Getting Over Cameron Grey

13 | The Best Show Around

Cody made more frequent appearances for the next few weeks. Although he didn't stop by as often as Minnie did, he would come with her just about every other visit. He usually took a seat in the corner with grammy and seemed content with just listening to one of her many stories. Sometimes he just sat with Minnie and asked her some school-related questions that she clearly did not want to answer. He took smoking breaks regardless. Once in a while, we walked along the beach and talked about nothing and everything at the same time. He had fun college stories. He knew a lot of little but interesting things. He pointed out stranger's body languages and could make some guesses about them from afar - their personality, their relationship to the people around them. He talked about psychology. And when we walked along the beach, he'd watch me collect seashells and then tell me what was what.

"It's safe to say that you like collecting seashells, then." Cody smacked his cinnamon gum and leaned over slightly to look into palm. "Which are you keeping?"

I dusted the smaller shells off of my hand and let them fall back into the water. I presented him with my final choice. "I like seashells. And I like this one in particular. What is it?"

He eyed it for a moment. "This one's special. Good choice. Looks like a pink tellin - or a rose petal tellin, that's what some would call it. Usually you'd find them in Florida or below, like in Mexico or the Caribbean. Saw some in Jamaica."

"You've been to Jamaica?" My eyes widened in surprise and my voice got a little pitchy. I tried to relax.

"What's the surprise?" He took the shell from my hand to further inspect it.

"That you've been to Jamaica! That's so cool. I've never left California."

It was his turn to be surprised. "Never?"

"Never. It's so sad. I guess I've just never had the money for a spontaneous trip, and I kept thinking that it'd happen eventually. It could still happen, I guess. I don't know. I'd like to go on a vacation with someone one day. Maybe me and Amara could save something up."

"I think she'd be down for that." Cody returned the shell to my hand. "A cruise ship could be a lot of fun. Unless you get seasick."

"I wouldn't know. I haven't really been on any boats." I added the shell to my tiny collection gathered that day, all piled up in a cloth. I balled it up and put it in my bag. "I haven't really done much of anything."

He didn't seem sympathetic or annoyed. He pressed on. "So your family never took vacations anywhere? No big special events?"

"Not really." I looked at the water and thought about it. "Well, I guess our vacation was driving down to see my aunt and uncles and cousins. They live near San Diego. School trips were always within the state too. Actually, oh, actually, the best thing we did was go to the carnival. You've been to it?"

He wrinkled his nose. "Probably. I don't know."

"Well, you should definitely go. It's a big carnival and it happens once every two years, something like that. I didn't get to go last year and I'll have to wait another one before I go again. I'm getting a little too big for that carnival anyways."

"Being an adult's no fun, huh?"

I sighed dramatically. "Not at all."

When I returned to the shop, I immediately noticed that Amara was smiling brightly ear-to-ear. She didn't notice my right away because she was too busy organizing bills in the cash register, but she jumped right into her explanation when she finally saw me after I approached the counter. "I got called in for an interview."