Pieces of You(9)

“Yeah, we can skip that. Grab your board and we’ll paddle out.”

Brittany can’t seem to get her short arm around the board and she keeps looking up at me innocently as if I should be helping her.

“Just carry it on your head,” I say as I set off toward the water.

Once we’re all out in the water, Brittany climbs onto her board with ease, but Nadia keeps slipping off. I watch her try for a couple of minutes as her and Brittany giggle every time she slides off.

“Oh, my God! I’m such a dork!” Nadia shrieks and they both laugh again.

I slide off my board and into the water to help her. I come up next to her and get a firm hold on her board to hold it steady as she attempts to climb on again. She knocks me on the side of the head with her hip as she climbs on and I lose my grip on the board. She screams as she slides into the water again and the board flips on top of both of our heads.

“Fuck!” I shout as I push the board off.

“Sorry!” she shrieks. “I didn’t mean to hit you. This is so embarrassing. It’s like my first day at Duke all over again.”

I glance at her quickly to satisfy my curiosity and I guess she could pass for nineteen or twenty. I flip her board over and get a firm grip on it again.

I nod toward the board for her to get on. “How long have you gone to Duke?”

I only graduated from Duke three months ago, not that I would remember her, but we may know some of the same people.

She’s careful not to bump me with her hip this time as she climbs onto the board. “I just started a week ago. Excuse my language, but it’s fucking terrifying.”

I laugh as I climb onto my board. “Yeah, I remember my freshman year.”

We make it through the rest of the lesson without anymore falling or accidental touching. I’m trusting myself more by the hour.

“I won’t be in town next weekend so you’ll be taking your next lesson with Jason or Nayla. They’re both better instructors than I am, so you’ll be in good hands,” I say as we make it back to the sand.

They both look disappointed as they pull on their swim dresses over their bikinis.

“Will you be here the next week? We can wait.”

Nadia’s the one who asks, but they’re both staring at me waiting for my response.

“No, I won’t be here the following weekend either. I visit my girlfriend every weekend at UNC.”

Nadia’s face scrunches up for a split second like she’s been physically punched in the face, but she quickly covers it up by pretending to squint at the sun as she pulls her dark, wet hair into a ponytail.

“That’s cool. Then I guess we’ll see you around.”

I feel a little bad as they turn to walk away. “Hey!” They turn around with hopeful expressions. “Want to hear a joke?”

Brittany cocks an eyebrow, but Nadia’s lips curl into a slow smile as she nods.

“Knock, knock.”

They turn to each other and exchange a can-you-believe-this-guy look.

“Who’s there?” Nadia replies.

“Police.”

“Police who?”

“Police come back next week to continue your lessons.”

After a brief moment of silence that I’m pretty sure is mixed with a bit of confusion, they burst out laughing.

My job is done.

I lift my towel off the sand as they walk away and slip my phone out of the folds. One voicemail from Claire. I play the message and smile at the sound of her voice.

“I got four hours of sleep and now I have to study again, but I wanted to call you to tell you how much I love you and how glad I am that I can trust you. Call me later.”

Putting together this voicemail with what she said earlier about Senia and Eddie breaking up, I’m guessing Eddie must have cheated on Senia. I’ll have to surprise Claire with something nice the next time I see her to make sure I stay in the “good boyfriend” category. I grin as I hang the towel around my neck. I know the perfect gift for Claire.





Chapter Five





Claire




TUESDAY’S APPOINTMENT WITH TASHA SINGER and Abigail’s parents comes too fast, but I know that as soon as this day is over the rest of the week will go by much too slow as I anticipate finally seeing Adam after nearly two weeks apart. My body aches for him. I miss everything about Adam. I even miss the way he stands, his shoulders straight as he looks down his nose at me with that intense glare in his green eyes.

Mr. Collins concludes the lecture on Baye’s Rule and my stomach gurgles—not with hunger—as I stuff my netbook and Probability by Jim Pitman into my backpack. I finish the last few gulps of water in my bottle and tuck the empty bottle next to my books before I heave my backpack over my shoulder.