7. Iris Big Brother
Iris Big Brother
I was liking this Alice less and less by the minute. Until now, she had seemed like that cool aunt you went to when your mom was being a total drag. But no phones after dinner? This woman couldn’t be serious.
“I mean, how am I supposed to keep my Streaks alive?” I moaned to Merit as we sat side by side at the top of the porch steps after our assigned homework time. He was wearing blue Patagonia baggies with a white Juniper Shores Surf Shop T-shirt that might as well have been a tux for how irresistible he was in them. He had legendary hair. It was shaggy, sun-streaked blond, and kind of flipped up around his face. He was perfect. And I was with him. So, that part of the mommune wasn’t all bad.
I was half whining to Merit, half aware that every cell in my body felt more alive from the mere fact that it was this close to Merit’s body. Was it even possible for a human to be as hot as he was? I’d seen him plenty, sure. But not this close up. He was flawless. I mean, what sixteen-year-old guy didn’t have even a hint of acne?
He did this little snort thing out of his nose. “Oh, Iris, Iris, Iris, thank goodness I am here. I have so very much to teach you.”
The way he said it made my breath catch. I hoped he didn’t notice. Maybe I shouldn’t have been complaining. When you thought about it, I had won the lottery. I was getting to live with the hottest guy in the junior class, which gave me ample opportunity to get in his good graces. If he couldn’t so much as text another girl after dinner, it definitely gave me an advantage. I mean, I guessed he could call someone on that landline in his room. But who would even talk on the phone? The idea was totally ridiculous. I could think of many, many things I wanted Merit to teach me. I was, like, practically the only girl in the ninth grade who hadn’t been kissed. Well, maybe not the only one. But the only one of my friends. It was definitely a goal for the year. And now it suddenly made sense. Why have a boring, run-of-the-mill kiss with some rando freshman when your first kiss could be the hottest junior in school? I felt like, for the first time since my life fell apart, God was smiling on me.
“Iris, you just have to get a burner phone.”
Um, phone customs of teenage delinquents weren’t high on the list of things I wanted to learn from Merit. But okay. Whatever. “I’m sorry. What? A burner phone? Like a drug dealer?”
I’d basically only seen burner phones on twisty dramas about criminals on the run. Oh my gosh. Did my dad have a burner phone? I was sort of in denial about my dad being, you know, in jail. It just didn’t seem like it could be real. But he was innocent until proven guilty. Why didn’t the rest of the world see that?
“Exactly like that,” Merit said. “You just keep the burner in your backpack, and when dinnertime comes, you put your phone in the bag on the hall table like a good girl and you do your cursory family time on the beach. And then, when it’s just you in your room, you get your burner and continue your Streaks to your heart’s content.”
I was so relieved. “I have spent so much time cultivating my Snapchat life,” I said, realizing how incredibly dorky I sounded. But Merit laughed. Good. He thought I was joking. I totally was not, but I would take it.
“So… how does one get a burner phone?”
He turned his head toward me and gave me this kind of half-smile that made sweat break out behind my earlobes.
“Leave it to me,” he said.
Then something hit me. “Um. I can’t exactly pay for said burner phone right now. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but my financial situation has shifted.”
I was trying to make light of things.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got you. We in the mommune have to stick together.”
I was dying to text my friend Chloe to tell her I was living with Merit McDonald . But, of course, I couldn’t text her because I didn’t have my phone.
“You can’t do that,” I protested.
He shrugged. “My dad throws plenty of pity allowance my way. I might as well share the wealth.” He gave me a once-over, and for just a second I thought maybe he was checking me out. But then he said, “If your dad ever gets out of jail, you’ll totally be owed pity allowance. It doesn’t fix anything, but it’s not the worst perk. Two Christmases aren’t that bad either, once you get used to them.”
I shook my head vigorously. “No, no. My dad might be in jail, but my parents aren’t getting divorced.”
That half-smile again, except this time it was sad. “Ah. Okay.”
“You don’t believe me!” I said, elbowing him flirtatiously at a time that wasn’t really appropriate for flirting.
“I don’t know your life,” he said. “Maybe your mom is different. Maybe she can hang in there through all this.”
A horrifying realization washed over me. It wasn’t just that my dad was in jail; it wasn’t just that we had lost our house and all our stuff and all our money—things that I had spent the past three days panicking about and somewhat coming to terms with. My parents were going to get divorced. Of course they were. How hadn’t I seen it before? I was an idiot. I felt that burn in the back of my throat that meant I was going to cry. And then, horrifyingly, I did. I was sitting on the raw wood steps down to the beach crying in front of the hottest junior at Juniper Shores Prep. This was the most embarrassing moment of my life.
Well, it was… until he put his arm around me. “I want to tell you that I’m wrong, but I’m not going to lie to you, kid: I don’t see how they get through this one.”
Kid . That couldn’t be good. But I was so close to him, and he smelled so great, like salt air and pine trees and something just a little spicy like cinnamon. Maybe calling me kid wasn’t a setback.
I pulled away and wiped my eyes, and he put his thumb in the cleft of my chin and his fingers underneath it, turning my face toward his. He was going to kiss me. Oh my gosh, Merit, god of juniors, was going to kiss me. And while I acknowledged that it was probably a pity kiss, I would take it. I would take it all day long.
“I’ll teach you how to surf.”
“What?”
“I’ll teach you how to surf,” he said. “I swear, the waves healed me when I was dealing with my parents’ split.”
Surf . Uh-huh. Because that’s what Merit could do to take my mind off of things. Boys were so dumb. But it was a nice offer. And I did want to learn how to surf. I wanted to be one of those cool girls with the saltwater dried in her hair making effortless beach waves. Although I kind of figured those girls never gave much thought to their hair. Well, whatever. It was more time with Merit. I’d worm my way in there somehow.
“A burner phone and a surf teacher all in one?” I asked demurely.
He nodded. “Just consider me the big brother you never had.”
Big brother. That was going to be hard to come back from. But I could do it. The waves and Alice’s new bikini would be all it took to get Merit thinking about me like I wasn’t just a little sister. I mean, I thought. What did I know? I’d never even been kissed.
Merit stood up to go inside. “Burner phone time,” he whispered. I smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.
As he turned to leave, I internally groaned. Could I possibly have done anything lamer? I mean, really? A thumbs-up.
But as I watched him walk away, I felt myself sigh without even meaning to. So, no, I wasn’t 100 percent sold on the idea of living at the mommune. It was, admittedly, pretty weird. But if it meant spending more time with Merit, I thought it was a life I could get used to.