“I’ve lived with three my whole life,” she states. “I know a stinky boy when I smell one.”
“Am I a stinky boy?”
She takes a faux, and dramatic, whiff in my direction. “Not right now.”
She doesn’t take the blanket off though. Instead, she wraps it tighter around her and saunters off toward the water. I follow, clumsily trudging through the sand. When we reach the area next to a lifeguard tower, before the sand turns wet from the ocean waves, Teeny stops and plops herself to the ground. I sit down next to her, leaving inches of space between us.
“You know I haven’t been to the beach since I moved out here.”
“What? Why?”
I shrug. “Haven’t really thought to. I’m not really missing out, am I?”
“You tell me,” she teases. She bumps her shoulder into mine and waves her hand in front of her, gesturing toward the open ocean.
“It is pretty nice,” I say, unable to argue the fact that I had indeed been missing out.
“You should see the sunset,” she adds. “It’s pretty breathtaking.”
“I take it you come here often?”
She nods. “It’s a little chaotic in my house. The only nuisance out here are the pooping seagulls.”
“You’d take pooping seagulls over your brothers?”
“Not all the time,” she answers, smiling at me. “Just…”
“I get it,” I tell her, ducking my head down to the sand. “There are times when I feel like I need to get away too.”
“From what? Your empty house and your mom who looks like she wouldn’t hurt a fly?”
“She usually does her own thing,” I tell her glumly. Her smile drops and her brow furrows into a disapproving frown. “It gets a little lonely sometimes. Just me and my thoughts.”
“Oh.” I feel her warmth lean closer into me. Possibly a gesture of sympathy or simply a reminder that I’m not alone. Especially here with nothing but Teeny and the ocean waves to remind me I’m more significant than a tiny speck on this big scary world.
“Yeah, but you know, it’s nice hanging out with Josh. And I like hanging out at your house.”
“Well, we got that big dining table and an empty spot without James at home so…”
I nod with a small, grateful smile.
She stands then, slipping off her sandals and dropping the blanket onto the cold sand before walking to the water. I watch her for a moment as she gently treads along the low tide until she looks back at me, waving her hand for me to join her. I stand and remove my own shoes, and when I reach her, she splashes a mischievous gust of water at me.
“Hey!”
“Payback for earlier.”
“Oh, is that what we’re doing?”
She laughs, running away from me, and lets out a loud squeal when I splash her back. It doesn’t take me long to reach her, considering one of my steps equals about two and a half of hers, and when I do, I lift her by her waist.
“Everett!”
I ignore her plea and walk to the thick of the water.
“Everett! No!”
“I think you earned it,” I tease, speaking into her hair that smells like coconut and vanilla.
