Lauren's Beach Crush (6 page)

“Oh, well no, but whatever . . . ” said Lauren quickly, turning away before Charlie could see that her face had turned bright red.

“Hey!” Frank called after her.

She stopped.

“Just so you know, the Yanks aren't playing this afternoon. The Mets have a double header, though.”

“Oh, right,” said Lauren with a queasy giggle. “My bad. Well, I guess I'll have to tune in tomorrow.” She hurried back to Chrissy and flopped down next to her, wishing that the sand would somehow turn into quicksand and swallow her.

“Guess it didn't go so well?” Chrissy asked with a sympathetic look on her face.

“You have no idea,” Lauren replied. “It's my plan. It's the
perfect
plan. So how come I keep messing it up?”

THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS WERE OVERCAST AND
rainy. The girls entertained themselves by jogging together in the warm rain, shopping at stores on Main Street, going to the small local movie theater, and even cooking dinner for Lauren's parents one night. They went shopping with Mrs. Silver for corn and tomatoes at the local farm stand, for fresh fish at the local fish store, and for crusty bread at the local bakery. Then they grilled scallops (with a little help from Mr. Silver, master griller), made corn on the cob, and tomato and mozzarella salad. It was fun having someone to hang out with. Normally Lauren would just hang out by herself or spend time with Mom and Dad, but it was great to have company. Being an only child meant she could entertain herself pretty well, but having Chrissy around was like having a twenty-four-hour pal.

Lauren and Chrissy spent one morning at the library,
where Lauren showed Chrissy her favorite reading nooks. Lauren realized, as they talked about books, that they both loved a few of the same authors. Lauren looked longingly over at the paperback mysteries that seemed to be calling her name . . . but she was determined to get through
Moby-Dick
by the July Fourth picnic so she could talk about it with Charlie. So far she had read eighteen pages. Chrissy borrowed Lauren's library card and checked out a paperback from a series Lauren recommended. Lauren looked around hoping to see Charlie. “At the library?” asked Chrissy. “Somehow I doubt it.” Lauren wondered what Chrissy meant, but decided not to say anything.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the sun came out. Lauren suggested they get to the beach early so that they could be there before the guys and not look as though they were stalkers.

“But we'll do our stakeout near where we were last time,” said Lauren matter-of-factly as they walked to the beach, laden down with tote bags full of towels, a blanket, water, sunblock, and of course, books. “Because people are creatures of habit.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Chrissy.

“Well, I bet you and your family always sit in the same
seats at your dinner table, right? And at school? Don't you always sit in the same seat? So chances are, they'll park their towels in the same area they did last time we were at the beach together.”

“Good point,” said Chrissy. “Maybe you should be a detective. Or a social anthropologist.”

“What's that?” asked Lauren.

“My sister wants to study social anthropology when she starts college in a few years. It's a science that studies how groups of people behave. Liz is already really into it. That's why she gives such great advice about boys and dating and stuff—she knows a lot about why people act the way they do.”

Lauren couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have an older sister. When she was little, she used to beg her parents to have another child so she could be the big sister, but they never did. Then as she got older she changed her mind and decided it was actually nice being an only child. She didn't have to share her clothes or books or makeup with anyone. But then again, having an older sister to borrow those things from was probably fun. And having an older sister who knew a lot could come in handy. An older sister might be able to help with the Love Plan.

The girls climbed the stairs to the beach. It was still early, not yet ten, so not many people were there. They headed toward their spot.

“I'm sure Charlie has heard of social anthropology,” said Lauren, pulling out the blanket and handing one side to Chrissy so they could spread it out. “He's probably the top student in his class. He probably read
Moby-Dick
when he was in preschool.” They both plunked down on the blanket.

“Well, why don't you ask him?” suggested Chrissy. “Because he's heading this way!”

Lauren stared at Chrissy in a panic. “How do I look?” she asked desperately.

“Awesome. But you'd look even more awesome if you didn't look totally panicked! Just relax.”

“Right. Must relax. Look casual,” said Lauren. She pulled off her T-shirt and adjusted her suit. Then she settled back against her tote bag, which she was using to prop her head up, and readjusted her sunglasses. “I can't look. You need to be my eyes. Is he with the same group of guys as last time? Frank and all those guys?”

Chrissy pretended to do a stretch, twisting her torso this way and that, so she could scope Charlie out. “No,”
she said. “He's with his mom and dad. And maybe his grandmother? And a couple of older guys and one older girl—I'm guessing they're his cousins?”

“The guys are his cousins,” confirmed Lauren. She didn't even need to look—she knew everything about his family. “The girl is his older sister. And that would be his grandmother. He's so nice and respectful to her. He's totally like, the perfect guy. I read in my magazine that it's important to find a guy who is close to his family and respectful of elders. Here, let me put sunblock on you so I can get an angle.”

“Well, I already sunblocked,” said Chrissy, but then Lauren gave her a look that said
pretty please,
so she turned to face Charlie's family so that Lauren could sit behind her and scope them out while she applied sunblock to Chrissy's back.

Lauren stole a look at Charlie and his family as they settled themselves in to their spot. It was not far away, maybe twenty yards or so. No one was yet camped in between them. Charlie sat down to rummage through a tote bag, and then spotted the girls. He smiled ever so slightly, and jerked his chin up quickly in a gesture of greeting.

“He said hello!” squeaked Lauren under her breath. “I can't look. You look.” She flopped back down onto the blanket next to Chrissy. “What's he doing now?”

“He's getting out his book,” Chrissy reported. “It's a thick one. It looks like a history book of some sort.”

“See, I told you he was smart. He reads all the time when he's with his family. I bet they are a really academic family,” said Lauren. “Well, I can't exactly do Operation Cell Phone if he's with his family. I'll focus on making him think I'm a reader like he is.”

“But you
are
a reader,” said Chrissy. “All year long you seemed to have a different book with you every week. And you must have a hundred books in your bedroom. Plus, you practically knew where everything in the town library was by heart. You don't have to pretend to be a reader, Laur!”

Lauren sat up and scrambled through her bag. She hauled out
Moby-Dick
. “You know what I mean. He reads way more important books than I do,” she pointed out. “Didn't you say he was reading some thick history book? I need to impress him, and a regular old paperback is not going to cut it!” She opened her book to a random page in the middle and pretended to become engrossed in reading it, holding it in such a way that Charlie would be able to see
the title, which wasn't easy given how thick the book was.

Half an hour went by.

Lauren's eyes grew droopy. Her arms ached from holding up the book, which she'd gradually lowered until it sat propped on her stomach. The warm sunlight seemed to glare brighter, the white of the page blinding her despite her sunglasses. The lulling, rhythmic whoosh of the surf, the caw of the seagulls overhead, the happy shouts of young children building a sandcastle . . . all worked together to make her very sleepy . . .

Then Chrissy nudged her. “His friends just showed up! He's putting away his book and standing up to join them. He's saying good-bye to his parents. Looks like the parents and the cousins are packing up to go.”

Lauren was suddenly wide awake. She rolled over onto her stomach, pretending to continue reading, but she was able to check out what was going on with Charlie. It was just as Chrissy had described it. His parents, grandmother, sister, and older cousins were trudging back toward the stairs leading away from the beach. Charlie stood with his back to the girls, talking with his friends. Lauren was able to check out his back and see that he had some seriously nice back muscles, all brown and shiny with sunblock. He
looked especially good standing next to his friends, who were still skinny boys. She could stare at his back all day.

Then Charlie turned and looked in their direction. Had he caught Lauren checking him out? She crossed her fingers that her sunglasses camouflaged her gawking stare. He did that chin-up-hello thing, and once again smiled a little, that half-grin. He was smiling at them! At her! Was this really happening? Was he—wait! Was he actually walking over to talk to them? Frank was with him, but Lauren had eyes only for Charlie. Her heart started to race again and she felt her hands get all sweaty. As the boys neared the girls, Lauren squeezed her eyes shut behind her dark glasses, willing herself not to squeal out loud.

“Hey,” said Charlie, staring down at them, casting a shadow across both girls.

“Hey,” replied Lauren and Chrissy at the same time.

Frank spoke up. “We're heading to the snack bar. You guys want to come grab something to eat with us?”

“Sure,” said both girls at the same time again.

The four of them joined up with the four other guys. Lauren recognized both the Matts, Owen, and—was his name Grant?—she couldn't remember. Who cared? She was walking to the snack bar right next to Charlie!

The Matts were gabbing away behind them, talking about some new skateboard park that was opening up close to the beach.

Lauren could feel Charlie walking alongside her. She caught a whiff of his coconut-scented sunblock. She looked down at his large feet trudging through the hot sand next to her smaller ones. Walking side by side together looked so—couple-like. He was so tall! She thought about how deliriously amazing it would be to have his broad shoulder to rest her cheek on during a slow dance. Could he tell what she was thinking just by looking at her? But he wasn't looking at her. His gaze was fixed straight ahead. Lauren decided he must be lost in deep thoughts. Maybe he was contemplating beach erosion or the plight of the endangered sea turtle. Lauren tried to remember everything she could about endangered sea turtles. Did they even live this far north? If they didn't, would she sound totally clueless bringing them up? At the exact moment she drew up the nerve to say something, Charlie turned around to say something to one of the Matts, something about skateboarding that she couldn't hear. But as he turned, his arm brushed against her shoulder. An electric shock rippled through her entire
body. Had he done it on purpose? She had no way of knowing for sure.

At the snack bar, she and Chrissy ordered french fries to share, and lemonades. The boys ordered full-blown meals, even though it wasn't yet eleven. Lauren noted with satisfaction that Charlie ordered lemonade again too.

“You have to talk to him!” Chrissy hissed in Lauren's ear, as they moved to a table to sit. The boys, having ordered a lot more food, remained standing at the counter, still waiting for their orders.

“What should I talk about?” asked Lauren. “The Plan just covers getting my phone number to him. It didn't cover actually talking. And I get so totally tongue-tied when he's next to me.”

“Didn't you say he was a big nature lover?” said Chrissy.

“Yes! Maybe when we walk back to the beach, I'll bring up marine ecosystems or something. I reread that chapter in my bio book before I left for vacation, so I should be able to sound intelligent.”

“Why don't you just talk about how his summer is going?” suggested Chrissy.

Lauren looked horrified. “That's so boring!” she said.

There wasn't room at the table for all of them, so the
other four boys sat together at a table next to theirs. Charlie and Frank joined Chrissy and Lauren. Charlie wasn't very talkative, and Lauren felt as though she had basically lost the ability to speak, so she didn't say much. Frank and Chrissy carried most of the conversation, chatting about everything from movies to TV shows to favorite bands. Both Frank and Chrissy tried to pull Lauren into the conversation a few times, but Lauren remained quiet. Charlie obviously thought the conversation wasn't academic enough, so she would remain quiet and mysterious, just like him. Frank was talking about how much he loved baseball and even though Lauren did too she felt that she shouldn't talk with Frank if Charlie wasn't joining in.

After they'd eaten, the group walked back toward the beach. In front of her, Lauren watched Charlie fall into step next to Chrissy. Chrissy glanced behind her at Lauren and gave a little apologetic shrug.

Lauren found herself walking next to Frank. She barely heard a word he was saying. Something about where he was from, and then about some party his parents were making him go to. She kind of wished he would shut up so she could hear what Charlie was saying to Chrissy.

Chrissy stooped down, pretending to fix the strap
on her flip-flop. She and Lauren exchanged quick looks. Lauren nodded gratefully and quickened her pace so that she was soon walking alongside Charlie.

They proceeded in silence. Then Lauren pointed over toward the dunes. “So, I was studying up a little on the shoreline ecosystem around here,” she said. “I didn't know that eelgrass provides essential habitat to fish and foraging birds.”