Moonglass

roller passed under us, and he motioned to the wave that was rising behind it. “Let’s get this one in and go get some breakfast.” I was more than ready to be finished talking about it as we slid to our bell ies and paddled. The wave came beneath me, lifting me up, and I gave one more hard pull before popping to my feet, just as my dad did the same. Together we cut a wide path down the glass face of the wave, over tiny brown fish that darted across the sandy bottom, and I did my best to leave it all out in the water, a deep ocean of secrets.

CHAPTER 19
    My dad slid the door of the bus closed. “Poke-N-Eat tomorrow. Andy’s coming over. If you want to invite any of your friends, that’d be fine.” I tried to picture Ashley’s reaction to seeing the tail being pulled off a lobster in the backyard. Jillian was out of town for the weekend. “I think I’ll pass. I don’t really know anybody who’d want to get in the water.”
    We got in and he turned the key. “What about Tyler?” I tried not to flinch. He’d said it casually, like he had never embarrassed me in front of him, or told me to stay away, or anything. He had to know. He had to have seen us, or something.
    I shrugged. “I’m not really friends with him. I just met him on the beach, that’s all.” Flimsy.
    He put his hands up. “I’m just saying … if you want to invite him down, that’s fine with me. He seems like a pretty good kid. James says he is. And it’s better than having the two of you sneak around together. I do know that.” I watched him out of the corner of my eye as we backed up, debating about how to respond without getting myself into trouble. “Okay. Maybe. Thanks, Dad.” He smiled wryly as we pulled onto the highway and headed south for Laguna. I rolled my window down, let the cool air rush over me, and cleared my mind of everything but Tyler.
    I’d been afraid Tyler might say no. Not only because there was this whole business about my dad being his boss, but because we hadn’t talked since our kiss, and he hadn’t called back when I’d left a message inviting him over. But when I came up from the beach in the late afternoon on Sunday, he was sitting at the picnic table on our back patio, talking with my dad about lifeguarding like they were old friends. It was a little unnerving. I ran a hand through my hair and then walked over to the hose to rinse my feet.
    “You made it.” I smiled, turning the faucet.
    “Of course I made it. It’s my first invitation to the traditional Sunday Poke-N-Eat. I’ve heard about it since my first year here.” He smirked at me, and I shook my head and rubbed the last of the sand off the tops of my toes, a little irritated he hadn’t told me he was coming. I wasn’t sure how to navigate with my dad around. Andy walked up the steps carrying his dive gear and a six-pack just in time to save me from having to come up with something.
    “Anna Banana!” He set his stuff down on the table, used the edge of it to open two beers, and handed one to my dad. When he saw Tyler, his face went serious, which struck me as comical. Andy had always been protective, but when it came to me having anything to do with guys, he felt it was his duty to inform and protect me from the ones he thought were most like himself. When I turned thirteen, he pulled me aside and we had his version of “the talk,” which mostly consisted of a bunch of “Uhs” and “Ums,” but I got the gist of his speech: boys only wanted one thing, and I shouldn’t give it to them until I was at least thirty-three. And married.
    Before I had a chance to make any introductions, Tyler stood up and walked over to him, hand extended. “How’s it goin’? I’m Tyler.” Andy took another drink and stood up tall, looking Tyler over before shaking his hand. “Andy. You must be a friend of Anna’s?” Tyler nodded easily. “Yeah, we go to school together.”
    “He guards down here too,” I added. “He came for the Poke-N-Eat.” I looked around for something I could use to distract Andy from any questions or lectures.
    “No friend for you this time? What happened to Tamra?” I pictured her staring, teary-eyed, out the window at the shack, and I felt a little guilty for how I had acted at the last Poke-NEat. “I didn’t scare her off, did I?”
    “Tamra? Nah, you didn’t scare her. She was too high maintenance.” Tyler looked at me quizzically, which I brushed off, and Andy took another gulp of his beer, then