Shark Lover (14 page)

“Thank
you and I’ll remember that.” She answered quietly with a slight smile.

“You’re
welcome. Good job guys.” Chris said hastily as he walked away to direct the
captain to go back to the dock.

“You
didn’t have to cover for me like that,” She said as she turned towards Marc,
holding his hands in hers. “I didn’t want you to get in trouble for something
that was my idea in the first place.”

“Don’t
worry about it. I’ll always cover for you. I didn’t want him to yell at you, he
seems like he has quite the temper. Plus it all worked out anyways. We tagged
Mandy without any issues. I can’t wait to track her later. It will be
interesting to see where she goes.”

“Thank
you,” She started taking off her scuba equipment. “I can’t wait to take all of
this off, it’s so heavy. Especially with all of the water, weighing it down
even more. I can’t wait either. Mandy has always been a mystery to me.”

“Ah,
she’s a lot like you then isn’t she?” He asked with splendor.

“What
do you mean?” Cathy’s face went blank with curiosity.

“That
she’s mysterious, hard to predict and always gets what she wants.” He stated
practically.

“Carly?
Are you ready yet? We need to get to the beach right now before the sun sets!”
Cathy yelled down the hall to her sister, who was still in the bathroom. She
didn’t understand how they could look so much alike, yet act so differently.
Although Carly had just entered her teenage phase, meaning that she couldn’t
even think of leaving the house without any makeup or her hair done. Cathy had
been ready for almost an hour and she was tired of waiting for her sister.

“I’m
almost done! Just one more stroke of eyeliner. I promise!” She yelled back,
stepping out of the bathroom for a second then retreating back to the mirror
for another glance.

“You
are so slow. I have never seen someone take so long to get ready.” Cathy
muttered under her breath. She could feel herself getting annoyed. Trying to
distract herself, she threw two towels in her beach bag. She knew she wouldn’t
be sitting much, she was the active one. She would end up in the water surfing
or playing beach football with all of the guys, but Carly was a different
story. She knew her sister would end up on a towel sun tanning, even though the
sun was going down and there would be such little sunlight to soak in. Carly
was the frilly one and was always concerned about stuff like that.

“I’m
ready!” Carly called out as she ran down the hall to greet Cathy. Her blond
curls bounced as she walked feverishly.

“It’s
about time. Okay so I packed our beach bag. I have towels, waters and sun tanning
lotion for you. Do you need anything else?”

“Nope,
that about covers it! So are you going to let me drive?” She asked inquiringly.

“Carly,
you’re only fourteen. It wouldn’t be legal. Wait another year and I will.” She
gave her a don’t-mess-with-me look and started walking out the door to her car.
She loved how their house was on a hill. San Francisco was full of hills. That
was one of her attractions to the city. She was born and raised here. She
didn’t plan on leaving the city ever. Even when she traveled, she missed the
sweet smell of California.

“Fine.”
Carly said sheepishly as she opened the car door and got in.

“Trust
me. It’s better when you’re older. Everything is.” She put the car into drive
and started heading towards the beach. It didn’t take them long to get there,
since it was only a few miles from their house. Cathy loved living close enough
to the beach. She visited everyday faithfully. Going to the beach was a part of
who she was. It reminded her of her dad. She missed him dearly.

“Cathy,
we’re here. We can get out of the car now. The sun is going down soon and I
want to get a tan.” Carly said interrupting Cathy’s peaceful moment. She was
always interrupting something. It was just who she was.

“Right.
Okay I got the bag. Let’s go.” She opened the door and they walked down the
stairs to the sand. She loved how it felt in-between her toes. It felt like
home to her. There wasn’t many people left on Ocean Beach at this time of day
and she was glad. She wanted the water to herself. She could already feel the
cold waves hitting her skin, waking her up from the slow day that she had been
having. Carly picked a spot closer to the stairs, which was typical for her.
She never wanted to be near anything that would mess up her appearance. She
always said the water mixed with the sand gave her hives.

She
plotted down on her towel and sat up, enjoying the view. Carly set up her towel
right next to her and started applying suntan lotion immediately. Knowing
Carly, she figured she didn’t want to show up to school sunburnt the next day.
Glancing off in the distance, Cathy saw a lonely couple cuddling on a blanket.
She smiled looking at them. They looked so in love, the man had his arm around
the woman and he had brought a picnic basket full of treats. She could see
delicious fruits, vegetables and sweets all spread out across the blanket. She
wondered what it would be like to have a man like that. A man who was willing
to do anything for her to make her happy. The way that her father had once
treated her mother. She thought she had had it, but she had been wrong.   

“Earth
to Cathy! Did you just hear what I said?” Carly said impatiently.

“No,
I was too dazed. What did you say?”

“I
said that guy over there looks a lot like Jason.”

“Which
one?”

“That
one.” Carly said as she pointed towards the man on the blanket.

“No
way. He has football practice after school. He wouldn’t be here. I mean come on
we know football means everything to him. I asked him to go out to dinner with
me tonight, but he said his practice was going to run late.”

“Well
it looks like his ‘practice’ is running late,” She said sarcastically. “Come
on, let’s go get closer for a better look.”

“I
don’t think it’s him Carly. He wouldn’t cheat on me. He’s not like that.”

“Seriously?
Come on Cathy. Everyone knows he’s a huge flirt.” She grabbed her sister’s hand
and pulled her off the towel. “Come on let’s go see.”

They
ran as fast as they could to possibly rat out Jason. Cathy prayed that it wouldn’t
be him. She didn’t think he was the cheating type. She had told all her friends
and family that he was a great guy. In the beginning, she had really thought
that he was the one for her. He was constantly writing her love letters and
sending her flowers with cards. After a few months into their relationship, she
barely heard from him anymore. The signs of affection were all gone. Whenever
she had asked him to do something with her, he was always busy or blew her off.
She had been wondering what was going on, but she never blamed it on cheating.

“Cathy,
that’s definitely him. Look at his muscles. He even has the same hair color as
Jason and the dark brown eyes.” She said peering out from behind a beach chair
that they were both hiding behind.

“Are
you completely sure? Who’s the girl? Have you ever seen her before?” She asked
dreadfully.

“I
know for sure it is Jason. He even has that scar on his back. You know the one
that he got from that lineman’s helmet? I see it,” She said with certainty.
“I’ve seen that girl somewhere before too, but I can’t put my finger on where.
She has dark brown hair and light brown eyes. Maybe she’s a friend of yours?”

“It’s
Jamie!” She exclaimed. “I can’t believe she stole my boyfriend. That traitor. We’ve
been friends since third grade. I can’t believe she would do something like this
to me! What should we do?”

“Wow,
I knew I remembered her from somewhere. I am so sorry Cathy. Do you just want
to go home? I bet this is painful for you.” She looked at her sister with
understanding in her eyes, but Cathy had already gotten up from behind the
beach chair and was storming towards the couple. Carly had no choice but to
follow her sister from behind. Cathy was walking so fast, that Carly could
barely keep up.

“Cathy!
Wait up! Don’t do this. You know he’s not worth it!” She christened out to her
sister.

Cathy
didn’t even turn her head back as she kept moving towards Jason angrily. She
was fuming. Every step she took, she got a little madder inside. Here Jason was
making time for another girl when he couldn’t even give her the time of day and
to make matters worse, it wasn’t just another girl it was one of her good
friends. She hated him so much. She couldn’t believe he had played her like
this. She never thought it would have come to this. She was standing behind him
now, just fuming. She cleared her throat and he turned around swiftly with
horror in his eyes.

“Cathy?
What are you doing here?” He asked while his cheeks started burning red.

“Jason!
What are you doing here? That’s the better question,” She yelled at the top of
her lungs. “You’re here with Jamie when you can’t even answer my phone calls? I
asked you for weeks and weeks to spend time with me, but you always said you
were busy with football. And worse of all I actually believed you! I knew it
was football season and I knew it meant a lot to you, so I was trying to be
patient. All this time you were spending time with her! I feel so stupid.” She
stood back and put her hands over her face in embarrassment.

“I
don’t know what you are talking about Cathy,” He said as he stood up and put
his arms around her, while caressing her hair. “Jamie and I are just friends. I
would never cheat on you and I have been very busy with football. I am the
quarterback you know. I have a team to run. My team needs me. Sometimes you are
just a bit needy Cathy. It’s hard for me to always be there for you.”

“Needy?”
She pushed him away from her as hard as she could. “Is it needy to want your
boyfriend to text or call you back at least once a week? Is it needy to ask
your boyfriend to do something with you when he hasn’t for a month? Jason, you
are in such denial. I’m done believing your lies! I know you were having a
relationship with Jamie and you know it too. Just be a man for once and admit
it.”

“Cathy,
I didn’t steal your boyfriend!” Jamie jumped in quickly. “He told me that you
broke up a few weeks ago. I’m really sorry. I wouldn’t have gone out with him
if I would have known that you two were still together.”

“Stay
out of this Jamie. I want to hear what Jason has to say about all of this.”
Cathy responded, glaring at her old friend.

“Cathy,
look just calm down. I promise that I didn’t cheat on you. Jamie doesn’t know
what she is talking about here. You know I only love you. It’s always been you.
I wouldn’t want to risk losing that. And okay, I know I have been busy. I
shouldn’t have ignored your texts and calls. If I could take it all back I
would.” He placed his hand gently on her shoulder. “You know you mean the world
to me. Even when you are being completely crazy, I still care about you.”

“She’s
not going back to you! You are a dog!” Carly shoved Jason as he fell down into
the blanket. “You’re such a jerk and she could do so much better than you. I
hope one day you get what you really deserve.”

“Carly,
settle down. I can handle this.” Cathy said as she gave her sister a knowing
glance.

“Come
on Cathy, give me another chance please!” Jason was down on his hands and
knees, begging her to come back to him. “I’ll do anything I promise. You’re the
best looking girl at school. I can’t afford to lose you!”

“All
right, Jason. I’ll give you another chance.” She pulled him up and close to her
face. “I just need you to tell me one thing.”

“Anything!
What is it Cathy?” He supplicated.

“When
is my birthday? If you can tell me that, I will give you another chance.”

His
eyes grew big as he looked clueless. He didn’t respond for a few minutes. When
he did he stumbled. “I uh…I uh…October 3
^rd
?”

“Not
even close. It’s April 20
^th
. Do you want to know why it’s so
important?”

He
nodded his head yes.

“Well,
first off it was the day I was born and secondly it’s our anniversary. You
asked me to be your girlfriend on my birthday last April. If you cared about
me, you would have remembered both occasions. You obviously don’t care Jason,
so I am done.” She looked at him one last time and started to walk off the
beach with Carly trailing behind her.

“Wait
Cathy! Don’t do this! I promise I will change. I can change. I will do anything
to be with you.” He called as he ran after her. “You can’t just walk away from
me!”

“Watch
me.” She answered coolly as she kept walking away. Jason stood and watched her
walk away in disbelief.

“That
was so cool!” Carly exclaimed. “I can’t believe you played him back like that.
I’ve never seen you so in charge before.”

“He
deserved it. He’s probably been cheating on me since the day we got together.”
She looked at her sister, rolling her eyes. “I mean come on, the guy can’t even
remember my birthday or our anniversary, but he probably remembers every inch
of Jamie’s body. He makes me sick.”