Page 33 of Something Like Summer
“Maybe later.”
Ben begged him to revealwhat he had said a few more times, but Tim was adamant. Instead hestarted digging around in the sand, looking for shells that weren’tbroken to take as souvenirs. This led to them digging a moat,followed by the inevitable building of a sand castle. It wasn’t theright kind of sand though, so all they could build was a shapelessmound of sand. Ben made a limp flag out of some seaweed and a stickand stuck it in the top, dubbing itPopocatépetl.
The night had finallyarrived in full, the temperature dropping. Ben was about to suggestthey leave when a laugh came from further down the beach. Raucousvoices soon joined it as a group of silhouettes moved toward them.Ben hoped not to be noticed in the dark, but as the strangerspassed there were puzzled murmurs before one of the voices calledout. Tim answered, causing a few to scream and the others togiggle.
The group walked towardthem, the distant streetlights illuminating five girls, all collegeage or older. Each had a beer in hand, two of them carryinghalf-empty twelve-packs in the other. The girls were all boneyclones of each other, except for one who was stocky and confident.She was the first to speak to them in a thick Bronxaccent.
“What are you two doingout here? On a date or something?”
“No,” Tim laughed. “Whatabout you?”
“We’re not lezzes! Ew!”mocked one of the girls in the background to the others’amusement.
“That one is kind ofcute,” murmured one of the voices.
“How old are you guys?”challenged the ringleader.
“Old enough,” Tim retortedto their delight.
“You guys want abeer?”
“Yeah, I need to sit,”whined a girl with bleached blonde hair. “Let’s drink one withthem.”
The girls jostled forposition on the sand, ending up forming a circle like some strangecouncil. The ringleader sat directly in front of them while the twoprettiest flocked to Tim’s side. Nearest Ben was a fair-haired girlwith timid posture who risked a sympathetic glance in his directionbefore looking away.
Tim eagerly accepted thebeer. Ben turned it down, as the designated driver, which caused around of laughter. They handed him one anyway. He sipped at itmoodily, not drinking more than the bare minimum.
“You guys go to collegearound here?” asked the brunette nearest to Tim.
“Yeah, we sure do.” Heturned and winked openly at Ben.
“Which one?”
Tim paused. He hadn’t beenin Texas long enough to bluff his way through this one.
“Texas A&M,” Benfilled in for him. The college wasn’t remotely local, but the girlsdidn’t react, proving they were here on vacation. They barelyacknowledged his response. All attention was focused on Tim, likedogs eyeing a juicy piece of meat. Ben hoped this wasn’t how heusually appeared.
They continued grilling Timthrough his first beer. By his second they were trying to outdoeach other to gain his approval. Some told of their raunchyexploits back home. One tried humor and failed miserably. The girlnearest to Tim relied on physical charm, finding excuses to makebodily contact with him. So far she seemed to be in the lead. Onlythe bashful girl next to Ben refrained from these games. Shestarted a cautious conversation with Ben about what life was likein Texas, which he found hard to focus on while keeping an eye onthe proceedings.
When Tim stood to answer acall of nature, the brunette rose with him, wrapping an arm aroundhis torso to help him walk. This caused a chorus of “oooohs” fromthe other girls that set Ben’s teeth on edge. He tried to followthem with his eyes as they left, but they were soon lost to thedark.
It was hard to judge howmuch time passed before they came back, but every minute wasgrueling. When Tim did show his face again, he wasgrinning.
“I’m afraid, ladies, thatwe must take our leave,” he said.
“No way! Come and party atour hotel!” the brunette insisted.
“Tell us where you’restaying and we might come by later,” he suggested.
Ben couldn’t wait to leaveas they all clamored to give Tim the information. He didn’t sayanything further until they were back on the ferry, looking overthe edge at the churning water below.
“That brunette sure seemedfond of you,” Ben prompted, making sure to keep his voice neutral.He was certain that acting jealous wasn’t going to earn him anypoints.
“Yeah, she was all over mewhen I went to pee.”
“Really?” Ben asked,visualizing the girl being swept away by the tides while he pointedand laughed. “What happened?”
“Nothing much.” Tim smiledcoyly. “She shoved her tongue down my throat and started gropingme, but I really had to piss. I barely managed to push her away soI could.”
