Girl Out of Water(87)

She mumbles something, and it’s hard to hear, but it sounds like, yeah, but they’re not the jumbo Kraft ones.

Lincoln comes up behind me and wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his warm chest. I look up to smile at him, and he’s already smiling at me. “Come on,” he says and tugs me forward. “Let’s go down to the water for a bit.”

I’m hesitant to leave setup since I’m the host, but we’re mostly done, and parties like this tend to take care of themselves, with everyone pitching in, so I wrap an arm around his waist and follow him down to the shore.

The beach is almost empty. All the tourists are on the road out of town, and most of the locals are inside, exhausted from the eventful weekend. Lincoln and I settle on the packed sand, and as the water laps over our toes, we watch the sun melt into the water.

“I leave tomorrow,” he says.

I know that, yet my stomach still twists at the words. “You could leave the next day,” I suggest, “or the next.”

He shakes his head. “No can do. Promised Austin I’d be back to hang out with him for his last few days of summer.”

“I kind of hate that you’re a good brother.”

“Sometimes I kind of hate it too.”

I want to kiss Lincoln before he’s no longer here to kiss, but I can’t because my eyes are damp, and I’m scared if I look at him, it’ll get even worse. I don’t want to say good-bye. I want to keep him here.

But I would never do that to him when there’s so much of the world he wants to see.

And if he’s leaving, there’s only one solution. It comes to me so quickly I don’t even think before speaking. “I’ll go with you.”

He turns to me. “What?”

“I’ll go with you. I’ll drive with you back to Nebraska.”

“What?” he repeats.

“We’ll have a little more time together, and I’ll be able to see my cousins again, and then I’ll fly back with my dad as planned.”

As I say the words, I know they’re right. I’d love nothing more than to spend a little more time with Lincoln, catch up with my cousins again before the end of summer, take them to the park again, play one more round of Monopoly. It’ll only be a few extra days with them, but the memories will last far longer.

I see hope flicker in Lincoln’s eyes, but it’s also mixed with confusion. “But you just got back to Santa Cruz. You love home. You want to leave again this soon?”

It surprises me too. After spending the summer worrying about being gone, I’m ready to leave again. But it’s not that scary this time. I’m not my mom. Leaving isn’t running away.

“Well, that’s the thing,” I say, pressing into him more and taking his hand in mine. “I learned something pretty cool this summer.”

“Yeah, what?”

“I love home.” I lean forward and kiss Lincoln—more our two smiles touching than a kiss. “But it’ll be here when I get back.”

? ? ?

When Lincoln and I head back to the party, most people have gathered around the bonfire, so we settle down next to them. Marie smiles at me as I sit. It’s a real smile, and I think of how much I’ll miss it when she leaves for college. Spinner sits next to Lincoln and hands him a double-stacked s’more. I have a feeling they’ll stay friends for a long time to come. Eric calls my name from across the fire and tosses me something. I catch the small object, then open my hand to find an almost translucent peach sea marble. “Found it in the surf this morning,” he says.

I close my hand around it tight and my entire body exhales.

Tess leans forward, fire flickering shadows across her face, and says, “So, truth or dare?”

This time I’m not anxious because of the game, I’m anxious because, as I look around the fire, this might be the last time we’ll all play the game together. It might be the last time we sit around this circle, stretching our surf-worn bodies as the night slips away.

But it’s okay. Maybe we won’t all be in the same place at the same time again, but that doesn’t mean we’ll lose each other. It doesn’t mean I’ll never hunt for sea marbles with Eric or wake up at a disgustingly early hour to surf with Spinner or run sprints down the beach with Cassie. Time doesn’t vanish things; it just shifts them.

I lean forward toward the fire and grin. “I’ll go first.”

Hours later, dares have been done, some of which could probably land us in jail, and all I missed this summer slips out from the truths. And I discover a new passion—stories. I never used to hear them from my friends because I was always there for the events. But now they’re fresh and exciting and sparkling. And I’m not jealous that I’m not a part of them. I cherish each tale almost like it’s my own. One day, years from now, when these memories have blended together, I won’t remember the time I missed Eric’s wipeout or the time I missed Cassie’s summer dance recital, I’ll just remember I grew up with a group of really amazing friends.

Eventually, it’s my turn again. I face Lincoln because I know what he’ll pick. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

I smile. “I dare you to go surfing.” I smile wider and turn to the entire group. “I dare you all to go surfing. Naked.”