The Shore (10 page)

The sound of Curt's voice caught her by surprise. She jumped
when he placed a hand around her waist. She thought he was still rehearsing with his band.

“The ocean,” she said, a little too quickly, but if Curt noticed, he didn't show it. Avery turned and glanced at the others. Owen was sitting on a blanket, drinking a beer. Avery could see that out of the corner of his eye he was watching Sabrina, on the other side of the fire. Polly was checking on the clams, and April had finished spreading out the other food and had grabbed a wine cooler for herself.

“So how was rehearsal?” Avery asked Curt.

“Didn't get as much practice time as I wanted,” he said, the frustration in his voice palpable. “It's hard to keep the guys focused. They still have that summer vacation mentality. To them, every day's a party day.”

“That's too bad,” Avery said.

“I'll try again later. Right now it's just good to be here,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck.

Avery felt herself stiffen involuntarily.
What's that about?
she wondered as she forced herself to relax. She should have been happy. Here they were at the beach and she was in Curt's arms.
This is what we came here for,
she thought.

“How about a walk before dinner?” he suggested.

That sounded great. “Hey, Polly?” Avery called.

Polly looked up.

“How long until the clams are ready?” Avery asked.

“About fifteen minutes.”

“Curt and I are going to take a walk.”

“Have fun,” Polly said.

She grabbed a wine cooler and they strolled down the beach hand-in-hand as the orange sun slipped below the horizon and the sky began to fade to dark. As they got closer to the boardwalk there were so many twinkling lights in every color imaginable that a person could spend hours counting them. Curt took her in his arms and pressed his lips against hers. As they kissed, the sounds of laughter and screams and whirring machinery reached their ears.

“Let's go on some rides tomorrow, okay?” she asked.

“Uh, okay, if that's what you want, sure,” he said, sounding less than excited.

Suddenly she remembered her conversation with Polly earlier that day. “Oh, wait, I can't. I'm going with Polly to see if I can get a job waitressing.”

“Oh, yeah?” Curt suddenly brightened. “That's great. Really good.”

Avery couldn't help noticing that news of her possible job excited him far more than spending time with her tomorrow.

“But we'll still go on the rides, right?” she asked. “Maybe even tomorrow night?”

“Yeah, sure. Let's see how it goes.” The answer was definitely noncommittal.

Avery decided not to push it. Besides, she could smell hot dogs and funnel cake coming from the boardwalk, and her
stomach growled. “We should probably head back,” she said.

They walked back slowly, the sounds of laughter fading in the background. Beside the fire Polly was putting clams out on plates. It was almost dark by now, and Avery and Curt sat on one of the blankets. Avery loaded up her plate with salad. Lucas trotted up with his dripping surfboard, his hair sticking to his head and his wet suit glimmering with seawater.

“Thanks for all your help with the fire, buddy,” Owen said sarcastically.

“I'll make it up to you,” Lucas said. “The waves were just too good to resist.” He grabbed a piece of bread and took a bite. “Hey, this is great,” he said. “Tastes homemade.”

“That's 'cause it is,” April answered.

“I made the salad,” Sabrina piped up, clearly eager to receive her share of the attention.

“Wow, that's amazing. How did you do that?” Owen asked with a straight face.

Sabrina gave him a dirty look but didn't say anything.

Avery surveyed the group, their faces aglow in the light of the flickering fire. Everyone seemed fairly happy, everyone except Polly, whose expression went beyond happiness to ecstasy, as if this clambake was a dream come true. Their eyes met, and Polly grinned.

“This is so great!” she squealed. “We're all together and the food is great and the beach is great and the fire is just . . . just . . .”

“Great?” Curt asked, a bit snidely.

“Yes!” Polly said.

“Yeah, it really worked out,” Avery said, wishing Curt hadn't felt the need to be so mean.

“It's pretty nice,” April agreed, and the others nodded.

“Reminds me of clambakes we had at my grandparents' place in Maine when I was little,” Sabrina said. “Of course we didn't have to do any of the work, but the food tastes almost as good.”

Avery figured that in Sabrina's haughty way, that was supposed to be a compliment. April twisted around to look at Sabrina.

“How did someone like you end up renting a place with us?” she asked. “Doesn't your family, like, own a small country or something?”

Avery sucked in her breath, shocked by April's bluntness. Sabrina seemed not to mind the question, though.

“We've always summered in Europe, but this year they decided it was time for me to go solo,” Sabrina answered. “They said I had to ‘learn about real life' and all that crap. So, here I am, and starting tomorrow I'll be working as a nanny for a couple of brats to pay my way.”

“Sounds like torture,” Owen quipped.

Sabrina wrinkled her nose and made a face at him.

Avery tensed, worried that an argument was about to break out.

“Hey, everyone,” someone said, strolling up out of the dark.
He was wearing black-rimmed glasses and plaid shorts.

“Oh hi, Fred!” Polly was the first to recognize and greet him.

In the firelight Sabrina rolled her eyes and Curt muttered something under his breath. Obviously some of them weren't happy to see the landlord; Avery found herself feeling a little sorry for him. Just because he was nerdy, they didn't have to be mean.

“So what brings you out on this balmy night?” Owen asked.

“Just wanted to check up on the house,” Fred replied. Was it Avery's imagination, or was he gazing longingly at the food. “Bathroom all fixed? Everything okay?”

“Isn't that something you'd usually check on
during the day
?” Sabrina asked, stressing the last three words.

“Everything's fine, Fred, why don't you join us?” Polly asked, instantly prompting groans from some of the others. Polly looked around, a surprised expression on her face. Avery was quick to give her a reassuring nod, as if to let her know she'd done the right thing.

Fred sat down so eagerly that it was clear he'd been hoping for an invite. Polly piled a plate with food for him.

“I gotta go get some practice time in with the band,” Curt said, getting up.

“Now?” Avery asked, disappointed.

“Yeah. I told you we didn't get enough rehearsal time before. I said I'd try again later,” he said, pecking her cheek. “Well, now's later.”

Avery felt sad as she watched him go.
I hope it isn't going to be like this all summer. Just when we start to relax and have fun, he rushes off.

The group ate dinner and chatted. Most of them ignored Fred. Avery was sorry to see that even Polly tried to avoid him, as if she was worried about what the others would think. After a while, Avery stood up and wandered away from the fire. A light breeze was coming off the ocean. It ruffled her hair, and she tasted the salt on her lips. She walked along the edge of the water plunging her bare feet into the cool wet sand. The night sky was awash with stars. She liked it here, but it would have been nicer with Curt by her side.

By the time she returned, the fire had burned down to a small heap of glowing red ashes. Without the flames, it was hard to see. People were just dark silhouettes. Familiar voices drifted her way, and out of the corner of her eye she recognized Owen and Sabrina sitting several yards down the beach. Numerous empty beer bottles were stuck in the sand around Owen.

“I just don't want to end up like my father,” he was saying in a slurred voice.

“Why are you telling me this?” Sabrina asked a little impatiently.

“I'm just trying to tell you . . . I like you.” Owen sounded vulnerable . . . and drunk.

“Oh, come on, why bother?” Sabrina asked. “There are three
other girls in the house and a few thousand more staying up and down the beach. I really don't care what you're trying to prove. I'm not going to be your test subject, or girlfriend or whatever. Got it?” Sabrina said, her tone harsh.

Avery found herself wincing for Owen's sake.

“Oh yeah, loud and clear,” Owen said.

They both stood up and moved off in opposite directions, Owen staggering back toward the remains of the fire and digging around for another beer.

“Hey!” a girl yelled. It sounded like April.

“Back off!” Owen growled.

“You'll burn yourself!”

Suddenly Owen was out of control, stumbling and careening around the fire. April and Lucas had hold of his arms and were trying to keep him from falling headfirst into the red-hot coals. Fred and Polly watched with wary expressions.

“Calm down,” Lucas was saying. “You're a little out of it, man.”

“What do you know?” he grunted. “You don't know anything about me!”

In the midst of the struggle, the sounds of voices and laughter came from up the beach. The smell of cigarette smoke was suddenly in the air. Avery turned and saw silhouettes and the red embers of cigarettes glowing in the night. A group of guys was approaching. The leader wore a white shirt unbuttoned at the collar and a yellow polo shirt underneath. It was Martin,
the football player who'd hit on her the night before.

“Yo, Owen!” Martin said. “Whassup?”

Owen stopped staggering. “Martin, dude! Take me away.”

“Away we go.”

Owen staggered toward his friends. They clapped him on the back and welcomed him into the group, then headed off in the dark.

“I hate those kinds of guys,” April muttered.

But the good news was that Polly and Fred had drawn near each other. Fred whispered something to Polly that made her laugh. Avery smiled, glad that someone was still having a good time.

“Guess it's time to clean up,” Lucas said, and started to shake out the beach blankets. Avery started picking up plates, and April, Fred, and Polly joined in. Sabrina followed, carrying some forks. They were all a little smashed—not as bad as Owen, but enough that no one could quite make the trip back to the house in a straight line.

A few moments later, in the kitchen, they dumped the stuff on the counter. Fred started to roll up his sleeves.

“You don't have to help,” said Sabrina, who leaned against the counter and watched while the others started to clean up.

“I want to,” said Fred.

“You're our landlord,” she said. “Remember?”

For a second it almost appeared that Fred had forgotten. Now he straightened up. “Yes, of course. Well, thanks for dinner.”

He left. Avery glanced at Polly and saw the corners of her mouth turn down.

“I really don't get that guy,” Sabrina said. “I mean, you almost get the feeling he's a landlord because it's the only way he can find friends. What a loser.”

No one else commented. They neither agreed, nor dared to disagree. Lucas positioned himself in front of the sink and started to wash the dishes.

“There's no dishwasher?” April asked, surprised.

Avery hadn't looked before; she just assumed there was one. Didn't every house have a dishwasher these days?

“I'm too tired to clean up.” Sabrina yawned.

Avery didn't believe her, and from the expressions of the others, she was pretty sure that no one else did either. But she wasn't in the mood to deal with Sabrina's attitude. Instead she said, “That's okay, we've got it
this time,
” making sure to place emphasis on the last two words. Next to her, April snickered slightly, but no one said anything more.

Even with all four of them washing, it seemed to take a long time to clean up. Maybe because they were all a little unsteady. Avery was glad that Lucas was pitching in. She really didn't want to think of him as a slacker. “We should get paper plates if we're going to do this again,” she said.

“Or at least have Polly talk Fred into buying a dishwasher for this place,” April added.

“Why me?” Polly asked.

“Because Fred's got a thing for you,” April said. Lucas's eyes met Avery's and he smiled.

“No, he doesn't,” Polly protested, but Avery thought she detected just the slightest hint of pleasure on the girl's face.

“Does so,” April said.

Polly gave Lucas and Avery a quizzical look.

“She could be right,” Lucas said.

“It's a compliment,” Avery said. “After all, before you showed up, he had his eye on Sabrina.”

Polly looked somewhat dismayed. “Oh, great, the guy who everyone else thinks is a dork.”

Avery knew right away that Polly was fishing for a protest. “He's not a dork, and, anyway it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.”

“Up to a point,” said April, who probably didn't realize how Polly felt.

“I'd be nicer if I were you,” Lucas teased April. “Otherwise, no dishwasher.”

“You're right!” April pretended to gasp. “It'll be paper plates for the rest of the summer.”

“I'll write them on the list,” Avery offered with a wink.

After that they grew quiet and concentrated on the dishes. Avery wished that Curt hadn't left. She'd had such high hopes for this summer, but they were mostly based on Curt not running off to be with the band all the time. Besides, despite all the tensions from earlier in the evening, the wine coolers had left her
feeling kind of warm and fuzzy and in the mood for something physical.