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“Do you have anyone who can look out for you?”
“There’s this guy in my class, I guess he’s kind of a friend. But he doesn’t know about the…stuff.”
“I’m sure if you reached out to him about going back he’d be there for you.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Bhodi and I have texted a few times and he’s sent me assignments and things, but it’s nothing like what’s developing between me and Cove, even if my pulse does spike whenever his name also pops up on my phone. Which is crazy because I don’t even like people in general, let alone like like not only one, but two guys.
“I always expect the sun to sizzle,” Cove tells me as the sun sinks into the waves. The strangest sense of déjà vu hits me when I reply, “I always think I hear it.”
Have we been here before?
We sit in comfortable silence for a few more minutes, just listening to the sound of the waves. Now the sun is down, night is falling fast and the stars seem to be winking to life one by one until I blink and suddenly the whole night sky seems to be awash with delicately twinkling light.
“I guess if you’re going to go back to class tomorrow I should let you get an early night,”
Reluctantly, I agree and we say our goodbyes and hang up. I take a minute to text Bhodi that I’m feeling better and coming back to class tomorrow. His response is instant.
Bhodi: I’ll come get you in the morning and walk you to class.
It makes me feel much calmer about the whole thing.
I carefully place Betsy back on her wall mount and restring the fairy lights across her. I plug them in, switch them on and close the curtains, making the room feel cozy and safe.
Earlier today I was feeling stir crazy stuck in my room, and now I feel like I’ve had a wonderful evening out at the beach. I’m tired, but it’s a nice sort of tired.
I slip into my en suite bathroom and take a shower, just like I would if I had actually been to the beach. It’s silly and in no way makes sense, but it feels like part of the ritual.
I’m just getting out, wrapping myself into my robe and towel drying my hair, when there’s a knock at my door. It’s bound to be Summer so I ignore it, knowing she’ll let herself in shortly. Instead, I begin to comb out the tangles in my hair, whilst listening to the latest song Cove sent me. It’s ‘Home’, a song I love anyway, but a different version to the one I’m used to. I like it, and the lyrics make me smile, even though I’ve never had a place I can call home, or a person who felt like home.
When Summer doesn’t let herself in and there’s another, more persistent, knock at my door, I open it. Maybe she forgot her key. Hopefully she lost it.
“Good night, Mai-Tai,” Cove says with a soft smile, before leaning in to kiss me.
