Page 53 of Ask No Questions

Mckayla’s room was the only bedroom on the first floor. It had French doors that opened out to the patio and pool, but most importantly, the beach. She claimed it as a little girl so she could check the conditions and run straight out to surf. It was probably designed to be a guest suite since it had a private bathroom and a decent closet.

When I walked in, the girls looked up at me.

“It’s about time, chica. We picked out a movie already.”

“Sorry, Mckayla. Tryouts lasted longer than I expected.” I looked at her TV and laughed at the cheerleading movie. “Who would ever argue against a classic? I haven’t seen this in forever.”

I sat down next to Talia who was painting Alexis’s toes. Alexis was laying back on the bed with her knees bent over the edge, clever.

“How did tryouts go? You made the team, right?” Talia didn’t look up from what she was doing when she asked.

“Yeah, I did. How did you know?”

“You’re not crying.” I laughed and turned my back against the bed to watch the movie.

After a few moments, Mckayla decided it was food time. Jumping up from the floor, she skipped out of her room. She came back in with bags of chips in one hand, a tube of cookie dough in the other, and bottles of water tucked under each elbow. When she got to the center of the floor in front of her bed, she stopped and dropped everything at once.

“Graceful. You would make a great waitress.” She gave me a dirty look and plopped to the ground.

“It all survived.” She grabbed the tube of cookie dough and opened it up offering it to each of us. “I couldn’t decide between raw or baked, so I put in a tray of cookies too.”

“Smart woman.” I almost forgot Alexis was there until she spoke. It was beyond weird for her to be so quiet.

“What’s going on with you, dear?” I got on my knees and put my elbows on the bed to prop myself up.

“We just had a long practice today. I’m exhausted.”

Talia chuckled softly. I glanced over at her, and she shook her head. I took that as a hint. “So there’s nothing else going on?”

“Well, I went on a date last night with Justin. We stayed out way too late.”

“Uh huh… doing what exactly?” I caught Talia’s eye again, and she smirked, trying to hold in her laugh.

“Nothing! We were just talking.”

“Until four in the morning!” Apparently, Talia couldn’t keep it in anymore.

I mock gasped and put my hand over my chest. “You dirty girl! You must tell us everything.”

She threw her head back on the bed and sighed. “What’s the point? You guys won’t believe me.”

Mckayla gave each of us a look to keep quiet. “Alexis, darling. We love you no matter what and promise to listen to you without comment or judgment.” She gave us a look again, so Talia and I each agreed.

“Fine. He picked me up and took me out for a nice dinner at the seafood place by the harbor. It was really nice. I didn’t know guys our age could be so romantic.” She sighed and smiled to herself before continuing.

“He took me to the marina after, and we went out in his dad’s Duffy.” I held up my hand forcing her to pause.

“A what?”

“A Duffy?” I nodded. “It’s a small electric boat. Almost everyone that lives on the water has one behind their house. Anyway…we were on the boat and cruised the harbor looking at the houses and just talking. It was easily the best date I’ve ever been on.”

If it was the best date ever, why is she slumped on the bed? “So… what’s the problem?”

“At practice today he didn’t talk to me. He didn’t even look at me. It was like he was trying to avoid me. Right, Talia? You saw it too.”

Talia shook her head. “It was a crazy practice today. The guys were being pushed way hard since they lost their last match. He was probably just in the zone. You get like that too sometimes.”

“Not when there’s a guy I like and had a great time with just across the gym.”