Burn for Burn

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN, THE END OF AUGUST, only one more week till school starts. The beach is crowded, but not July Fourth–crowded. I’m lying on a big blanket with Rennie and Alex. Reeve and PJ are throwing a Frisbee around, and Ashlin and Derek are swimming in the ocean. This is our crew. It’s been this way this since the ninth grade. It’s hard to believe we’re finally seniors.

The sun is so bright, I can feel my tan getting even more golden. I wriggle my body deeper into the sand. I love the sun. Next to me Alex is putting more sunscreen on his shoulders.

“God, Alex,” Rennie says, looking up from her magazine. “You need to bring your own sunscreen. You used up half my bottle. Next time, I’m just going to let you get cancer.”

“Are you kidding me?” Alex says. “You stole this out of my cabana. Back me up, Lil.”

I push myself up on to my elbows and sit up. “You missed a spot on your shoulder. Here, turn around.”

I squat behind him and rub a dollop of sunscreen onto his shoulder. Alex turns around and asks, “Lillia, what kind of perfume do you wear?”

I laugh. “Why? Do you want to borrow it?” I love to tease Alex Lind. He’s so easy.

He laughs too. “No. I’m just curious.”

“It’s a secret,” I say, patting him on the back.

It’s so important for a girl to have a signature scent. A scent everyone knows you by, so that when you walk down the hallway at school, people turn and look, like a Pavlovian response or something. Every time they smell that perfume, they’ll think of you. Burnt sugar and bluebell, that’s the Lillia scent.

I lie back down on the blanket and flip onto my stomach. “I’m thirsty,” I announce. “Will you pass me my Coke, Lindy?”

Alex leans over and rummages through the cooler. “All that’s left is water and beer.”

I frown, and look over at Reeve. He’s got a Frisbee in one hand, my Coke in the other. “Ree-ve!” I yell out. “That was mine!”

“Sorry,” he calls back, not sounding sorry at all. He throws the Frisbee in a perfect arc, and it lands over by some cute girls sitting in beach chairs. Exactly where he wanted it to land, I’m sure.

I look over at Rennie, whose eyes are narrow.

Alex stands up and brushes sand off his shorts. “I’ll get you another soda.”

“You don’t have to,” I say. But of course I don’t mean it. I really am thirsty.

“You’re going to miss me when I’m not here to get your drinks,” he says, grinning at me. Alex, Reeve, and PJ are going on a deep-sea fishing trip tomorrow. They’ll be gone for a whole week. The boys are always around; we see them nearly every day. It will be strange to finish out the summer without them.

I stick my tongue out at him. “I won’t miss you one bit!”

Alex jogs over to Reeve, and then they head off to the hot dog stand down the beach.

“Thanks, Lindy!” I call out. He is so good to me.

I look back over at Rennie, who’s smirking. “That boy would do anything for you, Lil.”

“Stop it.”

“Yes or no. Do you think Lindy’s cute? Be honest.”

I don’t even have to think about it. “Yeah, he’s obviously cute. Just not to me.” Rennie has gotten it into her head that Alex and I should become a couple, and then she and Reeve can become a couple, and we can go on double dates and weekend trips together. As if my parents would ever let me go away with guys! Rennie can go ahead and get an S.T.D. from Reeve if she wants, but Alex and I are not happening. I don’t see him that way, and he doesn’t see me that way. We’re friends. That’s it. Rennie gives me a look, but thankfully she doesn’t push it any further. Holding up her magazine, she asks, “What do you think about me doing my hair like this for homecoming?” It’s a picture of a girl in a sparkly silver dress, her blond hair flowing behind her like a cape.

Laughing, I say, “Ren, homecoming is in October!”

“Exactly! Only a month and a half away.” She waves the magazine at me. “So what do you think?”

I guess she’s right. We probably should start thinking about dresses. There’s no way I’m buying mine from one of the boutiques on the island, not when there’s a 90% chance some other girl will show up wearing it too. I take a closer look at the picture. “It’s cute! But I doubt there’ll be a wind machine.”

Rennie snaps her fingers. “Yes! A wind machine. Amazing idea, Lil.”

I laugh. If that’s what she wants, that’s what she’ll get. Nobody ever says no to Rennie Holtz.

We’re discussing possible homecoming looks when two guys come over by our blanket. One is tall with a crew cut and the other is stockier, with thick biceps. They’re both cute, although the shorter one is cuter. They’re definitely older than us, definitely not in high school.

Suddenly I’m glad I’m wearing my new black bikini and not my pink and white polka-dot one.

“Do you girls have a bottle opener?” the tall one asks.

I shake my head. “You can probably borrow one from the concessions stand, though.”

“How old are you girls?” the built one asks me.

I can tell Rennie is into him, the way she tosses her hair over to one side and says, “Why do you want to know?”

“I want to make sure it’s okay to talk to you,” he says, grinning. He’s looking at her now. “Legally.”

She giggles, but in a way that makes her sound older, not like a kid. “We’re legal. Barely. How old are you guys?”

“Twenty-one,” the taller one says, looking down at me. “We’re seniors at UMass, here for the week.”

I adjust my bikini top so it doesn’t show so much. Rennie just turned eighteen, but I’m still seventeen.

“We’re renting a house down Shore Road in Canobie Bluffs. You should come over some time.” The built one sits down next to Rennie. “Give me your number.”

“Ask nicely,” Rennie says, all sugar and spice. “And then maybe I’ll think about it.”

The tall guy sits down next to me, at the edge of the blanket. “I’m Mike.”

“Lillia,” I say. Over his shoulder I see the boys coming back. Alex has a Coke in his hand for me. They’re looking at us, probably wondering who these guys are. Our guy friends can be super-protective when it comes to non-islanders.

Alex frowns and says something to Reeve. Rennie sees them too; she starts giggling extra-loud and tossing her hair around again.

The tall guy, Mike, asks me, “Are those guys your boyfriends?”

“No,” I say. He’s looking at me so intently, I blush.

“Good,” he says, and smiles at me.

He has really nice teeth.