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“I’m going to go explore and see if I can find a bathroom,” I say to Owen.
“You want me to tag along?”
“Nah, I can handle it,” I say patting his knee. He and I have had a few chats but mostly we’ve been talking with the group or the people near us. I’ve been listening to him and another guard argue over whether there’s any good pizza on the island and am a little bored.
I make my way downstairs and find a beautiful open kitchen and dining area with views of the ocean. Everything is modern and expensive. I don’t think I’d even know what to do with half of these appliances.
There’s a hallway to the left of the kitchen and there I find a small bathroom decorated with what can only be described as pirate decor. The wallpaper has the jolly roger flags, rum bottles, parrots with eye patches on it and there are a few wooden carved pirate men with peg legs and hooks for hands.
After I finish up my bathroom needs, I head back to the kitchen and see Dirk and a bunch of people headed down the stairs.
“Hey, we are taking the party to the lower deck since it’s getting big,” Dirk calls to me and I nod. I don’t see Owen so I head up to see if he’s still there and to grab my purse.
There are a few stragglers still up here and when I find Owen, I’m surprised to see a girl on his lap. They are deep in conversation so he doesn’t notice when I grab my bag on the other side of him. The girl sees me and smiles then goes back to her chat with the boy I came to the party with and was hoping to maybe kiss later.
Fuck my life.
I sigh and make my way down to the party. I stay for about another hour and Owen never comes downstairs. I assume he’s hooking up with that girl and I’ve been abandoned for the night. I’m not sure why my feelings are so hurt. He didn’t say it was a date, we have no attachment to each other. I’m a little disappointed in my friend for being a dick, but he doesn’t owe me anything, really.
I chat with Katie for a while, she’s a waitress at a local seafood restaurant and super nice. Everyone is nice, and because they are mostly lifeguards, they are pretty hot too. I sip on my can of Coke and people watch. A few have coupled up and are making out, there are two guys who are very drunk and are shotgunning beers. Some are dancing to Eminem and everyone is having a great time.
It’s all typical behavior and somehow, I feel separate from it all. I head over to Dirk and let him know I’m leaving. I shouldn’t have taken my mom’s car but I did and it’s too late now. This night might not have sucked so hard if I was able to have a beer or two.
“Aww, I’m sorry you have to go, but it’s no fun to be sober at a party like this one,” he says. “There will be plenty more this summer so you’ll be able to get your drink on!”
I high-five his offered hand and head to my car. I hate that I feel disappointed. Coming here with Owen was a convenience, that’s all. I should never have gotten my hopes up. For a minute, I feel like I should let him know I’m leaving since I brought him here, but then I feel like he doesn’t deserve the courtesy since he all but disappeared on me.
When I pull into our driveway, the lights are all off. Mom didn’t even leave the outside one on for me. I sigh and head inside. I change out of my dress and into boxer shorts and a camisole. I head up to the deck with a flashlight and a book and lay back in one of the loungers and just listen to the sound of the waves.
I love everything about the beach—the sand, the sounds of seagulls, the salt spray, and most of all the sound of the ocean. I’ve been coming to the shore since I was a baby and it’s been the best part of my life. I always thought I’d love to live here and study marine life. Unfortunately, I’m shit at science so that career is not in the cards for me.
Could I live here and practice psychology? Probably, but I would have a hard time building a clientele on the island and would have to commute off. I could definitely be a writer and live by the ocean. It’s all a dream anyway. I’m off to school, then I’ll probably move to the city for a while, get married, and then move back to the suburbs and have a family. Hopefully, that will include many trips down here.
I’m clicking the flashlight off and on and it’s calming, I’m not getting any reading done but it’s soothing sitting here.
“Hatchet,” I hear Owen whisper yell.
I walk to the side railing and peer over to see him standing on his deck a little lower than mine. I flash the flashlight in his eyes.
“What?” I whisper yell back.
He shields his eyes. “Hey, turn it off,” he requests and I do. “Why did you leave?”
“I was bored and you ditched me,” I say honestly.
He gestures to me. “Can I come over there?”
I shrug.
A few seconds later he is climbing the outdoor steps to the deck and plops down on my launder at my feet. He’s definitely a little buzzed and I’m definitely a little annoyed with him.
“Are you mad at me?” he asks.
“Not really,” I reply.
“I’m sorry I got caught up talking with a girl I know from Montauk. I haven’t seen her since last summer and it’s a weird coincidence that she is here.”
“It’s cool,” I say like it I wasn’t a little heartbroken he spent all his time talking to her. After all, I have to work with him for the entire summer. I can’t make it awkward the second week in. “I just got tired after today and I wasn’t able to have a drink so it was not the most fun.”
