Surfside Sisters(4)

Keely was out on the lawn, waiting, jumping up and down with excitement. The girls screamed with joy when they saw each other. Keely and Isabelle hugged and whirled around and fell down on the soft green grass, laughing like hyenas.

“I missed you so much,” Isabelle cried.

“I missed you more,” Keely insisted. “You have to tell me everything.”

Keely’s mother came out of the house. “Isabelle. Let me look at you. Oh, honey, I think you’re two inches taller.”

Isabelle jumped up and hugged Mrs. Green. “I know. I’m a giraffe,” Isabelle said, fake mournfully.

Keely’s mother laughed. “You’re a beauty. Now tell me if I’m correct. You girls like a large pizza with onions and pepperoni and a Pepperidge Farm chocolate cake.”

“Yay, Mom, you remember!” Keely stood up, brushing grass off her shorts. Every time Isabelle returned from the Maxwells’ European summers, Isabelle and Keely celebrated by eating on the back patio, just the two of them, stuffing themselves with pizza and cake and laughing and whispering and eating more cake until two or three in the morning when Isabelle, groggy with jet lag, said she had to sleep. They’d bring the mostly empty boxes of food into the kitchen and quietly tiptoe to Keely’s bedroom. Without even brushing their teeth, they collapsed on the twin beds and slept until noon the next day.

    This summer, when Keely woke, Isabelle was gone. Keely wandered into the kitchen. Both her parents were at work, but her mother had left a note for her.

Isabelle has an appointment with the orthodontist. I drove her to her house at nine this morning. She said she’ll call you.

Poor Isabelle, Keely thought. To have to spend the morning getting fitted for braces—tragic.

Also, Sebastian wants you to call him.

Well, that took her breath away. Sebastian wanted Keely to call him?

Keely stared at the penciled note on the scrap of paper, willing it to reveal the true meaning. She was certain Sebastian had no idea how she felt about him. She had never told Isabelle because, face it, no matter how many multi-syllabic words Keely knew, no matter what fabulous grades Keely received, she was still too young, too childish to be in love. If she did tell Isabelle, Izzy would fall over laughing till she wet her pants. Keely would die of a thousand sharp stabs of embarrassment if she ever told Isabelle.

Plus, Isabelle might think Keely was being her best friend just to have access to Sebastian. Keely never wanted Isabelle to think that.

She was so confused! She was such a loser! She wished she could talk this over with Isabelle, but that was the last thing she could do.

But she had to do something. She had to do something definite, memorable.

For once she was glad her parents weren’t home. On a shelf with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar was a bottle of cooking sherry. Keely poured herself a small sip of the amber liquid. She went into the dining room where her mother had two candlesticks on the table on either side of a woven basket of shells. Keely lit both candles. She took out two scallop shells and placed them side by side.

    She said aloud, in a somber voice, “I, Keely Green, vow that I will never tell Isabelle Maxwell that I am in love with her brother, Sebastian.”

She tossed back the sherry (it tasted terrible). She put her hands on the shells and blew out the candles.

There. It was done. She had made a vow. She felt more mature, as if she had consciously created an important part of who she was.

She returned to the kitchen, ran a glass of cool water and drank it down. She took a quick shower and pulled on one of her bathing suits with a Kylie Minogue T-shirt over it. The day was hers. Isabelle would probably take a nap after the orthodontist visit. Keely would see her this evening. Until then, she could read the latest novel from the library, or—

Someone was pounding on the door. Keely opened it and found Isabelle’s brother standing there with steam coming out his ears.

“Sebastian!” Her heart nearly exploded.

“Didn’t your mom tell you to call me?”

“Um, yes.”

“The sand castle contest is today. I need your help.”

Good, this was something ordinary, normal. Something she, Isabelle, and Sebastian had done for several summers. Isabelle might join them after she got her braces fitted. All Keely had to do was act natural, like her own childish self.

“Okay, sure. Do you know what you’re going to do? Do you need, I don’t know, bowls for molds or something?”

“I’ve brought buckets and stuff. I’m not sure what to do. That’s why I want to talk to you. Get your bike and let’s go.”

“I’ve got to leave a note for my mom and dad.”

She scurried into the kitchen and scribbled a note. She shoved her feet into flip-flops, and checked the beach bag she always had waiting, filled with a thermos of water, towels, and sunblock. She pulled the front door shut, stuck her beach bag in her basket, and wheeled her bike next to Sebastian’s.

    “So what are your ideas?” she asked as they biked toward Jetties Beach.

“Maybe Iron Man and Hulk and—”

“We did action heroes last year.”

“Well, what then?”

“What about a whale? A great big whale…smiling. The judges always go for what’s islandy and cute.”