Page 14 of Fighting the Tide
“Let me just go tell my mother that I’m finished cleaning, and then I’m going to come back and we’ll figure this out.Just stay in here and don’t go swimming or anything.”It almost feels like we’re back up on that lighthouse ledge and Brooke is just teetering over the edge.Is this how it’s going to be?Am I going to have to keep talking her off a ledge, praying her grip doesn’t loosen?The answer is yes because I don’t see anyone else willing to help her.
I slip back out of the pool house and briskly walk by the pool and into the kitchen to find my mom mopping the floor.“Don’t step on it, Nolan.”
“Hey, Mom, do you think it’s okay if I walk into town from here and meet Avery?She has a few ideas for some secondhand equipment I can look at to buy later on.”I hate the fact that I’m lying to her and it feels like I’ve been doing that a lot lately, lying to the people I care about, and it’s all because I’m protecting Brooke, but I don’t think she has anybody else in this world to protect her.
“Sure, here.”Mom reaches into her pocket and pulls out a twenty-dollar bill.“The Easthams left it on the counter.”
“No, Mom, I couldn’t—”
“Take it, please, Nolan, you’ve already given me your other savings, and I wouldn’t feel right taking this.You’ve been helping me a lot.I’ll be leaving in a few minutes.Will you be home for dinner?”The way her eyes begin to water has me clamping my mouth shut because it would only make her feel worse to argue.
“Okay.Thanks, Mom.You can have dinner without me.”As soon as I take the money and fold it between my fingers, I know exactly what I’ll be doing with it.Brooke is still laid out in the pool house and I think that’s where she’s been all day.I can’t see her moving anytime soon, and Mom is going to need to see me walking toward town for it to be believable, so I pull her in for a hug and then head out the front door.
The Easthams’ house is in the center of town, and even though it takes me ten minutes to walk to the end of their driveway, it only takes me another five minutes to find the store I’m looking for.The bell rings overhead as I step inside and I’m instantly hit with mouthwatering aromas.Donuts, cupcakes, pies.I suppress a groan as I head to the counter, my head down as I look inside the glass displays for ideas.
“Nolan?”My head pops up and I come face-to-face with Cassie O’Brien standing behind the counter, her blonde hair in a curly bun on top of her head and her eyes wide with surprise.Mine probably look the same.“What are you doing here?”
“I need to buy a cake.”I mentally shoot myself in the head because I should have noticed the sign out front.This is Cassie’s mother’s bakery, and from what I’ve been told, it’s not cheap.I should have just walked up to the grocery store and got one of those frozen cakes.
“What kind of cake?”Her head tips to the side as a smile grows on her mouth.Cassie O’Brien is a beautiful girl with porcelain skin, big brown eyes, and a nose dotted with freckles.If she had ever shown any interest in me before the bonfire, I would’ve probably pursued her.
I look at the display below us and nearly choke when I see a small cake that costs about fifteen dollars, but my finger moves of its own accord and I point at it.“I’ll take this one.”
“That one is good.It’s a vanilla cake with lemon and raspberry mousse.”She opens the display and reaches inside, pulling the cake out.I want to tell her it better taste amazing for the price it is, but I keep my mouth shut.“What would you like written on it?”She has a piping bag in her hand, the icing inside a light purple to match the dark purple fondant covering the small cake.
“Justhappy birthdayis fine.”The thought of her finding out that I’m buying a cake for Brooke has my heart racing, and I pray she’s forgotten just like everyone else in Brooke’s life.It’s not that I’m ashamed of being Brooke’s friend, if that’s what I am, I just don’t want to have to explainwhywe’re hanging out now when we never did before.
She begins to pipe happy birthday in fancy writing across the cake’s top then she tops it with some purple sparkle things, and begins to pack it away in a box.“Whose birthday is it?”
My throat dries out as I stare at the top of her head, her hands moving to tape up the box.“My mother’s,” I blurt and then instantly regret it.It’s a small town and my mother cleans Cassie’s house every Tuesday.She could easily find out the truth.
“Oh!Tell Mrs.Sears I say happy birthday!”She hands me the cake, her mouth dancing with a small smile.“We should hang out again sometime,” she suggests as I take the box from her hands and hand her the twenty.“We were having such a good night on the beach a few weeks ago, it’s a shame we didn’t get to finish what we started.”
She’s looking at me with flirtatious eyes, the brown depths filled with suggestion, and her full mouth curved on one side with a seductive smirk as she hands me my change.“Yeah.”I nod quickly and begin to back out of the store.“Sure, some other time.”
Her cheeks grow pink and she lifts her hand to wave as I push out through the door and quickly disappear down the street.The walk back to Brooke’s house is filled with paranoia because there’s no way in hell Cassie doesn’t remember her best friend’s birthday.I just bought a cake that reads happy birthday with some purple concoction of sparkles and girly things.I'd be stupid to think that she believed this is for my mother.By the time I get to Brooke’s driveway, I’ve breathed out all the anxious energy and decide to forget about it.Cassie is not interested in me, she never has been, and her suggestion of meeting up again will probably never come to fruition.I’m not stupid enough to believe that anyone in this town, besides Avery and my parents, knows who I am.
I let myself back into Brooke’s house and walk to the kitchen just as the sun is setting.I put the cake box on the counter and begin to open it carefully so as to not ruin the icing or the writing on top, then I pull on the little cardboard tray that it’s sitting on and bring it out to sit on the counter.That’s when I notice that Cassie has put two purple candles inside the box with the cake, good thing too because I totally forgot about candles.
I push the thin candles down through the top of the cake, careful to avoid the writing, and then look around the kitchen for a lighter.I open a few drawers but when I come up empty my eyes flick out beyond the patio door and to the pool house.It’s obvious Brooke has a lighter, she’s been smoking all day, but I kind of wanted this to be a surprise and I’m not sure how to get that lighter from her without raising her suspicions.
I pull open the patio door and step out into the evening air, taking a deep breath.Here in town, they don’t have the freshness that comes with the scent of the ocean.It’s there still, but it’s not as potent as if you were standing along the shore.Thankfully, when I open the pool house door, the smoke that escapes isn’t as thick as what I faced the first time.I find Brooke curled up in a fetal position still on the floor with her eyes shut and tears drying on her cheeks.Her hands are clasped together, tucked under her chin, and her skin is raised and pebbled with the chill from opening the door.
I find what I’m looking for just a few feet away from her body, and I crouch down to grab the lighter at the same time my hand brushes the hair off her face.Her chest hitches in her sleep as her mouth turns down into a frown, and my heart breaks for the girl who’s so misunderstood.
“Brooke.”I wrap my hand around her shoulder and give her a little shake.“Hey, birthday girl.”Her eyes open slowly, the hazel color of her irises more gold than brown, as she blinks me into focus.“Hey, there you are.”
“Nolan?”She slowly sits up and looks around the pool house as her shoulders slump forward and her chin drops to her chest.I know that look, I know it all too well.It’s when your subconscious fades from dreaming and it gets lost in the folds of your mind as reality once again hits you full force.
“I got something for you,” I tell her as my fingers slip under her chin to tip her head back up to look me in the eyes.“But it’s in the kitchen.Do you think you could come inside with me?”
“You got me something?”Her mouth trembles and she bites her bottom lip to stop the motion.
“Yeah.It’s your birthday, isn’t it?”I stand up and grab her hand, slowly pulling her to her feet, and then I spy a robe hanging on the wall, the material looking thicker than a towel and probably softer than any fabric I own.I grab it off the hook and nearly moan at the supple texture as I wrap it around Brooke’s shoulders.
She slips her arms through the sleeves, then wraps them around her waist, standing and looking at me in confusion.“What are you doing here?”
“It’s Friday,” I remind her.“My mother and I were here to clean your house, remember?”I wrap an arm around her shoulders and guide her out of the pool house, hoping a bit of fresh air will clear the cobwebs in her mind and the weed from her system.
