Chapter 4
AMARA
Ilied to my parents for the first time tonight, and by evidence of the hammering in my chest, it didn’t feel good.
But something was pulling me to that beach, and I knew that if I told them the truth, I’d get the usual runaround.
Bring your pepper spray. Don’t stay out too long. Text us every ten minutes, or your father is going to send your uncle after you, and you know you don’t want that. If you’re not back by eleven sharp, in your bed, you’re grounded for the next month.
The truth is, I don’t know what tonight is going to bring.
But what I do know is that Cooper Henry will be a part of it, and that at the end of the day, I’m going to be okay.
I turn the radio to my favorite station on my alarm clock, grab my favorite hoodie, and yank it over my head.
The air is still chilly tonight, and I’m so excited for it to warm up, even if it means the beach will be littered with tourists here for the boardwalk and Kohr's ice cream, licking their sticky fingers like they’ve never tasted anything better in their whole lives.
But summer here in Rehoboth is actually my favorite season. While most locals hate the traffic and noise that comes with the hot weather, there’s something about city people in my beach town that makes me smile. New people.
New friends.
Not that I’ve remained in touch with a lot of them. There’s a handful of girls I’ve kept in contact with over the years, but over time, their letters become far more infrequent. Since last summer, I’ve gotten a few people’s emails.
A girl named Mila, specifically. Her dad works for the same company my dad works for, which helps. They’ve been talking, and I think they’re coming back here this summer for a week.
It’ll be nice to have a few more friends.
Grabbing my drawstring bag with a few necessities—cherry ChapStick, hairbands, and my iPod—I throw it over my back before creeping down the hall.
My heart beats out of my chest as I carefully maneuver my way through the kitchen and out the front door, praying with all my might that my parents haven’t decided to listen to their TV show quietly tonight.
The cool spring air hits me like a ton of bricks, the salty wind immediately twisting my curly hair into a mess.
Grabbing my bike, I walk about a quarter mile down the road before hopping on and riding the rest of the way to the spot my friends are meeting. When I get there, I spot the glow of the bonfire down the beach.
There’s a soft roar of laughter. A slight smell of burning wood. The crash of the waves.
The start of the summer season is coming.
“Hey!” Natalia waves from the sand, a wide grin spread across her face. She’s standing with Rebecca and Sam, their arms crossed as they look around, as if a little annoyed that they had to wait for me, despite my informing them I’d definitely be late.
Rebecca and Sam come from large, old-money families who let their kids go wherever they want. There are no rules in their house, and although I love my parents more than anything, a part of me can’t help but be a little jealous sometimes.
“You ready?” Natalia asks, grabbing the handle of my bike as I come to a stop in front of her.
“Yeah, sorry guys,” I say with a grimace, “my parents took a little too long to head upstairs to bed.”
The two others smile, looking toward the fire, and like usual, I’m forgiven in an instant as Natalia lays my bike with hers and we head off to the party.
Natalia bumps my arm. “Are you looking forward to seeing him?” she asks.
I feel that familiar tickle of a smile forcing its way onto my lips. “Who?”
She rolls her eyes. “My brother, duh.”
I sigh. “I’m not sure why you’re pushing it this much,” I lie. But Natalia has always wanted a sister, and she’s been pushing me and Cooper together since we were eight, sitting around a fire at night with our cootie catchers.
She’s been planning a wedding since that very night.
At only a year older than us, Cooper has somehow been that older boy every parent wants for their kid, and half the girls in our class want him, much to Natalia’s disdain.
She rolls her eyes, swiping her blonde hair over her shoulder. “We all know it’ll happen. I’m just calling it beforehand.”
I roll my eyes, but secretly, I know she’s right.
My mom’s voice pops into the back of my mind. My mom loves Natalia, despite frequently ranting that her grasp of reality is a little fuzzy. Natalia has always been headstrong. Always been that person who knows what she wants and will always do anything she can to get it.
But she’s a dreamer, according to my mom. And at thirteen, “we don’t know everything.”
I like to argue that we understand things a little better than they do sometimes, especially when I have to teach my parents how to use our TV remote every few months when they somehow forget.
We hear Cooper before we see him.
“Hey! Over here!” he calls, kicking a soccer ball to his sister. She stops it with her foot, immediately kicking it back at him. Hard.
It lands on his stomach, and with a loud grunt, he doubles over. “Not cool,” he moans as his knees hit the sand. I giggle a little, and Natalia looks at me from the corner of her eye with a smug smirk.
“Are you okay?” I ask, grabbing his arm and helping him up.
“Your friend is a bitch,” he whispers.
I narrow my eyes, but when he smiles, my annoyance melts away. “I’m kidding. She’s okay.”
“I—”
“Cooper!” a voice calls from across the beach, and his head whips around faster than I’ve ever seen.
My stomach sinks.
“I’ll be right back, alright?” he smiles at me, and my stomach ties in knots.
My lips grow tight as I look at the sand coating my feet. “Yeah,” I tell him with a nod.
I don’t watch as he runs off.
“He’ll be back,” Natalia says, grabbing my arm and leading me to the fire.
All I can do is hope she’s right.