Page 67 of Second Tide's the Charm
“Ten to one he’s asking to fly the drone,” Adrian says in an undertone, and I chuckle. Gabe was the first one to get off the boat, backpack extended overhead to keep it dry, and splash his way through the shallows to shore. He’s chatting animatedly with Jason, and the scientist keeps dodging glances at the boat, a curious grin on his face.
Adrian hops over the edge of the boat, landing in the waist-deep water, and I pass him his bag. “Did you really think he wouldn’t?”
“No. He wouldn’t be where he is if he were shy.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?” He clutches the bag to his chest. His muscled forearms are distracting, and the way he grips the bag effortlessly has me back to our last kiss, when he lifted me up and hauled me against him like he was ready to devour me.
Not thoughts a friend should entertain, and I pull my focus back to the conversation. “You’re not shy, but you’re not an attention-seeker. How is this so intuitive for you?”
“Because the spotlight isn’t on me,” he says. “It’s on the research, and the scientists we work with. People might come to my page to get a glimpse of me, but the channel is focused on education.” He hoists the bag onto one shoulder and splashes a few steps farther away as a wave sends the boat rocking. “When I look at it that way, sharing a little bit of myself online isn’t such a hardship.”
Marissa comes over and lowers herself to sit on the edge of the open door, her feet dangling off the side of the boat. Just as she hoists herself up to slide into the water, a low hum whizzes past my ear and I duck instinctively. Marissa flails her arms and tumbles forward, landing in a belly flop that Adrian stumbles backward to avoid, narrowly keeping his balance. She splutters to the surface, water streaming down her face, clothes drenched.
“Sorry!” Gabe shouts from the beach, holding up the drone controller. He shrugs, an incorrigible smile visible even at this distance. “Blooper reel?”
“I’ll show you a blooper reel,” Marissa grumbles under her breath, and I look down to hide my smile. I don’t know yet what’s ahead, but I’m going to miss this.
We’re filming for the first part of the day on the beach so Jason can talk about how drones can be used to track sharks in shallow water. This has far-reaching applications for everything from population monitoring to reducing human/shark interactions. The day is hot, but I’m buzzing with energy. If I get the internship in California, I’ll be doing this type of research.
The others are conferring over the interview portion, and I hang back a little to give them space—Jason seems a little nervous about the interview questions, and I know the feeling. He tugs a folded piece of paper out of his shorts pocket. “I wrote down answers to the list of potential questions you sent over.”
“Awesome,” Adrian says. “Basically, we’ll just do a who, what, when, where, why, and how of your current research.”
Gabe steps forward, camera in hand. “How being the fun part.”
“Guessing that means the UAV?” Jason smiles, relaxing a little at the mention of the tech. “Gadgets always seem to catch people’s attention.”
“Between the drone and the sharks, can’t go wrong,” Marissa says. While they confer about whether to do the interview first or launch the drone, I take the chance to grab a snack from my bag, checking my phone in the process.
There’s a new message from Zuri, and it’s about twice as long as her normal texts. A knot of dread forms in the pit of my stomach and I scan it quickly, worried something happened to the kids. But it’s not about the kids, it’s about me.
Zuri: FYI I just found out a lot of people in town know about your videos. I was talking with another mom at Leo’s soccer practice who said she follows a bunch of nature accounts and the algorithm recommended one of Adrian’s videos (she knew his name, so that whole explanation was highly sus...I think she follows him for more than just the shark content) and she recognized you in it.
While I’m reading, another text comes through, and Marissa glances my way at the interruption.
“Sorry,” I mumble, silencing it and reading the next text with a growing sense of dread.
Zuri: Leo’s friend’s dad overheard us, and he said he saw it too and thought you looked familiar. He’d seen you when he picked up his kid from my house a couple times. Apparently a few of his friends also follow Adrian, and it got me thinking, Owen McHugh is still friends with like half our classmates. What if one of them knows about the channel and mentions it to him?
Granola bar in hand, I type out a quick response.
Hope: What’s the worst he could do? I barely talk in the videos. My one screwup was on a livestream, and it wasn’t anything damaging.
Zuri: That’s true. I guess I just went to worst-case scenario. Sorry if I stressed you out.
Hope: No worries. You’re protective. It’s part of what makes you a good mom.
Zuri: I think you misspelled friend.
Hope: Did I?
A shadow falls over me and a moment later, Adrian squats down next to me, concern etched in his brow. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, Zuri just gave me a heads-up that a lot of people in town are fans of yours.” I force a smile, though the granola bar no longer looks appetizing. “Including a mom who may or may not be following you for thirst reasons.”
He makes an ick face. “Does it bother you?”
