Page 26 of Girls Will Be Girls
“Do people still read actual magazines?” I quip after the bell over the door jingles.
Casey looks up smiling. “They do since the owner banned phones at the front desk.”
I lean up against the desk opposite her. “That seems needlessly cruel.”
“I was tempted to report it to the Human Rights Watch.”
“Until you were given such stellar reading material.” I point to the magazine.
“It placated me.” She nods. “You should see the stack I have under here.”
“Not to sound super cool or anything.” I start. “But I bet I’ve read every one of them.”
“That’s very millennial of you.” She says.
“I’m a walking cliche,” I admit.
She chuckles. “I bet youlovedall those romcoms that came out in the noughties. Don’t they all always work at magazines in those?”
“Love.” I correct. “And it’s the only job for a woman in a rom-com. That or bakery owner.”
She looks like she’s contemplating something. “I think I’d go with bakery owner.”
I chuckle. “You’re not allowed to laugh, but I chose the other one.”
She lowers herCosmoto the desk. “You actually work for a magazine?”
My cheeks blush a tiny bit, because that’s their main purpose, apparently. “It’s digital, but yeah I followed the formula.”
She grins. “That’s amazing! What’s it called? Can I read it?”
“Not without your phone.” I tease.
She waves me off. “I’ll just use this.” She grabs the tablet off the table and clicks out of a booking system. “It’s better than using it for solitaire like I usually do.”
“Am I about to get you in trouble?” I ask.
She waves me off. “They won’t care if I’m reading. I think they just have some vendetta againstTikTok.” She shakes her head. “Boomers.”
I cackle and wonder if an almost ten-year age gap is enough for me to adopt her.
She turns the screen towards me, and I load upLure. She makes me choose my six best and favorite articles to start her off, opening them in their own tabs. She doesn’t notice when the last three I pick aren’t mine, but I’m just broadening her reading circles.
She asks me if I’m here to write something, and when I tell her my assignment, she does that little shoulder shimmy again like an excited John Cena. I end up promising that I’ll take her on one of my scouting trips, and she tells me that I should check out one of the guided hikes put on by local volunteers. She gives me the number of one of the hiking leaders who’s doing one tomorrow.
Once again showering her with a stream of compliments and thank yous, I head back out into the heat and walk ten minutes to the main beach. It has a definite summer buzz to it, with cafés, bars, and restaurants already opening, souvenir shops selling inflatable rings and Tahoe t-shirts, and enough people wandering along to make it feel alive. The place has that hopeful summer feeling, where you feel like you should always have a cocktail in your hand.
I spot a few paddleboards and paddles lying along the sand, the tips dipping in the tiny waves.
The water is so clear, and the beach isn’t too busy yet. I’m thankful that reduces my risk of injuring some poor passing swimmer when I flail off my board into the water. I join the few people who are standing outside the water sports shack.
After we’ve all signed waivers promising to take full responsibility if we’re terrible at this, and paid our fee, we’re given some lockers out front and told to meet our instructor on the beach in five.
I layer on another coating of sunblock and offer some to the two women in their twenties who forgot theirs. It’s only me, my new sunblock buddies, and a group of four guys in their late thirties who look like they’re on a dad-cation.
I take a last sip of water before heading back to the beach with the rest of the group. The sun is already burning down on my skin. I’m wearing a striped light turquoise one-piece that covers most of my front with a little dip in the back, so at least there’s less skin out in the open, prime for roasting, than when I’m in my bikini.
Buck, our very California surfer dude instructor with blonde highlights, gives us a few tips on the beach as we find our boards and paddles. He shows us the best way to kneel for balance, and how to launch up without shaking the board — in theory. He tells us to always stand in one fluid motion and to keep a wide stance like we’re being patted down by a police officer.
