Shame burned Summer’s cheeks and she threw herself onto her bed, fighting tears. Because Mom had every right to be suspicious, and Summer hated her for that.
Her phone buzzed on the bedside table and she grabbed it, turning off the warning alarm to leave for school. After holding it a minute, she punched out a text to Tobey with her thumb.
Miss u
She didn’t expect a reply. Tobey worked most mornings and if he wasn’t at the shop, he was hooking up with Lola.
Just a couple more weeks, dudette! How are the waves?
His rapid response made her sit up, but she smiled. Of course that’s what Tobey would want to know. Not how she was or if she’d made friends or what school was like. He’d want to know if the waves, the exact same ocean he spent every day in, were any good farther south.
Looks good. Haven’t gone in yet.
She climbed out of bed and dug through her boxes to find a hoodie.
What have you been doing?
She couldn’t tell him about Bas. Not yet.
I just moved, remember?
Her backpack felt suspiciously light and she poked around until she found a textbook kicked under her bed.
Summer. I love you. But you have to go catch some waves for me. Like now.
She shook her head.
I’ve been skating. Just went this morning. Landed the 720.
NICE!
With a flick of her wrist, she secured her long hair in a ponytail. Now I gotta go to school. TTYL?
Yup. Lo says hi and stop interrupting our makeout time.
Unfortunately Summer could picture that all too well.
Gross dude.
She tucked her phone into her backpack and ran out the door, slamming it instead of telling Mom good-bye.
“Hi.” Bastian leaned against the locker next to Summer’s, arms loosely crossed over his chest. Behind his thick glasses, his eyes sparkled and danced, moving over her face, drinking her in, savoring the sight of her.
“Hi.” She smiled back, but it faded as she took in his face. She touched the tips of her fingers to his cheek. “Are you okay? You look tired.”
He lifted the shoulder that wasn’t pressed against the metal. “My knee hurts and Tylenol isn’t touching it.”
“And you can’t take anything else because they’re all blood thinners.”
A smile twitched at his lips. “You’ve been reading.”
She blushed. “Is that weird?”
“I don’t know.” Again, the shrug. Like he didn’t really have any energy left for more. “Makes it a little easier than having to explain everything. What about you? You have that trapped look again.”
She bent her head to zip her bag. “My mom freaked out because I was late this morning.”
“She probably should have. Those guys are ass wipes.”
She touched his arm, his skin drawing her fingers to him like a magnet. His eyes swept from her hand until they reached hers. “Thanks again.”
A slow, steady smile spread until it reached his eyes, finally lighting them enough that he looked like himself. He pushed away from the locker. “Any time. Or not. I’d rather neither of us end up in a fight.”
“Sounds good.”
He gave her hand a quick squeeze. “See you in art?”
“Sure.” She couldn’t stop grinning—or remember why she’d want to.
“He looks happy,” Abby said, falling into step beside her.
Summer’s face warmed—Summer, who couldn’t remember half the boys she’d kissed. “I hope.” She snapped her mouth shut, not entirely sure why she’d admitted something so private to a girl she barely knew.
Abby studied her, eyes moving across her face in a slow, systematic way. “You’re good for him.”
Summer stopped walking. “Me?”
“I’m serious.” Abby’s clear blue eyes widened. “Bas catastrophizes. I don’t know. You make him lighter.”
“I don’t make people lighter.” Summer hunched in on herself.
“Well, you make him smile.” Abby’s lips tugged up into a blissful smile of her own. “That’s huge.”
“What if I hurt him?” Summer leaned back against the cool glass of a trophy case. Her eyes welled up, but she kept the tears back. “I do that. I hurt people. Bas has such a good heart. I don’t know what to do with that.”
“Bas isn’t that nice.” Abby rolled her eyes. “He totally stole my fruit snacks in elementary school. AND he ratted me out for cheating in junior high.”
“He’s still a lot nicer than me.”
“Whatever.” Abby squeezed her arm. “He likes you. You don’t have to question everything.”
Summer laughed. “The problem is I don’t question enough.”
“I have that problem!” Abby clapped her hands together. “Oh! What are you doing after school? Do you like tea?”
The first bell rang and Summer pushed away from the trophy case. “Tea? Like a tea party?”
“There’s this teahouse that I love but Bri and Dolores are too busy being disgustingly happy to hang out with me. Please, please, please come with me!”
Something fluttered in Summer’s chest. “That actually sounds kind of awesome.”
“Yay! I’ll meet you out front.”
Chapter 14
“Last time I was here,” Abby said, looping her arm through Summer’s and leading her into a forest of bamboo and dogwoods. “Bri pitched a fit about something. Like, koi shouldn’t be kept captive, or they fed them the wrong thing. I don’t know. She’s so intense all the time.”
“You’re not a vegetarian?” Summer asked, trying not to let the lush garden or low glass building distract her from the conversation.
“Not like Bria. I mean, I don’t eat meat, but I’m basically allergic to everything anyway so it’s not like I miss much. Did you even know it’s possible to be allergic to beef? But I drink, I wear wool, I still think my brother is an idiot. It’s a wonder she even speaks to me.”
Something under her flippant words resonated in Summer’s chest. A common longing, an emptiness that comes to light because everyone else is so full.
“Happiness should be contagious.” She sighed.
Abby opened the door, but paused to look at her, curling the side of her mouth into a smile. “Right?”
“Oh, wow.” Summer stepped inside after Abby and the scent of mint and cinnamon snapped her awake. Light spilled from everywhere at once, a soft green-lit glow filtering through the trees. Brightly polished tables, surrounded by colorful cushions, stood low to the ground. Under the soft murmur of voices, faint string music played.
“I know,.” Abby looked around the small, yet open, room with a contented smile. “This is my happy place.”
“Care to share? Because I could really use one of those right now.”
“It’s not on a board?”
Summer pursed her lips. “It was.”
“You need to talk about it or pretend it didn’t happen so maybe it’ll magically go away?”
“Magically go away would be nice.” She shrugged. “It’s my own dumb fault.”
“That doesn’t make it suck less.”
A kimono-garbed hostess approached, bobbing as she led them to a table set with a clear glass teapot and a pair of small, handleless cups.
“Monkey tea!” Abby said, lifting the lid of the pot and dropping in a dried ball. “That’s why Bria hates coming here. They supposedly have monkeys that pick this stuff. Cruelty to animals, making them work.”
“Seriously?” Summer watched the tight blossom unfurl inside the steaming water, wishing she could open up so easily.
Abby shrugged and poured out two cups of tea. “No idea. I mean, animals are cute and all, but I’m not a crusader.”
“You know, when you said teahouse, I was thinking English.”
“Mmm.” Abby inhaled the steam from her cup. “Fancy china with rosebuds and little tea cakes and lace everything?”
“Totally. This . . .”
She took a sip of the tea—something vaguely floral and citrusy—and smiled. “This is way better.”
Abby lifted her shoulder, still holding the cup in front of her face. “This is the most I’ve hung out with anyone in weeks. Besides.” She perked back up. “I’m just doing what Bri and I always do.”
“What’s that?” A smile twitched around her lips, even though she wasn’t sure why. “Take new kids out for tea?”
The other girl twirled her cup in her fingertips. She had one of those coy, elfish faces, far too pretty to be nice and too cute to hate. “Here’s the thing. Bas is awesome, but you need girlfriends. We all need girlfriends. Something Bri and Lor would be wise to remember occasionally.”
Summer giggled. “Maybe I have girlfriends back home.”
“Girls like us? Girls who surf and listen to metal and are more comfortable around skate parks than salons? We don’t have girlfriends. I bet the girl you were closest to is actually your best friend’s girlfriend.”
“Tobey and Lola.”
“See? I knew it. So, we, the girlfriendless, are going to stick together.”
A little swell of relief rose in her heart. “That sounds reasonable.”
“While the other girls were all crazy about horses and that kid with the floppy hair on Disney Channel, I was in love with Shaun White and Ryan Sheckler.”
“Ryan Sheckler has the best smile.”
“Right? Those teeth? No one in the X Games should have teeth that perfect. Totally swoon-inducing.”
“So . . .” Summer shifted her teacup on the table. Sitting cross-legged on the floor made it feel more like they were hanging out in a living room than somewhere public. “You and Bastian never . . . ? I mean, you just seem really close.”
A tiny, lilting laugh spilled from her lips. “No. God, no. Not really. We kissed during a game of spin the bottle like forever ago and it was so lame, we swore we’d never do it again. Unless we’re both thirty-five and still single, at which point we’ll get married because seriously?”
Something between relief and embarrassment heated up her face and left her flustered. “I heard about that spin the bottle fiasco.”
“Wait a minute.” Abby narrowed her oversize eyes. “You kissed him! And it didn’t suck! I thought I’d found a partner in misery and you’re in love with Vega!”
“What? No. We just . . .”
“Just what? Made out in a janitor’s closet? Snuck out of school for some extracurricular activities? I know he didn’t bring you home to Mama, ’cause that woman is the devil.”
Summer swallowed her tea and slowly poured another cup. “The thing is . . . I’ve kissed a lot of boys. It never really . . . meant anything.” She glanced up. “You know?”
“Sure.” Abby did that half smile thing again. “Story of my less-than love life.”
“When Bastian kissed me, it’s like the bottom fell out of my entire life.”
“Whoa.”
“Yeah. Whoa.” Summer shifted her cup in her hand, watching the leftover bits of tea leaves shift back and forth along the bottom. “Not exactly what I need right now. I’m supposed to get my shit together before someone else gets mixed up in it.”
“If I know anything about life—which is doubtful—it’s that there’s always new shit to get mixed up in.”
“Maybe. But the last thing I want to do is drag Bastian through it.”
Abby twisted up her mouth. “Maybe I can shed some light on your quandary. Give me your cup and I’ll read your leaves.”
“You can do that?” She held out the cup.
The other girl’s pale eyes twinkled. “I learned from my great-grandma.” She picked up the empty teacup, rotating it slowly in her hands. “Mmhmm.”
“What?” Summer leaned closer.
“See this? A butterfly. You’re searching for freedom. Freedom from your past. You want to transform, become something new.”
Summer stared at her friend. “Seriously?”
Abby laughed and set down the cup. “The truth? You can see anything you want in tea leaves. It’s about reading people. I don’t need some soggy leaves to know you’re haunted. I doubt anything is magically disappearing any time soon.”
Summer snatched back her teacup and poured a third cup without making eye contact. “I’ve rehashed it too many times.”
“That’s fine. But if it’s something that’s going to hurt Bas, tell him. Now. It’s always worse when someone finds out later.”
“He knows most of it. And the rest doesn’t matter. It’s in the past.”
Abby sipped at her tea. “I hope so. For both your sakes.”
Chapter 15
The chirp of an incoming text pulled Summer out of a deep sleep. She fumbled for her phone beside her pillow.
Come to the window
She grabbed a hoodie from the floor and pulled it on over her tank before shuffling across the room.
“Bas?” She stuck her head out into the cool night air.
“Grab your flip-flops and meet me down here,” he called up in a stage whisper.
“”What are you doing? It’s two a.m.”
“My mom made me rest my knee all day. I need to move.”
The moonlight sparkled on the lenses of his glasses and that infectious grin lit his face. Dressed in his own hoodie and a pair of shorts, with a suspiciously lumpy bag on his back, he looked ready for an adventure.
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping? We have school tomorrow.”
“Couch. All. Day. I am more than sufficiently rested. Come on. I promise you’ll have fun.”
“All right.” She sighed. “Give me five.”
It took less than two to dress and creep down the stairs, past the other bedrooms, and into the side yard.
Bastian grinned, taking her in like he’d never seen a more beautiful sight.
“What are we doing?” She pitched her voice lower, matching the hushed night sounds.
“Building a sand castle.” He shook the bag on his shoulder, setting off a racket of plastic colliding.
“We’re going to the beach at two a.m. to build a sand castle?”
“Not the beach. Come on.”
He took her hand and she had to jog to keep up with his long strides. Her cheeks felt hot against the chilled night and the movement helped warm her extremities.
A car sped past, but Bastian didn’t slow.
“Sand traps,” he said, stopping outside the country club a few blocks from the high school.
“What?” She grinned but wasn’t sure why. Just existing in the same space as Bastian fed her soul, filling her with a need so deep that it terrified her.
“The golf course has sand traps.”
“We’re so going to get busted for this! I’m on informal probation and I’m pretty sure breaking and entering is a clear violation.”
“My dad is a member. It’ll be fine.” He flashed an access card and the gate creaked open. Even Bastian recoiled at the sound, but he stepped in as soon as he could squeeze through. “Promise.”
She reluctantly took his hand and followed him inside.
“The sprinklers cut off around two,” he said, leading her across the wet grass of the golf course.
“How can you possibly know that?” His excitement bled into her through their linked hands.
“I take a lot of late night walks. It’s the one time my mom can’t worry about me. She thinks I’m safe in bed and I get to explore.”
The rolling hills and sporadic trees cast weird shadows across the landscape, and the roar of the ocean in the background deepened the silence. She could almost hear the lush grass growing.
“Here.” He tossed his bag into an irregular-shaped pit. Against the dark grass, the sand glowed almost white. “Perfect sand with the perfect amount of moisture.”
Summer slid down beside him. “Do you know how to build a sand castle?”
He grinned at her. “Pack sand into buckets and turn them over?”
“Sure.” She accept
ed a shovel and a bucket from the bag and set to work, deliberately silencing her thoughts.
Before long, a wobbly, off-center structure rose from the sand trap.
“We need a bigger tower,” Bastian said, his voice serious. “No respectable royalty would live in a castle with a tower this lame. What will our subjects think?”
“We need a moat first. How are we possibly going to defend our castle from the invading Golfballians without a moat?”
“See, I knew I chose my queen well.” His smile softened into something that made her heart melt and she reached for his hand.
“We do make a good team,” she said, content, for once, to bask in the perfection of the present.
Bastian held on to her hand and stepped out of the sand trap, drawing her up after him. “The other reason I wanted to come here is this.” He pointed skyward and she gasped. Stars littered the sky, diamonds on black velvet. “With so much space, you can actually see them once the lights go out.”
“I haven’t seen stars like this since I moved.” Her voice caught in her throat and she tightened her grip on his hand.
“I brought a blanket, if you want to watch them.” he said. “Unless that’s weird. It’s totally weird, isn’t it? I swear it’s just a blanket. I wasn’t—”
She held up a finger to his lips. “It’s not weird. The grass is wet.”
“Right.” He let go of her hand and dashed back into the sand trap.
Summer wrapped her arms around herself, like she could hold in the joy bubbling up inside her. She turned to see Bastian already stretched out on the blanket. She settled beside him, heads together, and trailed her hand along his arm until she reached his hand and linked her pinkie with his.
The palpable silence stole any words she might have spoken and held her in place, only just touching instead of losing herself in his skin, his hands, his kisses.
The stars dazzled her eyes, winking in and out when she tried to focus.
“What do you call the north star?” he asked.
“Polaris,” she said, matching his low, husky tenor.
“The guide star.”
“Mmhmm. Always the same, no matter where I go.”
The Trick to Landing Page 8