Moonglass

“You can come in. I’ll just be a minute.” I grabbed my phone and sent Jill a quick text: “Guess I do have plans. See you Monday.” He scanned the beach just as I had a moment before, then stepped in and stood in front of the window. “So this is what you see every day. Must be nice.” I moved some pillows aside and opened one of the storage benches in the little alcove. “You saw it every day at work.” I pulled out a multicolored quilt, faded and worn thin after many a day spread out on the sand.
    “Yeah, I guess. But I wasn’t relaxing in my living room. I was at work. You get to live the life every day.” He turned slightly, so that he faced my mom’s cottage, then nodded at it. “I think we should try to get in there. That’s the only one I haven’t been in.”
    “No!” I said, with more force than I had meant to. “I mean, I just think it’d be too easy to get caught in there,” I covered. “Too many people walk up and peek in the windows. I watch them all the time. Plus, my dad drives by a couple times a night, and he’d notice a light in there, believe me. Let’s walk up to the north ones.”
    “All right,” he said as we walked out the door. “Let me just warn you, though—there’s a reason they’re condemned. Grab your shoes. And maybe a sweatshirt or something.”
    He stood aside for me, and I led the way down the stairs, which I was happy to do because the butterflies in my stomach felt like they must be obvious on my face. Now the night felt like possibility. So much so that I almost didn’t glance over at her cottage as we made our way onto the cooling sand.
    Neither one of us said anything as we spread the blanket out. I sat down, and Tyler did too, close enough so that I caught a hint of chlorine again. He pulled two paper-wrapped burgers and a box of fries out of the bag, then some napkins. He handed me one of the sodas from the tray, then held his cup up.
    “Cheers. To making it through your first week at Coast.” We each sipped from our straws, then he twisted his cup into the sand and leaned back on his elbows.
    “So, what do you think so far?”
    I cleared my throat and briefly imagined telling him that I had never found wild hair and the smell of swimming pools so attractive. “It’s not too bad, I guess.” I ran my fingers through the sand next to the blanket. “People are definitely different here from my last school.” He swallowed a mouthful of food and washed it down with a gulp of soda. “In a good way or a bad way?” I looked out at the ocean and tried to suppress a smile. “I don’t know yet. I’ll tell you when I decide.” He nodded. “I don’t doubt it. You don’t seem to be the type to hold back much.”
    I cocked my head a bit, surprised at this. He had no idea how much I could hold back.
    “Aw, come on.” He grinned. “It was obvious you wanted me from the moment you saw me.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s okay. It happens all the time. That’s why you walked over to the rocks, so I would have to talk to you.”
    I had to laugh. Partly because it was true. “ actually , my dad sent me down there to make sure you were doing your job and keeping people off the rocks. You didn’t get a very good report, sorry to say.”
    He shrugged again. “Last week of summer. What can I say?” There was a long pause, and we both looked out at the water. The large fog bank that had been sitting on the horizon was now creeping closer.
    Tyler nudged my shoulder. “So come on. What’s one thing that’s different here—in a good way?” I thought about it. “I guess that people aren’t exactly what I expected.” He motioned for me to go on. “Well, look at Ashley. She seems like kind of …”
    “Clueless?”
    “No. I was gonna say ‘prissy rich girl.’ But she’s actually really sweet and generous.” Tyler nodded like he’d give me the benefit of the doubt on that one.
    “And Jillian—the first day I met her, all I wanted to do was beat her at running because she seemed so smug about it. But I kind of like that about her now.” I paused for a sip of my soda. “And then you. well . Jury’s still out on that.”
    He grinned. “Fair enough. Maybe a tour of the cottages will help you decide. Eat something. Then I’ll give you the grand tour. Your choice—pick a piece of history.”

CHAPTER 17
    The sun melted into the mist all around us, and I shivered in the breeze that had carried it in. I wished I’d grabbed a sweater. Or