“Yes,” she said. “I hope you enjoyed your tour.”
“It was great,” Charlie said.
“I really really did.” I told her. “Thank you so much. Not just for this, but for everything. For doing the research. I hope it works.”
“I think it’s a definite possibility,” she said.
As we said goodbye, I felt so grateful that there was someone like Dr. Lee working on this research. That could be me someday, I thought. Hopefully, not curing acne—since Dr. Lee would’ve already done that—but maybe doing research to discover cures for other diseases.
I could see it.
As I was just about to take a step away from Dr. Lee’s doorway, I saw something else.
I saw a yellow sticky note with writing on her door. Large capital letters. Thick black marker.
TERRY TOMLIN CALLED
HE’S ON HIS CELL
I nudged Charlie, but he just nudged me back, oblivious to the hint I was trying to give him.
When we got outside, I could hardly contain myself.
“It’s your uncle Terry! It’s T2!!! That’s the company Dr. Lee was talking about.” I told him about the note on Dr. Lee’s door. Plus there was all the stuff Terry said at lunch. And Dr. Lee’s phone conversation I overheard earlier by the fountain. I had a ton of observations all pointing toward the same conclusion. Something big was going to happen at the conference.
fourteen
I had never met someone like Dr. Lee before. It was even more amazing than watching Jonas Salk on video or reading about Louis Pasteur. Getting to be in her lab—even just for a quick tour—was like seeing into my future. I could be the one making new discoveries someday.
The summer had been getting better and better, like a foggy morning at the beach that turns into a sunny, cloudless sky. Just weeks ago, I was sad about not getting to go to Science Camp with Sean, but it just made me all-the-more excited to see him now that he was coming back. And just weeks ago I had been bummed that Clearagel Cool would just be another disappointment, but after I found out something more important could be happening with T2 and Dr. Lee’s vaccine research, I couldn’t wait for the conference on Monday.
It made everything Charlie and I had to do on Friday to get ready for the Clearagel Cool debut worth it—just to know I’d be at the conference to maybe see Dr. Lee get out of the Valley of Death.
Our last big project was to load the Suki5 music video and electronic press kit files from our computers onto Clearagel Cool-shaped USB sticks to give out at the conference, and we were nearly finished.
“You’ve been so happy lately,” Charlie said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile so much.”
Even when he said it, I couldn’t stop.
“Is it because you’re going to the beach with that guy tomorrow?” he asked, searching for some sort of reaction from me.
“That makes me more nervous than smiley,” I said. But a possible cure for acne was definitely something to smile about.
“Then maybe you’re smiling because you get to see Suki5 on Monday at the conference,” he said. “That’s a Suki5 smile if I’ve ever seen one.” Now Charlie was smiling.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you seem pretty excited to see them, too.” We put the last two memory sticks into the box. I held it shut while Charlie taped it up.
“I’ll admit that song you had as your ringtone was pretty catchy. I may be warming up to them a little. But just a very little.”
“I thought so,” I said, still smiling. “I’m just happy. I don’t know what’s going to happen Monday at the conference, but I just know it’s going to be something good.”
“I hope so,” Charlie said.
My cell phone vibrated on my desk letting me know that my dad was here to pick me up. “I can’t believe it’s already time to leave.” Half-day Fridays really made the time fly by.
I finished clearing off my desk and made sure I took my badge for the conference on Monday. I couldn’t believe my time at Tomlin & Tomlin would be over after the conference. I was going to miss getting to hang out with Charlie. I spent more time with Charlie every day than I did with my friends during school.
“I can’t believe after Monday, I’m not going to see you!” I told him. I knew we could make plans sometime to go to the burger bar or something, but it wouldn’t be the same as getting to see him every day.
“I know,” he said. “If you don’t have plans today, you could come over if you want, until your friends get done lifeguarding. I told my mom I’d help her get ready for the barbeque tomorrow.”
“My dad’s already here. Maybe another time.”
“Oh, okay,” he stammered. “Hey, I’ll walk you out.”
Walk me out? I had walked out of the office every day, just down the hall and out the lobby door. It wasn’t like I didn’t know my way around. Maybe it was just because it was our last day there.
Or maybe he wanted to tell me something about Terry—something that he couldn’t tell me in the office. That must’ve been it. He seemed flustered. And so quiet all of a sudden. I guess he was waiting until we got outside.
“Is that your dad?” he said when I waved at my dad who had already pulled up at the curve. Charlie’s hand fidgeted in his pocket. “I have something for you.”
He handed me one of the Clearagel Cool memory sticks.
“A souvenir from Project Lettuce,” he said, “so you’ll always remember this.”
“Am I allowed to keep it?”
“I asked Jayla and she said it was okay. There was a whole extra box they aren’t even using for the conference.”
“It’s actually kind of neat to have this,” I said. “And now I can watch the Suki5 video all weekend long and get psyched to see them in person!” I was only half-joking.
“I added some other songs on there, too,” he said. “I know it’s kind of a big weekend for you with that guy and the beach and everything. And, well, I just thought you might like them.” I don’t know why Charlie was nervous. I had liked all the other songs he’d sent me. “If for some reason the beach thing doesn’t work out tomorrow, you should come by the barbeque.”
“Thanks.” It was nice of him to say, but now I wondered if he thought it wasn’t going to work out with Sean. He was being so nice. Maybe he sort of felt responsible since I had asked for his advice and he was the one who said I should figure this Sean situation out once-and-for-all.
“Well, call me and let me know how it goes, anyway,” he said. “Okay?”
“Alright.” I scampered off to the car, clutching the memory stick.
Hopefully, it would be a memorable weekend.
fifteen
I still had the songs Charlie gave me running through my head when my mom dropped Rachel and me off at 15th Street in Del Mar. Last summer we had three Sean sightings at that beach spot so when he told me that he and his friend, Cameron, were going to Del Mar, I knew exactly where to find him.
Except he wasn’t there.
But I wasn’t going to let it get me down yet. Like one of the songs Charlie gave me said—it could happen. Even those things that seem like such distant possibilities. Sean would show up. I just didn’t know what he’d be like now that he was back from Science Camp.
We laid out our towels. Rachel’s legs were tan from lifeguarding. Whatever tan I had left over from eating lunch on the grass at school had faded under the fluorescent lights at Tomlin & Tomlin. I thought about using Courtney’s #1 self-tanner, but it just seemed so fake. And like Charlie said, if Sean didn’t like me for me, I should find someone else who did. I could never be like Courtney. And I wouldn’t want to be.
“Shouldn’t Sean be here by now?” Rachel said. “Let’s go in the water.”
“I’m not hot enough yet.” And I didn’t want to miss Sean. I kept looking in between the oversized umbrellas for any sign of him.
Rachel was getting impatient watching me watch for Sean.
“This is ridiculous!” sh
e said. “Just text him.”
I knew I couldn’t hold her back from the water much longer. Plus, it was so crowded he could’ve been close by and I just might’ve missed him.
NEW TEXT TO SEAN:
Just got here. Where are you?
REPLY FROM SEAN:
19th
“They’re at 19th Street.”
“Of course they are,” Rachel said. But the way she said it . . . she wasn’t rooting for me like Charlie. She knew that was where “The Tanners” hung out—Courtney and her friends. And she knew I knew it, too. She could’ve been a little nicer about it. “Do you still want to go?”
“Yes.” I wasn’t going to give up. I hadn’t even told Sean yet about meeting Dr. Lee. We had lots to talk about. “He wouldn’t have told me where he was if he didn’t want us to go.”
We shook out our towels and shoved them back in our beach bags. Then we walked along the slushy part of the sand towards 19th Street, feeling our footsteps sink in and out, in and out, as we got closer and closer.
I hadn’t told Rachel about the songs Charlie gave me, but I kept thinking about them. It was almost like he was right there with me telling me I could do this. Just be yourself. It was like he was watching out for me . . . hoping for me. The songs were like . . . like a hug.
And that’s when I made up my mind. . . .
When I saw Sean I was going to give him a hug. Like a friendly, I-missed-you kind of hug. We had never hugged before, but things could be different now. Summer was like that—anything could happen.
We were almost at 19th Street when Rachel ran into some friends from Junior Lifeguards. She had to talk to them right then? We were so close!
Then I spotted Sean up ahead. Sean and Cameron were dripping their way back to their towels, having just gotten out of the water.
A little water wasn’t going to hold me back from a hug. We slowly strode across the sand. I waved as soon as I thought Sean could see me from where he sat in his beach chair, but he didn’t wave back. He was looking down at his phone. Maybe he didn’t see me.
He finally looked up when I was a few steps away from his towel.
“Hey Sean,” I said and gave a little wave to Cameron.
Sean set his phone down on his towel. “Hi.”
It was a neutral kind of “hi.” Not the type to be over-analyzed. I needed more data.
Maybe I was nervous and giving off some weird kind of vibe. Why couldn’t I have said “Hey Sean” in a more friendly, get-up-from-your-chair-and-hug-me kind of way?
It was probably just more awkward than normal because I hadn’t seen him since school ended.
“Okay, I’m going in the water now.” Rachel spread out her towel a few steps away from Sean’s towel, like a good friend was expected to do so that I could put my towel in between them. “Are you coming?” She took off her tank top cover-up.
Normally this wasn’t a question that required an answer. We always followed the buddy system and never went in the water alone. But now that I finally found Sean I really didn’t want to go with her.
“Right now?” I said quietly, hoping she understood what I was trying to say without me actually having to say it.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I was going to run back and tell my friend something anyway. She’ll go in with me. I’ll be back in a little bit.”
I set my bag on Rachel’s towel and then laid out my towel next to Sean. But he still had hardly said anything to me. He and Cameron were trying to figure out what movie they were going to see that night and which of their friends were going to go.
“So are you glad to be back?” I said. “Was it so awesome?”
“It was cool. I think you probably would’ve been pretty into it,” he said. “It’s good to be back though. Padres game tomorrow, right, Cam?”
“I liked your videos,” I said.
“Courtney’s a mess, huh? Hilarity,” he said. “We had fun.”
Was it just fun for him? Did he have real feelings for her? I guess this wasn’t about her, though. It never was. I liked Sean long before either of us even knew Courtney.
“So, what’ve you been up to?” Sean said.
“Well, I’ve been meaning to tell you, the craziest thing happened after I sent this email about my science fair project to—”
“D’oh!” Sean said after glancing down at his phone. “Sorry, Kaylin.” He handed Cameron his phone. “It’s three against two now on the movie. You lose.”
Cameron quickly checked the message Sean had just read and then started responding.
I tried to pick back up where I left off. “So, I ended up being part of this focus group and then I’ve basically been working at Tomlin & Tomlin.”
“What did you tell him?” Sean asked Cameron.
“That he’s an idiot.”
“Use your own phone!” Sean said.
“I don’t want to get my greasy fingers on it.” Cameron laughed as he touched the screen again on Sean’s phone. “There’s a new message for you.” He tossed the phone back to Sean.
Sean quickly typed something back and then wiped the phone off on his towel.
“So, yeah, um, that’s what I’ve been doing,” I said, not sure that he even heard a word of it. I felt invisible—or at least microscopic.
“That’s nice.” He stood up from his chair quickly. “Courtney!” He shouted. Courtney was here?! She was standing near the water looking around. Sean waved in her direction and then sat back down once she saw him. She weaved around the sunbathers until she reached us.
“Hey, Kaylin.” She sat down on a corner of Rachel’s towel.
“We’re making another video,” Sean said. “Desalination.”
Courtney looked like she had just had her hair done. “But I said this was my last one.” She flicked the curled ends of her hair behind her shoulders. “And only because de-salting, or whatever you call it, is really important so we don’t run out of drinking water.”
“Oh, I didn’t finish telling you the most amazing thing that happened this week,” I said to Sean. Their video could wait. “I met this scientist who created a vaccine to cure acne! Well, she thinks it might. There’s still lots of tests that need to be done to make sure it’s safe and—”
“Hey, Court, did you end up going to the movie last night?” Sean said. “We’re seeing it tonight. Cameron is so excited.”
Cameron glared at him. “Whatever, dude. I can’t help it if you have terrible taste in movies.”
Sean clearly didn’t care about Dr. Lee’s research or how excited I was about whatever might be happening at the conference.
I moved over to the edge of my towel and sunk my feet into the sand, staring out at the water.
Normally I felt my best at the beach.
Inspired.
Invincible.
Unstoppable.
But I was hardly feeling a thing.
Seeing Sean wasn’t at all how I imagined it would be.
Even though I was sitting right next to him, I didn’t feel close to him. Not like when I went to the beach with Charlie. When I talked, Charlie really listened. And cared. I felt closer to Charlie and he wasn’t even here.
I wished he was.
As I watched the waves, Rachel came running in from the water. Courtney moved over to the corner of Sean’s towel so Rachel could lie down.
“You’re sure you don’t want to go in?” Rachel asked me. “I’ll go back out with you.” Maybe she thought I needed to get out of there, now that Courtney had shown up.
But the way I felt had nothing to do with Courtney.
“No, I don’t want to go in,” I said quietly to Rachel. “I just want to . . . go.”
I wanted to go see Charlie.
NEW TEXT TO CHARLIE:
How’s the bbq?
REPLY FROM CHARLIE:
OK. How’s the beach?
REPLY FROM KAYLIN:
Hmm . . . sandy
REPLY FROM CHARLIE:
Maybe you sh
ould leave
REPLY FROM KAYLIN:
Maybe I should
I held my phone in my hand, waiting for his response, until his drum solo sounded off in my hand. I was so glad he was calling me.
“Hello?” I plugged my other ear so I could hear him.
“You should come over. My barbeque is way more fun than the beach.”
I did want to go to Charlie’s, but I was stranded at the beach until Rachel’s mom picked us up.
“I would go, but I’m stuck here until five.” Maybe Rachel’s mom would drop me off at Charlie’s.
“I’ll come get you,” he said. “Which beach are you at?”
“You can’t leave your own party.” I got up and walked towards the boardwalk.
“It’s my parents’ party,” he said. “And my sister and I were just going out to get some ice, anyway. We’ll pick you up.”
“But, I’m all sandy,” I said, brushing sand off my ankles.
“Doesn’t matter,” he said. “I’m coming to get you. Where are you?”
“Del Mar,” I said. “19th Street.”
“We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, it could be more like sixteen minutes,” he said. I smiled knowing that he knew perfectly well what I meant. “Yes, I’m sure.”
sixteen
Rachel didn’t make a big deal about me leaving the beach to go to Charlie’s barbeque. I think she was just glad she could hang out with her lifeguard friends until her mom came, and she didn’t have to spend the rest of the day watching me obsess over Sean.
The Sean I had liked for so long was a Sean that existed more in my head than in reality. I’d spent all this time imagining conversations we’d have and what it would be like if only . . . if only we went to Science Camp together . . . if only I could talk to him at the beach.
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