Page 10 of On Fire Island

Jake yelled out to her through the fence, “In the house by seventeen hundred hours, Dylan.”

“Yes, sir!” she called back, making a sarcastic salute.

“My grandma is coming for dinner,” she explained to Matty.

“That’s OK. I’m kind of excited to be alone in my house for a little.”

I was sure each of his parents had been hovering over him for months. Either out of worry, or out of making their case. Poor kid.

As Matty and Dylan rode the sandy sidewalks in silence for the five-minute trip from the dock to his house, you could almost feel their bond reignite. They arrived at the ball field on our corner, where Matty’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. He jumped from the bike before it fully stopped.

“What the hell is that?”

Dylan disembarked and leaned her bike against the backstop fence to join him—gaping in awe at the forty-five-foot net that had been erected between the field and the tennis courts over thewinter. She had watched it go up (there’s not much to do in the off-season), but it still amazed her. I thought it was pretty unbelievable as well.

“You didn’t hear about the twenty-five-thousand-dollar net?”

I had, but it was obvious that Matty had not. Ben and his friends had been placing odds all winter over who would be the first to hit one over it. They were considering starting a pool.

“Wow, no, I didn’t. I guess it will stop the balls from flying over the fence.”

“That’s the hope—though I always kind of loved it when they did.”

We stood, myself included, and reflected on the monster shots of seasons past: the smack of the ball hitting the bat at that sweet spot, followed by loud cries from the players on the field of “Heads up!” and even louder curses from the pissed-off tennis players ducking for cover as an errant softball descended from above. We were all a wee bit disappointed that the show would now be over.

Matty took the sentimental moment to reach down, touch Dylan’s face, and kiss her briefly on the lips. She took an odd step back in response. It obviously hurt his feelings, which embarrassed him. He blushed.

“What’s up, Dyl?”

“Nothing—I just have to get something off my chest.”

His face instantly filled with worry, as if he were kicking himself for thinking that she was still in the same place she had been when he left. It had been a long year, and she very well could have a boyfriend. I hoped an unwelcome surprise wasn’t coming his way—he’d had more than enough unwelcome surprises of late.

Dylan attended high school off-island, so there were endless prospects in the boyfriend department, aside from the possibility of someone local. Matty worked a summer job as a delivery boy atthe market with another kid—Corey—who was a year-rounder like Dylan. I hoped it wasn’t him. I didn’t care for him at all—he never bothered shutting the screen door behind him or thanking me for a tip. I knew Matty didn’t like him either. Poor Matty.

Dylan was really taking her time answering, staring at her feet and kicking the dirt around home plate. Embarrassment, about what I didn’t know, landed firmly on her cheeks. Matty noticed too.

“Dylan, don’t worry about it. I thought we would start where we left off, but if you’re not into it, that’s cool.”

Dylan laughed, and her complexion went from crimson to scarlet. I was beginning to feel for her more than Matty—the pull of the sisterhood and all.

“No, no. That’s not it. I want—I mean—you know how I’m going to college in September?” she managed.

Dylan was a year older than Matty and two years ahead of him in school. She had skipped a grade on account of being really smart and also because the Fire Island elementary school had so few students that they combined grades when she was young. By the time she went to Bay Shore Middle School she was way ahead of the other kids. She was headed to UC San Diego in September to study marine biology, and while she presented now as insecure and green she was anything but. She was the epitome of competence and confidence. Dylan Finley never met a race she didn’t win.

Matty had had enough of this uncomfortable exchange.

“It’s cool, Dylan, I get it.”

“You don’t get it. Between growing up here without my mom, and only being seventeen when I start school—I feel like everyone is going to be so much more experienced than me.”

“Please, Dylan, I’m sure those California kids have nothing on you—in class or in the ocean.”

“That’s not the experience I’m talking about.”

She was obviously upset, he was obviously confused, but like the good egg he was, he gave her a comforting hug. Dylan relished it for a bit and then broke away, blurting out her big admission in one breath.

“I don’t want to go away to college a virgin!”

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