Cohen
That was awkward.
I found out only yesterday that Teegan's mom is my boss and now I am here to witness her mom finding out that we are friends. Or whatever we are. I expected Reese to be some young businesswoman. But she's my ex's step mom. I wonder why this was never conveyed to me. Luke must have known this when he got me this job.
She's sort of tall and has the same straight, dark hair as Teegan. I dated Lola for, like, eight months and I never met her step mom, but that's not surprising. We spent a lot of our time in Santa Maria, where our school is. Was. I knew where Lola's dad lived because I brought her home there once or twice after a beach party, but I never went inside. I met him a couple of times, but mostly I knew Lola's mom. All of this feels so complicated. I don't know if Teegan's mom knows who I am. Does she think I'm some asshole who dated Lola? Will she tell Teegan who I am?
"You're quiet," Teegan says to me as we walk away from the pier.
I glance over and see her eyes on me. They are dark, like chocolate, and she's wearing the cutest sundress with tiny watermelons all over it. Her hair is half up and half down. Is she wearing make up? I didn't notice in the hut, but it's dark in there.
"Oh. No, I'm good." I am being quiet, because my mind is racing.
"Is it weird that my mom's your boss?" she asks, as if she's in my head.
That's not the only thing that's weird.
I know I can't keep this secret for long if I want Teegan to actually be my friend. And I'm pretty sure sure wants that, too. I will have to tell her that my ex that I've talked about is Lola. I keep imagining telling her in my head, though, and it doesn't go well.
"I guess I was surprised," I tell her, then add, "It's not weird, though."
"I should have told you." She looks like she's ashamed, for a second.
I shrug. "It's okay. You look really cute."
"Cute?" She laughs, looking down.
"Yeah. Is cute not a compliment anymore? Sorry I've been out of the game for awhile," I say, feeling awkward, even though I was just kidding.
Now she gives me a real smile. "Me too."
I clear my throat. Is she flirting? God, I hope she is. I'm not that good at this stuff. Lola was into me during the first month of our senior year. She asked me out. She liked that I wasn't the typical jock and that I had a tattoo. I didn't have to work very hard to get her. It feels like this - whatever it is - between Teegan and I will be much more complicated.
"So, if we walk fast we can get there in like twenty minutes," I tell Teegan.
"Okay." She's walking pretty fast already, and now she's carrying her flip flop instead of wearing them.
"What time do you have to be back?" I glance over again so I can see her as she answers.
"Four?" She looks at her watch. "Do we have enough time?"
"Yeah. If you like it, we can go again another day," I suggest casually.
She smiles and we keep walking. We pass her mom's house and keep going and then before I know it we are at the "end" of the beach. She stops and looks at me. "I've never gone past here."
"You're missing out," I say with a smile.
It's rocky and not as easy to walk on, so she puts her flip flops back on. I hope this doesn't backfire, as I reach out to take her hand. It feels so different from Saturday night when I reached for her, as she was stumbling. Drunk. Now she's with me because she wants to be. I feel like the luckiest guy ever.
And she gives me her hand carefully, like she's warning me. But she stays quiet. We get over the rocky section and keep going, and I can see the hesitation on her face.
"Is this legal?"
I laugh, squeezing her hand. "Technically you're supposed to go around the long way through town, but I've walked this way hundreds of times."
"Okay. I feel a bit better about it."
"My sister was always nervous going in this way, too. But my dad would never have done anything unsafe with us."
I surprise myself by talking about my family and she looks over and smiles, as if she appreciates it.
"You have a sister?"
"Yeah. Margo. She's fifteen and she's in San Diego with our mom," I explain, focusing on how Teegan's hand feels in mine.
"What about your dad?"
I should have expected the question but I didn't, and it hits me hard. I stop walking and she keeps going, so our hands separate with a tug. She stops and looks back, waiting.
"You okay?"
"Uh yeah. My dad died, actually. A few months ago," I manage to say. I don't usually have to tell people this. Everyone in Avila knew my dad.
"Oh shit. Cohen, I'm sorry. I didn't -" Teegan looks completely distraught for a second.
"I know you didn't know. It's okay," I tell her.
I can tell she doesn't know what to say now.
"He was sick for a couple years, off and on. My mom moved us back to SD after the funeral. Her family is there. I had to finish senior year at a new school and I missed my graduation here and... it was just really shitty."
"God, I'm really sorry."
"Thanks. Rex is the reason I came back for the summer. He's my best friend and he... I just wanted to spent as much time with him as I could before he goes to college," I go on.
"I'm missing my best friend this summer," she says, looking out at the water.
"Oh?"
"She's in New York doing a summer internship. We've talked a lot already but not seeing her for two months is going to be hard," she tells me.
I wish I was holding her hand again. "You two will be together in the fall?"
"Yeah."
"That's awesome. A part of me wants to follow Rex to LA so I don't have to lose him," I admit.
"You could, couldn't you?"
I pick up my pace because I can't wait to get there. "Yeah. But LA is expensive to live. I might go back to SD. It's just two hours form LA."
She nods and I watch as she leaps from one big rock to another. She's graceful and fearless and beautiful. She's nothing like Lola or any other girl I've dated. She's not shy but she's not loud and wild, either. She gets me, without judgement. She's so... exactly what I need. But she's Lola's step sister. And she's only here for six more weeks.
"I miss my dad. And my other brother and sister. Well, half," she says. She's a bit ahead of me now.
I must look confused when I don't reply and she sees my face.
"I have a half brother and sister here. My mom's kids with her now husband. I had them with me at the Creamery last weekend?" she goes on, and I nod. "Then I have another half brother and sister in Seattle, my dad's kids with his wife. Two families."
"Wow." I don't know what else to say.
"Yeah."
Now's my chance to tell her about Lola but I can just tell that she'll be confused and probably mad that I didn't tell her sooner. We are about five minutes from the cave and I can't wait for her to see it. I don't want to ruin this, I'm being selfish, so I keep my mouth shut.
My dad took me here to fish and to go on adventures when I was younger. I was twelve when we moved here and he got sick the first time when I was fifteen. We had those three perfect years before things got hard, and this was one of our favourite places. I don't know why I wanted to bring Teegan here. I've never brought anyone here, besides Rex.
But the look on her face when she sees the arch of rock as we approach is perfection. She's amazed, like I was my first time seeing it. Like I still am today, seeing it again after a few months.
"Holy shit," she breathes out.
I grin and reach for her hand again. Our fingers interlock as we jump across to the main part of the beach. She's bewildered and when our eyes meet I know this was the right thing to do. I will tell her about my connection to Lola soon. But today is just for us.