“Well, I think I’ll get to sunbathing.” Maven started unbuttoning her sundress.
April frowned, furrowing her brow as she gave her one more look, a bit sad for the girl with the horrible social life. She bit her lip, wondering if it were worth it. “My cousin is down by the lifeguard stand, maybe you could convince him to relax rather than work in this heat.” She suggested.
Nick looked at Maven, wondering if she would take the bait. He wasn’t even sure who April’s cousin was.
Maven dropped her dress on the towel. She swiped some sand from her hands. “I don’t even know who he is. That’s nice of you though.”
“Henri,” she said offering a cheap introduction. “He was at the yogurt hut when you guys stopped by the other day. He doesn’t know many people around here. My mom is forever trying to get him to meet people.”
Nick scratched his head. “Yeah, what’s up with that guy? Why haven’t we seen him before?”
Maven was busy searching for Henri along the sandy shore, the high temperature beating down on her.
“Oh, well, Henri hasn’t been with us long. He’s a good guy.” April took Nick’s hand. “Let’s take a swim, that’s what we’re here for isn’t it?” She giggled, taking off for the water, Nick in tow.
Maven slid her glasses back down. She started walking toward the first lifeguard station. Her feet slipped through the dry sand, but as she got closer to the water it became more dense and gritty. Her eyes secretly darted back and forth searching out Henri.
She wondered if she and Henri were more alike than she knew. He wasn’t a bad looking guy. So why would he have a hard time socializing?
Finally she found him. There he was, trying to persuade the blonde boy up atop the chair to let him stand watch. This made Maven smile. It seemed he was always trying to keep busy.
“I told you, Henri, Jack will kill me if I leave my post. Besides, you’re not even certified.” The kid spat at him, doing his best to shoo Henri away.
“I’m a strong swimmer. I swim better than you, Liam.” He ran a hand across his hair. “Twenty bucks.” He waved the money in his other hand.
Liam shook his head in a hurry, scanning the waters to make sure no one had drowned while he was being bought.
“Henri you never swim. You never take your shirt off anymore.” He shook his head in frustration. “Get going now before someone dies on my watch.”
Maven approached. “Hi.” She gave a small wave.
Henri sighed. “Hi.” He started away from Liam and Maven defeated. As Maven hurried along the sand, Liam shot her a concerned look as she came up to the chair, he was sorry he upset Henri, but he would never hear the end of it if he handed the reigns over to someone unqualified.
“My boss would kill me,” Liam explained.
Maven nodded, understanding. “I get it. I’m sure he does too. I’ll go talk to him.”
“Henri!” She shouted, her quick step turning into more of a sprint to catch him.
He slowed down and finally turned around. “Sorry about that.”
She shoved her hair behind her ear and pushed her sunglasses back to the top of her head. “It’s okay. Would you like some company?”
Henri raised an eyebrow. “What for?”
Her mouth dropped, she was astounded. She didn’t know what to say. She was a girl on the beach chasing after a boy. Suddenly she felt stupid when she realized how that must look.
Henri’s smile returned as he watched her fail to produce any kind of answer. “I suppose you could tag along for a bit.” He waved her over. She slowly joined, walking alongside him.
“Should I get my dress?”
Henri gave her a quick inspection. Not a slimy kind, just a casual one. “No, it’s a beach, you’re fine.”
She looked at him. Shorts and a black t-shirt. “What about you?”
Henri examined his own outfit. “What about me?”
“Black attracts the sun.” She pointed at his shirt. “You must be sweating.”
“Is this your subtle attempt at getting me out of my shirt so you can see my bod?” He laughed, Maven blushed. “I’m only kidding. Besides, I’m pretty scrawny.”
She studied his frame. He was, but not skeletal. “No you’re not. You look just fine.”
Henri took a spot under the shade of a willow far away from the water. Maven did the same. She touched her neck making sure the pink top was still tied securely and dropped her legs, staring at her French manicured toes. So much for a tan she thought.
“Nice toes,” Henri commented, staring at her feet. “I didn’t know girls worried about manicuring their toes.”
Maven looked at him. “Do you think it’s too much?” She never thought it was weird before.
“No, I think it makes you look fancy. That’s not a bad thing though.”
“Fancy. I don’t know if that’s a good thing.” She looked away, overwhelmed.
“Okay, I take that back then. It makes you look…maintained. Groomed?”
They both began laughing. “Now I feel like a horse.”
Henri laughed some more at her joke.
“Why don’t you ever swim?” She concentrated on the water. “It’s the best part of coming here in the summer.”
At one time, Henri would have agreed. But now his shirt housed a secret, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to explain that to her. She seemed sad enough as it was already.
“Horrible tattoo, I’m too embarrassed to let the world see it.”
Maven studied Henri closely. He didn’t look the type to ever brand his body. But she didn’t want to keep pushing either. “What horrible tattoo? Is it a girl’s name? Or what about Mom? Those are always the worst.” She smiled at him.
“Yeah those are pretty horrible. I’d never put a person’s name on my body.”
“Me either. Talk about a big mistake.” She imagined how awful it would feel to be branded with Jake’s name. And suddenly this made her feel somewhat better.
Henri could see it in her eyes. Something about their conversation made her features soften.
“What is it?” He searched her eyes.
“I just realized something.” She looked into his brown eyes. “Thanks for that.” She squeezed his arm. He stared down at her grip, not moving an inch. Just staring. It was the first time in a long time someone touched him with real emotions, not for medical procedures, or to comfort him.
Maven pulled away. “Sorry.”
Henri shook his head. “Are you kidding? Glad I could make you feel better.”
“Well, thank you, Henri.” She dropped back into the grass, propping herself up on her elbows taking in the water, the way it splashed slowly against the shore. The multitude of teens parading around, some swimming, some tanning, it always made her feel better.
“Care to share why?” Henri said, breaking her concentration. “If you want to, that is.”
Maven nodded, she wanted to. “The guy, that guy at the yogurt hut, we had a bad breakup this year. And I just realized that things could be worse. And that made me feel better.”
Henri scratched his head. “Worse how?”
“I could have tattooed his name on my body. That could be worse than what I feel now.”
“What do you feel now?” Henri watched her, she let out a nervous sigh. He wanted to comfort her, he didn’t know why, but he wanted to. Suddenly he found himself wishing she would cry just so he could wrap his arms around her and tell her everything was going to be okay.
“I have this pain in my chest always. And I feel empty.” She sat up, staring at her hands. “Everything feels terrible.” She had never revealed that to anyone, not even to her parents who asked her all the time if she was okay. She felt stupid feeling so bad over somebody like Jake.
Henri cursed himself, standing up. “What if I said I’d go swimming with you?”