The Beach House

by Beth Reekles

  “Hey, you guys set for tomorrow?” Noah asked, leaning through the bedroom doorway.

  It would be our last day together—Noah was leaving the next day. So despite not being a morning person, I’d set alarms to make sure I was up early. I was going to make the most of these final few hours, whatever it took.

  “We will be,” Lee said. “Though Elle’s going to need a while to get her face on and fix that bedhead.”

  I patted my hair. I knew it would need taming tomorrow, but scrabbled about on the dresser for a hair tie to pull it back into a ponytail now.

  “Don’t listen to him, Elle. You look great.”

  I blew Noah a kiss. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

  Lee made an exaggerated gagging sound. “If you two are done flirting, can we say good night?”

  I giggled and threw the T-shirt and sock of his I was still holding at his head. The sock caught on his ear until he shook it off, like a dog. Noah chuckled too, and that wistful part of me, the part that was forever a hopeless romantic, wished I could take a snapshot of the moment—all three of us laughing and smiling at the beach house together like always, and seemingly without a care in the world.

  It was a perfect moment in time—but that was all it was. A moment.

  Chapter 9

  Our last day together went by way too quickly. We tried to cram everything in: games of Frisbee, tossing a football around, swimming in the ocean, playing volleyball (I’d joined in this time, even if I was awful at it). Noah and I had left Lee playing another round of volleyball to get some time to ourselves at the beach bar—thankfully without any problems like the last time.

  I wished it could last forever. I wished Noah didn’t have to leave.

  I was dreading saying goodbye to him. I knew it wasn’t for long, and he’d be back soon, but it just made me think about how much harder it would be to say goodbye when he left for good. I was trying really hard not to think about it; it was dragging down my happy mood.

  “Mm,” Lee said, pulling me out of my thoughts. “I just remembered!”

  Except he was talking with his mouth full, so it sounded more like Mmmph, ah jush muh-mem-phud. I understood what he was saying, though; after seventeen years of being around Lee, I’d got used to listening to him tell me things with his mouth full of food.

  “What?” I said—after I’d swallowed my food.

  “Well,” he said, gulping down his burrito loudly, then belching even louder. “You know this morning when we were playing volleyball? After you two left, I was talking to a couple of guys. There’s a party down on the beach tomorrow night. There’s gonna be a whole bunch of people there. But no bonfire, they said.”

  “They haven’t had a bonfire for years,” Noah said, but he sounded uninterested—or distracted. “The police caught them a few years back. Something about a safety hazard.”

  “A safety hazard right by the sea?” I said.

  He shot me a flat look, but then turned back to Lee. “So? What’s your point?”

  Lee took another impossibly huge bite of his burrito. This time, he swallowed most of it before he answered. “Well…my point is, there’s a party tomorrow. So me and Shelly can go.”

  “Really?” My pulse picked up and I felt my eyebrows shooting toward my hairline. We hadn’t been to a beach party before. They’d been something that Noah would disappear to one or two nights, but Lee and I had always been too young. June and Matthew (and my dad, via phone call) hadn’t let us go when Noah was going. And Noah hadn’t wanted us there.

  There was that one year, when we were fourteen: we’d snuck down to a party even after my dad and Lee’s parents had told us we weren’t allowed to go. Mostly, though, we snuck down to spy on Noah. It hadn’t been very successful, though. He’d caught us trailing after him and threatened to phone his mom and tell on us.

  Childish, but it worked.

  We probably would’ve been allowed to go last year, maybe even the year before, but we’d never asked. The parties were Noah’s thing. Lee and I stayed at the house playing video games and joking about, like we always did.

  Now, though, adrenaline coursed through me.

  “Really?” I squealed. “We get to go to a beach party this year? We’re going to a party—”

  “Um,” Noah interrupted. “I don’t think so.”

  “What?” Lee and I both turned to him, wide-eyed with pure confusion.

  “Do you even know what goes on at those things?” he said. I pursed my lips, glaring at him. If he was going to turn right back into an overprotective jerk…

  “We’re going,” I told him.

  “Elle.” He sighed, with a look on his face that I completely ignored.

  “No, she’s right,” Lee added. “I’m going. And Shelly can’t not go if I go. Therefore, we are both going.” I was so tempted to make a comment like “Therefore”? Wow, that’s a pretty big word for you, Lee, but I was too interested in what he had to say. “Besides, you can’t keep track of where she’s going and what she’s doing every single day.”

  “Well, the beauty of Instagram means I kind of can,” Noah joked. “But I’m serious. You guys have never been to one of these parties. They can get really crazy. There’s alcohol, douchey guys….Things can get pretty wild. I swear I saw drugs getting passed around last year. And I’m not talking about weed.”

  “Oh, come on.” Lee snorted. “As if we’re going to get involved in anything like that.”

  “Some of those parties get out of control real quick, Lee. I can handle myself. I’m not so sure about you guys.”

  “We’re not idiots, Noah.”

  “You don’t even know the guys who invited you.”

  “Sure I do. I added one of them on Facebook.”

  “Elle,” Noah said, turning to me now. “Are you serious about this? You really wanna go that bad? I’m telling you guys, it’s not your scene—”

  “You’re not the boss of her,” Lee interrupted.

  “Yeah, well, neither are you.”

  “I’m her best friend,” Lee snapped. “I’ll take care of her just fine.”

  “And I’m her boyfriend,” Noah retorted. “I’m trying to look out for her.”

  I stood up and walked off.

  That got their attention. Lee called, “Shelly!” and Noah said, “Elle?”

  I carried on stalking away from our little evening picnic on the beach. I didn’t walk very far, though, getting only a few feet away before I spun back round.

  “Okay,” I said. “Look, Lee and I are going to that party tomorrow, and neither of us is going to do anything stupid. We’ll be careful. And I appreciate you, both of you, looking out for me, but—news flash—I don’t need either of you cataloging my every move and babysitting me. Got that?”

  It was hard to tell who looked more stunned by my outburst—Lee or Noah. I was pretty stunned myself, since I hadn’t expected to rant at them like that when I’d opened my mouth.

  Lee recovered first. “Sorry.”

  “Fine,” Noah said. “Just promise me you guys will get out of there if things start heading south. Both of you.”

  It was sweet, I thought, that he wasn’t only worried about me. I’d been ready to argue with him, thinking he was being kind of a jerk telling us not to go, but he was just looking out for us. Both of us.

  “We swear,” I told him. “Right, Lee?”

  Lee huffed, but said, “Yeah, we swear. We’ll be careful.”

  I sat back down, reaching for some chips. I caught Lee’s eye and grinned at him. “Hey, Lee…beach party.”

  He beamed back at me. “Beach party.”

  Chapter 10

  “I’ll be home when you guys get back,” Noah said, his arms tightening round me. “Time’s going to fly by.”

  It sounded kind of like he was trying to c
onvince himself of that as well as me, so I just squeezed him tighter and rested my head against his shoulder. I heard the clunk-click sound of the trunk closing as Matthew finished loading his and Noah’s luggage into the car.

  Lee and June were still standing on the doorstep, waiting for them to leave. They’d been waiting there at least ten minutes to wave Matthew and Noah off, since they’d already said their goodbyes.

  “I bet I’ll hate it there,” Noah said, still trying to cheer me up. “I’ll be desperate to come back here.”

  “I doubt it,” I mumbled into his shirt.

  “Oh, come on. A bunch of preppy guys in sweater-vests and tweed? Not my kind of crowd.”

  I laughed at his attempt at humor, but it felt fake, and I had a feeling it sounded fake. So I tried to smile instead, but it felt a bit more like a grimace.

  “Shut up,” I told him instead. “You’ll love it there.”

  “Sure. I’ll just love being surrounded by a bunch of do-gooders.”

  I leaned away just far enough to swat at his chest, this time with a genuine smile on my face, if only a small one. “Yeah, yeah. Because you’re so ruthless and villainous, now, aren’t you?”

  “Love does wonders for a guy’s rep, huh?” He kissed me for what must have been the billionth time that morning.

  If things hadn’t been so different this year, I wouldn’t have cared as much that he was going away for a few days. I could handle spending a little while without my boyfriend; that wasn’t the problem.

  The thing was, it was all so wrong. The fact that Noah and his dad were leaving us early was just not right.

  Summers at the beach house were supposed to be all of us together just having fun, spending a while without worrying about our lives back home. Summers at the beach house weren’t supposed to be cut short by trips to college campuses. It just felt too grown-up.

  I remembered our conversation from the other day—Noah wondering if this would be his last summer here, saying that it might soon be my and Lee’s last summer here too.

  Lee might have convinced himself that it would never happen, but I wasn’t so sure.

  Things were already changing so much. What if they only got worse?

  “Time to go, Noah.”

  And speaking of things getting worse…

  My gut twisted. There was a lump in the back of my throat. I had that prickly feeling behind my eyes, like you get when you’re about to cry. My palms got all clammy. My breath shuddered when I exhaled.

  If this was what I felt like just thinking of him leaving for college, how was I ever going to cope when the time came for him to go for real?

  Almost as though he was able to read my thoughts, Noah smoothed my hair back off my face and left his hand lingering, his thumb stroking my cheek lightly. His electric-blue eyes bored into mine with a look so intense I could only stare back and wonder what he was thinking.

  “Be careful at this party, okay?” he murmured.

  I nodded. “Don’t worry about me.”

  “I do. A lot. You’re the kind of person who needs to be worried about. Especially being as clumsy as you are. And with Peter Pan over there being such a bad influence.”

  I laughed, and when I met his eyes again, the corner of his mouth twitched up in a smile. “I’ll be careful, don’t worry. We both will. I’ll look after him.”

  “Good.” He kissed my forehead again.

  “Have fun in Massachusetts.”

  “Mm,” he said doubtfully, but smiled. “I’ll try.”

  Noah gave me one final kiss, but I think we were both hyperaware of the fact that his parents and his brother were waiting for us to finish saying goodbye, so it was only a brief one. But it was still enough of a kiss to send the fireworks thrill through me.

  I spent another few melancholy moments standing with Noah, saying goodbye, before scuttling back up to the porch, where Lee and his mom were waiting.

  I’d always thought it was kind of pathetic how couples took forever to say goodbye—and then started the whole thing over again. It seemed like some big, sappy, exaggerated thing that even the hopeless romantic in me didn’t really appreciate too much. But now that it was happening to me, I understood. You did it because you wanted to delay them leaving you as long as possible. You did it to try to stall the future. To buy a few more seconds with them.

  As soon as I set foot on the porch, Lee grabbed my hand and squeezed it hard. I wasn’t crying, but he seemed to know how heavy my heart felt without the need for tears pouring down my face. I glanced sideways at him, catching his eye and giving him a small, grateful smile. It was comforting to know that whatever happened, I always had Lee.

  “Call me when you get there!” June yelled after them as her husband reversed off the sand-covered driveway. He held up a hand—a gesture that said Yeah, sure thing! but the look on his face said I didn’t hear you, but whatever!

  Once the sound of the car engine had died away round the bend of the street that led toward the highway, June let out a sigh and went back inside. Lee let go of my hand.

  “Forget about you?” my best friend said in mock-horror. “How am I going to cope when he goes off to college and leaves you behind?”

  His expression, which was bug-eyed and aghast, made me laugh a little. “I won’t be all heartbroken and depressed, don’t worry. Besides, we have a party to go to tonight!”

  “Yeah!” His hand went up for a high five—then he dropped his arm just before I could slap my hand against his. “Aw, man! Shelly, please tell me this doesn’t mean I have to take you shopping!”

  “Well…” I laughed before he could roll his eyes. “Kidding.”

  “Thank God! I get enough of it at home. This is the beach house. It’s for skinny-dipping, not buying lots of clothes. Or, I guess, in your case it’d be chunky-dunking.”

  “Hey!”

  He laughed, grinning impishly. “See, I’ve already brightened you up, my heartbroken little friend.”

  “I’m not heartbroken.”

  “Not yet, because you’re in denial.”

  “What?” I laughed. “I’m not in denial, and I’m not heartbroken. I’ll see him in a couple of days—there’s nothing to be heartbroken over right now.”

  He gave me a disbelieving look.

  Then, “Just so you know, Elle, if he ever does break your heart—I’m here.”

  I squeezed his arm. “You’re the best best friend a girl could ask for.”

  Chapter 11

  I figured a beach party couldn’t be too fancy, so it didn’t take me long to get ready. A pair of shorts and a white cami, and I was good to go.

  “It’s gonna be cold,” Lee reminded me.

  “Right,” I said, snapping my fingers. I picked up the gray zip-up hoodie lying across my pillow and then slipped my feet into my sandals. “Okay! Now I’m ready!”

  Lee swung himself off from where he was lying across his bed with his hair grazing the floor. He was wearing dark khakis and a plain white T-shirt, and had a hoodie exactly like mine. (My gray hoodie used to belong to Lee, actually. But I kept stealing it because it was so comfy, and in the end he bought a new one.)

  “Come on, then,” he said, linking his arm through mine.

  “You kids off now, huh?” June asked as we wandered through the lounge to go out the back door. The TV was on, but she was wrapped up in the mystery novel she’d been working her way through for the past few days.

  “Yup,” we answered simultaneously.

  “Okay, well, have fun. But be careful.” She’d already read us the riot act on not accepting drinks from anyone, not letting our own drinks out of our sight, not getting too drunk, how dangerous it could be, not to go too near the water, to stay together at all times….It was like we’d never been to any party before. “What time do you think you’ll be back?”

>   “I don’t know,” Lee said. “Probably not much later than midnight, I guess. But don’t wait up.”

  She gave us a wry kind of smile. “You think I’ll be able to sleep easy if you’re out at a party?”

  “Noah’s been going to them for years,” Lee pointed out. I could hear the slight irritation in his voice, like he was annoyed that his mom wasn’t letting him do things Noah had always done.

  “And?” She laughed. “I never got to sleep until he got home.”

  There was a moment’s pause; then Lee said, “Oh.”

  “Don’t be too late,” June told us, the severe-mom look back on her face.

  We both nodded. “All right.”

  “Have fun!” she trilled, turning back to her book and mug of coffee. (I guessed it wasn’t decaf, if she was really going to stay up until we got home.)

  “See you later,” we called, and slid the doors closed behind us.

  * * *

  The night was warm, and the sky was clear. The flashing lights of an airplane went across the sky, and there were stars twinkling up there too, against the inky backdrop. It made me smile. I wanted to spin around in a circle with my face tilted up to the sky.

  I could feel Lee grinning at me.

  “Go for it.”

  So I did. Laughing, I spun around in circles with my arms flung out all the way down the beaten sandy path between the shrubbery until I lost my footing and fell over into a bush.

  Lee was laughing too, and jogged over to give me a hand up.

  It wasn’t hard to find the party. It was a little past eight, but there were a lot of people around. There were coolers, and a couple of small campfires. People had dragged some logs round to make circles, and if they weren’t sitting, they were milling about.

  “This is the dangerous, drug-fueled rave your brother warned us to stay away from?” I couldn’t help but ask incredulously, looking on. From here, it all seemed pretty tame.

  As we got closer, I saw that the people there were mostly around college age, a little older than us. But there were a ton of kids our age too, and a few younger.