Waking Up to Boys

by Hailey Abbott

  “Oh, that’s my half sister,” Chelsea explained, wanting to roll her eyes. She smoothed her hair out of her face. “She’s here for the summer. She’s doing plant walks or something.”

  “Really?” Tim looked at Sara wistfully. “Introduce me?”

  “Sure, whatever,” Chelsea said, feeling more than a little annoyed.

  “Yo, Sara,” Chelsea called over the din of people talking. Sara looked around and immediately headed toward them, smiling the social-butterfly smile that Chelsea could barely believe she would have to look at all summer.

  “What’s up?” Sara asked, giving Chelsea a perplexed look. A cold breeze rustled the trees around the fire, and Sara pulled Leo’s jacket tighter around her shoulders.

  “Oh—this is Tim. He wanted to meet you,” Chelsea blurted. Tim kicked her under the table before smiling warmly at Sara and extending his hand.

  “Chelsea never told me she had a sister,” he told Sara. “I was curious to see what you’re like.”

  “Half sister,” Chelsea grumbled, running her finger against a heart with the initials A + K carved into the table. But nobody seemed to hear her. In the meantime, it looked like Tim might be blushing. It was hard to tell in the dark.

  Tim’s best friend, Ethan, joined them. At well over six feet, he towered above the group, his face shadowed by a fur-trimmed hunting cap. “Hey,” he said, punching Tim lightly on the shoulder. “How’s it going, man?”

  “Can’t complain, bro,” Tim replied, punching him back and sliding a little closer to Sara.

  “Hey, hi—I’m Ethan.” Ethan held out his hand to Sara, who was still smiling politely. “So you’re a McCormick, too, eh? Two Daddy’s little girls we have to watch out for!”

  Chelsea rolled her eyes. Tim had at least bothered to ask how Chelsea was doing, but Ethan—whom she’d known since the first grade—hadn’t even said hi to her before falling all over himself to meet Sara. Ethan had always been a little overeager around girls, but this was ridiculous.

  She tuned back into the conversation long enough to hear Sara telling the guys that she was from Palm Springs.

  “Is everyone down there like you?” Ethan asked. “Because if so, I need to take a road trip!”

  Instead of blushing or telling him to shut up like Chelsea would have, Sara just laughed. “You guys should go check it out.” She tilted her head and shook out her pale blond hair, which obviously acted as some kind of man-attracting signal, because three seconds later, Joel and Ted came bounding over, practically colliding with each other as they each dived to offer Sara a beer.

  “Sorry, I don’t accept drinks from strangers,” Sara teased.

  “But if I tell you my name, I’m not a stranger,” Ted retorted playfully.

  Chelsea felt sick to her stomach and wondered if anyone would even notice if she threw up. She grabbed her marshmallow stick and wandered away from the Sara Admiration Society and found an empty rock by the fire. Maybe she just wasn’t the partying type. She knew these people, so why was she feeling so awkward? She leaned toward the fire pit, searching for a nice hot patch of coals to roast her marshmallows. The only way to do it without setting them on fire was to keep turning them steadily over a bed of glowing embers. She found a spot and began rotating the stick, letting the marshmallows grow brown and crisp.

  But her technique was ruined as the smoke made her eyes teary. She was trying to wipe them without dropping the stick when she heard Todd’s deep, throaty laugh.

  Chelsea whirled around, inadvertently sending her nearly done marshmallow smack into a burning log, where it immediately incinerated. Todd was standing over by the coolers, talking to a girl with long dark hair. She wore a cream-colored blazer, dark jeans with black ankle boots, and had a small black leather backpack slung casually over one shoulder. Chelsea thought she looked like she had just stepped out of Lucky magazine.

  “Vanessa, let me get this straight: You’re terrified of water. And yet you let your so-called friends talk you into a vacation on Lake Tahoe?” Todd was asking, leading her closer to the secluded rock where Chelsea was sitting. Clearly, they hadn’t noticed her sitting there.

  The girl shrugged. “It was either here or Guadalajara,” she said. “And I’ve been there before—I got food poisoning.” She laughed easily, touching Todd’s shoulder. So this Vanessa girl was a tourist. Todd had brought some tourist chick to the staff party. And they were all worried they’d get in trouble for having Chelsea there. Chelsea didn’t know if she wanted to throw up or punch something.

  Todd leaned closer to Vanessa. “And then these same friends let you go off with some guy you hardly know, to an island smack in the middle of said lake.”

  “I guess my safety is in your hands, then,” the girl murmured, raising her eyebrows.

  “I guess I’ll just have to protect you, then. C’mere—I want to show you something,” Todd said, taking her hand and leading her toward the woods. Chelsea winced—she could guess what Todd wanted to show that girl. It was a small wood cabin (that had probably been a hunter’s hideout at some point) that the summer staffers around North Tahoe had dubbed the “Shag Shack.” Even Chelsea had been privy to the stories. Apparently each year, someone made sure it was equipped with an air mattress and sleeping bag.

  She watched as they disappeared into the darkness of the woods.

  Chelsea’s stomach felt like the empty black shell of her former marshmallow. There was no way Todd would ever be interested in her. She didn’t have long perfect hair or cute clothes, she had no idea how to flirt, and she’d never even been near the Shag Shack. She was half-tempted to just get up and go home.

  “Excuse me,” said a voice so close to Chelsea’s left ear that she jumped slightly. The new tennis instructor, Sebastian, was standing next to her, holding two ice-cold Sierra Nevadas, one of which he extended toward her. “I brought you a drink.”

  “Gee, thanks,” Chelsea blurted sarcastically, still distracted by the image of Todd slinking off with Vanessa.

  Sebastian’s smile faded, and his big black eyes narrowed. “Sorry,” he said softly. “I just wanted to talk to you. I’ll leave you alone.”

  “Crap,” Chelsea murmured to herself as he turned to leave. Sebastian was the only person at the party who had paid any attention to her at all. What was wrong with her?

  “Hey!” she called after him. Sebastian turned, and she waved him back over with one hand. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m kind of having a rough night. And I’m not used to being…Well, guys here aren’t usually that direct.”

  Meaning guys aren’t that direct with me, Chelsea thought.

  “Do you mind if I sit down?” Sebastian asked.

  “Not at all,” Chelsea said, scooting over to make room for him on the rock. “And actually, I’ll take that beer if you’re still offering.”

  “Of course.” Sebastian handed her the beer and sat down next to her. “Salut.”

  Chelsea clinked her bottle against his and took a gulp. “So, you’re from Brazil, huh?”

  “Yes.” Sebastian nodded. “And you…where are you from?”

  “Me?” Chelsea asked in surprise. Everyone knew where she was from. “I’m from here.”

  “Lake Tahoe?” Sebastian asked. “This town?”

  Chelsea was about to open her mouth and tell Sebastian that she’d grown up right there at the resort when she realized something: Sebastian was probably the only guy at the party who wasn’t making a big deal out of the fact that she was the bosses’ daughter.

  “Around here, yeah,” she said vaguely.

  Sebastian nodded, biting his lower lip in a really cute way. Chelsea noticed that he had very straight teeth. “And you’re a wakeboarding instructor?”

  “Well…this’ll be my first summer teaching,” Chelsea said. “But I’ve been boarding for years.”

  “You like it?”

  “Love it,” Chelsea said confidently, taking another sip of beer. “It’s my favorite thing in the world. You feel
that way about tennis?”

  “Playing, yes,” Sebastian said. “Not so much competing. But I love teaching. To see my students when they get it. There’s a little spark when something I tell them just clicks. It’s great.”

  “I’m a little nervous about teaching,” Chelsea admitted. “I’ve never done it before. I’m not even that great with kids.”

  Sebastian shrugged. “It’s not that hard,” he said. “Just remember to make it fun. That’s what summer vacation is about.”

  “I guess,” Chelsea mused. For her, summers had always been about work: lifeguarding, practicing her wakeboarding, and helping her parents keep the resort running smoothly.

  “Don’t you like to have fun in the summer?” Sebastian asked, smiling. He leaned closer to her: so close to her that she could feel his breath tickling her ear.

  Was it her imagination, or was Sebastian hitting on her? Chelsea couldn’t be sure—it wasn’t exactly like she got hit on every day.

  “I guess so,” she said quietly, inadvertently matching Sebastian’s sultry, confidential tone.

  “I certainly plan to,” Sebastian said, locking eyes with her again.

  “Yeah,” Chelsea blurted out. “Er, I mean, yes. Me, too.”

  Chelsea was still trying to figure out what exactly Sebastian was thinking. She hoped she didn’t seem as nervous as she felt, trying on this whole flirting thing.

  A loud crash of branches behind them made her jump. Todd and Vanessa emerged from the woods, their fingers interlocked.

  “I know, it’s beautiful at night,” Todd was saying. Chelsea’s stomach curdled.

  “Mmm, thanks for showing me,” Vanessa replied, leaning over and kissing him gently on the cheek. “Want a beer?”

  “Sure,” Todd agreed.

  As they passed Chelsea, Todd’s eyes met hers for a few agonizing seconds and he raised an eyebrow at her, then looked away.

  “Chelsea?”

  Chelsea suddenly remembered that Sebastian was sitting right next to her. She focused her gaze on him and did her best impersonation of a sunny smile. “Yeah?” she asked.

  “I was saying, it’s a little smoky over here—want to go somewhere a little more quiet?” Sebastian asked, taking her hand in his warm palm.

  Chelsea glanced over at Todd one last time. He was standing by the fire with his back to her and his arm draped over Vanessa’s shoulders, laughing at something that one of the bike shop boys had said.

  Chelsea took a deep breath. Mission: Moving On begins….

  “Yes,” Chelsea told Sebastian, giving his hand a squeeze. “I would like that very much.”

  Chapter Five

  I am not freaking out on the inside, Chelsea told herself as she walked hand in hand with Sebastian down the narrow path to the dock. I am calm and collected, as if I go sneaking around late at night with hot random Brazilian guys I’ve just met all the time. This is utterly normal, and I am relaxed.

  Yeah. What a crock. Chelsea had the feeling that Sebastian could feel her hand sweating. She knew they weren’t going somewhere quieter and more secluded just to talk. Sebastian was gorgeous and he was into her. Plus, he was pretty much the first guy to show interest in her since Pete Frasier in the seventh grade, who had kissed her once during spin the bottle and dribbled all over her chin. He had moved to Colorado the next year and sent her lovelorn e-mails until, presumably, he got over her and got on with his life. But Sebastian was way cuter than Pete Frasier: He had beautiful eyes and nice smooth skin and a sexy accent. Besides, Chelsea was tired of being the untouchable daughter-of-the-boss tomboy whom all the guys at the resort treated like a kid sister instead of a potentially datable girl. She wanted someone to see in her whatever it was that Todd saw in Vanessa that made him take her into the woods. She wanted someone to think she was hot.

  “Uhm, want to sit in one of the boats?” Chelsea asked. There were no real seats on the dock, which was usually damp and slippery. Plus, maybe being on the water would calm her down a little.

  “Whatever you’d like,” Sebastian said. He climbed into the nearest motorboat, which had a wide vinyl backseat, then held out his hand to help Chelsea in as well. She almost laughed at the gesture—as if she couldn’t get into a boat by herself!—but thought better of it. She recalled Leo helping Sara into the boat on the way to the party—why not enjoy a little princess treatment herself?

  She slipped into the backseat next to Sebastian and turned off her headlamp, which she had been carrying as a flashlight. A milky, moonlit darkness enveloped them, and the sounds of the night seemed to sharpen: the faint beat of Yo La Tengo from the boom box up by the fire, a muffled shriek, an owl hooting, and the gentle slap-slap of the lake against the fiberglass sides of the boat.

  Sebastian put his arm around her shoulders, and Chelsea slowly got used to its warmth and weight. She wasn’t used to having a guy hold her like that, and it felt nice.

  “I love it out here on the lake,” she told Sebastian. “It really is my favorite place in the world.”

  “It’s beautiful,” he agreed. “Like you.”

  Chelsea couldn’t help giggling at the cheesy line, and after a moment Sebastian joined her.

  “I’m sorry,” he apologized, keeping a hand on her shoulder as she shook with more giggles, gently rocking the boat so that it sent tiny ripples out over the water. “Give me a break—not everyone can be a bitter, sarcastic American like the teenagers on your TV shows.”

  “Like me,” Chelsea said quietly.

  “No, not like you,” Sebastian replied earnestly, taking both her hands in his. “You’re beautiful. And deep inside, you are passionate, too. I can see it in your eyes.”

  I think this is the part where we’re supposed to kiss, Chelsea thought as Sebastian leaned in and placed his lips gently over hers. And I think I’m supposed to close my eyes.

  She felt the beer buzzing inside her head as she relaxed in Sebastian’s arms and let him kiss her. It was nothing like kissing Pete Frasier in the seventh grade. Sebastian’s lips were soft and full, but firm underneath. Chelsea had never felt anything like this before. She nestled in closer to him, parting her lips just a little as he started taking tiny sips from her mouth. His hands massaged her back and roamed up to her neck, and one of them expertly removed the elastic on her ponytail while the other stroked her hair, starting from underneath where it met the nape of her neck and moving up to circle her ear, making her shiver against him.

  She gently grabbed the back of his head and pulled him closer, not really knowing what she was doing and not really caring. All she knew was that whatever Sebastian was doing was not something she wanted to stop. She couldn’t believe it: Here she was, hooking up with a boy she had just met! She pulled back a little so she could get another look at his face in the moonlight.

  The back of her neck tingled where he had caressed it.

  Sebastian tilted his head, grinning at her sweetly. Then his face seemed to brighten dramatically, as if it had been caught in the beam of a flashlight. Only then did Chelsea see the bobbing rays of light and hear the oddly familiar voices of the first wave of people approaching the docks, ready to turn in for the night.

  “I think it’s great that you guys come out here and do this,” a female voice was saying. “I’d love to see the island during the day.”

  Vanessa’s sleek dark head was the first to pop out from the shadow of the trees, followed by Todd, Sara, and Leo. Chelsea immediately scooted out of Sebastian’s arms and into the corner of the boat.

  “Yeah, well, we’ll keep ’em coming, hot and spicy, all summer long,” Leo joked, mimicking a radio announcer.

  Vanessa’s burbling giggle spewed out over the lake, competing with Sara’s mellow, silvery laugh. As they approached the boat, Chelsea had to shield her eyes against the bright glare coming from Todd’s flashlight.

  “Chelsea.” Todd looked confused. “I was wondering where you’d gone off to. Didn’t want to lose Daddy’s little girl on her first night out.”
He laughed at his own joke and then paused, looking from her to Sebastian and then back again. “What are you doing?”

  The same thing you were doing in the woods with Vanessa, Chelsea wanted to reply. But Sebastian stepped in for her.

  “Chelsea was just showing me the boat,” he told Todd.

  “Yeah?” Todd cocked an eyebrow, and then he grinned. “She show you the dent where she hit it the first time she tried a one-eighty? I’ve never seen a human body slam into fiberglass that hard.”

  Everyone laughed, and Chelsea felt her cheeks go scarlet. Did he really have to go there with all those other people around? Now she was more determined than ever to show him up this summer. She knew the only way she could put him in his place was by beating him at the Challenge. Just imagining it brightened her mood.

  “If you look closely, there are a couple of Todd-induced scratches on this boat, too,” she shot back. She felt a small surge of triumph as everyone else enjoyed a laugh at Todd’s expense.

  Todd scowled and changed the subject. “The girls got too cold, so we’re heading back now,” he said. “You guys coming with us or riding the next wave in?”

  “Unfortunately, I have an early lesson tomorrow morning,” Sebastian said. “Otherwise I would love to stay.”

  Todd climbed into the driver’s seat, guiding Vanessa into the seat beside him, and started the engine before everyone else was even settled.

  They went speeding across the lake so fast that Chelsea had to grab on to Sebastian to steady herself. “Todd, be careful!” she shouted toward him. “Don’t overshoot the headlights!”

  “Thanks, but I know how to drive one of these things,” Todd sneered, nevertheless bringing the boat down to a safer speed. Chelsea couldn’t help wondering what his deal was.

  Todd drove with one hand on the wheel and used the other to hold on to Vanessa. Chelsea watched, a feeling rising in her chest, but then she felt Sebastian’s hand slip stealthily around hers. “Thank you for, you know, showing me the boat,” he whispered in her ear. A sweet, rushing feeling coursed through her body as their fingers intertwined in the darkness, and she gave him a tiny thank-you squeeze back.