Page 50 of The Summers of Us

With the sixth shell safe in my palm and the rest in Everett’s pockets, we raced back to the towels. Our feet hit the wet part of the sand and sent water splashing behind us. At base camp, Holden was half-buried in the sand, Haven slapping sand over his legs into the shape of a mermaid tail.

I used Everett’s coquinas to decorate his tail with constellations. Scorpio, Libra, and Gemini, for the four of us. I admired my work, smiling so wide I could tell the sun had burnt my cheeks into roses.

Once Holden wrestled himself outof the mermaid tail, we decided to leave. After a final wash-off in the ocean, we headed back to our bikes. On the way, Haven got a bright idea.

“Us locals don’t have the privilege of an oceanfront pool,” Haven whispered. She signaled for us to be quiet and stopped us at the gate of a motel, right by a trash can humming with flies.

We lay low until a family passed by and opened the gate. Haven caught up to them before it locked, smiling innocently at the dad. “Sorry, we forgot our pool key.” She put her phone to her ear and waved to a random window. “Mom, we’re at the pool now. See us?”

We got the hint and smiled and waved at the same nobody.

I looked at the unsuspecting guests and wondered if they even cared about trespassers.

“Great. Promise we’ll be safe and head up soon. Love you!”

“You’re a genius,” Everett whispered.

“I know.” Haven shrugged and cranked an outdoor shower on.

I stood under my own cold shower, basking in the swampy smell of island tap water. I watched the sun turn a patch of mist into a rainbow. I watched Everett, too.

He stared face-first at his shower head, eyes closed and his hands wiping sand off the curves on his face.

He was the cutest boy I had ever seen.

Even more so when he turned the water off and shook out his hair in the sunlight. I swore he moved in slow motion. I swore a band played a crescendo somewhere in the distance.

I was being ridiculous, watching him like some creep when I had more important things to worry about.

Hadley being gone this summer.

Haven and all the questions buzzing around her.

Making sure not to let my guard down for Mom.

I turned the water off, standing there soaking wet, practically taking a second shower from the water trapped in my hair. I laughed to myself. How insane was I that after a perfect beach day pulled from the book sleeping in my bag, my thoughts had to ruin it?

I couldn’t think about that.

All I could think about was jumping in a pool—safe from a world where I didn’t belong.

Age 15, June 21

My bikini straps dug intothe cherry red skin on my neck. I could tell from the rinse-off in the Rivera-Sanchezes’ outdoor shower that today’s sunburn would be a doozy. I threw myself on Haven’s bed and spread out like a starfish. “God, it feels so good in here.”

“I can’t believe how long we were outside today.”

“I got so burnt.” I pressed white handprints into my arm and watched them turn red again. I shouldn’t have been surprised. After the pool, we went out for burgers and ate them at a picnic table with a broken umbrella. I didn’t think I would bethatsunburnt while we were out there. But tans never showed up until later; the sun needed time to soak in. I wanted to be tan for the rest of the summer, but I would probably end up peeling burnt skin off my shoulders like fruit stickers from an orange.

“You need this?” Haven held out a bottle of aloe that she and Holden had definitely never used. It was the same one from under their sink last summer, sealed and filled to the brim with bubbly green gel.

I twisted open the bottle. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Haven changed into one of Santiago’s tee shirts and threw her closet doors open dramatically. Her wavy, black hair had dried double its usual size, cascading down her back. “You need a clean shirt?”

“Am I staying the night?” I rubbed the cold aloe on my red skin.

“Duh.” She looked back at me, eyebrows raised. “I can’t watchBlue Crushand bake a cake at midnight all by myself.” She gave a Hammerhead’s shirt a questionable-pile-of-laundry smell test before throwing it at me. “That’s Holden’s. Don’t tell him I stole it.”

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