movie,” Mother explained, still holding her unimpressed look at Uncle Frank.

“I better get ready,” Sean announced and excused himself. He was already prepared to go but the uncomfortable vibe from the adults drove his need to get out of the kitchen. Remembering his uncle's attempt at humour, he fired up his computer and when ready, looked up “From Here to Eternity” on Youtube. The first couple of entries were links to the entire film and he did not have time to watch it all. Fortunately, he found a link titled, “Beach Scene” and clicked on it. What he saw fascinated him and gave him some ideas for the afternoon. He imagined himself as Burt Lancaster and Chloe as Deborah Kerr. Now, he couldn't wait to get to the beach.

He didn't have to wait long. His father drove him to Chloe's house and to his relief, didn't make any disaparaging comments about her. Perhaps Mom warned him about such things. Dad simply pulled the car up to Chloe's house and without any words exchanged, sped off right after Sean got out.

Chloe was already in her beachware when he was let in. Her black, one piece swimsuit seemed to bring out her best features and at the same time, hide any flaws. He also got to see her legs in their full glory and it confrimed that John and Helen were wrong in saying they were fat. To him, they were perfect.

He followed Mrs. Levin's instructions to go up into Chloe's bedroom to change for the beach while she waited downstairs. Puttng on his blue shorts-like trunks, which came covered about a third of his upper thigh, he examimned himself in the mirror. He suddenly became worried that she wouldn't like his scrawny physique and thought to himself, “Maybe I should go to the gym like Aunt Becky and Uncle Frank.”

He knew he couldn't prosrastinate any longer. With some intrepidation, he went downstairs to Chloe and to his relief, did not seem to take notice of his body or just didn't care. She met him at the foot of the stairs with her usual beaming smile. They collected their beach blanket, towels and other necessities and hand in hand, made the three block trek to the Ramsgate beach.

Even though Memorial Day weekend signified the start of the summer season, the beach was still empty. There were a few people waking their dogs and a few others laying out trying to get their bronze on and maybe five people in the ocean. Further down the beach, some young men were playing football but they pretty much had the beach to themselves.

They moved about halfway toward the water's edge before stopping to set up camp. They spread out the blanket and anchored it with bags to keep the wind from blowing it away. Once done, Sean suggested, “Shall we go in the water?”

When Chloe answered in the affirmative, they rejoined hands and walked down to the water and waded in until they were knee deep. Suddenly, a small wave rolled toward the shore and Chloe jumped over it. “I like jumping the waves,” she informed. Therefore, they spent about half an hour jumping over the waves with Chloe giggling after each jump. For Sean, it brought back the stories his father and uncle told him about how when they went to the beach when they were his age, the waves were much higher. High enough to body surf, which Sean would have loved to try but climate change put a stop to it.

When they tired of wave jumping, they returned to the blanket. “Will you rub suntan oil on me?” Chloe asked.

Sean wasted no time in obliging her request and squirted a handful of lotion into his hand before rubbing it into her neck and shoulders. Inwardly, he wished she had more soft flesh for him to rub more oil on. It didn't seem fair because when it was her turn to rub oil on him, she had his entire back which to do it. That didn't stop him from enjoying the touch of her hands all over his back. When they were both oiled up, they laid side by side on their fronts facing the ocean.

Both must have been thinking the same thoughts because from seemingly out of nowhere, the young lovers turned towards one another and kissed. They kissed again and again and then with a bout of strength noone would have thought she had, Chloe rolled Sean onto his back and immediately pinned him and they continued their long kiss.

It might not have been what Sean immagined what the famous beach scene from the old movie would be but he didn't care. The feel of Chloe's wet bathing suit against his bare chest was making him feel giddy. Then there was the feel of her thighs on his. The entire affair stirred up feelings inside him. As they continued kissing, he tightly bearhugged Chloe in an attempt to hide the explosion which was occurring down below. He was glad that his trunks were still wet from their time in the ocean. However, Chloe didn't seem to notice as they carried on kissing. When they stopped, she slid down his body a little and simply laid her head on his chest. Sean put his arms around her and the two laid on the blanket in a state of bliss. For Sean, it was the happiest moment of his life.

The sound of a snore from Chloe startled him, probably because he was dozing off himself. It startled her too and Sean deduced that she had fallen asleep on top of him. Chloe smiled and kissed him which led to a few more minutes of tongue wrestling. When their lips parted, Sean suggested, “Shall we go back in the water?”

Chloe nodded and they went back into the water together. They jumped more waves and ventured a little further out into the water and swam around. This lasted another half an hour, the whole time, Sean envisioned an opportunity to reenact the scene where they would be lying together on near the waters edge, engaged in a passionate kiss, while the waves washed over them. Unfortunately, the waves at Ramsgate beach weren't going to play along. So, when they had enough of the water, they returned to the blanket.

Chloe sat down on the blanket while Sean knelt beside her. Immediately, they began kissing again and Sean used his advantage to ease Chloe back and maneuvred himself on top of her. Chloe offered no resistance as they continued their passionate kiss. When they came up for air, Sean hoped that she would say Deborah Kerr's famous line, “No one has ever kissed me like that before,” but he knew in reality, that it was just fantasy. Instead, Chloe gave her infectious smile and they gazed into eachother's eyes. They stated like that for a long time before Chloe used the strength only Sean knew she had to roll him over and get back on top.

Noting the position of the sun, Sean realized it was time to go back. However, he didn't want to get out of the position he and Chloe were in. He forced himself to say, “We have to be getting back now.”

Chloe lifted her head from off his chest, looked around and agreed, “Yes, my mom is making us dinner.”

They gathered up their things and left the beach, which was now even more deserted and headed back to Chloe's. Upon their return, they hosed the sand off their feet and went in through the back door, where Mrs. Levin invited Sean to have his shower first while Chloe waited downstairs. When he was showered and dressed, he waited for Chloe to have her shower and was a little disappointed in not being able to see her in her full glory.

After a spaghetti dinner, Sean joined Chloe's family in the car and they all went to Bay City. He liked that the Levin's car was spacious enough for Chloe to sit in the middle seat in the back so they could still hold hands throughout the journey and Penny could look out of the window. The drive was uneventful, although when they drove through Winter's Reach, he thought about Kevin and Christine, who they met at the prom and lived in the town.

The journey also brought back childhood memories of when he went to Bay City with his mother and father. They would take him around five times in the summer and he loved it. Going on the rides and walking on the boardwalk seeing all the shops and eating establishments was great fun but as he got older, the fun element waned. However, going to Bay City with Chloe suddenly brought back the appeal.

On the boardwalk, Mr. and Mrs. Levin bought a book of tickets and handing them over to Sean and Chloe. Mr. Levin said, “These are for you both to use. Go off and enjoy yourselves but be back here at 9:30 so we can go for some ice cream.”

Chloe and Sean ventured out on their own and proceeded to go on many rides together. They went on fast rides like the roller coaster and slower rides like the monorail and high ferris wheel, which gave them a bird's eve view of Bay City. Except for the bumper cars, whichever ride they went on, they did so together, holding hands the whole time. Sean hoped the day or evening would never end, for him, it was two days of absolute heaven.