Chapter 68

                                    

                                          
Pretty soon, Memorial Day weekend was amoung the group of seven as it was already Friday, May 24th. The Jensen family had spent their days together being out on the beach, or watching movies and playing games on windy or stormy days. Currently, the rainy weather was clearing up from a long, wet week as some dark gray clouds remained scattered in the sky, but the strong gusts of wind seemed to be pushing them away. Taking advantage of the first dry day in what seemed like forever, four of the seven family members decided to get out and head into town to make a run to the grocery store for a few food items that would be needed for the Memorial Day weekend. 
                          
After a pretty decent drive into Honolulu, Amy found a parking space, surprisingly easily, and the group of four headed into the Whole Foods Market to do a little grocery shopping before heading back to the beach house where Matt, Craig, and a sleeping Harley were waiting. As they entered the fairly large-looking building, Clay felt a burst of refreshing air hit him as he left the heat of the Summer behind him. As Lainie retrieved a shopping cart, the boy's grandmother looked over her list of needed food items. Once his mother returned to the small group with a cart, the four walked deeper into the air conditioned store, stopping to grab various items as they went from one aisle to the next, making their way from one end of the store to the other as they went.
                          
The store trip and drive back ended up taking most of the day, and the gang eventually found themselves back at the house, unloading the grocery bags and taking them inside to put the items in their proper places. Once everything was put away, the family of seven spent some time out on the beach together before it became dinner time. Tonight's dinner was barbeque sandwhichs with an optional side dish of pasta salad. The group all ate out on the deck together, laughing and talking with one another as they enjoyed their breathtaking view of the endless ocean in front of them.
                          
A little while later, Allison and Clay found themselves down on the sandy beach again as they were alone together, walking the shoreline, and just enjoying the peacefulness of the waves crashing against the shore and covering their bare feet before retreating back to the salty sea, only to repeat the process over and over again. The two siblings walked in a comfortable silence as they really didn't know what to say to start a conversation. Clay glanced out over the large, empty ocean, seeing the sun and sky slowly change colors as the bright ball in the air began its sluggish descent towards the water. Seeing the sun begin to set, the boy could tell that it was around 7 o'clock as that was around the time it began to get dark in the late evening. 
                          
As they slowly made their way down the beach's shoreline, Allison walked alongside her younger brother. "How long have you been dating her?" The older girl asked suddenly, voicing her curiosity. "What?" Clay asked, not fully hearing the question. "You and your girlfriend. How long have you two been together?" His olded sister asked again, rephrasing her question slightly. "Oh, we've been together for almost a year. We've been dating for about eight months." The teenager replied, smiling softly to himself. "You two seem to be really close." The young woman said, recalling the countless times she had seen the couple together ever since she met her brother's girlfriend. "Yeah, we've known each other for a while, and I guess we've grown pretty close ever since we met." The blue-eyed teen said. "Can you invision having a future with  her?" The older girl asked, catching the 19-year-old off guard with the question. Her younger brother thought about the question before giving a small shrug of his shoulders. "Yeah. I mean, she's one of my close friends, and she makes me really happy whenever I'm with her. I can definitely see having a future with Hannah after college." Clay said, slightly blushing as he thought about it. "That's great. There's really no better situation than being in love with your best friend." Allison said with a bright smile. "Have you ever been in love with your best friend?" The boy asked curiously as he glanced at his sister. At the question, the older sibling sighed to herself. "No, I haven't. And, if I'm being completely honest with you, I've actually never been in love with anyone before." She confessed. The two became silent for a minute or so while Clay began thinking of what he could say or ask his older sister next.