In This Life Read Free Page A

like the rest of me.
    “I’m fine. I was just chilling for a little bit.”
    He tried his best to suppress a smile. I could see the outline of his face, the tip of his nose, his full lips. “Oh, is that what that was?” he asked.
    “It’s very relaxing. You should try it sometime,” I snapped back.
    “Okay,” he said as he began to lie down in the water. The black baseball cap bobbed up and down next to his head.
    “No! Not now!” I squeaked, laughing as I lifted his head up. I still couldn’t make out his face, but his hair was thick, jet black, and somewhat unruly. Loose curls were entangled between my fingers.
    He let out a throaty laugh. “There was nothing relaxing about that.” And although I only saw him in parts—that mouth, those lips, the perfectly aligned teeth—he put me at ease. But it was his presence, the sound of his voice, the touch of his hand on my hair that pulled me out and brought me back. “Whatever it is, it’s never as bad as you think,” he said.
    Slowly, I straightened myself and got to my feet. “With that thought, I think I’m going to leave. I’m tired. Thanks for the laugh.” I paused to collect myself. “Goodbye, stranger.”
    I turned toward the long stretch of sand away from the shore, into the grove of palm trees, my feet zigzagging unsteadily in front of me. As I stopped to catch my balance, I looked back to see him still seated on the sand, his legs stretched out into the water. The moon and the stars were nowhere to be found. Were they even there to begin with?
    “Dude. My name is Dude,” he called out.
    I lifted my hand and signaled a wave without missing a beat.
    By the time I reached the bonfire, there was nothing left but embers surrounded by beer bottles and burnt wood. The fading light of a few stars guided me on the path to my silent home. I couldn’t stand to be alone with my thoughts. So I barged into Dante’s room.
    “I threw my—”
    Milena was sitting on top of him, her head thrown back as he pushed himself against her.
    “Spark, what the—” Dante grabbed Milena’s hips and flung her off the bed. “Oh, shit!” He fumbled for the light switch by the night table only to find out that it didn’t work. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
    Glaring at me, Milena scrambled to her feet, stumbling to pick up her bra and t-shirt.
    “Er… Milena, I’m sorry,” I slurred. I should have known better. When your best friend was a hot piece of meat like Dante, you never found him alone. And Milena had been all over him at the beach. Wait a minute, hadn’t it been her twin, Paulina, that had been making the moves on him earlier? Not that it mattered, their faces were identical.
    I just shook my head and gazed down at the ground. Still, it never occurred to me to leave. For all the partners we’d had, we each came first for the other, through breakups and make-ups and one night stands, our friendship was a constant. Whenever friends questioned why we weren’t together, we’d laugh and say that we knew too much about each other.
    Milena left the room in a huff, and Tey finally got to the light switch on the wall. I kept my focus on a ball of dust rolling around the wood floor as he searched under the covers for his underwear.
    “Ah. Found them.” He slipped them on quickly and sauntered over to me.
    “I threw my phone into the ocean.”
    The slow blinking of his eyelids, the slight curve of his lips. Signs that he was about to say something witty. He caught himself as soon as he saw the tears pooling in the corners of my eyes. “That can be replaced,” he said instead.
    I gave in to my sense of helplessness and crumpled in his arms, breaking into a sob.
    “My dad said she could die!” I cried. “Oh, Tey, I’m still so mad at her!”
    “Do you think you should go home? We could try to get tickets tomorrow,” he offered.
    “No, no.” I shook my head. “I’m not ready to see her.”
    Slowly he led me towards the bed, allowing me to collapse on