Teegan

It's Friday again before I know it.

On Tuesday, Lola stayed at the house for dinner. My mom made tacos and we ate together with the kids. I can see that Lola and the kids have a special bond, which makes sense. She lives close by and obviously has spent a lot more time with them than I have. But I'm making up for lost time, now. Even though I'm going pretty damn far away in a couple of months. I want to make sure Oscar and Josie don't forget me.

Lola left at 7P.M., after my mom heard from Francis and he said he wasn't landing until 9P.M. Before she left, she told me about the party on Saturday.

"I don't know if you'd want to go," she said, leaning against the front door.

I was in the hallway, maybe six feet away from her. She hadn't been rude or snarky to me, but she also hadn't made any effort to be overly nice. I honestly don't know what to expect from her.

"It's a fourth of July party. Everyone dresses in red, white and blue and we have a big cook out and do sparklers and have a fire. It's a tradition," she went on.

"I'm not sure I should go, considering..." I said, but let my voice trail off because I didn't know if my mom was listening from the other room.

"Right. Well, Naomi is crazy. Everyone knows that. It sucks you had to experience her wrath."

I nodded. "Luke did not say he had a girlfriend. But we were also just talking. That's it."

"You're new. You didn't know to not even look in Luke's direction if Naomi is around. Now you know." Lola laughed, so I smiled. "Well, let me know. I'll be in Avila all day Saturday."

"Okay. Thanks," I finished and then watched her go.

The rest of the week went fast, once again. Wednesday, I talked to Kiara for a while in the evening. She told me about her job and how busy she's been. I told her about the beach and how I'm not sleeping well, but otherwise things are good.

By Friday morning, I'm actually looking forward to going to work at the hut.

"I have no work stuff today, so I'm keeping the kids home from daycare and we're going to have a fun day!" my mom says, as I'm drinking coffee.

The kids have already finished breakfast and are off playing in the basement. My mom's sitting across from me, the newspaper spread out in front of her. 

I look out the window and see that it's very sunny. "It looks like a great day for that."

She nods, her long hair falling around her shoulders. "Francis is going to meet us at zoo in Santa Barbara after his shift this afternoon. We haven't taken the kids there since last summer."

"Oh, that sounds fun." I finish my coffee and look up at her. Her dark eyes are so much like mine. Her long dark hair is the same, too, but I keep mine shorter.

"I wish you could come. I regret having you work the Friday shift," she says and then laughs softly. "Make sure you call if you need anything."

"Yeah. I'm sure I'll be fine," I agree.

An hour later, they are packing up the van to leave. It's an hour drive to the zoo and the kids are excited. They've been talking about all the animals they are going to see, and Josie cried when I was told her that I wasn't going.

"Tell mom to take lots of pictures, okay?" I say to them as I help them get into their car seats.

"We will. I want you to see the flamingos. My favourite," Oscar says and then grins. "Have fun at work."

Right. Fun. I don't have to be there until a little before 2P.M., so I still have time to relax a bit. It's only 11A.M. My mom gives me a quick hug and waves as she gets into the van and pulls out of the driveway.

And I'm on my own.

It's a warm day and I know it'll get warmer, so I put on some sun screen and my hat after getting dressed. Jean shorts, an over sized grey t-shirt that I tie in a knot at my hip, and then my flip flops. I sit out on the back deck for a while and watch the waves before locking the door and leaving to walk to the pier.

Everything feels good and normal as I walk. My surroundings are familiar now. Kids on the beach, playing in the sand. Parents in beach chairs, taking in the sun. After two weeks, it almost feels like I belong here, at least for now.

I am expecting to see Luke when I walk up to the hut. I'm a bit sweaty from the walk but I don't really care. The hut doesn't have A/C so I'm going to be sweaty all day. I'm unsure how seeing Luke almost a week later will go. I mean, we don't really know each other but I thought for a minute there that we could be friends.

Now, I have a key to the back door of the little building - thanks to my mom - so I go around and open the door without Luke seeing me. I step in and feel how warm it is in there. Gross. The air is so thick. I see Luke at the counter, talking to a customer - but, wait. It's not Luke. There's no messy blond hair or thick, muscular body. This guys has dark hair and is wearing a black t-shirt.

"Hello?" I say, because no one told me someone else would be working today.

I'm fine with new people and this person's shift would be ending as I'm starting, anyway. But I would have liked a head's up.

He turns around as soon as the woman at the counter walks away and I lose my breath for a second. There is a tall, sweaty, dark haired mystery boy standing only a few feet away from me.

    "What the hell? Why are you here?" he asks before I can say anything. Rude. "How'd you get in?"

I hold up the key on the key ring that my mom made for me. "I work the two to seven shift on Fridays."

"Why is this place so small," he says, under his breath. "It's 2P.M. already? I guess I can go."

"It's 1:40P.M. I'm early," I tell him, unsure why he's being so mean.

"Oh. I didn't know you work here. It's a bit... weird, right? We've run into each other so many times now."

"I only started working here last Friday," I say, for whatever reason.

He nods and looks away. "Yeah... I just started this week."

Why didn't my mom tell me there was a new guy working here now? Why am I finding out like this?

"Luke's usually here on Friday mornings," I say, because I'm flustered. I still don't even know this guy's name and he's staring at me like I'm the one who shouldn't be here.

"Yeah, uh, I guess someone quit, so I got the job, and the shifts got switched around a bit." He pauses and then leans his elbow on the counter. "I'm Cohen, by the way."

"Ah. Okay. Oh, I'm Teegan." I shuffle my feet a bit and take a deep breath. It's too hot in here. He's too close to me. And I like his name too much. Why are my insides turning to mush?

"Hi, Teegan," he says and then smiles. "I'm sorry again about the Frisbee."

I'd forgotten about that, and I'm about to tell him that when two boys come up to the counter. Cohen tears his eyes off of me and turns to them. I can hear that they want to rent a paddle board for an hour and Cohen goes through the process with them. He tells them they need a parent to come over and sign the waiver and pay. The older boy tells him he's fourteen, but Cohen shakes his head and says they need a parent. The younger boys whines and the older boys tells him they'll come back after with their dad.

Cohen turns back to me. "You like working here?"

I shrug. "So far, yeah. Something to do."

"You're not a local, are you? I mean, last weekend was the first time I saw you," he goes on.

"I'm not," I say, and leave it at that.

He looks confused but doesn't ask any more questions. "Alright, well, I guess I'll see you around, maybe."

It seems like he can't wait to get out of there, but it could just be the heat. He doesn't seem as hurried to get away from me as he was the night outside my mom's house.

"Maybe," I agree.

We sort of change places and I stand near the counter as he shuffles to the back and grabs a drawstring bag off a chair. He doesn't look at me again until he's got his hand on the door. It seems like he wants to say something, but he doesn't. He just gives me a quick nod and then he's gone.

The shift goes fast for the first few hours. It's a busy day at the beach and I guess because it's July now, more families are here on vacation. I have three paddle boards and two of the boats out, which is more than last week. At 5P.M., I dig into my bag to get my fruit salad I packed for dinner, then drop into the chair to eat.

I'm barely finished when some of the teenagers return their paddle boards and a dad with his daughter bring back a boat. I'm dragging the boat back to the stand behind the hut when I hear voices.

    "Hey! Teegan!"

It's Riss and Harlow, walking by at that very moment. I'm sweaty and my hair is a mess, but I look over at them and force a smile. I haven't seen them since the party either.

"What are you doing down here?" Harlow asks me, looking me up and down.

"Oh, I work at the rental-"

"Her mom owns it, Har," Riss interrupts.

Harlow looks like she doesn't care about that fact at all. She rolls her eyes and starts walking away, but doesn't go far.

"I wanted to say sorry for Naomi, but I didn't have your number or anything," Riss tells me.

"Oh, it's fine," I say quickly. "I have to get back to-"

"How have things been here, besides that? You like Avila?"

I start walking back to the hut and Riss follows. "Yeah, it's alright."

"Maybe we can hang out sometime? Oh, the July 4th party is tomorrow." She says this but then makes a face. "Maybe just avoid Luke?"

"I don't think I'm going. But yeah... he switched shifts here so I don't have to even see him here." I nod at the hut, then look back at her.

"You should come. Naomi should not determine what you do or don't do here," she tells me.

"Oh, she's not. I'm not that big on parties."

Riss shrugs again. "I should go catch up with Harlow. See you tomorrow, if you come."

Did she not just hear me say that I wasn't planning on going? I wasn't big on parties, but I went to that one to show my mom that Lola and I could get along. Overall I think Lola and I are doing fine, but the drama and embarrassment was unnecessary. I'd like to avoid that in the future, and going to a Fourth of July party is not important to me.