Teegan

The rest of the week passes by pretty quickly.

    I talk to my dad once, for a few minutes, and I Facetime and text with Kiara a few times. She's busy, I know that. She tells me about the office she's working in and some of the people she's met. Her boss is nice and seems to like her. I'm happy for her, honestly.  I'm quite the opposite of busy, though. I wouldn't say I'm bored, but... it's close. The little kids haven't been home much besides the evenings, and then they are eating dinner, having baths and going to bed.

   On Thursday night, I sneak them outside before their baths and we splash in the water and play in the sand. I let them bury my feet and they giggle as I try to walk, but can't.  Mom comes out and calls for us at 7P.M. I don't miss the smile on her face, though.

   It's Friday before I know it and I somehow agreed to work at the rental hut at the pier, during the day. I mean, why not?  At first it annoyed me that my mom suggested I work at her business this summer, but it's not like I have a ton of other stuff to do. The shift is 2PM-7PM and I'll have to close down. My mom told me she will come down and check on me but she's  'sure I'll be fine'.

   "Luke is there today. He'll show you what to do," she says, that afternoon as I'm eating some cereal.

   She trusts this random beach kid with her business. She trusts him to teach me how to do the job. But I don't know if I'm ready to do this. I worked at a gas station last summer, for some spending money. I hated it, mostly, but I did save up enough money to buy my own ticket to see a band I wanted to see. Last summer was a good summer, besides the week I spent in Avila.

   "It's only ten minutes to walk down to the pier. Get going," my mom goes on, finishing her coffee. "I have a meeting this afternoon but I'll be down there to check on things after I pick the kids up from daycare."

   With a nod, I put my cereal bowl in the sink and then slip on my sliders and go out the back door. I have to walk down the beach to the pier, in the sand. It's where the one restaurant is, the ice cream shop and the other small stores. There's a dock where people go boating and use the paddle boats and the new paddle boards my mom's renting out now. At least it's a hot, sunny day. I'll be half way to an awesome summer tan in no time.

   I'm almost there - I can see the docks now - when someone jogs past me. He's tall and muscular, no shirt and wearing swim shorts. He's sweating. Glistening. I only see him for a split second but my heart skips a beat... or three.

   Here's the thing, besides Ansen, I don't have much of a track record with guys. I dated in high school, like a normal girl. Nothing stuck too long. My first relationship was Carsten Ward, for six months in junior year, but we broke up after winter break because he wanted us to be more. More what? I don't know. He didn't say, but maybe he wanted me to be more committed to him. Maybe he wanted to have sex? I didn't think I was ready at the time. The months that followed, I dated a few guys but nothing really stuck. I'm sure I ended up with commitment issues after my parents split. And even though dad and Jenna were happy and everything, it still freaked me out to commit to anything serious. I was only sixteen, anyway. And then I turned seventeen, grew up a bit, and agreed to coffee with Ansen on that September afternoon. I was "committed" to him, but he ended up hurting me anyway.

   "Yo, you must be Teegan!" a tall, blond guy wearing a tank top and swim shorts says to me, as I approach the hut. He's muscular and looks like the typical high school jock. The business is now called Reese's Rentals. I know, super original. My mom's name is Reese.

   It's a small building, like a shack, with a walk up window. The back door is locked so I just stand there, confused.

   "I am."

   "You look just like your mom," he says, then adds, "I'm Luke."

   "Okay."

   "Oh shit, here, come on in," he says and pushes open the door for me.

   Over the next thirty minutes, Luke explains it all to me, while stopping every few minutes to talk to customers. Some people just want the pricing. Some book a boat or a paddle board for a different day. And some are returning them. It's pretty fast paced, but Luke seems to do it all effortlessly.

   "Yeah, so, it's busy all the time. You really just have to make sure you sign them all out with a digital signature and name and number. And the payments are taken, obviously. The rest of the time you can just chill."

   "Okay. Cool. How long have you worked here?" I ask him.

   He leans his elbow on the counter and smiles at me. "Since last August. My mom knows your mom. So, you're staying all summer?" he wants to know. This is when I notice he seems younger than me.

   "Yeah." I nod, and I wonder if anyone who lives here doesn't know my mom.

   "Where do you live, like normally?" Luke asks.

   "Seattle."

   "Wow."

   "What?"

   "Seattle's far. And that's why you're so white."

   "Excuse me?" I cough out.

   "I mean, you don't have a tan. I could tell you haven't been here long," he answers and then grins at me.

   "Oh, Right."

   "You going to be a senior in the fall?" he goes on.

   I shake my head. "Just graduated. College in the fall."

   "Oh wow. Cool, older woman," he chuckles. "Okay, I'm taking off. You good?" He doesn't wait for me to answer. "Oh, there's a party tonight. Literally just a bit down the beach, there." He stops to point. "We have bonfires and some drinks. You should come."

   "Already going. With Lola," I say, assuming he knows her, too.

   "Oh. That makes sense. Awesome. See you there," he finishes.

The next few hours fly by. It feels like I blink and it's already time to close up. My first shift at Reese's Rentals was a breeze. It was busy, but literally the most basic job ever. Everything went by without a hitch and I actually enjoyed it.

   My mom shows up at 6:45P.M. and lets herself in the back door, and she's got the kids with her. I'm talking to a man with his son who's about ten. They are returning their boat they had out for the past hour.

   "How was the ride?" I ask, knowing my mom is listening.

   "It was so fun," the little boy yells. "We went fast!"

   "That's great." I smile at them.

   "My wife wants to try a paddle board so we will be back tomorrow," the man tells me. "Thanks."

   "Perfect. Have a great night," I finish.

   As they walk away, my mom clears her throat. "You're a natural."

   "It's pretty much common sense. All of this," I tell her, waving my hand around.

   She smiles even though I've basically insulted her. "So everything was good?"

   "Yep."

   "I'll close up. I mean I'll finish up here. Feel free to go get ready for-"

   "What?" I ask.

   "Um... I just assumed you'd be going to the party tonight."

   "You assumed?" I ask her, curious.

   "Lola mentioned it."

   "Of course. You're all in some group chat I didn't get invited to?"

   "No. Jesus, Teegan. She called the house because she didn't have your cell."

   I push some sticky hair off my forehead. God, it's hot out here. "I guess I'm just confused why she's being nice to me."

   "What do you mean by that?" my mom wants to know.

   Josie giggles and pulls at my hand. "Hi Teegan."

   "Hi," I say to her. To my mom I say, "She's never been nice to me before."

   "You just have to get to know each other, Teegan. You're the same age. You're step sisters. You'll be fine."

   As if just because our parents got married we need to be best friends. I literally won't see her again after this summer. I'll be off in New York and she'll be wherever she's going. I still feel like Lola has some agenda going on. There's no other reason she'd be randomly nice to me this year.

   "Right. Fine. Well, she invited me to the party, but..."

   "Don't be difficult Teegan. Just go, have fun." My mom gives me a pointed look. "You deserve to have some fun."

   And once again I nod and agree, because I guess that's what I do, now. Go with the flow. Work at the rental hut. Go to beach parties.

   At least I'll have something to tell Kiara about when I talk to her next.