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“No, I saw her leaving and was going to take the chance when she’s at work to check out that office, but she’s driving there instead. In fact, wait, hold on a sec.” I put down the phone so I can use two hands to pull into a space. “Okay, I’m back. I had to park. She’s going in now.”
I watch and tell Betsey as Mom pulls keys from her purse and unlocks the door. She goes in, and I wait.
“What’s happening now?” Bet asks five minutes later, after growing tired of hearing about how cute Sean was in class today.
“Still nothing,” I say.
“What, she’s just hanging out in there?”
“I guess,” I say, sighing.
“Well, come back,” she says. “I’m going to be late for class.”
“Fine,” I say, shaking my head. We hang up, and I’m about to turn the key in the ignition when I decide to go try to look inside. If Mom catches me, she’ll be mad, but no madder than she is already.
I hop out and jog across the street, then hug the side of the building. When I’m in front, I get such a surge of nervousness that I consider turning back, but something keeps me going forward. I walk in my mom’s footsteps up the stairs and cup my hands so I can peer in the window next to the front door. Part of me thinks she’s going to be standing there, staring out. Thankfully, she’s not.
>“I’m glad, too,” I say just as we stop in front of the rocks. I furrow my brow at him.
“Now I need you to trust me again.”
“Oh, really?” I ask, playfulness in my tone. It feels nice. He points to an opening between two massive boulders.
“You want me to go in there?”
He nods. “It’s amazing; you’ll see.”
“What if there are wild animals hiding in the darkness?”
“There aren’t,” he says, grinning.
“Are you sure?” I take a step closer and try to peer inside, but all I can see is blackness.
“I’m sure. It’s just a passage. My dad used to bring me here all the time when I was a kid, back before my parents split. I come back sometimes to veg out or take pictures or whatever.”
“Or whatever,” I tease, a touch jealous. “Been here a lot, have you?” I take another step closer to the rocks.
“I’ve never brought another girl here, if that’s what you mean.”
Sean laughs, but it reassures me just the same; when he leads me into what looks like a cave, I feel reasonably safe. Then when we wind through and pop out the other side, I feel like I’ve just won the emotional lottery. The cove before me is a three-walled room with an open window to the ocean: the most beautiful escape I could ever imagine.
“It’s our own personal beach,” I murmur, looking out toward the water.
“Mm-hmm,” Sean says, taking out his camera and setting the bag in the sand. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him focusing on my profile. He’s standing next to and a little behind me, so I know that the background of the photo is water crashing on the far wall of rocks. I don’t hear the shutter snap, because the waves are too loud, but I hear what Sean says next.
“I’m glad to know you aren’t crazy.” I flip in his direction; he’s smirking at me.
“What are you talking about?”
He shrugs, snaps another photo of my now-surprised-slash-irritated expression, then answers. “I thought you might’ve had split personalities or something,” he says. “Because Ella and you are so…”
“Different,” I say. We quietly take each other in for a few seconds.
“You were wrong earlier,” he says.
“Oh, yeah? About what?”
“About not being unique. I mean, I know you look like Ella and Betsey. But I don’t see the three of you the same way. You’re… you.”
