Page 9 of The Beach House
“Honey, I’m a mom. It’s my job to remind you all about the embarrassing things you did when you were a kid.”
I laughed again, and sat on the end of my bed so I was facing June. She put a hand on my knee.
“Don’t get me wrong, Elle. I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. I know you’re both in love. But right now, it’s easy. When Noah leaves for college, it’s going to take a lot more work. I want you both to go into that with your eyes open.”
“Have you had this talk with Noah as well?” I couldn’t help asking.
She nodded. “I’m not trying to be the bad guy here and say it won’t work out, or that you shouldn’t try. That’s not what I’m doing. I’d just hate to see you get hurt. I want to make sure you’ve both really thought about this. Relationships aren’t like the fairy tales, Elle. It takes work.”
I didn’t know what to say. I knew she wanted a different answer than the one I was going to give her.
“Just a mom’s perspective on things,” she said, holding her hands up in defense. Then she pushed herself off the bed. “I’ll let you get some rest. You’re probably asleep on your feet.”
I managed a smile. She was right; another few minutes and I’d be sleeping standing up. It had been a long day.
I said good night to June, and after she left I sat still for a moment, staring at the closed door. There were scratches on the faded wood where Lee and I had marked each other’s height every year. I stared at the notches blankly, a jumble of thoughts running through my head.
It was going to work out for me and Noah, right? A long-distance relationship?
Therewouldbe a hell of a distance between us, plus a couple of hours’ time difference. And being with Noah had almost cost me Lee’s friendship. It hadn’t exactly been easy to get to this point.
But I didn’t want to lose Noah. I didn’t want us to break up. I wanted a long-distance relationship and for us to make it work.
Did he feel the same way, though?
June’s apprehension clung to me. I wondered if, despite having the best intentions, she’d made Noah doubt all this too.
Because what if he didn’t want to give it a shot now? What if—
“Knock, knock?”
Lee. I got up, opening the door. He smiled that easy smile of his, holding a steaming mug in each hand. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
I took the mug he handed to me. “Hot chocolate in the middle of summer?”
“Of course!” he said, grinning. He sat down on his bed facing me, where his mom had been only minutes before. “Mom said you looked like you needed it. What’s up?”
“Nothing’s up. It’s—”
He groaned. “What’s my mom said to you now?”
“Nothing! Well, I mean, no, she was saying…She didn’t say it in so many words, but she obviously thinks me and Noah shouldn’t try staying together when he goes to college, and I just…I don’t know! Does he even want to stay with me? He’s never had a long-term relationship,ever.He probably wants to break up at the end of summer so he can find some really hot, really smart girl who he actually sees and who doesn’t live all the way across the country, you know? It’s like—”
“Whoa, okay, hold it right there or you’re going to lose me,” Lee interrupted. I sipped at my hot chocolate. “First off, he won’t want to break up with you. End of conversation.”
“You’re really, really helpful sometimes, you know that?”
“I do know that.”
I shook my head. “You know what, it doesn’t even matter. Forget I said anything.”
Lee looked ready to push it, toreallytalk to me. And he was my best friend. I could talk to him about anything.
But not this.
This wasn’t a conversation I had to have with Lee. It was one I had to have with Noah.
So before he could open his mouth, I said, “What’s going on when Rachel gets here, anyway? Where’s she sleeping?”
