Page 48 of Fighting the Tide
She toes the ground as we make our way into town, the sun already baking every inch of our exposed skin.“Have you gone to see Brooke already?”she asks, and when I remain silent, she laughs drily, the sound pummeling my ears like an assault.“I can’t even yell at you for it.I would probably do the same.”
I know she’s talking about Monica, and just the thought of what that woman has done to my best friend makes me livid.So I don’t hold the anger she has for Brooke against her.“She’s always been misunderstood, and she’s not the villain in my life’s story.Being rich didn’t mean she lived a glorious life.She’s actually had it worse than you and me.”
“How do you figure?”she scoffs as she brushes her hair from her face.
“Because we had each other and families who love us.She still doesn’t have one loyal friend, and I would bet her family still stays away more often than not.”Avery stays quiet as the main street for Chatham appears in the distance, the noises of tourists already filtering toward us.“I don’t know what will happen to her and me, but I don’t want to hide it.”
“Buy me two scoops of the rainbow love ice cream and I’ll leave you two alone this summer,” she bargains, making me wrap an arm around her neck.“And a movie!I want to seeAustin Powers.”
I release her at the suggestion, slipping my hands into my pockets, and automatically fear that Brooke will think I’m stalking her.“Are you sure you want to see a movie?”
“I promise I won’t even look at her.”Avery holds up her hands.“This movie is supposed to be hilarious.”
“Fine,” I give in.What are the chances Brooke and I will even see each other there?She owns the place.She’d more than likely be in an office somewhere than out on the floor.“Movie first, then ice cream.”
“It’s too bad we didn’t have any money when we were kids,” she says as we head to the theater and line up along the front.“It would’ve kept us out of so much trouble.”
“We wouldn’t have been terrorizing tourist kids on the beach and wrecking their sandcastles, that’s for sure.”I chuckle when she gives me a dirty look.
We pay for our tickets at the booth and head inside.This is a completely new experience for me since I’ve always snuck in through the back.
“Wow, she really does look different,” Avery breathes out as my eyes fall closed.I should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.
It’s as if our eyes are magnetic and the attraction is immediate because when I open mine they land on hers on the other side of the room.She looks between Avery and me, then smiles, the expression not quite meeting her eyes.
“Yeah,” I answer and pull Avery away and toward the cinemas.
“Was she wearing a blouse?That’s new,” she continues to mumble as she watches Brooke over her shoulder.
“Avery, stop staring at her,” I demand as I haul her into the room and away from Brooke’s eyesight.“I told you she owns the place.Of course, she’s going to dress professionally.”
“It’s just such a shocking difference from the crop tops and miniskirts.”She shrugs as she heads for the front row, and I sigh with relief.I didn’t want to sit in the back row, the one of many that I’ve made out with Brooke in.
“Monica will be home tomorrow,” Avery tells me as the lights dim and the screen starts with previews.
“Have you guys been talking?”I lean in so I can hear her answer and she gives me a slow nod.
“A little,” she admits and gives me a sheepish look.“She was having trouble sleeping at night and needed someone to talk to.”
“Has she made good on her threat and gotten back with Kasen?”I can’t hold back the bite in my voice, and Avery hears it as she bites into her thumbnail and shakes her head.
“I don’t think so.We don’t talk about that.”
“What do you talk about?”I ask as the Dolby sound preview blares around our ears.
“School, mostly,” she mutters, and I sit back in my seat, watching as the opening credits for the movie begin.
Is this what love is?A tumultuous ride that spins you in circles and only spits you out when you’re sick and tired?
Chapter Twenty-One
It’sbeenthreeweekssince I’ve been home, and I try to meet Brooke every morning before the theater opens to share coffee with her.I’ve learned she takes her coffee way too sweet and nearly too creamy, to where it’s not even coffee anymore.We sit together, we talk, and then in the evenings, we exchange letters inside the loose brick of the lighthouse.I haven’t pushed for anything more, and even though it feels like we’ve taken a gigantic step backward, it also feels like we’re building a stronger foundation.
Through her letters, I’ve learned things that she may have a hard time telling me to my face.Such as her childhood and how she always felt alone, how when she was very young she thought her nanny was her real mother for a while, and she told me about her father’s disappointment that she was a girl and how he refused to have any more children for fear they’d have another girl.She’s taking the time to explain to me about last summer and what was going through her mind when she cheated on me with Sean.She said it was her way of making sure I never came back, because why would I want her if she was so free with her body?Especially while we were in a relationship.
I wrote back to her, telling her that our childhoods were similar, even though we grew up on opposite ends of town.I explained to her how my father treated me, his addiction, and the blame he laid on my infant shoulders.The blame that still rides heavy with me throughout my life.I told her about some summers with Avery and the mischief we would get up to, and then I told her in vivid detail exactly what seeing her with Sean did to me.
It’s not conventional, the way we’re dealing with our issues, but each night I read a letter from her and then when I see her the morning after, it feels like one less demon is sitting between us.It’s one less issue weighing us down, and another crack has been sealed in our foundation.Hopefully one day, we’ll be able to sit down face-to-face and hash it all out, but right now, this is working for us and I’m happy we’re doing something.
