Memories in Sea Glass: Driftwood Key Beach Reads #2

17. Glory

Glory was just finishing up her shift and headed to the locker rooms to change when she bumped into Tristan in the hallway.

“Hey,” he said, his dark eyes serious.

“Hi, Tristan,” she said with a smile. “Everything okay?”

“Sure,” he told her. “Listen, can we talk?”

It hit her that he had no reason to be back by the locker rooms right now. She seriously hoped he wasn’t going to ask her to make out again.

He’d been wanting it more and more lately, and while he was super respectful when she said no, it still gave her a nervous feeling.

If she and Anthem were still close, she would have definitely confided in her older sister, and maybe gotten some advice on how to handle this.

Picture-perfect Liberty, of course, would just tell her to dump him, which she wasn’t about to do.

Though all Glory had to do was sneak a glance at Justine’s belly to know that anything more than a goodnight kiss was more than she wanted.

She followed him into the security guard’s lounge, which was empty due to the time of day. It was a small room, and dimly lit.

“Glory,” Tristan said, taking her hands. “You’re a nice girl.”

She nodded slowly, figuring he was talking about her not wanting to get physical, not telling her that she was a good person.

“Believe it or not, I like that about you,” he went on. “I’m glad you want to wait, and I’m not going to push you again.”

Relief swept through her. She liked Tristan a lot. It wasn’t any fun saying no to him, or having to be the one with all the willpower. And on top of it, he was saying that he liked that she said no. That had to mean she was someone he thought about being serious with.

“Thanks, Tristan,” she said, smiling up at him. “That means a lot to me.”

“We both know that I’m going off to college in a few weeks,” Tristan went on. “And I just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page about that.”

All the relief turned to ice in Glory’s veins, and her stomach began to twist.

“What do you mean?” she heard herself say, her own voice suddenly sounding far away.

“Well, I mean we’re just having fun hanging out,” he said. “We’re not boyfriend and girlfriend or anything. And since I’ll be going out with college girls soon, I know I should probably be dating more mature girls this summer. But you and I will always be friends, right?”

She nodded as her heart shattered.

“That’s my girl,” Tristan said, patting her shoulder.

But I’m not your girl, not anymore…

She let him hug her and walk her back out to the locker rooms.

“Hey, maybe I’ll see you at the Fourth of July stuff in town,” he said, as if he had just thought of it.

She bit her lip and nodded again, trying not to sob. She had assumed they would be going together, like they had been doing everything else together for the last couple of weeks.

“See you, Glory,” he said, turning.

She let herself watch after him for a moment, and he had never been more handsome. It wasn’t fair. She turned and headed into the locker room, hoping she could make it home somehow before she started blubbering like a baby.

Her new best friend, Allie, stood on the other side of the space, which was mercifully empty otherwise.

“Glory?” Allie said worriedly. “What’s wrong?”

All of Glory’s determination not to cry at work was gone at the note of sympathy in her friend’s kind voice.

“He dumped me,” she wailed.

“Oh, honey,” Allie said, running over and wrapping her arms around Glory, even though she was sticky with sunscreen and sweat. “I’m so sorry.”

“He said he wants to date more mature girls,” Glory sobbed. “So he’ll be ready for college or something.”

“Gross,” Allie said. “You know what he means by that, right?”

“Not really,” Glory sniffed. “Girls who are going to college in the fall too?”

“It means he wants to date girls who let him do whatever he wants with them,” Allie said firmly.

Glory pulled back, shocked.

“No,” she said softly, knowing as she did that Allie might be right.

“Think about it,” Allie said. “You know he wanted to get more physical than you did, right?”

Glory nodded.

“Well, that’s what he’s trying to do now,” Allie told her.

“Like he thinks he has to do that stuff before college,” Glory realized out loud.

Being a guy had its own challenges. She was pretty sure being respected for being a nice guy wasn’t even a thing among men.

“More like he wants to,” Allie laughed. “You’re the sweetest girl he’s ever dated since I started working here. He normally goes for the, um, more experienced girls.”

“Well, I hope he finds what he wants,” Glory said.

But her voice wobbled a little at the end of what she thought was a rather brave statement.

“Oh, honey,” Allie said. “You don’t need him. I know he’s rich and handsome, but you have things money won’t buy. Like the coolest work bestie in the world.”

Glory couldn’t help laughing as her friend took a bow for an imaginary crowd.

“And besides,” Allie went on. “There’s going to be another boy, one that’s more like you—sweet as pie.”

Glory had to smile at that.

She had been a bit of a mean girl back in Aynwick, and she knew it. Though she hadn’t been one to drink or get physical with boys, she had been proud of her fancy clothing and her parents’ big house, proud to be part of an exclusive group of friends, and proud of her good grades and her pretty blonde hair.

But she had changed a lot this summer.

If she had come far enough that her friend’s first word to describe her was sweet, then she had accomplished something, even if she hadn’t gotten her guy. It filled her with pride that was much more meaningful than it ever was for any of the silly things she hadn’t earned. And it filled her with aspirations, too.

I want to do more. I want to be the best version of myself.

“Come on,” Allie said. “Let’s get showers and then go get ice cream in town. My treat.”

“That sounds amazing,” Glory said.

They headed into the showers, and fifteen minutes later they were both changed and ready for a stroll in town with ice cream cones. Glory still felt really sad about Tristan. But there was a tiny kernel of hope in her heart that she had learned something about herself, too.

As they headed out to the parking lot together, she heard loud giggling coming from the VIP lot. She turned just in time to see Tristan’s Jeep peeling out of the parking lot with a dark-haired girl in a bikini who was squealing with laughter from the passenger seat.

At least he had the decency to break up with me first.

“Ugh, Tiffany’s the worst, don’t look,” Allie said.

But Glory continued to look anyway.

The two were smiling hungrily at each other, and if Tristan was even a little bit sad about Glory, it sure didn’t show on his face.

“I’m going to get over him,” she said.

“Of course you are,” Allie told her. “And until you do, there’s ice cream—so much ice cream.”

Glory headed off with Allie, trying to focus on ice cream flavors and not to think about Tristan, or the fact that she clearly owed Liberty a great big apology.