Free Shipwrecked Summer by Carly Syms Page B

day we’d gone to the beach together, like yesterday and Pia had never even happened.
    “This spot okay?” He stopped about fifteen feet away from the lifeguard stand.
    I tried not to look, but I couldn’t help it. Jeff wasn’t on duty. “Sure, it’s perfect.”
    He nodded and spread his towel out on the ground. I wasn’t sure how close to his I should put my own, so I settled for leaving a few feet of sand between us.
    “I’m afraid to go in the water with you,” he said, pointing at my bruise which had begun to turn a frightening shade of traffic light yellow. “Don’t want your other leg to end up looking like that.”
    I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
    “Then you up for this?” He pointed at the two boogie boards lying next to his towel.
    I wiggled my eyebrows at him. “You just so happen to be talking to the queen of boogie boarding. I’m a champ.”
    He cocked one eyebrow. “We’ll just have to see about that.”
    We strapped the velcro cords around our wrists and ran for the waves. The water felt colder than usual but I tried not to squeal as I went farther out, always making sure I could feel the sand beneath me with my feet if I stood.
    We turned around to face the shore, clinging to our boards, waiting for the perfect wave.
    “I love the ocean,” he said, a smile on his face as he closed his eyes.
    “Me too. Most of it, anyway.”
    He looked over at me. “Most of it? There a specific part of the ocean you don’t like?”
    I laughed. “No, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that this thing happened to me when I was kid. My whole family was out on a boat and my dad and I decided to go--”
    “Look at that wave!” Anthony called out, and I turned around to see a pretty big wave rising behind us. We were positioned perfectly to ride it into shore.
    I tried not to be disappointed that he didn’t want me to finish my story. I didn’t talk about that day much, but he’d seemed like the right person to share it with.
    I just barely beat him back to the shore.
    “Nice ride,” he said. “Want to go again?”
    “I’d love to try the board!”
    I froze. I knew the voice that had spoken behind me, but I almost couldn’t believe this was happening.
    Slowly, I turned around, praying that I’d been wrong.
    “Hey!” Anthony’s megawatt smile--bigger than any one he’d ever given me--sank my heart. “That could be fun! We could take turns. What do you think, Lexie? Willing to give your friend a spin on the board?”
    Pia smiled at me and I didn’t think I had much of a choice.
    “Oh,” I said. “Okay, yeah. No problem.”
    I unstrapped the velcro wristband and passed the boogie board over to her, not wanting to let it go when her fingers closed around it.
    “Thanks, Lexie. That’s sweet of you.”
    I didn’t say anything, just began to walk up the beach to our towels. I didn’t plan to stick around and see how this played out. I knew Pia wasn’t going to bring the boogie board back to me unless I asked for it. And clearly Anthony wasn’t too broken up about losing out on time with me.
    “Oh!” Pia called out after I’d gotten a few feet up the sand. “By the way, Lexie...you may want to grab a mirror. Your make-up’s running.”
    My cheeks flushed as I quickened my pace to get back to the house.
    Operation Steal Anthony Back was doomed to failure.
       
     
    ***   
     
       
    Joey knocked on our front door just after we’d finished dinner that night. I expected a quiet night wallowing in my own pity, so his presence on the doorstep was a welcome sight.
        “I didn’t come over to stay,” Joey said after I asked him if he wanted to hang out on the patio. “I just wanted to let you know that we’re going to use Tack’s pool tonight if you want to come.”
      “He’s having a party?”
        Joey shook his head. “He’s back in Eastwood for the week, but said that we can use the pool on his roof whenever we want. And we want