Hi! I remember you mentioning beach plans this Saturday? If they’re still on, I’d love to join
Jane:
Yeah, for sure! Also I’m at my aunt’s tonight for “quality family time” lol but I’ll be home tomorrow
On Saturday, Jane and I headed to Jetties Beach, stopping first at her family’s bakery for picnic supplies. Pictures of the Azores hung against one whitewashed wall, while shelves of dry goods lined another. Customers snaked up to the register, behind which lay pastries and overflowing baskets of bread. We snuck me into the back, loading up on containers of kale soup and linguica sausage andsuspiros—chewy meringues.
Next, we headed to Jane’s aunt’s house, which had a front yard covered in hydrangeas and a handful of bikes in the back. Jane nodded at a baby blue one. “You can borrow Aria’s. Sorry it’s so twee. Aria likes everything to be Instagram perfect.”
The bike had a wicker basket attached to the front, with a pink ribbon laced through the bands. “I love it.”
We biked down narrow island roads lined with wildflowers, past twisty trees and Cape Cod–style houses. The strips of sand between grass and pavement broadened until the road opened up at the beach parking lot. We locked up the bikes and burrowed our feet in the warm sand, grains sifting between our toes. Cotton-puff clouds drifted across the bright blue sky, and people packed the beach. It was a perfect summer day; the temperature hadn’t risen high enough to be painful, and a soft breeze tugged playfully at us.
The same group from last week sprawled across a haphazard mapof blankets and towels, the corners of which were pinned down by shoes and purses. Jane’s best friend, Lexi, sat shoulder to shoulder with a South Asian girl I hadn’t met before—her girlfriend, Stella, I bet.
“We’ve arrived.” Jane placed our baked goods in the center of the blankets. “You may thank us.”
Evan, the preppy rich boy, grinned. “A little full of ourselves, are we?”
“Rightfully so.”
Someone connected their phone to speakers, and music blasted out. Bags of chips and pretzels burst open and seltzers popped. Jane tugged off her crop top and wiggled out of her shorts, and I did the same, revealing the more conservative of the two bikinis I’d brought for the summer. Someday I’d wear the scandalous red one. But not today.
When half the group started a game of touch football, the remaining girls gossiped about relationships. I listened, pleasantly sunbaked, pinned by the heat to my towel. The warmth had the same relaxing properties as a massage, draining my tension down and away into the earth.
Stella turned to me. She wore a leopard-print wrap over her one-piece, and long earrings dangled against her neck. “So, what’s your deal? Seeing anyone?”
“Nope.” I remembered Niko’s admonishment to have some chutzpah. “I wouldn’t mind a summer fling. I, um—I dated a boy at home last year, but he dumped me to concentrate on college apps.”
“Ugh, boys,” Stella said. “Don’t worry, though, this is a great place to get flung. Lexi says you met Noah Barbanel when you broke into Golden Doors.” She waggled her brows.
Lexi tugged on Stella’s hair. “It wasn’ttechnicallybreaking in.”
“It was. You’re an accessory to a crime.” Stella dropped a kiss on Lexi’s lips. “It’s why I love you. I’ve always had excellent taste in accessories.” She returned her attention to me. “So?”
“He’s a jerk,” I said firmly.
Jane smirked. “Don’t worry, you can always make out with randos at beach parties.”
I refrained from admitting I’d never made out with a rando (though I had kissed Tessa Fogelson’s second cousin at her bat mitzvah, but he turned shy andran awayfrom me, which, wow, what a confidence boost) because the rest of the group rejoined us then, flopping down on the blankets, animated and loud, a whirl of long limbs and sweat. Evan snagged Jane’s water and chugged it. “What are you guys talking about?”
“Secrets.” She grabbed her bottle back and used it to smack his shoulder.
Pranav folded himself down next to us, staring at his phone. “Sydney’s coming.”
“Sydney!” Jane chirped. “Great! Howisshe?”
“Good. She got in last night.”
Sydney must have been Pranav’s girlfriend—also from England, and also an architecture intern.
“You guys smell,” Stella said. “Also, it’s hot. Who wants to swim?”
“Gotta eat first,” one of the boys said around a mouthful of sausage.
“I’ll go,” I told Stella.
We headed down to the water. The waves slipped over our feet, frothing at our ankles before pulling away in a web of white. Before us, the world was bright blue. “Count of three?” Stella said, and we plunged forward, shrieking. The ocean closed around me, silent and dark.
