High Tide (9781481413824) (3 page)

“I do
not
love it!” she snarled. She shoved me away and scowled at me.

I reached for her, but she hopped backward. “Oh, you want me to chase you?” I asked.

“Hardly.” She made a disgusted face. “Don't you get it? I don't like being grabbed like that.”

“Like what?” I asked, grinning. “You want me to grab you some other way? Show me how, babe!”

“Give me a break.” She rolled her eyes and picked up a floppy straw hat. “I'm leaving,” she announced, pulling the hat over her curly red hair. “The sun is getting to me. And so are you.”

I dropped to my knees in the sand and clasped my hands together. “Please, please, don't leave!” I begged, putting a woeful expression on my face. “I'll be good. I promise!”

Alyce rolled her eyes again. “You're hopeless.”

“Exactly!” I cried. “Without you, babe, I'm totally hopeless!”

I jumped to my feet and held out my arms, but Alyce just shook her head. “I really have to go, Sean.”

“Okay, okay, I give up. For now,” I added. I picked up the empty water bottle and tossed it in the wire barrel next to the lifeguard station. “So,” I said as Alyce zipped her beach bag. “Are we going out tonight?”

“I'm sorry. I can't.” She slung the bag over her shoulder. “I've got something else I have to do.”

“Yeah? What?” I asked.

Alyce's face turned pink, and it wasn't from the sun. “I'm just busy, that's all,” she muttered.

Something started to sizzle inside me. I really hate being lied to. And Alyce was definitely lying. “Busy doing what?” I demanded.

“Is it any of
your
business?” she snapped.

That sizzling feeling grew stronger. As she turned and started to walk away, I grabbed her arm and spun her around so fast, her hat fell off. “I'd better not see you out with another guy,” I warned.

“Hey!” Glaring, Alyce tried to yank her arm away, but I held on. “You don't own me, Sean,” she declared. “Stop being such a creep.”

“I'm warning you. I see you out with another guy, I'll kill him,” I promised, giving her arm a shake. “I really will.”

Alyce peeled my fingers off her arm. “At least you're not too possessive or anything,” she said sarcastically. “If I thought you were serious  . . .”

“Try me,” I warned. “Just try me.”

Get a grip, I told myself. I didn't want to scare Alyce. I wanted to scare away any guy who might think of going out with her.

I snatched up her hat and stuck it on my head. “How do I look?” I asked, turning sideways and striking a Mister Muscle pose.

“Ridiculous.” She reached for the hat.

I jumped away and struck another pose. “Got a camera?” I asked. “You can get a shot for your scrapbook.”

“Sure, like I'd really want one.” Alyce reached for the hat again and missed. “Come on, Sean. Give it to me.”

“Say please!” Laughing, I ducked away. Then I took the hat off and sailed it to her like a Frisbee. As I did, I caught a glimpse of my watch. Five minutes after one. “Hey, where's Adam?” I asked, glancing around.

Alyce shrugged. “How should I know?”

“I'm supposed to be on a break,” I told her. “That guy is always late.”

“You mean you're
not
on your break?” she asked, jamming the hat back on her head. “I don't believe it! Some lifeguard you are—you're not even watching the swimmers!”

I grinned. “That's because I can't take my eyes off you, Alyce!”

“Honestly, Sean! You really are a pig!” She hitched her duffel bag onto her shoulder and started to march away.

I watched her for a moment. What a great walk!

Then I ran up behind her and grabbed her around the waist. “Gotcha again!” I cackled.

Alyce yelped in surprise. Then she began to struggle. “Let go of me!” she cried. “Sean, this isn't funny!”

She's not really angry, I told myself. She's crazy about me, right? Right.

As I bent to kiss her, a piece of straw from her hat stabbed me in the eye. I hollered, stumbled backward, and bumped into somebody.

“Hey, why don't you watch where you're going?” I snapped. Rubbing my eye, I whirled around and found myself staring at Adam Malfitano.

“What's going on?” Adam asked, gazing at my watery eye.

“Sean was being his usual gross self, and he got attacked by my hat,” Alyce declared angrily. “Serves him right.”

Adam ran a hand through his brown hair and flashed Alyce a big, goofy smile. I didn't like the look on his face.

The
admiring
look.

“You're late,” I told him. “Where have you been?”

He dragged his eyes away from Alyce. “Sorry,” he told me. “I had to see my doctor.”

“What's wrong?” Alyce asked, sounding concerned.

Now he's trying for her sympathy, I thought in disgust. Still rubbing my eye, I turned away.

As I stared out across the breaking waves, my heart suddenly began to pound. I sucked in my breath and grabbed Adam's arm.

“Nooo!” I moaned. I pointed to the water. “Shark! Shark got that girl!”

“W
here?” Adam cried in a frantic voice, his head swiveling back and forth. “Sean—where?”

“Out there!” I shouted. “Can't you see all the blood in the water?”

Adam froze. He didn't even bother to look where I was pointing. Instead, he stared at me, and his brown eyes got real wide.

“I'll get . . . I'll get the . . .” Adam's voice shook. “I'll get the . . . life preserver.”

But he didn't move. His lips were almost as white as his face.

Talk about freaked! I thought. The guy's about to pass out!

Actually, it would have been fun to see if he'd really keel over in a dead faint. But then I'd be stuck taking care of the poor guy.

“Hey, man, get a grip!” I told him. “I was just goofing!”

He blinked and licked his lips again. “You were what?”

“Goofing,” I repeated. Laughing, I dragged him around so he faced the ocean. “See? No sharks out there. Nobody getting chomped to pieces. It was a joke, get it? A dumb joke.”

“Dumb is right!” Alyce declared. “Honestly, Sean! What did you do, leave your brain at home today?”

I shrugged. “Hey, I can't help it. I've got a crazy sense of humor.”

Alyce rolled her eyes, then turned sympathetically to Adam. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

“I'm fine.” Adam smiled at her. “Embarrassed though. I guess I kind of overreacted.”

“Well, no wonder! I mean, after what happened last summer!” she exclaimed.

“Oh, good, Alyce,” I told her. “Remind him of it all over again.”

“You're the one who reminded him,” she shot back. “Talking about blood in the water.”

“Hey, it's okay,” Adam insisted. “Really.”

“Well, anyway, don't pay any attention to Sean,” Alyce told him, smiling again. “He's the only one here who thinks he's funny.”

“It's true,” I agreed sadly. “My comic genius is totally misunderstood.”

Alyce groaned. “Like I said, Adam, don't pay any attention to him.” With another scowl at me, she began to stride away.

“Don't forget!” I called after her. “Eight tonight!”

Alyce whirled around. “What about it?”

“You and me, babe,” I reminded her. “I'll be coming by your cottage, so leave the porch light on.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “But I won't be there. I can't see you tonight, remember?”

Before I could answer, Alyce gave Adam a wink and a little wave. Then she turned and walked across the sand toward the boardwalk.

I faked a laugh. “She doesn't mean it, you know,” I told Adam. “She'll be home waiting for me tonight. You can count on it.”

“Sure.” Adam didn't look at me. He kept his eyes on Alyce as she picked her way through all the sunbathers and sand buckets.

And he was smiling.

“What's so funny?” I demanded.

“Huh? Nothing.” He glanced up at the lifeguard station. It's a tall wooden platform with a railing around it and two lifeguard chairs on top. “Whoa!” he said. “We'd better get up there fast. We're on duty.”

Slinging his beach bag over his shoulder, Adam sprinted up the steps to the wooden platform. As I followed, that sizzling feeling started up again in the pit of my stomach.

Ignore it, I told myself. Don't let it get to you. Alyce will be there tonight.

Won't she?

Before I sat down in the lifeguard chair, I glanced toward the boardwalk. In the distance, I spotted Alyce's floppy straw hat growing smaller and smaller as she walked away.

“I know she's awesome-looking, but you'd better take your eyes off her—for a while anyway,” Adam
scolded, following my gaze. “We've got swimmers to watch.”

“Yeah.” I put on a T-shirt and my sunglasses, then sat down. “I just wish I could keep an eye on her all the time,” I admitted.

He chuckled. “I don't think Alyce would like that too much.”

“I guess not.” I gazed out at the ocean and sighed. “I can't help it though. I get jealous sometimes.”

“So? Everybody gets a little jealous once in a while,” Adam said, smearing sunscreen on his nose. “It's normal, right?”

“I'm not talking about a ‘little,' ” I declared. “I'm talking big-time jealous. You want an example?”

He shrugged. “Sure.”

“There was this girl I went with back in high school,” I told him. “Cindy. Funny, sexy, a great dancer. Crazy about me,” I added. “At least I thought she was. I actually thought we'd be together forever.”

My heart started pounding, and I realized my hands were clenched into fists. I guess it doesn't matter how much time goes by. Whenever I think about her, I start to burn.

“So what happened?” Adam asked.

I took a deep breath. “She sneaked out on me with another guy,” I replied. “We were supposed to go to the movies, but at the last minute she said she had something else to do.”

Just like Alyce, I thought.

“I knew she was lying,” I went on. “You can always tell, right?”

Adam shook his head.

“Well,
I
can,” I told him. “Anyway, I followed her, just to make sure.”

“You're kidding. You really followed her?”

“Sure I did,” I declared. “I had to find out what was going on, didn't I?”

“I guess,” Adam said doubtfully.

“Anyway, I saw her meet up with this guy from school,” I went on. “She gave him a big kiss, then hopped into his car. They spent three hours at the amusement park, going on rides, holding hands. Kissing.”

“Wait a sec.” Adam stared at me, his eyes questioning me. “You mean you followed them there? You stayed there the whole time?”

“Yeah. I was burning up,” I told him. “Ready to explode. You know what I mean?”

“Maybe. I mean, I get angry sometimes,” he said.

“Not angry, Adam.” I clenched my fists even tighter. “Furious, wild—”

“Okay, I get the picture,” he interrupted.

“Yeah? Well, let me finish,” I insisted. “See, you probably think I was angry at Cindy. And I was. But the one I wanted to get was the guy. Jay. So I did. I started out slow at first.”

Adam stood up and leaned against the platform railing. “Look, I don't think I want to hear this.”

“But I want to tell you.” I climbed up too, and stood next to him. “Hey, we're stuck on this platform together for three more hours. As long as nobody starts to drown or something, you might as well listen.”

I nudged him in the arm. “Who knows? You might learn something.”

Adam stayed quiet, staring out at the swimmers.

“Like I said, I started out slow,” I continued. “I put
a note in Jay's locker, letting him know I'd seen him with Cindy. Then I cornered him in the locker room and told him he'd be sorry.

“Later I bumped into him in the hall. Said I was after him. Warned him to be ready.”

“That's starting out slow?” Adam asked sarcastically.

I shrugged. “For me it was. Remember, I felt like I had a time bomb inside me. Tick, tick, tick.”

I gripped the railing hard, and my knuckles turned white. “Okay. Ready for the end of the story?”

Adam kept staring out at the water. He's probably wishing something would happen out there, I thought. Something to stop me from talking.

I didn't blame him. I wasn't exactly crazy about the story myself. But I had to tell it to him.

I had to!

“Well, Jay didn't believe I was out to get him,” I went on. “I mean, all I did was shoot my mouth off. And after a while he figured I wasn't serious. Naturally, he figured wrong.”