Page 40 of Reluctant Chemistry

She bounded out the door to inspect the damage. Some idiot had written ‘teacher’s slut’ in shaving cream all over the back of the van. She grabbed a towel from her beach bag and a bottle of water and wiped the window clean, telling herself it was just sticks-and-stones crap.

But as she drove to Molly’s, she failed to restrain the tears.

20

Chemical Reaction

As one week slipped into the next, the distance between them increased. Apart from when he singled CeCe out to answer a question in class, they seldom talked at school. There was a coolness to her Luka found hard to ignore. And true to that old adage about wanting what you can’t have, he wanted precisely that—CeCe.

Alone in the darkness of his studio at night, Luka struggled to sleep, and when she walked past his desk after class, he wanted to reach for her hand, have her hesitate before relaxing at the touch of his fingertips feathering across her palm. To see those dimpled cheeks as she smiled.

The first few times Luka spotted hervan at Sandwater Bay, he kept on driving. It had become one of his favorite surfing spots along the coastal highway, but Piper Bay, five miles on, was almost as good, and CeCe never surfed there.

However, when he noticed the Kombi on this particular day, Luka didn’t want to travel farther. He wanted to watch CeCe in the lineup, to chuckle as she struggled to keep her balance and cheer her on when she did.

The sun sulking in the haze, he pulled into a parking space just shy of the sand dunes and searched for her in the water, wondering why she’d come here alone when the surf was so rough. Sure, the beach was seldom empty at this time of the day, but she wasn’t a particularly strong swimmer, which worried him.

But maybe she wasn’t alone. Why he’d made that assumption, he didn’t know.

Luka peered through the Kombi’s windows and tried the driver’s door, but it was locked. Worried, he searched the waves again, and as he turned to the south, he saw her jogging up the beach toward him. As she drew closer, CeCe slowed her stride to a walk, and when she reached him, bent over to catch her breath.

“Hi. I thought you must be in the water.”

Shielding her face from the sun with her hand, CeCe glanced at the surf. “Not today. Too much chop for me. Are you going in?”

“Maybe.”

“Actually, could you give me a ride home later? It’s on the way.”

Trying to gauge her mood, he frowned. Hesitated. “Is there a problem with the Kombi?”

“Yes. It won’t start. It’s not the battery—we just put a new one in last week. I’ve called one of my dad’s friends, who has a tow truck. But he’ll have his kids with him, so he won’t be able to give me a lift, and Mum and Dad are away. I was going to hitch a ride with someone, but since you’re here…”

“Sure. No problem.”

“Thanks. Joe said he’d take a while, so I’ll wait with the van.”

“Okay. I might go in for a bit. See you soon.”

The sand cool under his feet, Luka walked toward the waves, his board tucked under his arm and his heart rate elevating.It was the most she’d said to him in weeks. In some ways, it was as if CeCe the librarian was back, minus her dimpled smile and school uniform.

It had rained overnight, so the water was chilly, and as he waited in the lineup after several uneventful runs, he realized his heart was no longer in it. When the tow truck arrived not long after, Luka sat on his board and watched her interact with the driver—a stocky guy with a beer belly and a ponytail and dressed in a black tank, shorts, and flip-flops.

CeCe stepped forward, and they embraced in a bear hug. They chatted and laughed before the guy backed his truck into position and winched the VW onto its flatbed while she talked to the youngsters in the cab.

By the time Luka left the water, the truck and van were gone, and she sat next to his SUV, waiting for her ride.

“All good?” he asked.

“Yeah. Joe thinks it’s the starter motor. He’s going to look at it next week.”

While he opened the back door and grabbed a towel, CeCe climbed into the front seat, her sight fixed on the waves. Even when he sat beside her, she didn’t so much as steal a glance in his direction. Luka loathed this awkwardness, but he had no words either. They’d once lain naked in each other’s arms, talked well into the night. Now, it seemed, she couldn’t even stand to look at him.

Before starting the engine, he gazed out across the water one last time. Did she remember the days they’d spent here together? That hesitant touch as he’d brushed the sand from her face and tied her bikini straps in a bow?

He turned the key. Reversed. Headed toward the highway and took a left at the T-intersection. CeCe worried the butterfly around her neck, something he’d noticed she did when nervous.

“I meant to say thanks for passing my last assignment.”

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