Heart Bones(22)

She grabs my hand. “Come on, Beyah. Let’s go home.”

I’m relieved. I didn’t want to be here to begin with.

I stand up and Beau rolls his eyes, throwing up a defeated hand. “You’re always ruining my fun, Sara.”

Sara leans down and gives Marcos a kiss goodbye. I glance over in Samson’s direction. All I can seem to focus on is the hand he has pressed against Cadence’s thigh. I start to turn to walk with Sara, but right before I do, Samson makes eye contact with me. He stares so hard, I feel it pinching my chest. I look away and don’t look back as I follow Sara.

“What’s up with Beau?” I ask as we walk back toward the house.

“He’s inappropriate in every way imaginable. Please don’t give him any attention, it’s the last thing he deserves.”

It’s hard to give anyone else attention when Samson is in my presence.

Sara and I walk past the dunes and everything in me wants to give one last glance back toward him, but I don’t.

“What about the girl? Cadence?”

“Don’t worry,” Sara says. “She’ll be gone tomorrow and Samson will be free.”

I laugh. “I’m not waiting in that line.”

“Probably for the best,” Sara says when we reach her house. “Samson’s leaving for the Air Force Academy at the end of the summer. As much as I was hoping I could set the two of you up, it would also suck if you fell for him right before he gets shipped away.”

I pause on the stairs when she says that, but she doesn’t notice because she’s in front of me. But that takes me by surprise. He didn’t mention what he was doing after his gap year was over. I don’t know why, but I didn’t expect it to be the military.

When we get inside the house, all the lights are out. “Want to stay up and watch a movie?”

“I’m exhausted. Maybe tomorrow night?”

She sits down on the sofa and grabs the remote. She leans her head back into the couch and looks at me upside down. “I’m glad you’re here, Beyah.” She powers on the TV and her attention is no longer on me, but her words make me smile.

I believe her when she says she’s glad I’m here. That feels good. It’s not often I feel like my presence is appreciated. Or even noticed.

When I get up to my room, I close and lock the door.

I walk over to the balcony doors and open them, wanting to listen to the sound of the ocean tonight while I sleep. But I also want to see what Samson is doing.

Marcos and Beau are still down at the fire. Cadence is walking away from the group in the opposite direction of Samson’s house.

Samson is walking over the dune crossing, heading toward his house. Alone.

Why does that make me happy?

I don’t want him to notice me up here, so I walk back into my room and close the balcony doors.

Before I crawl into bed, I take Mother Teresa out of the plastic sack she traveled in and prop the painting up on the dresser. It looks so out of place in this fancy room, but that makes me even happier that I brought it with me. I need a piece of home to remind me that this room and this house and this town are not my reality.





NINE


What the hell is that sound?

I put my hand over my ear, confused by the noise that’s forcing me out of a perfectly deep sleep. It’s coming from across the room. I open my eyes and lift my head off the pillow, and the sound gets louder. I glance outside and there’s barely any light. The horizon is gray, like the world is still preparing to wake up.

I groan and toss the covers aside so I can locate the source of all the noise. It sounds like it’s coming from the dresser, so I shuffle over to it.

It’s my new phone. I wipe sleep from my eyes so I can read the screen. It’s only 5:59 a.m.

An alarm is set on my phone. It says: Go watch the sunrise.

That’s all the alert says.

I cancel the alarm and the room falls silent again. I glance behind me, toward the balcony.

Samson.

It better be worth it.

I grab the comforter off my bed and wrap myself in it. I go out onto the balcony and look at Samson’s balcony. It’s empty.

I sit down in one of the chairs and pull the covers up to my chin. I stare out over the dark horizon. To the east, there’s just the smallest sliver of sun peeking out over the ocean. To the north, the skies are dark and occasionally burst with lightning. It looks like a storm is rolling in, threatening to snuff out the light.

I sit on my balcony and stare at the sun as it slowly illuminates the peninsula. I listen to the sound of the waves as they wash onto the beach. Thunder rolls in the distance while seagulls begin to chirp nearby.

I’m in a complete trance for several minutes as the wind begins to pick up. As bright as the sunrise began, it slowly darkens as the storm moves closer. The skies swallow up every hue of color that was attempting to burst through, and after a while, everything is a muted gray.

That’s when the rain starts. I’m protected by a roof over the balcony, and the wind isn’t extreme right now, so I remain outside, watching as everything that started out hopeful just fifteen minutes ago slowly turns to gloom.

I wonder if Samson knew there would be a storm rolling in with the sunrise today. I glance over at his house and he’s standing in his doorway, leaning against the doorframe, holding a cup of coffee. He isn’t looking at the rain or the ocean or the sky.