by Sarah Thorn
“Okay, okay, I get it. You sure don’t make him sound very attractive.”
Stacy looked at her. “You can’t judge someone by their looks, Faith. You gotta see what’s underneath, too.”
Faith didn’t look back at her. She looked out the window, letting her hand ride on the wind and thinking about what Stacy had said.
When they reached the school, most of the other students were already there, talking and laughing excitedly. The beach they were going to was an hour and a half away. They had all pitched in several hundred dollars to reserve large suites in a hotel that was right on the shorefront. Faith watched two of the football players loading coolers into the back of the SUV they were taking and gave Stacy a look. Her friend just shrugged as if to say, “what they do is their business.”
She didn’t want to judge and decided the coolers were probably filled with Coke and Pepsi. She wasn’t riding with them anyway. She saw Ethan but didn’t go over to him. He was with four girls and his best friend, Darryl. She and Darryl locked eyes for a moment and nodded at each other. They didn’t know each other well either but he was the only one on the football team she had classes with. In fact, she shared three classes with him. He was tall and muscular, the star quarterback. From what she’d heard about him, he planned to go to college on a football scholarship and someday play for the pros.
She was surprised when he left the group he was with and approached her and Stacy.
“Hey, ladies.” He said.
“Hey, Darryl.” Both Faith and Stacy replied at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed. Darryl’s smile spread across his face, revealing bright white, straight teeth.
“Excited yet?” He asked.
“Yeah, very!” Stacy said, openly flirting with the boy. “You?”
Darryl nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yeah, I get to drive a bunch of dumb jocks across the state and watch them get wasted all weekend. Sounds like a great time.”
Faith raised her eyebrows. “You don’t sound serious. You’re not gonna drink, too?”
He shook his head. “Beer is nasty, girl. Don’t drink. It turns people into classless, moral-less fools.”
“Is moral-less a word?” Stacy asked, teasing him. He smiled at her.
“Does it matter?”
Chapter Two
The convoy of cars, trucks and SUVs made it to the beach safely, nearly two hours after they set out. Faith rode with Stacy, who had offered to give rides to two other girls. One of them smoked cigarettes the entire way there, which Stacy was unhappy about. She grumbled that her father was going to be angry when he got his car back and it stank of cigarettes. She told the girl she would have to ride in a different car on the way back, which made for a very uncomfortable ride for the last hour.
But Faith forgot about it when she got her bag out of Stacy’s trunk, and they went in the hotel to check in.
“First thing we’re gonna do,” Stacy said. “Is go out on the beach. So let’s get our room and change into our bikinis right now!”
Faith didn’t have a bikini. She had a very small one piece with no back to it, though. Her mother had bought it for her, much to Faith’s surprise. It was small, but the design on the front was a beautiful sunrise, with the colors of the sky splashing across it in majestic fashion. She was impressed. She was also anxious to put it on and see what Ethan thought of it.
If she could get his attention.
She delighted in the feel of the sand between her toes. She scrunched it up and giggled. “I love this so much, Stace.” She said. “We gotta move here. We gotta find a college at the beach so we can enjoy this all the time.”
“You know, they say that when you live at the beach, you forget how beautiful it is because you’re, like, working all the time and never get to enjoy it. But if I lived here, I’d make sure to find the time to enjoy it.”
“Yeah, me too. I mean, how can you forget this beauty? I’d probably forget I had to go to work!”
They laughed.
They found a spot on the beach near some of their friends and spread their blankets out over the sand. Faith sat down on hers and set the small bag she’d brought with her down in the sand next to her. She took out a pair of sunglasses, her suntan lotion and a bottle of water.
“I am so ready for this. School has been rough lately.” Stacy did the same next to her, propping her sunglasses up on her head.
“How is that?” Faith laughed. Stacy gave her a wide-eyed look.
“You do know I’ve been helping out those kids in the remedial classes, don’t you? That’s taken a lot of time from my usual studies. I’ve got two assignments due when I get back.”
“Have you done them yet?” Faith asked.
Stacy shook her head. “No, I wanted to come on this trip too much and didn’t get them finished. I’m gonna have to take Monday to do them.”
“We go back to school Monday, silly.” Faith said.
“I know, but they aren’t due till Wednesday.”
Faith chuckled. “You’re pushing it to the last minute. Way to procrastinate.”
“I know it. It’s terrible. I’m terrible. I think I’ll have to go for a swim to punish myself. Come on!” She jumped up and held out one hand. Faith shook her head.
“You go ahead. I think I’m gonna soak up some sun and get really hot first so the water will freeze me through and through when I finally get in.”
Stacy laughed. “Suit yourself! See ya!”
Faith watched her friend bound toward the water, skipping into it and falling backwards when she was about waist high. A small wave toppled over her head, and she came up with a delighted yell. Faith smiled, smoothing out lotion on her arms and legs.
The sun was bright in the sky, almost directly over her head. She slipped on her sunglasses and laid back on the towel, already feeling her skin begin to warm up.
She may have fallen asleep. She wasn’t sure. The next thing she knew, someone was dripping cold water on her. She shrieked and sat up, shading her eyes to see who was torturing her. To her surprise, it was Ethan, leaning over and shaking his head so that he was splattering cold water from his hair all around him.
“You’re awake!” He laughed loudly. “We didn’t come here to sleep, girl! Get up and get moving! Come on! Have some fun! Besides, we need a fourth!” He reached out and took her hand, lifting her up to her feet whether she liked it or not. Her heart thumped hard in her chest, and she tried not to feel like she had just been crowned queen of the homecoming dance.
“Okay, okay!” She laughed, nervously. “You don’t have to tell me twice!”
She followed him down into the water, where several other school friends were splashing around, including Stacy and Darryl. Stacy gave her an open mouth grin and splashed over to her. Before she knew it, she was falling backwards in the water from Stacy attacking her. Stacy came up first, throwing her wet, long blond hair back over her head. Faith grabbed her shoulders and they wrestled in the water for a few moments.
“Hey, come on!” Ethan gestured to them. “Time for chicken, come on, we’re gonna knock you into next week!”
Faith went towards him, but he turned away from her and grabbed one of the other girls, hoisting her up onto his shoulders. She stopped and looked around at the others, hoping no one had noticed her anticipation. She was embarrassed to see that Darryl had and was watching her for her reaction. When she grinned at him, cheeks red, he lifted one hand to her.
“Come on, come on!” He said. “You’re not going to let him get away with that, are you?”
She splashed over to him, and he grabbed her, kneeling down so she could climb up on his shoulders. He was taller than Ethan and lankier. She had no trouble pulling the other girl off of Ethan’s shoulders. Darryl’s hands around her legs held her in a firm grip. She wondered if she would have bruises. She was having so much fun; she didn’t care.
Things quieted down that evening. After a dinner of pizza, chicken wings, and Coca-Cola, F
aith and Stacy decided to spend some time in one of the hot tubs provided by the hotel. It was an enclosed hot tub surrounded by glass. There were two in one glass enclosure and two in another. One glass building was packed with students from their high school, other schools and college students. The other was less full. In fact, one of the hot tubs only had three people in it. That was the one Faith and Stacy went to first.
The warm water comforted Faith, relieving any residual stress she may have felt. She sat in front of one of the jets and let it beat against her back for a few minutes before moving away from it. The stream of water made it seem hotter than it actually was and it didn’t take long for it to feel like it was burning her.
She rested her head backwards and enjoyed the heat. She and Stacy didn’t talk. The other three young people in the hot tub weren’t talking either. It was comfortable and quiet.
After a short while, she sensed someone what looking at her and opened her eyes. Darryl had come in the glass building, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was stepping down into the hot tub slowly. When she opened her eyes, he glanced at her and smiled.
“Hey.” He said softly, passing in front of her to sit on the other side of Stacy.
She nodded at him.
“This is nice, isn’t it?” He kept his voice very low, as if they were in a library.
She smiled. “Yeah.” She closed her eyes again and laid her head back, sinking just a bit lower into the water, so that it came up and brushed against her chin.
Taking that as a sign, Darryl fell quiet and kept his eyes on the bubbling water.
When Faith opened her eyes again, the only people left in the hot tub were her, Stacy and Darryl. Even the crowd in the other glass building had dissipated. Stacy was moving through the water, walking from one side to the other and back again. She smiled at Faith.
“I’m swimming in the hot tub.” She murmured, running her hands over the foaming bubbles that rode along the surface of the water. “I’m ready to get out, though. Starving to death. You wanna go get something to eat?”
Faith nodded. “Yeah but not yet. I’m gonna sit in here for a little longer.”
“It’s like a sauna in here. You don’t need to lose any weight or you’re gonna blow away in the wind. I’m gonna go dry off. I’ll get something delivered to the room. You want a sub?”
“That sounds great!” Faith replied. “Give me another fifteen or so and I’ll be up there.”
Stacy nodded, moving to the steps and lifting herself out of the tub. “Okay, girl. See you in a few.”
Faith watched her friend as she wrapped her towel around her wet body and slipped her feet into her beach slippers. Then she turned her eyes to Darryl, who had stretched his long body out over the seat and was laid back in the corner, his arms spread out to the sides. He opened his eyes wide when he saw her looking at him.
“Uh oh.” He said menacingly. “It’s just you and me now.”
Faith chuckled. “Should I be worried?”
Darryl laughed and shrugged. “I guess you could be if you wanted to be. But you shouldn’t be. I won’t hurt you.”
“Glad to hear it. I know where you live.”
He laughed again. “Oh, you do? I think I’m the one who should be worried now.”
Faith laughed with him.
“So you’re having a good time so far?” Darryl asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, it’s been incredibly relaxing.”
“I think so, too. I’ve been waiting all year for this.”
“All school year or all year-year?”
“All year-year. At the beginning of school, I was thinking more about how to keep my grades up so I can stay in football and get my scholarship and go to college.”
“Do you know where you’re going yet?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. If I get the scholarship from football, I’ll probably apply at the ones I want to attend. If I get the free scholarship, I’ll be going to community with the others.”
“That’s what Stacy and I are going to do.” Faith moved to the other side of the hot tub so that she was closer to where he was sitting. She noticed when he looked down over her body and then back up at her eyes.
“You’re gonna wait to see if you get a football scholarship?”
She laughed. “No, I mean the free scholarship for two years. Then we’ll apply where we want to go.”
“Good thing. I don’t think the football thing would work out for you.”
They both laughed at that.
“What do you plan to do, do you know?” He asked.
“I’m going to be a teacher. Probably the younger grades, you know, kindergarten through maybe fourth or fifth. One of those grades.”
“Don’t want to teach the high schoolers, huh?”
Faith snorted. “No.”
He nodded. “I understand. I wouldn’t want to either. Not much money in that, though.”
“Money isn’t why I’d be doing it.”
He smiled at her. “Well, I think it’s a great profession. I hope you end up right where you want to be.”
“Thanks, Darryl. I hope you do, too.”
He shook his head. “I won’t if I don’t do something about my grades.”
“Having trouble?”
He frowned. “I hate to admit it but, yeah. My English class is killing me. I mean, it’s not Mr. Francis that’s causing the problem, you know? I just…” He shook his head. “Reading and writing just isn’t my thing. I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”
“I could help you, you know. I am a tutor for that class.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You’d do that for me?”
“Well, I usually charge.” She said. “But we could make another arrangement.”
He laughed. “That sounds suspicious and not like something you’d say. What did you have in mind?”
She grinned at him.
Chapter Three
Stacy threw open the door as Faith was walking down the hallway to their room. She came out and gestured wildly at her friend. “Faith! That’s the longest fifteen minutes I’ve ever experienced in my life! I thought your sub was gonna get moldy! Where have you been?”
Faith narrowed her eyes, stepping into the cool room and immediately getting chills all over her wet body. “You know full well you were watching me on the deck. I could see you!”
Stacy laughed. “Darn those glass buildings. Good for the spier unless the person you’re watching can see you back! What were you and Darryl talking about? Looked intense.”
“I’m gonna help him with his English studies. He’s struggling, and I said I would help him, so he doesn’t lose his football scholarship.”
“If he gets one.”
“He’ll get one.” Faith said, confidently. “He’s good at it. He’ll get it.”
“So you made friends with Darryl, huh? What about Ethan? Thought you had your eyes on him.”
Faith nodded. “I made a deal with Darryl. He’s gonna talk to Ethan about me. See what he thinks about me. He’s gonna tell Ethan I’m tutoring him. I’m hoping Ethan might be just a bit jealous.”
Stacy scrunched her face up. “How’s that gonna make him jealous? He doesn’t even know you very well. Y'all aren’t going out and haven’t in the past. I don’t know why he’d get jealous.”
Faith shrugged. “I don’t know. But it’s worth a try.”
Stacy shook her head. “I don’t think trying to make someone jealous is the way to a guy’s heart, girl. But you do what you want. In the meantime, eat that sub before I eat it myself.”
Faith unwrapped the parchment paper that surrounded her sandwich. The bottom was slightly soggy because it had sat for so long but she felt like it was worth it. “I see you ate my pickle slice.”
Stacy shrugged, throwing herself on the bed and grabbing the remote for the TV. “You shouldn’t have taken so long. It was screaming out for me. I had to eat it.”
Faith chuckled. “Okay, okay. There something worth watch
ing on TV this evening?”
“Oh we aren’t staying in here, are you serious? We have a party in one of the rooms to go to in two hours.”
Faith shook her head. “You know I don’t do parties, Stace. My parents would kill me if they knew I…”
“One, your parents aren’t here, thank God. And two, just because other people are doin’ stuff doesn’t mean you have to. You know what the old folks always say, just because so and so jumps off a bridge, does that mean you have to too, right?”
“I guess.” Faith was apprehensive. She’d seen the coolers. She knew it wasn’t Coke and Pepsi in them. “I don’t want to get in any trouble. Not with the guys and not with my parents.”
“I’ll watch out for you. Latch on to Darryl. I bet he’d keep you safe.”
Faith raised her eyebrows. “What are you talking about? He wants to get through school and get his grades up and play football. Nothing more than that.”
Stacy shook her head. “Sometimes I think girls can be as clueless as guys are about when somebody is attracted to them.”
“I don’t think Darryl is attracted to me.”
“Oh yeah, he is. I tried to flirt with him like five times all day, and he kept looking in your direction. And when we were all playing chicken? Good Lord, how can you not notice?”
Faith shook her head. “I don’t think you’re right. But I’ll go tonight. And I’m gonna hang around you like glue.”
“That’s not the phra-a-ase.” Stacy sing-songed as she scooted off the bed and skipped into the bathroom to take a shower.
“No, but it did kind of rhyme!” Faith called out and was pleased when she heard her friend’s responding laughter.
The party was being held in a room that was four doors down from Faith and Stacy’s. They could hear loud thumping music as they got closer and the door suddenly came open. Three students from their school spilled out into the hallway, shushing each other while laughing.
