Summer Love: Part 5 The Epilogue

***In Part 4, I was enjoying my last 30 minutes with Matt… and then I left***

August 3rd, 2011. It’s been a little over five years since my family has been to Bethany Beach. We came on a cloudy day to my mom’s friend’s beach house. There was traffic and an accident on the highway so we got there in the early afternoon. When we finally arrived, we headed up the wooden stairs with our belongings and my mom unlocked the door (my mom’s friend wasn’t here with us but she was going to be here in about 2 days). It was exactly the way it was five years ago. It was actually kind of nice to see it the way it is. After we unpacked, we decided that we would head out to the beach.

As we walked, I noticed a sign on the second balcony of the condo. It definitely wasn’t a good one. The sign said “For Sale: Ask Owner At (301)…” My heart just sank. It was Matt’s beach house and it was currently owned by someone from Maryland. After we went to the beach, we went to the town of Bethany Beach and we ate at the same restaurant from 5 years ago. After our meal and some tourist shopping, it was the evening and then we left town so that we would get a good night’s sleep.

On the 4th, it was a cloudy day so we decided that we would do some shopping at Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth. There I bought a new purse and my family bought clothes. After we were done shopping, we drove around to find restaurants that were near here. We eventually found one that everyone agreed on but we had to wait in line because the restaurant takes no reservations. Afterwards, we went back to the beach house.

The next day, we went to the beach early in the morning and we stayed there until 3pm. I only stayed in the water for a short amount of time for only 2 times. We came back home and then we went to do some grocery shopping. When we came back, my mom’s friend, Elena, came home with her friend and her daughter’s boyfriend. They were all sleeping because of the long trip they had to travel.

Elena heard us enter and then she woke up. She got up, sat herself down and began talking with us. In the middle of the conversation, she mentioned that this one boy had visited her beach house. I asked if it was Matt. She said that it wasn’t her there and she didn’t know who he was; it was one of her friends that shares the house that was there when he visited. I felt a little sad. I asked when he visited. She said that it was a year after I went to the beach. I was really sad when I heard that; he said that he only went to his beach house around the time of my birthday and I didn’t go that year because it was my quinceanera (which I went to Bolivia for it) . I couldn’t ask my mom’s friend to go there for my 16th birthday because it would be kind of impolite just to ask for the beach house. The years after that my mom’s friend didn’t have the beach house until this year. Now, it’s too late. Matt is gone and I never had the chance to say goodbye.

Almost toward the end of the conversation, Elena’s friend’s husband and daughter arrived with groceries of their own. The decided that they would make food for everyone so they brought everything culinary that they can use. Dinner was delicious and then my family decided that we would head into town one last time before we would leave in the morning. My family decided to go into the tourist shops but I told them that I wanted to go on the boardwalk. As I was wandering on the boardwalk, I stopped and I looked toward the ocean. Then, I wondered if Matt still remembers me. Truthfully, I barely remember what he looked like but I still remember the way that he was like. Even though we met for only one day, I still remember that day like it was just yesterday…

Summer Love: Part 4

***In Part 3, it was my last day at the beach. I met this boy named Matt and his two other friends…***

After I heard my dad say that I had 30 minutes to leave, Matt said to me that we had to make the best of it. So he and his friends invited me to throw their football. I have never thrown a football in my life and when I did I threw it right in the back of Matt’s head. Both of his friends started laughing. After my clumsy move, Matt wanted to get even with me. When I wasn’t looking he splashed me in the back of my head. When I turned around and asked him if he did it, he said that he didn’t do it. Then, it became an all out splash battle.

When we both got tired of splashing around, he asked me if I wanted to float on his inflatable raft. I said sure and he quickly got out of the water and brought it into the water. I hopped onto the raft while Matt and his friends held the raft. The waves were getting bigger. I immediately panicked and I jumped off the raft and headed toward the shore. Matt told me never to run from a wave but to go through it. In the end, I was knocked over by the wave and I fell onto the shore.

Then it was time for me to go. I went out of the water and then Matt and his friends joined me. I was carrying a beach chair and then Matt came running up to me. He asked if he will ever see me again. I said I don’t know. Then he asked me if I had a cell phone number. I said that I didn’t have a cell phone. Matt looked so sad and he turned back to pick up his stuff.

As we were heading back into my mom’s friend’s beach house, Matt and his friends weren’t too far behind from us. We entered the wooden beach house and i looked back and I didn’t see Matt. My family and I prepared ourselves and packed all of our stuff into our bags. As I was carrying some of the stuff into the van, I hear these cooing noises. I tried to find out where it was coming from and then I looked into the condo right across from me. It was Matt and his two other friends sitting at the second floor of a two story condo. Matt was the one cooing like a pigeon at me.

All of a sudden, my sister comes out from the house and starts saying outloud like a parrot “Idiot, rah, idiot, idiot.” After that happened, I told my sister to help me finish packing the stuff into the van. Once we packed all of the stuff into the van, it was time for us to leave. My mom’s friend locked the house and we headed down the wooden stairs. I first went into the car just so that I could be in the backseat just to look back. As my dad backed up the car into the street, I looked back and I saw that Matt was just watching me. I didn’t look away for a second. But that moment ended as soon as my dad turned at the corner and I couldn’t see Matt’s beach house anymore.

***Next Week’s Post: The Epilogue… Will I see Matt again???***

Summer Love: Part 3

***In Part 2, my family and I explored the town… It was my birthday and I made a wish…***

It was Sunday July 30th… The day we had to leave the beach. Before we left, we decided to enjoy our stay at the beach one last time. I had the chance to try on that new bikini that my parents had bought me for my birthday. Everyone was waiting for me at the beach and I was the only one back at the beach house. Soon I walked to the beach and I saw my mom and her friend near the water. Once I got there, my mom and dad went into the water.

They wanted me to come into the water but I refused… I really didn’t want what happened to me the other day. All of a sudden, I see these three boys in the water. They were talking to my mom and telling her that I should go into the water. They were literally cheering me on just to enter the water. I eventually did go in… And I made everyone so happy including those boys.

As I waded into the water, one of the three boys, whose name was Matt, came over to me and asked if I wanted to join them. I said sure I would like to join them. Matt had blond hair with hazel/brown eyes and he was 5’6″ while I was at the time 5’4″. He asked me how old I was and I said that I just turned 14. He was excited to hear that I was 14 because he was 14 as well. So we both were getting ready to go into high school. What was even more shocking was that we lived in the same state and we were about 30 minutes away from each other! He told me that he’s been to this beach a lot ever since he was 4 years old. This was my first time being here.

Anyways, Matt and his friends were throwing a football in the water while I just swam around them. I was having trouble doing so because I was still going over the waves but Matt stopped throwing the ball and he came over to me saying that I was supposed to go through the wave and not over it. He even held out his hand for me so that I could hold it when we would both go through the next wave. He said “Trust me.”

We both went through the wave and it was definitely easier than going over it. While he was near me, he asked if I’ve been to the boardwalk at night. I said no and he asked if I would like to go with him. I told him that I would love to but I couldn’t because I was leaving this afternoon.

Just as soon as I said that, my dad shouted to me from the shore saying that we needed to leave in 30 minutes…

***Next Week’s Post: The last half hour of my time at Bethany Beach… Is it the end???***

Summer Love: Part 2

***In Part 1, the beginning days of my stay in Bethany Beach***

It’s the 29th of July… and it was my birthday!!! My dad woke me up early so that I could go to the beach. I was wearing my blue one piece swimsuit and I brought with me a yellow boogie board that was in my mom’s friend’s storage. The sky was clearer than the day before. At noon, we left the beach and we prepared ourselves to go into town.

We went into downtown Bethany Beach to check out bookstores and tourist shops. We were just wandering on the boardwalk and looking to see if there were any bargains. As we passed by, I became interested into a certain store that sold swimsuits. I tried on a bikini and I loved how it looked on me. My parents thought that this bikini would be my birthday present and they bought it for me. My sister on the other hand had gotten a little hermit crab to take care of.

After a while, we (my entire family and my mom’s friend) were growing hungry. We went into this restuarant called Mango’s and they served us some pretty delicious food. After we left the restaurant, we saw a band playing in the center of the town. When we returned to my mom’s friend’s house, we all enjoyed a slice of chocolate with chocolate chips cake. It was my birthday so my parents placed candles on the cake. I made my wish before I blew out the candles. My wish was: “I wish to have a boyfriend.”

***Next Week’s Post: The day after my birthday… Will my wish come true???***

Summer Love: Part 1

It was the summer of 2006. On the 27th of July, my entire family went to Bethany Beach. We were invited by one of my mom’s friends to stay over in her beach house there. She owned a private beach house and shared it with three of her other friends. Her friends and herself took turns staying in the house for 3 months each. It was now my mother’s friend’s turn to stay in the house. When we arrived at night, the house was entirely made out of wood… and we later found out that it had no air conditioning. It was one of the earliest beach houses ever built… the rest of the neighborhood was made out of new condominiums.

It was the morning of the 28th and I woke up early to see the sunrise at the beach which was probably a couple of houses down. It was beautiful and serene… hours later my family and I got to the beach and my family began to swim in the ocean. I was terrified of the waves so I pretty much just stayed underneath the beach umbrella that we brought. My mom told me that I should come in the water. I really didn’t want to go but it was getting hotter and I thought that maybe the water was cooler. I hesitated going into the water but I eventually went in…

Just as I entered the water, a huge wave took me by surprise and slammed me against the shore. (I didn’t know at the time that you are supposed to go through the wave and not over it.) Then, the rip-tide pulled me back into the water and another wave thrased me around like a rag doll. I couldn’t breathe but I ran as fast as I could away from the water.

After I got out of the water, the sky turned gray and the wind picked up. Something wasn’t right. My family started packing as quickly as we could. Suddenly it started raining and thundering and the wind was picking up sand and chairs and an empty Coca-Cola box at us. It was that strong. Luckily, the beach house wasn’t that far or else we would have trekked very far. As quickly as it happened, it disappeared.

***Next Week’s Post: My birthday is the following day… Maybe I’ll get a big present!!!***

NEW POST COMING SOON!!!

Hi Blog Readers!!! ^-^ I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to blog for quite a long time but… My next post will be scheduled to be visible to all of my viewers this coming Monday October 17th!!! Stay tuned for updates and the actual post!!!

^-^ Sincerely,

Manga Maria

My Final ~Flamenco~ Fantasy Part 4

***In part 3, I found out the new dancer’s name is Carlos. The show was a success. Duncan came to the after party. And I started taking summer workshops with Carlos and the girls.***

Sadly the last day had come. I wanted to continue the practice but it finished. After class, I went to this water fountain that the building had because I forgot my water bottle at home. Just right after I left the water fountain, I went into this hallway. All of a sudden and out of nowhere was Carlos. He was coming towards me and I told him I had to go. He told me to wait.

I did and then I heard what no one has ever told me before. He said this in spanish of course ,”You have the passion for Flamenco like I do. I want you to become the next great Flamenco dancer.” Then I told him I’m not that pretty enough and I’m too fat (back then I had some self-body image issues). He said this while gently holding my arms,”You are the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen and you have the perfect body figure for Flamenco. It would be my honor to dance with you one day on stage together.”

I was shocked while hearing this. All I could look at was his face. In the corner of my eye I could see some of the girls staring at us from the end of the hallway. Then I smiled and then I said to him, “I will be the next great flamenco dancer.” I thanked him, I kissed on both of his cheeks and I said goodbye.

As I was driving back home, all these things kept popping in my head like I should have known the signs. He was always looking at me when he first entered the theater for the show practices. He might have been looking at me when I was changing costumes for the shows. He disciplined me more than anyone else during the workshop practices (and I literally wasn’t that bad). Those were big clues showing that he liked me.

That was the last time that I had seen Carlos. That was also the last time since I’ve seen my teacher’s dance studio. I had to quit. I shouldn’t have because I made a promise to Carlos. At the end of June 2010, I was able to get tickets to go to my teacher’s flamenco show. It felt odd sitting in the seats instead of performing on stage. After the show, I got to see all of my classmates and I went to that restaurant with everyone. That year Carlos wasn’t a part of the show; it was Sergio. I was a bit relieved in one way and kind of sad. I was relieved that I didn’t have to tell him upfront that I quit. I was kind of sad because Sergio was nowhere near compared to Carlos.

It is almost summer of 2011 and I’ll definitely support my friends back at my teacher’s dance group by buying a ticket to go to their show. I might even get to sit and eat with the girls at that restaurant. But what I definitely want to do this summer is start taking up my dance lessons again. I had the passion, lost the interest, and I found my motivation. I will never lose sight on dancing ever again.

My Final ~Flamenco~ Fantasy Part 3

***In part 2, I started losing concentration in my practices. Yet I improved a lot more since when I had began. After our practices, we were finally ready for the June show. Instead of Sergio, there was this other dancer who came from Spain.***

Carlos. That was his name. The girls told me that they found out from the teacher’s daughter. All of the girls were head over heals just by looking at him. I wasn’t so much because I had a boyfriend and that was enough for me. The only time that I looked at him was when he was performing on stage during practice. He danced with so much passion and it feels like you can feel those feelings of each and every song. Sergio was different. He had those feelings on stage but he couldn’t express them well enough. They both had an equal amount of skill though.

Anyways, it was the end of June of 2009 and we were preforming on 2 days. One of those 2 days Duncan was going to be there. I was ready. I felt like I could take on the world. The first performance on the first day was spectacular. The second day was even better. Duncan was there on the second day. After the show he was there waiting for me with a bouquet of flowers.

And as always there is the after party at one of the local restaurants. Duncan came with me there. I introduced everyone to him and they all liked him. Then came the hour when my teacher, her daughter and Carlos arrived. We had to make more room for the teacher’s daughter and for Carlos. we had about 8 girls and 2 boys sitting at 1 table. It still felt kind of awkward because of the fact that Duncan doesn’t know too much Spanish. Most of the time I was the one talking because I was the designated translator. Other than that the night went pretty well.

The week after the performance there were these workshops that Carlos was going to be teaching. He was only going to do that for a week and then he would go back to Spain. So I decided that I would go just to improve my technique and foot work. I mean he has been dancing Flamenco for most of his life and this was only my second year. I didn’t get to see all of the advanced students take the class because some of them wanted to enjoy their summer vacations.

So it was just me, a few other girls younger than me and a couple of older women. Everyone followed his instructions and then he fixed our little flaws if it wasn’t to his standards. As quickly as the practices started they ended. The practices were only 1 & 1/2 hours so they went by quick.

*** Find out on Monday May 9th what happens in my last post!!!***

My Final ~Flamenco~ Fantasy Part 2

***In part one, I had my humble beginnings, my first show and after party.***

It was the fall of 2008, I was a junior (16) and I started back up my Flamenco classes. We were learning new dances and new songs to play with the castanets. I was learning new footwork or zapateados. Junior year also meant that I stopped taking PE. So that meant I had to do twice the excercise than I did sophmore year to keep up my agility.

In the beginning of this year’s Flamenco classes, I was able to give my 100% attention to dancing. But I slowly started losing my attention when Duncan came into my life. I mean I still went to practices and I gave all of my effort. But I was losing my concentration in dancing. I always thought that I could find someone to dance Flamenco with. Realistically that can’t happen. The odds of finding a straight male flamenco dancer are very slim.

Well we practiced so much harder this year because we have all the new dances to learn. I was able to add the castanets to the Sevillanas, the most famous form of Flamenco dancing. But in addition to that type of dancing, I learned new folklore dances. The folklore dances were so much fun to do. It made me feel special to preform folklore dances with the advanced children than no folklore dances with the adults.

It was June of 2009 and it was almost time to perform our show. My teacher said that this new male dancer from Spain was going to join us. All of the girls were wondering what happened to Sergio and what was the new dancer’s name. She didn’t say anything that day. All I hoped was that this new dancer is gay. That was because I was dating Duncan since the beginning of that year.

Anyways, the week before the show the new dancer appeared with my teacher at the theater. The immediate response from the girls was that he was tall, dark and handsome. Which would be all true to describe him. He was tall, he wore dark/black clothes even black legwarmers for practice, and he did look handsome because he was a real Spaniard. He had black hair and very stylish sideburns. That’s all I could tell from looking from far away while he was on stage.

***Find out on Friday May 6 about his name and what happens next!!!***

My Final ~Flamenco~ Fantasy Part 1

It’s been a little over a year since Duncan broke up with me. But what I missed the most wasn’t anything to do with him. It was dancing. Flamenco more specifically. I haven’t danced ever since June of 2009. I had to quit flamenco for senior year in high school because I was busy with college decisions and homework. But let me go back to the beginning…

It was the fall of 2007, I was 15 and I was going to be a sophmore in my HS. I felt like I wanted to stand out this year by doing something different. I decided I wanted to dance flamenco. It was during the summer that I saw this flamenco show that was in DC and I was inspired to dance. Anyways, I enrolled and little to my knowledge I was enrolled in the childrens group. Well I was young and a beginner after all.

Well, I felt like an older sister compared to the kids I was with. So I asked the teacher (from Spain)  if I could go into my kind of age group. She replied saying that I would need to be in the advanced group. That gave me the incentive to practice as hard as I could not only the footwork and arms but also the castanets. One day, I had earned the right to dance with the advanced children and no doubt the approval of the teacher (who is really strict).

So at the end of the year we hold this show for everyone to see the dances that we had practiced. But there was something that I wasn’t expecting from the teacher to say. She said that there was going to be a dancer from Spain who is going to perform with us. She later told us it was a teenage boy. All the girls in the advanced group were telling me that they never had a teenage boy perform (they always had a man). Also the girls were kind of excited. (Oh and all of us were females… there were no guys in any of the groups, young and old).

The show practices were held in the theater where we were going to perform. When the teacher came on the first day, she brought the dancer from Spain. She never told us any of us his name but we found out from her later that his name was Sergio. As we were practicing in the theater they were playing music and playing with the lights. But as he was dancing, the lighting was perfect and he was perfectly in sync with the music.

June 2008, it was soon time for the show. I was excited because this was my first performance. Being backstage was going to be very hot because of the vanity lights and it was kind of cramped. I had a lot of costumes to change into and all of the time I wore my black leotard and my white tights underneath those costumes. As we went on-stage, off-stage and back-stage, I only saw glimpses of Sergio dance and/or his outfit changes.

At the end of the performance, we had people applaud for us, Sergio and my teacher. We then had the after show party held at a local restaurant. The teacher always arrives last that way we all can congradulate her for her job well done. But she also brings along Sergio because it’s a tradition to bring all of their Spanish dancers to this restaurant.

At first he was sticking with my teacher, all of the girls were kind of together and they wanted him to come over. My teacher “nudged” him to go over there. He eventually did. I thought it was unfair of us to demand someone to sit with us. He might have felt better in his comfort zone. Anyways, we had many spanish speakers in the house so it wasn’t that difficult for him to speak with us.

But of course we asked him the big question… “Are you gay?” He replied no. I was the only one to be around his age but I didn’t say anything about that. The girls then asked if he had a girlfriend and he said no. I thought this was going to be like 20 questions of him about his personal life. So I changed the subject to revolve about Flamenco and that was pretty much our night which turned into the early morning.

***Find out what happens next on my next post of My Final ~Flamenco~ Fantasy on Tuesday May 3!!!***