by Jody Morse
I didn’t hear anything. I screamed, “Someone call nine-one-one!”
With trembling hands, I began doing compressions, the same way we had practiced in CPR class. What they didn’t teach you in CPR class was how much different it felt to practice resuscitating a lifeless dummy than it felt to have to resuscitate someone in a real life-or-death situation.
From behind me, I could hear the boy’s mom crying and flooding me with questions. “What are you doing to him? Is he going to be okay? Are you going to be able to save him?”
I ignored her, focusing all of my attention on the boy. I hoped he would be okay, but the truth was, I really wasn’t sure. It’s not like I had any experience rescuing people . . . and with my luck, the first person I would have to save while I was on duty wouldn’t survive. I only hoped that the boy had better luck than Scarlett did.
After I had done twenty compressions (or was it twenty-one? I had lost count), a cough came from the boy’s mouth. A trickle of water ran down his cheeks, and his eyes popped open. “M-mom?” he asked shakily, glancing over at his mother, who smiled in sheer happiness.
“Michael! Oh, Michael!” the woman exclaimed, rushing over to her son and wrapping her arms around him. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” She turned to me and, with tears in her eyes, whispered, “Thank you for saving my son.”
I beamed. My record of saving people was beginning to look a little better. Maybe this was turning out to be the right summer job for me, after all.
Tyler came over to me and, wrapping his arms around me, he whispered, “You were amazing out there!”
I looked up and smiled at him. “That was one of the scariest things I’ve ever had to do. What time did you want to meet at the pier tonight?”
“How’s nine o’clock?” he asked.
“Sounds perfect.”
Chapter 4
Nothing even remotely exciting at work happened after I saved Michael. I wasn’t sure if that was for the better or for the worse. On the one hand, it was a good thing that no one else had almost drowned—but on the other hand, I sort of enjoyed being the hero for the day. It made me feel like I had a purpose.
Nine o’clock rolled around much quicker than I thought it would, and I had nearly forgotten that I was supposed to meet Tyler at the pier. I still hadn’t decided what I was going to tell him about my sister.
When I got to the pier, Tyler and Bruno were already there waiting for me. Tyler had changed out of the white t-shirt and swim trunks that he had been wearing that morning. He now had on a light pink and white striped polo shirt and khaki shorts.
“Tough guys wear pink,” I commented with a laugh as I approached him.
Tyler flashed a cocky grin at me. “And what do tough girls wear?”
“We wear pink, too,” I replied, leaning over to scratch Bruno’s ears. “Pink heels. All the better to kick tough guys with.” I winked at him, and he laughed.
Tyler’s facial expression turned serious and his voice softened. “Are you ready to talk about last night?”
I stared down at my hot pink studded flip flops and shook my head. “Not really, to be honest with you.”
“I understand. Let’s take a walk,” Tyler suggested.
“Okay,” I agreed. Tyler fell into place next to me and, together, the three of us walked to the beginning of the pier. As we descended the steps to the beach, I admired the sunset, which was a pretty shade of orange with feathery pink clouds. There was nothing better than the beach at sunset.
“Ask me a question,” Tyler said.
I glanced over at him. “About what?”
“Anything you want to know,” Tyler replied. “I’ll be completely honest with you.”
I thought to myself. What did I want to know about Tyler? Everything. But, he had only told me to ask one question, not hundreds.
“What’s your biggest fear?” I finally asked after a few minutes of trying to decide on a question.
“That’s an easy one. Having a seizure.” He kicked up sand with his foot as we started to walk the shoreline. I took off my flip flops, allowing my feet to sink into the sand, which was beginning to cool down for the day.
“What does a seizure feel like?” I asked.
“Everything goes blurry,” Tyler explained. “It sorta feels like I’m underwater, in a way. First, I see light . . . and then dark. And then I lose consciousness, and when I come to, I don’t remember where I was or what I was doing.”
“That seems scary,” I murmured.
“Incredibly. What’s your biggest fear?” Tyler asked, glancing over at me.
“Losing someone I love,” I replied. Ahead of me, I saw a little girl running towards her mother, whose feet were rooted in the water. It reminded me of my own mom, which made me sad. That little girl would probably grow up to be the best of friends with her mom, but I would never be able to have that type of relationship with my own. Even if she somehow made a miraculous recovery, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to let my own feelings of hurt and anger go.
“I think we all fear losing people we love,” Tyler murmured, a tone of agreement in his voice.
“I suppose we do,” I agreed. Taking a deep breath, I added, “But I’ve already lost several people I love.”
“Oh.” Tyler stopped walking and grabbed my wrist to stop me from going any further. I turned to look at him as he asked, “How long ago did that happen?”
I paused, trying to blink away the tears that had built up behind my eyes. I turned to look at Tyler, who stared back at me intently. I hadn’t told anyone else in Ocean Grove about Scarlett because it was too difficult to talk about, but for some reason, I wanted to share everything about my life with him—even the bad parts.
“When I was a child. My father died in a boating accident. The boat tipped over, and he drowned. A few months later, my sister also drowned,” I went on. “And my mom, well . . . it’s a long story, but let’s just say that she didn’t handle either of their deaths very well, and I ended up losing her, too.”
Tyler sucked in his cheeks and released them with one long breath. “Wow. That’s . . . pretty intense. I can't imagine what that was like for you. I’m so sorry.”
“It was a long time ago,” I replied, with a shrug. I broke our gaze, looking at the ocean instead so that he wouldn’t see the glistening tears in my eyes.
I could feel Tyler’s grey eyes studying my face for a few moments. Finally, he asked, “Do you want to go somewhere special to me?”
“Sure,” I replied. Hopefully, he would forget about my reaction to seeing my sister—at least for now. I still felt like I needed more time to get to know him better before I dropped this bomb on him. Plus, I might as well enjoy whatever time I had with him right now. Once he found out that I thought I’d seen Scarlett, he would think I was crazy and would surely run in the opposite direction. I didn’t know if I had feelings for him yet, but I would still hate to lose him so soon.
We walked about half a mile down the shore, neither of us saying much. Finally, Tyler led me up a sandy path, and when I saw the structure that loomed ahead of us, I realized where we were going. “The lighthouse?” I asked, turning to look at him.
He nodded. “There’s something special about it.”
I stared at the lighthouse. It was red and ivory in color, and it looked beautiful against the darkening night and the ocean beyond the little peninsula that it rested on, which was surrounded by rocks. It was obviously pretty, but I didn’t know what was so special about it. Raising an eyebrow, I asked, “What’s that?”
“I’ll show you. Come on.” Tyler came to a halt in front of the lighthouse. He pulled a key ring out of his pocket. It held a lot of keys for someone who didn’t even own a car yet. He selected one of the keys from the ring and opened the door of the lighthouse.
I stared at him wide eyed. “Are you . . . allowed to go in there?” Maybe he was trying to be adventurous, but I was used to following the rules. I didn’t want to get arrested for tre
spassing.
“Relax,” Tyler laughed, his grey eyes smiling back at me. “I have a key, don’t I? I come here all the time. My father is the lighthouse keeper. My parents used to live here before I was born.”
“Oh.” I followed Tyler inside the doorway of the lighthouse. It was mostly dark inside; the only light was from the moon, which streamed in from a window above us.
Tyler stopped next to the spiral staircase. “This is where I was born,” he said, turning to look at me.
“You were born in a lighthouse?” I asked skeptically, raising my eyebrows at him.
Tyler nodded, running a hand over his short brown hair. “My mom wasn’t able to make it to the hospital in time. She ended up going into labor right here on the floor, so my dad was the one who delivered me.”
I laughed. “That’s the craziest real life birth story I’ve ever heard.” Tyler stared into my eyes. I was glad the lighting wasn’t too bright because it concealed my blushing, which I seemed to be doing any time he laid his eyes on me. “I was born in a hospital,” I said quietly, unsure of what else to say.
“Most people are,” Tyler replied, his voice merely a whisper. He continued to stare into my eyes, and then I heard it. It was a loud, ringing sound.
I whirled around, looking for the source of the sound. “Is there a fire or security alarm going off or something?” I asked, scanning the room for some type of alarm system.
Tyler raised his eyebrows at me. “No?”
“Then where’s that ringing coming from?” The sound was actually hurting my ears, but it didn’t make it difficult for me to hear Tyler’s voice.
“I don’t hear a ringing,” Tyler replied slowly. The confusion was obvious in his voice. “Maybe we should get you to a doctor. You might be losing your hearing . . . or maybe you’re sick or something.”
I shook my head. “No. I think I’ll be okay.” I smiled. Maybe I was sick, though. It would explain why I had been so delusional the night before. What if I had just thought some redheaded girl was Scarlett, when really she looked nothing like her? How would I even know what Scarlett would look like now?
I quickly shook the thought away. The girl was definitely my sister.
As though he were reading my mind, Tyler said, “I’ll understand if you’re not ready to talk to me about last night yet.”
“Thank you.” I gulped. I really wasn’t ready to tell him. Not until I figured things out for myself first.
“I understand. But eventually, if you continue to see me, I hope you’ll become more comfortable with telling me things,” Tyler said softly.
I nodded. “I am comfortable telling you about things, though. I haven’t told anyone in Ocean Grove about my sister’s death.”
“I’m glad you felt like you could tell me. Do you think you’ll continue to see me?” Tyler asked, inching closer to me. He was so close that I could feel his warm breath against my skin, and it sent goose bumps down my arms.
“Yes,” I whispered. Just as Tyler moved in closer to me and I was about to close my eyes, preparing myself for what I thought would be my first kiss, my cell phone blared from my pocket, interrupting the moment.
Glancing down at the caller ID, I found that it was Carrie. Groaning, I told Tyler, “I have to take this, or she’ll be mad at me.” He nodded, and I hit the ‘talk’ button. “Hello?”
“Where are you?” Carrie asked. Her voice was muffled, so I pushed the door of the lighthouse open to go outside.
“I’m at the lighthouse with Tyler. Why?”
There was a long pause, and I heard the sound of hip hop music playing in the background. “There’s a party at Bryson’s. He lives in the blue house by The Cove. Can you come? You can bring your boy toy,” Carrie said playfully.
I covered the speaker and asked Tyler, “Do you want to go to a party with me?”
“Sure,” Tyler replied, nodding his head.
“We’ll be there soon,” I said into the phone.
*
The Cove was an oceanfront seafood restaurant that a lot of people from school hung out at. When you live in a beach town, I guess you’re expected to eat seafood socially—which totally went against my rule of not eating anything that lives in water. Just the smell of popcorn shrimp and grilled salmon made me want to vomit, but whatever floats everyone else’s boat.
Directly across the street from The Cove, I spotted Bryson Moran’s house. In the dark, I couldn’t see the color of the house, but I could tell that it had three stories. Loud music boomed from the house, and dozens of people stood outside, laughing and drinking from red plastic cups.
I wondered how it was possible that the parties that were thrown on this street never got busted for underage drinking; it’s not like it was in the most discreet of locations. It was probably because most of the police officers in town had sons and daughters who contributed to the large tables of hard liquor and the kegs that could usually be found in the backyard.
As I stepped into the front yard, I felt Bruno’s tail slap against my butt. I’d nearly forgotten that Tyler’s dog was with us because he’d been so quiet during the walk to Bryson’s house. I turned to look at Tyler. “We should probably stay outside . . . or, at least, Bruno should if either of us has to go inside.”
Tyler nodded. “Yeah, sounds good.” There was a note of sadness in his voice. Ever since Carrie had called to ask us to come to the party, something about his whole demeanor had shifted. He seemed much more reserved than his usual fun-loving self.
I had a feeling it may have been because Carrie’s phone call had interrupted what would have been our first kiss. It was probably the whole reason Tyler had planned the trip to the lighthouse; it was somewhere romantic—and private—enough to share a first kiss. After the phone call, it no longer felt like the right timing for it, though.
“I’m gonna get us some drinks,” I told Tyler, but he shook his head and waved a hand to halt me from going anywhere.
“No, that’s okay. I’ll get the drinks. You stay here.” He handed me Bruno’s leash and left me standing there with his dog.
“Hey, chica!” a familiar voice called from behind me. Turning around, I found Carrie walking towards me. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a smooth ponytail, and she was wearing a strapless dress in a shade of tiger lily orange—which would probably look bad on most people, but looked amazing in contrast to Carrie’s tanned skin.
“Hey,” I said, smiling at her.
Carrie wrapped her arms around me in a sloppy hug and said, “You won’t believe who’s here.”
“Who, besides probably our whole sophomore class?” I asked jokingly.
“Jackson Davis,” Carrie said, slurring.
“How much have you had to drink already?” I asked. Carrie sometimes overdid it at parties, and since her parents were really strict, she usually ended up spending the night at my Gram’s house. I usually ended up taking care of Carrie, while she spent the whole night lying on the tiled bathroom floor with a hangover.
“Only a few beers,” Carrie replied. “You’re missing the point! Jackson Davis! He’s here!”
“Who is Jackson Davis?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. The name did sound sort of familiar, but I couldn’t seem to put a face to it.
“You had a crush on him when we were younger. I think he moved away after the sixth grade,” Carrie said, taking another small sip from her red cup. When I just stared at her with wide eyes, she rolled hers at me. “I’m pretty sure you used to call him J.P.”
I felt my eyes light up with remembrance, and I laughed. “I remember him! Wow, he moved away when we were in fifth grade, I think. He’s here now?” I glanced around the yard, trying to see if I could spot him, even though it had been years since I’d seen him and I really didn’t know what he would look like now.
Carrie nodded excitedly. “Yeah, apparently his family moved back to Ocean Grove.” She glanced pointedly over at Tyler, who was pouring something into a cup. “I’ll be happy to keep him
distracted if you want to go say ‘hi’.”
As I watched Tyler glance over in my direction, I knew that I couldn’t do that to him. I was a firm believer that what you didn’t know could hurt you, and even though Tyler and I weren’t officially dating yet, it felt like we were heading in that direction. I didn’t want to risk hurting him just because I was curious about what my old elementary school crush looked like these days.
Turning back to Carrie, I shook my head. “No, that’s okay. I’d feel bad. I came here with Tyler. Besides, Jackson probably doesn’t even remember me, anyway.”
Carrie shrugged. “Okay, suit yourself. Don’t say I didn’t try, though.” Her eyes lit up as she saw a small group of girls who I recognized from school, and she ran across the backyard to greet them.
“Beer for you,” Tyler said, when he came back over to me, handing me a red cup. “And soda for me.”
“Oh, you don’t drink?” I asked. Maybe that was why he’d acted so weird on the way to the party; he felt awkward to be here because he didn’t drink and everyone around him would be.
Tyler shook his head. “Nah, I can’t. Epileptics aren’t supposed to drink.”
“Oh. Why not?” I asked. I realized that I really didn’t know much about epilepsy. In fact, I’d never even met someone who was an epileptic (or, at least, not that I knew of) until I met Tyler.
“Some doctors think it triggers us to have seizures . . . and it interacts with our medication,” Tyler explained. “I’ve never had a drink in my life, and never will. It’s not worth it.”
I looked down at the red cup that I was holding in my hand, and I felt a sense of guilt. I had gotten drunk quite a few times before, and I always thought of it as a rite of passage. Tyler would never be able to drink, though. Not that he was really missing out on much; I personally didn’t care if I drank or not. Even so, I couldn’t imagine a future where I would most likely always be dubbed the Designated Driver for all of my drunken friends because they knew I would never be able to drink myself.
