In Riptides

08 | invisible string

"How bad?"

"Really fucking bad," I admit. "She hates me."

"What? How did that happen?"

"Um..." I twist my mouth, lifting my eyes to hers. "Alex..."

Understanding crashes over her concern, drowning every speck of it. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me. What's wrong with you?" She smacks me over the side of the head. "Idiot! Weak-ass idiot!"

"Tell me something I don't know, Elizabeth." I grimace. "I screwed up, she hates me... and now she's just..." I rub my face, clunking my elbows on the table. "She's never going to talk to me again."

"Yeah I wouldn't either," she scoffs. We sit in silence for a while until she moves my hands from my face. "But have you tried?"

"'Course," I mumble. "She didn't wanna hear it. Hasn't opened my messages. I'll try again at school but—"

"Why? Just go over to her house and apologize. Grovel if that's what it takes."

"But that's kinda... desperate."

"You are desperate, Nate," she retorts. "And if you regret whatever the hell you did with Alex, if you feel bad—"

"I do."

"Then you'll fight for Lia like you've always fought for anything worth having." Her hard glare is mixed with a clear note of sincerity, and then she gets up and gives my head another smack. Softer this time. "Idiot."

〰️〰️〰️

As I walk to Lia's house, I take the short distance to go over what I'm going to say, and all I'm coming up with is 'sorry'. How many times can you say sorry until it starts to become meaningless? She deserves so much better than sorry.

The sound of my shoes on the gravel is the only sound in the air. Not even so much as a dog barking. I guess the first day of the year is always like this; lazy and peaceful, people sleeping off hangovers. I glance up at her bedroom window as I walk down the pathway. Her curtains are drawn, and I consider that she might be one of those hungover people today.

Or what happened with Alex has driven her to isolate, and that thought gives me a fresh stab of guilt in my gut.

I step onto the porch and ring the doorbell, rocking on my feet until her mom answers, her face lighting up. "Nate! This is a nice surprise."

"Hi, Mrs. DeMarco. Happy New Year."

"And Happy New Year to you." She smiles this bright, withheld sort of smile. So much like Lia's. A lot of her is so much like Lia, except for her Italian accent. It's not strong since she's been in the US since college, but it lingers. "Oh um, Rob doesn't come home until tomorrow," she says.

"No I know, I'm actually here for Lia."

A small frown tugs at her mouth. "You heard about the breakup, hm?"

"The breakup?" I ask as she steps aside for me to come in. "Oh, yeah... yeah I heard."

She closes the door, looking to the staircase. "She's been pretty down in the dumps all day, hardly left her room."

I get another stab of guilt, sharper. Her mom has no idea that I'm the reason she's upset, merely using the breakup as a cover.

"Matt came over earlier, but she still hasn't left her room, so I can't imagine they patched things up."

My eyes bolt to her. "Matt was here?"

She nods, a hopeful smile playing on her lips. "Maybe seeing you will cheer her up, though. It's a long shot, but you could try getting her out of the house for a surf lesson, even if you can't get in the water yourself."