All I Need

  “Sorry!” he says. “I really need to look where I’m going.”

  The evil dragon kite rustles triumphantly.

  The girl’s mom is trying to comfort her. She grabs a wad of napkins and mops up the spill.

  I kneel down in front of the girl. “That was crazy, huh?”

  She stops crying.

  “Do you want a new snowball?”

  She nods, wiping her cheek.

  “That’s nice of you,” her mom says, “but we’re fine.”

  “Please, I insist. What flavor was it?”

  “Bubble gum. Thank you.”

  For what will probably be the only time, I order a bubble gum snowball. The girl stares at me. She’s clearly still traumatized by a massive dragon kite swooping down on her. I grab my watermelon tangerine when it’s called, waving to the girl on the way out. She smiles and waves back.

  “Thanks again!” her mom calls after me.

  This is one of the few gorgeous days August has delivered. August down the shore is pretty much synonymous with muggy. But today is cooler and less humid. There’s even a perfect summer breeze. Just like that perfect summer breeze the night I kissed Skye.

  I swing by my dad’s house to pick up some cardboard, my glue stick, and a stack of paper strips I made from ripped magazine pages. I walk down the beach to our dune where we kissed. All the kite festival chaos is far enough away that I have this whole stretch of beach to myself. I climb to the top of our dune, remembering how Skye raced me up here. Remembering how beautiful she looked in the sunset. How she glowed as I pulled her close to me.

  Three hours fly by. I’ve been trying to translate everything I feel for Skye into this collage. I want the art I make to be a physical representation of my emotions. When other people see my work, I want them to feel the exact same way I did when I was creating it.

  I have to get back. Dad’s grilling tonight. Some of his friends are coming over for dinner. Walking along the ocean’s edge in the late afternoon light, I put my earbuds in and play “Waiting for a Girl Like You.” Foreigner understood how I’m consumed with need.

  The seagull statue taunts me on the boardwalk. How different would my life be if I’d met up with Skye when I was supposed to? Would we have tried a long-distance thing? Would it have worked?

  Would she be thinking of sharing her life with me forever, the way I’m thinking about her?

  I head back down the boardwalk toward Dad’s house. This girl passes me and does a double take. I’d probably be too in my head to notice if she didn’t look a lot like Skye. Same long, honey-blonde hair. Same Cali-girl look.

  I glance at her over my shoulder.

  She’s staring at me.

  “Hey,” she says, running up to me. “Are you Seth?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I saw you at that beach party last year.”

  “Oh, yeah. Sorry, I didn’t recognize you.”

  “That’s okay. We didn’t meet. You were with my friend Skye.”

  My heart slams against my chest.

  “Do you know where she is?” I ask.

  “She should be at her house. I can take you there, if you want.”

  “Now?”

  She nods.

  “Cool,” I say. I can’t believe I was about to go home and shuck corn for the grill.

  “I’m Adrienne, by the way.”

  “Seth. But you knew that.”

  “Totally! I mean, I thought it was you when I first saw you, but you were too far away to tell. And then when I got closer I was almost absolutely sure. But it wasn’t until I passed you that I knew. I can’t believe I found you! This is—” Adrienne stops abruptly. As if she’s said too much.

  Which means there’s too much to say.

  “Has Skye been . . . looking for me?” I ask.

  “Sort of,” Adrienne says in a calmer tone.

  “So she’s not mad?”

  “Why would she be mad?”

  “That I didn’t show up last year?”

  “No. Well, maybe at first. But not anymore.”

  “Good. Because I’ve been looking for her everywhere.”

  “Oh my god you have?” Excited Adrienne is back. “No way! How long have you been here? We’ve been looking for you everywhere, too! Where have you been?”

  As I try to keep up with answering her questions, I become increasingly nervous. I can’t believe I’m finally going to see Skye again. I can’t believe she’s been looking for me this whole time. I can’t believe I’m wearing my ratty cargos and flip-flops with this ripped R.E.M. shirt. At least I have a new batch of friendship bracelets from Jade. Skye loves those.

  We get to the parking lot. Adrienne says, “This is me.” Not surprised that “me” is a shiny, red Beemer. I’d normally scoff that Adrienne is driving us up the hill instead of walking. But it would take like half an hour to walk. I can’t stand the waiting anymore.

  “This. Is awesome,” Adrienne gushes.

  Awesome doesn’t even begin to describe it. Good thing I broke up with Karen in April. She kept pressuring me to get serious. She wanted this big commitment. She even wanted me to spend spring break with her family. Basically, Karen wanted way more than I was ready to give.

  We pull up to a gorgeous modern beach house. I’m down with the boxy design. Lots of glass walls. Airy interiors. It must be amazing inside.

  Adrienne turns off the car.

  No one moves.

  “Ready?” she asks.

  “Definitely. There was just so much buildup—”

  “I know!” she shrieks with a burst of nervous giggling. I guess nervous is contagious.

  We get out. We walk across the fancy tiled entryway. Then we’re at the door.

  Skye’s door.

  The door of the house where Skye lives. With Skye on the other side.

  Holy crap. This is it.

  Adrienne rings the bell.

  The door opens.

  Skye gasps when she sees Adrienne. “Oh, no. Did Greg—”

  But then she sees me.

  “You’re here,” she says.

  “I’m here,” I say.

  And it begins again.

  eleven

  Skye

  endless summer nights

  BEST.

  Summer.

  Ever.

  When Seth showed up at my door, it was like I’d opened the door to a whole new life. The kind of life I’d been waiting for. We’ve had two weeks of hot days on the beach and hot nights making out. I don’t want this to end.

  But we only have two days left.

  The first thing we did this time was exchange contact info. Now I know Seth goes to Penn. I showed him where I live on a map of New Jersey. My town isn’t too far from where Seth is from. I can’t believe that the whole time I was growing up in Newfoundland, he was twenty miles away in West Orange. An hour from Sea Bright. The whole time I was forcing myself to be happy with the wrong boys, Seth was so much closer than I’d ever imagined. There should be some kind of radar that lets you know if your soul mate is nearby.

  It all worked out, though. Fate made sure we found each other. We’re going to visit back and forth all the time. Philly and Newfoundland are about one and a half, two hours apart. We can take the train on weekends. I can start driving down to Philly when I get the car my parents promised me for my birthday on November 3. We’ll also have holidays.

  We can totally make this work.

  Not that two weeks this summer plus two days last summer equals an official relationship. I know it’s too early for Seth to think of me as his girlfriend. But it feels like he will eventually. I just wish we didn’t have to go our separate ways again.

  Tonight is going to be epic. My parents are on the Cape. We have the whole house to ourselves. And we will be taking full advantage of it.

  My new favorite place is right up here on our dune. Watching the sunset together. Being in the Now. Like most days since our reunion, we hit the beach in the morning and chilled
in the afternoon. Then we split up to go home and get ready to go out. The entire night is ours.

  I lean against Seth. He smells like mint and Ivory soap. He puts his arm around me, pulling me closer. I trace my hand down his other arm. Seth looks really good with a tan. His sea-glass green eyes are even more intense. He’s rocking all new friendship bracelets his cousin Jade made him at camp this summer. He says he likes wearing them at college because it’s a way of keeping Jade close to him. How adorable is that?

  “This sunset is unreal,” Seth says.

  “I know. It has like every possible sunset color.”

  “I like watching for the second when the sun dips below the horizon. Sometimes there’s a green flash.”

  “When I was little, I thought the sun was melting into the ocean.”

  “How did you explain that the next morning?”

  “The ocean poured the sun back into the sky.”

  “Of course it did.”

  Seth puts an earbud in and gives me the other one. I can’t remember where I’ve heard this song before.

  “What song is this?” I ask.

  “‘Don’t You Forget About Me.’ Simple Minds. From the end of The Breakfast Club?”

  “Yes, that movie was awesome!”

  “One of the best movies ever.”

  We watch the sky colors blend and fade. We watch the sun sink until it’s gone.

  “There goes our light,” I say.

  “Yeah. The moon’s only a waxing crescent.”

  “Isn’t that your favorite phase?”

  “No, it’s waning crescent.”

  “What’s the difference again?”

  “Waning crescent goes this way.” Seth draws it in the sand. “Classic. But waxing crescent goes the other way.”

  “So there’s not much moonlight. But no worries.” I take two glow sticks out of my bag. “We have glow sticks!”

  “Dude.”

  “This one’s yours.” I give Seth the purple one. Then I crack the hot-pink one, shake it, and loop the lanyard around my neck.

  “I don’t wear glow sticks for just anyone,” Seth informs me.

  “I should hope not.”

  “That would make me a glow-stick slut.”

  “You’re much classier than that.”

  “Thank you.” Seth lights his glow stick and puts it on. “It doesn’t get much classier than this.”

  A new song comes on. “What’s this one?”

  “‘If You Leave.’”

  That’s all it takes for the tone to get serious. We’ve been pretending this summer will never end. This song is like a smack right back to reality.

  Promise me just one more night

  then we’ll go our separate ways

  Seth slides his fingers through my hair. “We’ll see each other all the time.”

  “I know.”

  “We’re not that far apart.”

  “It feels far.”

  “But we’re here now.”

  Seth leans closer. His green eyes glitter even in the darkness. When he kisses me, all that matters is right now. Being with Seth is all I need to make me happy.

  We could stay out here all night. But this is the first night we’ll be alone at my house. So we force ourselves to get up and walk home. When we get to my room, there’s a box sitting on my bed. It’s wrapped in silver paper with a shiny pink bow.

  “What’s that?” I ask.

  “Hmm?”

  “Is it from you?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “You rule.”

  “So do you. Now we’ve formed a club.”

  I dive onto my puffy white duvet and grab the box. “How did you get in?”

  “Adrienne might have assisted with logistics.”

  “What’s this for?”

  “Didn’t you get the memo about Just Because? It’s a trendy new holiday that’s taking the nation by storm.”

  This bow is too cute. I carefully peel its backing off the silver paper so I can stick it to my bulletin board later. When I unwrap the box and lift the lid, I can’t believe what I’m seeing.

  “You remembered!” I hug Seth crazy tight. “You won him for me?”

  “I had to. You were meant to be together.”

  I lift out the plush purple unicorn. He’s just as soft as I imagined.

  “Thank you thank you thank you!”

  “What are you naming him?”

  “Serendipity.”

  “Nice.”

  “After this book series I read when I was little. I’m pretty sure there was a purple unicorn in one of them.”

  Seth’s smiling all big.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Just . . . I like making you happy.”

  I lean back against my pillows. “Then come over here.”

  We lie on our sides with our cheeks against the pillows, staring at each other. I’ve been looking forward to spending the whole night together for so long. My balcony doors are wide open. Sounds of ocean waves fill my room. The soft breeze smells like lilacs.

  “Will your dad wonder where you are?” I ask.

  “I told him I was sleeping over at Nick’s.”

  “Do you even have to tell him anything, though? Now that you’re like a real adult?”

  “Like a real adult? Are you saying I’m an impostor adult?”

  “It could be worse. You could be an impostor tomato.”

  “You lost me.”

  “You know how I showed you my friend Kara’s site? A Day in the Life?”

  “Yeah.”

  “She did a video on how tomatoes don’t taste the way they’re supposed to anymore. Most of the tomatoes in supermarkets are grown in Florida now. Which is ridiculous because Florida’s soil doesn’t have the right nutrients to grow decent tomatoes. And then they’re picked when they’re still green and exposed to this gas that turns them the perfect shade of red. So they look really good, but they have no taste.”

  “Impostor tomatoes.”

  “They are not real tomatoes.”

  “What a travesty.”

  “Kara exposed the whole racket. She got over half a million views on that one.”

  “Go Kara.”

  “She’s a superstar.”

  “Do you miss her when you’re here?”

  “Yeah. And Jocelyn. But they come stay for a few days every summer. Adrienne’s here, so it’s not lonely or anything. And now I have you.”

  Seth gently presses me back against the bed. He traces his finger down my cheek.

  “You totally have me,” he says.

  twelve

  Seth

  lost in love

  “TRUTH OR dare?” Adrienne challenges Nick.

  “Dare.”

  “I dare you . . . to talk to that girl over there. In the red bikini.” Adrienne indicates a gorgeous blonde laying out with a group near the water.

  “You call that a dare?” Nick gets up from his towel. He adjusts his shades. “Give me something hard to do.” He saunters over to the group, flaunting more courage in ten seconds than I’ve had my whole life. Except for the night I first kissed Skye. I’d never done anything like that before.

  “Truth or dare?” Skye asks Adrienne.

  “Truth.”

  “Why aren’t you with Greg?”

  “Skye. The Truth part of Truth or Dare is for digging up serious dirt. Not for rehashing stuff you already know.”

  “That’s the thing. You haven’t told me the whole story.”

  Adrienne leans back on her elbows. “My mom caught us hooking up in the pool. She threatened to ground me for the rest of the summer if I kept seeing him. What else is there to tell?”

  “It just doesn’t seem like you to give up so easily.”

  “I didn’t. You know we snuck around.”

  “But you’re not sneaking around anymore.”

  Skye told me all about Adrienne’s guy drama. Way more than I wanted to know. Where does Adrienne’s mom get off tellin
g her daughter that the guy she wants to be with isn’t good enough for her?

  Adrienne gets up. “I’m going in. You coming?”

  “You go ahead,” Skye says. “I want to watch Nick make an ass of himself.”

  Adrienne heads for the water, passing Nick on the way. He pretends not to notice her. You have to admire his technique. When you’re trying to impress a girl, especially a hot blonde in a killer bikini, the last thing you want to do is get caught looking at another girl.

  A group of moms is kicking it old-school with a boom box. I’m pretty sure public music is against beach rules. But no one seems to care. Everyone else is zoning out with their iPods. When a new song comes on, I laugh at what I’m hearing.

  “I can’t believe they’re playing New Kids. Nostalgia much?”

  “What?”

  “They’re playing ‘Please Don’t Go Girl.’ Best New Kids on the Block song, hands down.”

  “Weren’t New Kids more like . . . a bubblegum boy band?”

  I shake my head in despair. Skye has so, so much to learn. And I can’t wait to teach her.

  “Not exactly,” I say. “I mean, yeah, their first album was bubblegummy. But they were actually really talented. Jordan’s falsetto on ‘I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)’ was exceptional. Listen to how good Joey sounds on this.”

  “Wow. I knew you were into eighties music, but this is serious.”

  “There’s a hilarious clip of ‘Please Don’t Go Girl’ live from 1988. The audience had absolutely no rhythm. They apparently existed before waving your hands in the air or clapping to a beat were invented. Joey and Jordan even crack up in the middle over the lack of clue. I’ll send you the link.”

  Skye pulls her towel over so it’s touching mine. She leans on her side, pressing up against me.

  “Oooh,” she says. “You’re hot.”

  “Not as hot as Nick.” We look over to see Nick killing it with red bikini girl. She’s putting out all the typical signals of interest: laughing too hard, playing with her hair, posing. Nick’s the kind of guy who can have a summer fling and never look back. I’m way on the other end of that spectrum. Sometimes I wish I could be more casual about girls. When guys talk about hooking up with random girls, I get how fun that could be. It’s just not for me.