Kissing Is the Easy Part

Chapter 21 The beach

Leslie moved away a little from Sandra and closer to Carmen. Her survival instinct were kicking in. "It's just that I burn really easily."

"Are you related to Edward Cullen?" Flora asked. She watched Leslie expectantly, waiting for her to laugh.

When Leslie didn't answer, I opened my mouth. "Edward Cullen is a vampire. In Twilight," I explained. "But for the record, his skin sparkles when exposed to sun. He doesn't burn."

"Oh, he burns me." Flora laughed.

"I thought you liked werewolves better," Sandra said. "Vampires are a little too pale for you."

Flora nodded. "Yeah, I'm definitely Team Werewolf. They look like they'd be better at sex."

"Necrophilia against bestiality," I said. "Always a tough choice."

"I'm sorry. I don't watch Twilight," Leslie said.

"It's okay. We get it that you have more sensitive skin," Carmen said in her gentle voice, pushing up her sunglasses. "I don't like the sun too much either because it gives me freckles."

"Lucia is a redhead too but it doesn't seem to bother her," Sandra said.

Leslie didn't reply to that.

For a few seconds all I could hear was the sound of the waves crashing against the sand. The uncomfortable silence was stifling, harder to ignore than the sweltering heat, like sitting in a sauna.

Flora was the first to break the silence. "So, Leslie, we heard that you're a really good violinist. So whose music do you like to play?"

"Do you have a favorite musician?" Carmen asked.

"I like Tchaikovsky and Paganini."

"Paganini sounds tasty," Flora said. Leslie turned her head to look at her but said nothing. It was a good thing we couldn't see her eyes behind the sunglasses; I didn't think there were anything good to find.

"Sorry, bad joke." Flora chuckled. She sounded embarrassed, which was rare because she was almost never self-conscious. "Do you play in the school orchestra?"

"Leslie is a professional," I said. "The school orchestra is too easy for her."

Leslie shrugged. "I suppose the school orchestra is somewhere to start if you want to learn music, but I just practice by myself."

"Does it ever get boring? I mean, what do you think about when you practice?" Flora kept up her interview. It was her mission in life to eliminate all lulls in conversations.

"I don't think about anything."

"There is never a moment in life where I think of nothing," Flora said. "I'm always thinking of something."

"Really? I thought thinking was the one thing you didn't do," Sandra said and Flora kicked sand at her. Sandra let out a little yelp and threw back a fistful of sand on Flora's legs. Leslie stared far off into the ocean.

"Do you listen to contemporary music?" I asked her.

Leslie thought for a while, then finally said, "I don't really have time to listen to any pop songs. Maybe you guys can give me an idea on where to start."

A somewhat encouraging reply was all Flora needed. She perked up instantly. "Of course! You should start with none other than our famous home brand Janet Wilson. She has an indie rock band and they're disturbingly good."

"I think it's cute that you have your own band." Leslie nodded at me..

Cute? I wondered if she'd like it if I said it's cute that she played violin. She made it sound like I was five and hitting on pots with a spoon.