Moonglass

exhaled loudly. “I’ve been thinkin’ I should spend some time on my own anyway.” He looked over at my dad, who was sitting in one of the chairs, the amusement clear on his face. “We going out north or south tonight?”
    My dad set down his beer and leaned back in the chair, stretching both arms above his head, surveying the water. “I don’t know yet. Wanna go take a look?”
    I glanced over at Tyler, who was pointedly looking out at the beach.
    Andy finished off his beer and stifled a burp. “Yeah, sure.”
    “We won’t be long,” my dad said, eyeing me. “Go ahead and get your gear out. We’re going scuba tonight.” I nodded and tried to suppress a smile as they tromped down the stairs. Tyler walked over to the tub that held his dive gear and started pulling out his weights, fins, and mask. I leaned on the picnic table, watching him and feeling the last of the afternoon sun sink into my skin. Once my dad and Andy were down on the sand, he looked up at me with a wide smile that made me sure of myself with him.
    “I can’t believe how hot it is down here still .” He pulled his shirt up over his head, then came over and leaned on the table next to me. He was right. The air hung perfectly still and heavy around us. Even the ocean looked lazy, virtually flat with only the occasional ripple splashing up onto the sand.
    “Ah, you just wanted an excuse to take your shirt off in front of me.”
    He raised his eyebrows and looked me over. “Says the girl who only ever wears a bikini.” I laughed nervously, then looked at my toenails that needed to be painted, the water, my bathing suit top, anything but him, because I was suddenly aware of how close we were standing.
    “So now that my dad’s not your boss, he’s not scary anymore, huh?”
    He shrugged. “James says he’s not so bad. That he actually is a pretty good guy.” I bit my lip to keep from smiling, and reminded myself to thank James later on.
    He noticed and turned to face me. “What?”
    “Nothing.” I shook my head. “I’m just wondering if James actually runs the beach. He seems to know everything.”
    Tyler shrugged his brown shoulders again. “Well, he’s been around awhile.” The smirk appeared again at the corners of his mouth, stretching out the seconds before he spoke again.
    “I also had to see if you were actually going to get in the water and dive instead of just working on your tan, cuz that would be impressive.” I gave him an exasperated look. Then I kept looking for longer than I meant to. He didn’t look away either, and I thought how easy it would be to just lean in and kiss him. So much easier after the first one.
    The moment dissolved when Andy’s and my dad’s voices drifted up from the beach. I turned from Tyler and walked over to the wall where my wet suit lay draped, then bent slowly, pointedly, to pick up my fins from the ground.
    “Yes,” I said, smiling. “I will be diving. And I’d be willing to bet that you’ll be impressed.” After a good amount of jumping around, yanking at wet suits, and weighting ourselves down, we trudged out onto the dusky beach, bent forward under our air tanks. The water lapped gently at the beach, almost like a lake, and the moon spread a glittering path out toward the rocks. It was more serene and beautiful than the night we’d arrived. We all stood at the waterline taking it in for a moment, then Tyler looked over at me and pulled the hood of his wet suit over his head.
    “I can’t believe you get to look out your window and see this every night.” He pulled his gloves on.
    “It’s pretty amazing.”
    I hoped my voice didn’t give away the ripples of apprehension that were now spreading out from the pit in my stomach. My dad stepped over to Tyler and me and gave the same instructions he did every time we went out.
    “Try to keep us in sight. If you get turned around or lose us, look for no longer than a minute, then surface. We’ll do the same thing. If anything happens, remember to let all your air out from your vest and kick up slower than your bubbles.” A flash of our last dive came and went, and I wondered what I would do if I thought I caught a glimpse of her again. I shook off the ridiculousness of the thought and watched as Andy and my dad switched on their lights. My dad turned to Tyler and me.
    “Got your lights?”
    “Yep,” we answered.
    “Check your pressure … compass … mask?”
    “Yeah, Dad,” I answered curtly. The longer we