Lauren's Beach Crush

by Angela Darling

  “Well, I already sunblocked,” said Chrissy, but then Lauren gave her a look that said pretty please, so she turned to face Charlie’s family so that Lauren could sit behind her and scope them out while she applied sunblock to Chrissy’s back.

  Lauren stole a look at Charlie and his family as they settled themselves in to their spot. It was not far away, maybe twenty yards or so. No one was yet camped in between them. Charlie sat down to rummage through a tote bag, and then spotted the girls. He smiled ever so slightly, and jerked his chin up quickly in a gesture of greeting.

  “He said hello!” squeaked Lauren under her breath. “I can’t look. You look.” She flopped back down onto the blanket next to Chrissy. “What’s he doing now?”

  “He’s getting out his book,” Chrissy reported. “It’s a thick one. It looks like a history book of some sort.”

  “See, I told you he was smart. He reads all the time when he’s with his family. I bet they are a really academic family,” said Lauren. “Well, I can’t exactly do Operation Cell Phone if he’s with his family. I’ll focus on making him think I’m a reader like he is.”

  “But you are a reader,” said Chrissy. “All year long you seemed to have a different book with you every week. And you must have a hundred books in your bedroom. Plus, you practically knew where everything in the town library was by heart. You don’t have to pretend to be a reader, Laur!”

  Lauren sat up and scrambled through her bag. She hauled out Moby-Dick. “You know what I mean. He reads way more important books than I do,” she pointed out. “Didn’t you say he was reading some thick history book? I need to impress him, and a regular old paperback is not going to cut it!” She opened her book to a random page in the middle and pretended to become engrossed in reading it, holding it in such a way that Charlie would be able to see the title, which wasn’t easy given how thick the book was.

  Half an hour went by.

  Lauren’s eyes grew droopy. Her arms ached from holding up the book, which she’d gradually lowered until it sat propped on her stomach. The warm sunlight seemed to glare brighter, the white of the page blinding her despite her sunglasses. The lulling, rhythmic whoosh of the surf, the caw of the seagulls overhead, the happy shouts of young children building a sandcastle . . . all worked together to make her very sleepy . . .

  Then Chrissy nudged her. “His friends just showed up! He’s putting away his book and standing up to join them. He’s saying good-bye to his parents. Looks like the parents and the cousins are packing up to go.”

  Lauren was suddenly wide awake. She rolled over onto her stomach, pretending to continue reading, but she was able to check out what was going on with Charlie. It was just as Chrissy had described it. His parents, grandmother, sister, and older cousins were trudging back toward the stairs leading away from the beach. Charlie stood with his back to the girls, talking with his friends. Lauren was able to check out his back and see that he had some seriously nice back muscles, all brown and shiny with sunblock. He looked especially good standing next to his friends, who were still skinny boys. She could stare at his back all day.

  Then Charlie turned and looked in their direction. Had he caught Lauren checking him out? She crossed her fingers that her sunglasses camouflaged her gawking stare. He did that chin-up-hello thing, and once again smiled a little, that half-grin. He was smiling at them! At her! Was this really happening? Was he—wait! Was he actually walking over to talk to them? Frank was with him, but Lauren had eyes only for Charlie. Her heart started to race again and she felt her hands get all sweaty. As the boys neared the girls, Lauren squeezed her eyes shut behind her dark glasses, willing herself not to squeal out loud.

  “Hey,” said Charlie, staring down at them, casting a shadow across both girls.

  “Hey,” replied Lauren and Chrissy at the same time.

  Frank spoke up. “We’re heading to the snack bar. You guys want to come grab something to eat with us?”

  “Sure,” said both girls at the same time again.

  The four of them joined up with the four other guys. Lauren recognized both the Matts, Owen, and—was his name Grant?—she couldn’t remember. Who cared? She was walking to the snack bar right next to Charlie!

  The Matts were gabbing away behind them, talking about some new skateboard park that was opening up close to the beach.

  Lauren could feel Charlie walking alongside her. She caught a whiff of his coconut-scented sunblock. She looked down at his large feet trudging through the hot sand next to her smaller ones. Walking side by side together looked so—couple-like. He was so tall! She thought about how deliriously amazing it would be to have his broad shoulder to rest her cheek on during a slow dance. Could he tell what she was thinking just by looking at her? But he wasn’t looking at her. His gaze was fixed straight ahead. Lauren decided he must be lost in deep thoughts. Maybe he was contemplating beach erosion or the plight of the endangered sea turtle. Lauren tried to remember everything she could about endangered sea turtles. Did they even live this far north? If they didn’t, would she sound totally clueless bringing them up? At the exact moment she drew up the nerve to say something, Charlie turned around to say something to one of the Matts, something about skateboarding that she couldn’t hear. But as he turned, his arm brushed against her shoulder. An electric shock rippled through her entire body. Had he done it on purpose? She had no way of knowing for sure.

  At the snack bar, she and Chrissy ordered french fries to share, and lemonades. The boys ordered full-blown meals, even though it wasn’t yet eleven. Lauren noted with satisfaction that Charlie ordered lemonade again too.

  “You have to talk to him!” Chrissy hissed in Lauren’s ear, as they moved to a table to sit. The boys, having ordered a lot more food, remained standing at the counter, still waiting for their orders.

  “What should I talk about?” asked Lauren. “The Plan just covers getting my phone number to him. It didn’t cover actually talking. And I get so totally tongue-tied when he’s next to me.”

  “Didn’t you say he was a big nature lover?” said Chrissy.

  “Yes! Maybe when we walk back to the beach, I’ll bring up marine ecosystems or something. I reread that chapter in my bio book before I left for vacation, so I should be able to sound intelligent.”

  “Why don’t you just talk about how his summer is going?” suggested Chrissy.

  Lauren looked horrified. “That’s so boring!” she said.

  There wasn’t room at the table for all of them, so the other four boys sat together at a table next to theirs. Charlie and Frank joined Chrissy and Lauren. Charlie wasn’t very talkative, and Lauren felt as though she had basically lost the ability to speak, so she didn’t say much. Frank and Chrissy carried most of the conversation, chatting about everything from movies to TV shows to favorite bands. Both Frank and Chrissy tried to pull Lauren into the conversation a few times, but Lauren remained quiet. Charlie obviously thought the conversation wasn’t academic enough, so she would remain quiet and mysterious, just like him. Frank was talking about how much he loved baseball and even though Lauren did too she felt that she shouldn’t talk with Frank if Charlie wasn’t joining in.

  After they’d eaten, the group walked back toward the beach. In front of her, Lauren watched Charlie fall into step next to Chrissy. Chrissy glanced behind her at Lauren and gave a little apologetic shrug.

  Lauren found herself walking next to Frank. She barely heard a word he was saying. Something about where he was from, and then about some party his parents were making him go to. She kind of wished he would shut up so she could hear what Charlie was saying to Chrissy.

  Chrissy stooped down, pretending to fix the strap on her flip-flop. She and Lauren exchanged quick looks. Lauren nodded gratefully and quickened her pace so that she was soon walking alongside Charlie.

  They proceeded in silence. Then Lauren pointed over toward the dunes. “So, I was studying up a little on the shoreline ecosystem around here,” she said. “I didn’t know that e
elgrass provides essential habitat to fish and foraging birds.”

  “Um . . . huh,” said Charlie, glancing around behind him. “That’s cool,” he said. “Yo, Fowler. Do I get a rematch? This time prepare to be crushed in v-ball, man.”

  “In your dreams, Anderson,” replied Frank, who was walking behind Lauren.

  “See you, guys,” said Charlie to Lauren and Chrissy. He and Frank grabbed a ball and headed toward the net, which was open.

  Chrissy and Lauren flopped down next to each other on their blanket.

  “I tried to talk about ecosystems, but obviously he knew so much more about it than I do,” moaned Lauren. “I sounded like such an idiot. Plan B fail.”

  chapter 7

  “IT’S NOT GOING TO BE A LATE EVENING,” SAID Lauren’s dad, peering in the rearview at Lauren and Chrissy. “I’m sure the food will be fantastic. The Claussens don’t skimp when it comes to catering parties.”

  “And maybe there will even be some kids your age!” added Lauren’s mom brightly. She pulled down the flap to look in the mirror as she applied some lipstick.

  “There are never kids our age at these things,” muttered Lauren. She glanced up and saw her dad giving her a Look in the rearview mirror. “But don’t worry, guys,” she added hastily. “We’ll be charming.”

  Lauren’s dad pulled up behind a long line of cars that were parked along the road, outside a huge house overlooking the beach. It was a much larger party than Lauren had expected.

  Lauren and Chrissy were dressed in T-shirts and shorts and sandals, their hair still damp from showering, their faces pink from a day at the beach, despite the gobs of sunblock they’d applied.

  “Why don’t you go around to the back of the house, where the pool is?” suggested Lauren’s dad. “I’m sure that’s where the kids will be congregating.”

  “It’s so cool that your parents didn’t make us get all dressed up,” said Chrissy as the girls walked around to the backyard. “My parents totally make me dress up every time we go someplace with lots of grown-ups.”

  “This party wasn’t really worth assembling an outfit,” replied Lauren. “I mean, it’s bound to be a bunch of three-year-olds. And anyway, as far as personal style this summer, shorts and tees are now my go-to clothing. Charlie’s got a really laid back style, and now so do I.”

  Chrissy shook her head. “What’s wrong with just being yourself, Laur? It’s like my sister, Liz, always says—if you have to change your whole personality and your style to get a guy to like you, well, maybe he’s not the right guy.”

  Lauren didn’t answer. But she was kind of annoyed by Chrissy’s question, and she was getting a little tired of hearing about Chrissy’s sister’s supposedly wonderful advice. What did Liz know anyway? Lauren had always liked wearing shorts and tees. Sure, in the past she would have put a little more effort into her outfit for a party, but now she realized that having a supercasual personal style, like Charlie, was actually really cool. And now that she really thought about it, what did Chrissy know about it? Well, so okay, she was kind of, sort of, seeing Justin, so Lauren supposed Chrissy had more boyfriend experience than she did. But not that much more. Chrissy was good at talking to the boys on the beach, but it’s not like she was good at flirting with them or anything. Besides, Chic Chick had an article all about matching your personal styles. Her style had to match Charlie’s.

  Chrissy touched Lauren’s arm. “Looks like there are kids our age here.”

  A bunch of kids their age and a little older were crowded around a table full of food and drinks, talking and laughing. Lauren’s heart skipped a beat. Was Charlie here?

  A quick scan of the pool area told her he wasn’t. But Frank Fowler was. Why was he always around instead of Charlie?

  Lauren leaned in to whisper to Chrissy. “Why don’t you go talk to Frank? I think he likes you. He’s looking over here.”

  Chrissy made a scoffing noise. “He doesn’t like me. And I told you. I like Justin. I’m not interested.”

  “I know, I know . . . Justin. But would you do it for me? For the Plan?”

  Chrissy looked at Lauren and opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but didn’t.

  “Lauren!” said a voice behind them.

  It was Mrs. Claussen, the hostess, standing next to Lauren’s mom.

  “Look at you! You’ve gotten so tall!” she said, hurrying up to Lauren and hugging her. Lauren was enveloped in a cloud of perfume. Mrs. Claussen’s earrings and many bracelets made little tinkly sounds.

  “Thanks,” she said awkwardly. She really hadn’t gotten that much taller. Why did adults always, always talk about how tall a kid had gotten? “This is my friend, Chrissy Porter.”

  “Hello, Chrissy!” said Mrs. Claussen. Suddenly she swooped down and caught a little kid who was running by, chasing another little kid. She held up the kicking child, who didn’t seem to know he was airborne.

  “This is Bobby! Remember Bobby, Lauren?”

  “Gee, yeah, hey, Bobby,” said Lauren to the wiggling toddler. “You’ve gotten so . . . big.” Okay, whatever. He had grown bigger since she’d last seen him. He had chocolate around his mouth, but he was still pretty cute.

  “Hi!” said Bobby grumpily, squirming to be put back down. Mrs. Claussen set him down again as though he were a large sticky wind-up toy, and he continued on his way, chasing a couple of kids around the back patio area, weaving in and around other partygoers.

  “These girls look so mature,” said Mrs. Claussen to Mrs. Silver. “It must be so nice to have older, more independent children! I love my boys, of course, but they are always going, going, going. What I wouldn’t give for a couple hours of peace and quiet on the beach!”

  Lauren could practically see the wheels turning in her mother’s head.

  “I have a great idea!” her mom said, her eyes dancing with excitement. “Why don’t you let Lauren and Chrissy take the boys to the beach one day? They can be mother’s helpers and play with the kids while you have a little relaxation time!”

  Mrs. Claussen looked delighted. “Really?” she asked Mrs. Silver, who nodded, happy to be helping her friend. “What do you think, girls?” she asked Lauren and Chrissy.

  The girls looked at each other and shrugged. Lauren didn’t think a day at the beach with kids would interfere with the Plan. In fact, it might even help, given the fact that Charlie loved kids. “Sure thing,” said Lauren. “No problem.”

  “How about Friday?” asked Mrs. Claussen. “I can go get my nails done for the first time in months. Would that be okay? I’ll pay you, of course.”

  The girls nodded.

  “We’ll meet you at Crane’s Beach at ten,” said Mrs. Claussen delightedly. “Near the lifeguard stand?” She gave both the girls a big, jangly, perfumey hug and then hurried off with Lauren’s mom by her side.

  The girls watched Bobby whap another little kid over the head with a swimming pool noodle, then drop the noodle and race away.

  “Is that Bobby’s brother?” asked Chrissy.

  “Mmm-hmm,” said Lauren.

  Both girls giggled. Lauren felt glad that their uncomfortable moment from earlier seemed to have passed.

  “Are you sure you guys know what you’re getting yourselves into?” asked a voice in Lauren’s ear. She jumped. It was Frank. Yet again. Didn’t he have anything to do other than show up all the time? And if he was going to do that, couldn’t he at least make sure he had Charlie with him?

  “I just heard Mrs. Claussen telling my mom you guys were going to be mother’s helpers for her,” said Frank, grinning. “Those kids are, um, shall we say, a tad boisterous?”

  “You think?” laughed Chrissy as they watched Bobby’s brother fire a supersoaking squirt gun at his brother’s back, drenching him.

  “Better you than me,” said Frank, and slipped away again.

  “You see?” said Lauren triumphantly. Her annoyance at Frank had quickly evaporated in her eagerness to get him together with Chrissy. “You t
wo are perfect for each other! He’s obviously smart. He just used the word ‘boisterous’ in a sentence properly. And he’s funny!”

  Chrissy paused for a moment. She seemed unsure of what to say. Finally, she shrugged a little and said, “Well, he does remind me of Justin. But only a little bit! I’m still not switching my crush, Laur!”

  Lauren’s heart swelled. Chrissy had practically just admitted she thought Frank was cute. She could see it now. Double-dating with her best friend! Chrissy was her best friend now, right? And Charlie would be her boyfriend. It was turning into the perfect summer vacation.

  chapter 8

  “I HAD TOTALLY FORGOTTEN CRANE’S BEACH EVEN had a playground,” said Lauren glumly. “I haven’t been here since I was a little kid.”

  It was the following Friday. Another beautiful, perfect, sunny beach day, but Lauren and Chrissy were stuck at the playground, pushing Bobby and his brother, Kyle, on the swings. Lauren had done her best to convince the boys that they should go straight to the beach, but the boys were insistent about going to the playground first. Lauren knew that sometimes with kids this age, you just had to give in.

  “I can see the guys from here,” said Chrissy, peering through the tall sea grass on the dune in front of them.

  “Me too,” said Lauren gloomily. “To think I had Operation Cell Phone planned down to every possible angle, and I still haven’t managed to execute it.”

  Below them and straight ahead, close to the water, were Charlie and four or five of his friends. They were playing some sort of running-around game with extremely intense rules that neither girl could follow.

  “Higher!” squealed Bobby happily.

  Lauren gave him a bigger push, then looked back and forth between Bobby and his brother, a thoughtful expression on her face.