Strawberry Summer Page 6

  “By all means.” I plugged my phone into the stereo system and selected the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night album and waited in anticipation as “Can’t Buy Me Love” filled the car.

  “The Rolling Stones?” Courtney asked innocently after listening for a beat.

  I collapsed back in my seat as if leveled by a two-by-four, and it felt a little like I had been. I couldn’t handle the misstep. This would change everything.

  Courtney laughed and put my fears to rest. “I’m kidding. Please know I’m kidding.” Thank God. She reached over and touched my knee, giving it a little squeeze. “Beatles. Got it. You like the Beatles.”

  That smile was killer, but I focused on the importance of the moment, sat up again, and turned to face her better. “I don’t like the Beatles. One doesn’t just like the Beatles. I have an appreciation for the geniuses that are the lads from Liverpool. Music just doesn’t come like this anymore. Do you understand what I’m saying? The Beatles are everything.”

  She nodded along. “I understand the gravity. You take the Beatles very seriously. Tell me something about them.”

  I didn’t hesitate. “Well, they wrote the title track to this particular album in a day. This was also the first album written entirely by them. No outside assistance.”

  “What else?”

  “The last recording session that included all four happened in 1969. Strawberry Fields refers to a Salvation Army home near where John used to live. The BBC banned ‘I Am the Walrus’ because the lyrics contain the word ‘knickers.’ There’s a version of ‘Love Me Do’ out there with a different drummer. I mean, poor Ringo. Oh, and the first time Paul—”

  “Okay, okay, that’s good,” she said, laughing. Her hand was on my knee again. “You’ve proven yourself a true fan.”

  I regained my sense of calm. “You can’t ask me for Beatles facts unless you’re ready for Beatles facts.”

  “I think I get that now.”

  She’d yet to move her hand, and the warmth that touch inspired was spreading rapidly. “You,” she said, “have a dimple on your cheek that I hadn’t noticed until now.”

  “Yes.” I touched my cheek. “I do.”

  “How had I not noticed that?” She returned her hand to the steering wheel and shook her head. “A dimpled Beatles fanatic. What am I gonna do with you?”

  God, I had ideas on the subject. Big-time ideas. I just didn’t have any intention of sharing them.

  We arrived in Santa Barbara a little later than we’d planned, due to traffic. Melanie’s vacation house was apparently on Butterfly Beach, one of the westward-facing beaches that offered a beautiful view of the sunset.

  “Look at that,” Courtney said reverently, as we walked toward the water that was now haloed with brilliant pinks and oranges. She placed her hands on her hips. “You don’t often see something so beautiful.”

  I liked that she’d noticed. I paused next to her just to watch. For several long moments, that was all we did, take in the radiance of that sunset. Finally, I turned to her.

  “You sure you want to abandon something as peaceful as this for the group we’re about to join?”

  Her smile was sincere and her voice quiet when she answered. “This is a really nice spot. I agree.”

  I nodded, holding her gaze and memorizing the way the sun slanted across her eyes, making them that much more blue.

  She opened her mouth and closed it. “I have to say something.”

  “Okay. What do you want to say?” And now I was focusing on her mouth, mesmerized by it, because how could one not be?

  “In some ways, I feel like we were supposed to meet.”

  I shifted, curious now. “How so?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not sure. Just this feeling I have. That we’re meant to be friends. Almost like I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”

  “Maybe we are. Meant to be friends.”

  Courtney blushed. It was a look I’d never seen on her. “Am I being stupid?” she asked. “You can tell me if I am.”

  I stared at her for a moment before answering. “Not at all.”

  “Good.” She sighed. “Maybe we should go find the others before I decide I knew you in a past life and really freak you the hell out.”

  I laughed. “If we must.”

  “Melanie emailed directions.” She inclined her head toward the house looming in the distance. “Follow me.”

  And I did.

  The truth was, in that moment, I’d have followed Courtney anywhere.

  Chapter Four

  “Martin Shakerman, if you get my hair wet, you are going to die. Do you hear me? Die!” Melanie shouted from a few yards down the beach as Martin chased her with a water balloon in hand. He was shirtless. She wore a bikini. It was all very Baywatch.

  We’d been at the beach party for a couple of hours now, and most people had mellowed a bit from the initial rush to play volleyball, score a hamburger off the grill, or some other beachy activity to check off the list before our one night here ended.

  The sun was gone and the night now hung around us. Some of the boys had built a fire, and the fifteen or so kids in attendance sat around it. Melanie’s parents were nice enough to walk some blankets down from the house, which was good because a chill moved in from the water. Half of the group had coupled off, cuddling under blankets together. I sat next to Courtney and made small talk with Lila Jane, while next to me Travis and Courtney seemed to be hitting it off.

  “I’ve just never seen you at one of these things before,” Lila Jane said dubiously as she wrestled with a package of marshmallows.

  “Right. I imagine you wouldn’t have. I haven’t been to many.”

  “So do you just prefer, like, sticking to yourself?” More bag wrestling.

  “I guess that’s one way to put it.”

  “You’re actually not so bad,” she said.

  You know, I wasn’t sure how to take that. “Thanks, I think. Do you want me to open that for you?”

  “See? That’s a really nice offer. That’s what I’m talking about.” She passed me the bag. I easily tore into it and handed it back. Lila Jane had definitely not grown up on a farm.

  She passed back a flask. “To show my gratitude.”

  “What’s in it?” She tossed me a look that said really? “Right.” I nodded and stared at the metal container. I wasn’t someone who drank. In fact, being the rule follower that I was, I never had. But this kind of felt like the night to give it a try. Maybe it would relax me some. So I tossed back a swallow and winced as what had to be whiskey burned a potent trail down my throat. To my right, Courtney giggled and put her hand on Travis’s back. I’d never actually heard her giggle before. I realized now that was the laugh she reserved for boys like Travis. He seemed to eat it up, which meant she knew what she was doing.

  “You don’t like that one?” Travis asked her, laughing as well.

  Courtney covered her eyes. “That has got to be the worst pickup line I’ve ever heard.”

  “How about this one?” He leaned back onto his elbow and surveyed her. “Are those diamonds in your eyes, or did the stars fall from the skies?”

  She shook her head and pointed at him. “No, absolutely not. That was even worse than the first.” But she giggled through the sentence. I grimaced and died a little inside. Exactly how many more hours were left of this night?

  Travis sat up with a lazy grin across his face. “Now, hold on. I’m not a photographer, but even I can picture us together.”

  “Wow,” Courtney said in earnest. “You’ve got an arsenal of all things lame.”

  He flashed his Travis smile. “I’ve also got a thing. For you.”

  She flattened her hand against his knee and used it to push herself up. “On that very flattering note, I’m off to freshen up.” She offered my shoulder a squeeze as she passed, her fingertips lingering on my neck a bit. I refused to react, as I realized now that she was simply a tactile person. I stared into the fire as it danced to an
d fro. The heat from it was starting to warm my face uncomfortably. I felt Travis watching me.

  “So, Beringer, what’s the word on your friend?” he asked, sliding over to me and taking Courtney’s spot.

  “Can you expand upon the question?” My eyes never left the fire.

  “Courtney. Is she into me?”

  “I have no way of knowing that.”

  “So she hasn’t said anything?”

  I met his eyes and paused because in the midst of the confident good looks, there was a surprising amount of vulnerability. I caved, because I apparently have a heart. Even for Travis. “She did ask me about you.”

  “She did?” he asked like a hopeful little puppy.

  “She did. I told her you weren’t a total idiot, which you’re not.” New discovery: Whiskey makes one say things. Brave things.

  “That’s gotta be a good sign, right?” More of the bouncing puppy vibe.

  “I would imagine.”

  Travis glanced around to see who was listening and settled on a decision. “Let’s walk.”

  I glanced to my right and left to see who else he might be addressing, because there was no way it was me. No one else seemed to be paying attention. “Me?”

  “Beringer, just do this for me? Please?”

  I stole another swig from that flask and braced myself for the heat to slither its way down my throat. I gave my head a firm shake and stood. “All yours.”

  Once we made it down to the shoreline, he must have deemed the distance adequate. “So, I really like her.”

  “Courtney, you mean? You have a thing for Courtney.” Join the club.

  He nodded. “I don’t know what it is about her.”

  I did. I knew exactly what it was. Courtney was not only beautiful, but she was exciting, and different, and actually a really nice person on top of it all. She was all of the things. It wasn’t surprising that Travis had noticed that, too. I was sure everyone did.

  “I was hoping you could help. With intel.”

  “As in?”

  “I dunno. Tell me what she likes. What is she into?”

  I decided to throw him a bone. “She likes to draw. She sketches objects out in the world.”

  “Great. I can work with that. She’s artistic, which is hot. What about guys?”

  “We haven’t talked much about guys.”

  “C’mon. You’re her friend. You two always eat lunch together, and she brought you here. You probably know her best. What kind of guys does she like?”

  “Listen, Travis. That’s a really broad question, and I honestly don’t know the answer.” The alcohol seemed to have loosened me up considerably, but it also made my head a little foggy. Was this what it meant to be a lightweight?

  “Just tell me what I should do to, you know, make the best impression on her,” he said.

  Travis was asking me for dating advice? Me, who’d dated no one. The world was upside down.

  “Like should I go for it? Make a move? Or play it cool?”

  I scrubbed at my face, wondering how I’d gotten myself to this point. I thought about the campfire. About Courtney’s giggling, how close she sat to him. She seemed very much into Travis, and who was I to get in the way? That wasn’t what friends did for each other, and if nothing else, I wanted to hang on to this friendship. Courtney was starting to matter to me. “I think you should go for it,” I said, letting my hand drop in surrender.

  His eyes lit up. “Yeah? I’d have a chance?”

  “I think it’s definitely possible. It’s what I would do if I were you.”

  He knocked me on the shoulder. “I owe you one.” He backed away, barefoot in the sand, and pointed at me. “We should talk more.”

  I pointed back at him good-naturedly. “I’ll put it in my date book.”

  “That’s funny. See? You’re a funny girl, Beringer, when you want to be.”

  I stood alone on the beach and watched as Travis approached Courtney at the campfire and offered her his hand. She smiled up at him and accepted, and they headed off down the beach in the opposite direction. The two of them would have beautiful children together. Tiny, popular people who would take over the world.

  All was as it should be. Double sigh of sadness.

  I rejoined the group around the fire, anything to ignore the tug I felt on my heart over what had been a stupid crush anyway. I waited patiently for the bag of marshmallows to come my way. If nothing else, I could stuff myself with s’mores and chalk up the evening to a junk food victory. Only Cody Timmons seemed to be examining each and every marshmallow before making a selection. I dipped my head and caught his gaze. “Do you need a few minutes alone with those? You’re not proposing, Cody. It’s a marshmallow. Chop-chop.”

  That drew laughter from the group.

  “Margaret, you should come out more,” one girl said. “Not live your life on that farm.”

  “Beringer’s not so bad,” came from across the circle.

  Apparently, the small amount of alcohol I’d downed seemed to have brought out a bold sense of sarcasm my classmates appreciated. Who would have guessed? Cody playfully tossed the bag my way and Melanie studied me. “What?” I asked.

  “You’re different tonight.” It was an accusation.

  “I am?”

  She shrugged and went back to her conversation. Just as I decided that I still didn’t enjoy her, I was tapped on the shoulder. I turned around with a mild dose of alcohol-fueled irritation and looked up into Courtney’s big blue eyes. To my surprise, they flashed anger. “What’s up?” I asked.

  “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

  I glanced back at the group and then to Courtney, not exactly sure of the situation. “Um, yeah. Of course.”

  She stalked away toward the house and I was left with little choice but to follow. “Why would you do that?” she asked, whirling on me once we were alone.

  “Do what?”

  “You told Travis to kiss me. I mean, you told him to. Why would you do that?”

  I held up a hand. “Whoa. I didn’t say those particular words.”

  “But you made him think I was into it. That I was into him.”

  I shook my head in exasperation. “Aren’t you?”

  “No. I’m not, actually.”

  “Okay then, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have encouraged him. But you guys were pretty cozy next to the fire, so—”

  She pressed her lips to mine and I froze. All at once a warm rush of amazing came over me and I responded, returning her kiss. Surrendering beneath it. Courtney slid her hands around my waist and pulled me closer as our lips moved in slow tandem. I’d been kissed exactly once in my life, by Edwin Elderman in a game of Spin the Bottle at my church youth camp, but it had been nothing like this. I wasn’t even sure it had been the same activity. Because kissing Courtney was warm and satisfying and addictive and exciting and it made my skin shiver in the most wonderful way. The proximity came with that intoxicating scent of vanilla and I was gone, lost in a blurry haze of fabulous. It only lasted for a few seconds, but they were probably the best few seconds of my time on Earth thus far. As Courtney pulled back, ending the kiss, she kept her lips very close to mine. “Get it now?” she said quietly.

  I nodded, as I wasn’t sure what words to pick.

  “Good.”

  That was the extent of our conversation on the topic, and I didn’t press for more.

  We rejoined the others for another hour around the bonfire before the curfew Melanie’s parents had laid out for us hit. I’d never felt lighter in my life as I sat alongside that flickering fire with my classmates. Jokes were somehow funnier, the beach was sexier, and everyone there was so much more fun. My brain remained fuzzy from alcohol or Courtney—it was hard to say for sure which.

  By the end of the night, per Melanie’s parents’ rules, the boys sacked out on the second floor of the beach house and the girls assembled sleeping bags on the first. I picked a spot near the sliding glass door where I could stare up at the
sky as I drifted off. The alcohol clung a bit and I wasn’t ready to shut my eyes. Courtney wordlessly set up her sleeping bag next to mine and stretched out on her back. Someone killed the lights, but in typical teenage girl fashion, the chatter continued.

  “Tell me he didn’t actually say that,” one of my classmates said.

  “Not only did he say it, he tried it,” another answered.

  “And what did you do?”

  “I leaned into it.”

  Cue the laughter and subsequent teenage girl question-and-answer session. In the midst of the back and forth, a warm hand slipped around my waist from behind. Courtney. I hitched in a breath at the initial contact, her hand against my stomach. I closed my eyes and remained still as she eased her body behind mine. The lights were off and we were forgotten in our corner by the sliding glass door. “Is this okay?” she whispered. “You can tell me if it’s not.”

  I nodded and placed my hand atop hers, holding it in place as my heart thudded away. The voices of the girls faded into the background, and it was only us there as far as I was concerned, Courtney and me, her arm around me as we stared up at the night sky. We lay like that for a while as I counted stars and listened to her breathe, her exhales faintly tickling my shoulder. Eventually, it slowed down and evened out, signaling to me that Courtney had drifted off. I set aside a moment to memorize the warm tingles that danced across my skin at her touch, her proximity, and the fantastic scent of vanilla that I now associated with only her. I’d never experienced anything like it. As exhausting as the day had been, I fought against sleep so I could live in this day for just a little while longer.

  Slowly but surely, sleep descended and I joined Courtney in welcome slumber. Who knew what the morning would bring? Maybe we’d never discuss what had happened between us that night. It was possible the alcohol would be blamed and the events of the night would be shelved forever. But I dared to wonder. What if this was the beginning of something highly unexpected in my life?

  Something memorable.

  Something wonderful.

  Boring little Margaret Beringer, who nothing ever happened to, was suddenly in the middle of something meaningful with a girl she genuinely liked?