The beach wasn’t very crowded and Pat found a parking space close to the walkway to the beach. I was a little surprised we could carry all our stuff in one trip. But we somehow lugged everything onto the beach.

We were early. Pat’s friends weren’t planning on arriving for a little while. After spreading out our blanket, Pat stuck the umbrella in the sand and dug through the bag of towels.

He passed me the bottle of sunscreen. “You’re going to burn. Use this.”

I frowned. “What about you?”

“Did it before we left the house.”

With a shrug, I removed my sundress and stowed it in my bag as I settled on the blanket. Taking the bottle from Pat, I poured some cream into my hand and spread it along my legs and arms. After lifting my shirt to coat my stomach, I passed him the bottle.

“Can you do my back?”

For some reason, his face turned red. “I . . . I’m not sure I should.”

I rolled my eyes. “Please? You said it yourself. I’m going to burn. Besides, it’s just my shoulders and back. Nowhere your hands haven’t already been.”

Biting his lip, Pat squeezed some cream into his hand and began lathering me, using the lightest amount of pressure to smear the sunscreen along my back. I did my best not to groan in frustration.

“Pat, you’re going to make me look like a ghost. You need to spread it out.”

It took a little more coaxing, but he finally managed to protect me from the sun. As he wiped his hands on a towel, I pointed to the cooler.

“Should we eat lunch?”

Pat nodded. “Sounds great.”

“Oh, are we disturbing the happy couple?”

I turned to the voice. Kayla and Justin Morgan were standing with two people I didn’t know. Pat and I got to our feet. After Pat kissed the girls and did weird handshakes with the guys, he put an arm around me.

“Mae, your remember Justin and Kayla. You met them last night.” He pointed to the other girl. “That’s Justin’s girlfriend Paige. And Kayla’s boyfriend, Austin.”

I gave polite waves, but everyone was busy setting up their own blankets next to ours. Pat settled beside our cooler, indicating I should join him. By the time I was biting into my sandwich, everyone else was sitting as well.

Kayla frowned at me. “So, Mae. I thought your hair was purple.”

I shrugged. “You know those rings that change color depending on your mood? My hair is kind of like that. Last night, it was totally in a purple mood. Today it was screaming bubblegum.”

Paige laughed. “What does bubblegum mean?”

I considered for a moment. “Sunny beach fun day.”

The boys, Pat included, sent me looks that clearly said I had lost my mind, but the girls giggled.

Kayla pointed at me with a carrot stick. “Paige. You’ll never guess what Mae here did to Jarrod last night.”

Paige frowned. “Why does everyone always pick on Jarrod?” She turned to Pat. “Didn’t he and Meghan hook up last year?”

Pat balled his fists. “Technically. Except, the entire time they were together, he was cheating on her. With my girlfriend.”

I ran a hand along Pat’s leg. “But it’s okay. Because last night when he hit on me, I made him trip into the pool.”

Everyone laughed. Austin nodded at me. “How’d you do that?”

I shrugged. “Well, one advantage of being so short is that sometimes I look younger than I really am. So I just told him I was in seventh grade. He believed me and tried to get away from me as quickly as possible.”

Justin shook his head. “Man, what an idiot. I mean, yeah, I could maybe see you passing for a frosh. But a middle schooler?”

Thankfully, Pat changed the subject. “So, Justin. What’ve you been up to?”

With a shrug, he told us about the movie he’d just finished filming. Paige’s father had been the director, which was how the two had gotten together. After Austin mentioned he was about to record some new songs, Kayla turned to me.

“Mae! You should totally audition for Austin’s video.”

I smiled. “Kayla, I’m not that kind of dancer.”

Justin looked at me with wide eyes. “You don’t mean you’re a—”

Pat hit his friend. “She’s a tap dancer. Ballerina.”

“Oh.”

When Austin smirked, I realized what Justin had been thinking. I could feel my cheeks grow warm. Thankfully, Paige changed the subject.

“So, is anyone else’s parents being totally annoying about college?”

I finished my sandwich while everyone talked colleges. Thankfully, no one asked my opinion. The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass Pat by admitting to being a freshman.

Eventually, the boys decided to play a game of tag in the surf. As they ran to the water, Kayla turned to me.

“So, how long have you and Patrick been together?”

I shrugged. “It’s complicated. We were together for a while, then took a little break. But I guess things got more serious about six weeks ago. How about you and Austin?”

Kayla bit her lip as she considered. “A little over a month? We got together just before Valentine’s Day.”

Paige pointed at Kayla. “Speaking of, you never told me where he took you.”

Kayla spent the next half hour describing every detail of the evening, from Austin arriving at her house to them parking at some make-out spot at the end of the night.

When she was done, she asked about Paige’s night. It had involved flowers, candy, and the backseat of Justin’s car. I was uncomfortable hearing all the details, but somehow Kayla, Justin’s sister, seemed unfazed.

Eventually, Paige turned to me. “What about you, Mae? How did you and Patrick spend Valentine’s Day?”

I laughed. “Sick in bed. We both had strep. We were both so delirious, neither of us even knew it was Valentine’s Day.”

Kayla frowned. “Oh! That’s so sad!”

I shrugged. “It was okay. We ended up celebrating on the weekend instead. Went to this virtual reality place.”

Paige made a face. “For Valentine’s Day? If Justin ever did that to me, I would break up with him.”

Kayla nodded. “Yeah. That doesn’t sound very romantic.”

I had enjoyed myself, but I wasn’t sure how to explain that to these girls. Thankfully, Paige changed the subject.

“Speaking of romantic, did Justin tell you what we did for our six-month anniversary?”

Melinda’s Journal

Saturday, March 10

When Walter first taught me the word “Vapid” earlier this week, I couldn’t quite comprehend what he meant. By the time we left the beach today, however, I completely understood. Paige and Kayla are perfect definitions of the word.

Although they loved talking about their boyfriends, all I heard was how much money the boys spent or where they went together. I never heard about how they felt about their boyfriends. How they enjoyed spending time with their boyfriends. It was almost as if they saw their boyfriends as objects, not people.

And if they weren’t talking about their boyfriends, they were discussing clothes or parties. After spending the day with these girls, I feel like I know nothing about them.

Unfortunately, I got the impression there isn’t anything else to know.

Pat’s Story

After we got to the beach and lugged everything to the sand, I passed Melinda the bottle of sunscreen. “You’re going to burn. Use this.”

Melinda frowned. “What about you?”

I shrugged. “Did it before we left the house.” I didn’t add that I had more than enough time because it had taken her forever to get ready.

Melinda took her time covering herself in lotion before returning the bottle to me. “Can you do my back?”

No. For many reasons. “I . . . I’m not sure I should.”

She rolled her eyes, but I was too nervous to worry about what she had just said about me. “Please? You said it yourself. I’m going to burn. Besides, it’s just my shoulders and back. Nowhere your hands haven’t already been.”

Yeah, and the last time they were there, I crossed a line. But she obviously needed help. Trepidatiously, I poured some lotion into my hand, trying to touch her as little as possible as I applied it to her shoulders.

She made a weird little noise of frustration that I probably would have found extremely cute if I weren’t worried about crossing a line. “Pat, you’re going to make me look like a ghost. You need to spread it out.”

“Sweetheart, this isn’t as easy as you think it is.”

She turned to me with a frown. “If I get a sunburn, I’m going to be miserable for the rest of the vacation. You don’t want me to be miserable, do you?”

I sent her a wary look. “Is Mae threatening me?”

“I don’t know. Is Patrick going to help me with my sunscreen?”

She turned back around. Great. Now I was even more attracted to her. But I didn’t want her upset with me. I used a little more pressure and worked in the sunscreen.

As I wiped my hands on a beach towel, she pointed to the cooler. “Should we eat lunch?”

“Sounds great.”

“Oh, are we disturbing the happy couple?”

I glanced behind us. The other two couples had arrived. After giving daps and air kisses, I put an arm around my girlfriend. “Mae, you remember Justin and Kayla. You met them last night. That’s Justin’s girlfriend, Paige. And Kayla’s boyfriend, Austin.”

I helped the newcomers set up their blankets and umbrellas and we all enjoyed our picnics. After the girls went nuts over Melinda’s hair, Kayla turned to Paige. “You’ll never guess what Mae here did to Jarrod last night.”

Paige pouted a little too perfectly for my taste. “Why does everyone always pick on Jarrod?” She looked at me. “Didn’t he and Meghan hook up last year?”

Really? She had to go there? “Technically. Except the entire time they were together, he was cheating on her. With my girlfriend.”

When Melinda placed her hand on my leg, I realized my fists were clenched. Relaxing them, I draped an arm around my girlfriend as she told everyone about the slimeball falling into the pool.

Austin nodded his head at her. “How’d you do that?”

She shrugged. “Well, one advantage of being so short is that sometimes I look younger than I really am. So I just told him I was in seventh grade. He believed me and tried to get away from me as quickly as possible.”

Justin shook his head. “Man. What an idiot. I mean, yeah, I could maybe see you passing for a frosh. But a middle schooler?”

Technically, Melinda would be a middle schooler if she hadn’t skipped a grade. I figured it was time to change the subject.

I turned to Justin. “So, what’ve you been up to, man?”

He shrugged. “Just finished filming a chick-flick. I think I’m starting to get typecast, you know?”

I nodded. “Totally. I think I’m done with kid comedy for a while.”

Paige nuzzled a little closer to Justin. “Yeah, but if you hadn’t filmed Sixteen Sweethearts, we wouldn’t have met.”

Melinda smiled at her. “Oh. Were you in the film, too?”

“Nah. My dad was the director.”

Melinda looked like she didn’t know what to say, so I turned to Austin. “How about you, man? What’ve you been up to?”

Austin shrugged. “Been working on some new stuff. My label picked some songs for me to record. I wanted to try some new stuff, but they want me to focus on their stuff for now. It’s not bad. Just not that different from my old stuff, you know?”

As I nodded, Kayla turned to Melinda. “Mae! You should totally audition for Austin’s video.”

Melinda smiled. “Kayla, I’m not that kind of dancer.”

I saw a hungry look in Justin’s eyes as they grew wide. “You don’t mean you’re a—”

I hit him before he could offend my girlfriend. “She’s a tap dancer. Ballerina.”

“Oh.”

Austin smirked, and I knew he had been thinking along the same lines as Justin. Seriously? Maybe Melinda had a point. Why didn’t I know anyone who knew about ballet?

Paige rolled her eyes. “So, is anyone else’s parents being totally annoying about college?”

Kayla smirked. “So glad I have another year before I have to worry about that.”

Justin made a face at his sister. “I hate you. Mom and Dad said I have to spend my summer picking a major.”

Paige rolled her eyes. “I’m majoring in acting. It was kind of a no-brainer.”

Austin nodded. “I’m majoring in songwriting.”

I looked at him. “Any idea where?”

Austin rattled off a few nearby colleges. I was pretty sure they were all party schools.

Justin nodded. “Yeah, those are all on my list, too.” He nodded toward me. “What about you, bro? Where you applying?”

I smiled. “I’m not.”

Melinda smirked, but everyone else’s jaw dropped.

Austin sent me an incredulous look. “Your parents are letting you skip college?”

I sighed. “No. But they did agree to let me take a year off while I figured out what I want to study and where I want to go.”

Justin shook his head. “Lucky. Well, when I figure out where I’m going, you can come join me. You and that fancy prep school? You can probably go to any college you want.”

That wasn’t exactly true. But I probably could get into all the ones he had just named. Not that I had any interest in party schools.

Justin smacked my arm. “Surf tag?”

I shook my head with a smile. It was a game we had invented when we were toddlers. I couldn’t believe he really wanted to play. Kissing Melinda, I got to my feet and smacked my friend. “You’re it.”

I ran to the surf, the guys on my tail. We went in until the water was about waist-deep, Austin and I trying to avoid Justin.

He, like always, tried to distract us. “So, where’d you find that pink hottie?”

I assumed he meant Melinda. I dodged his hand. “She’s a friend of the family.”

Austin dove out of Justin’s way, inadvertently splashing me as regained his balance. “She’s hot. Been together long?”

I shrugged, glad Melinda and I had discussed this in the car. “Since Thanksgiving? We broke up for a little while, but we’ve been solid for almost two months.”

Justin nodded to me. “She any good?”

It took me a minute to realize what he was asking me. And I wasn’t sure how to answer. I had no problem with my friends at home, my close friends, knowing that I believed in saving intimacy until marriage. But that was never something Justin and I had ever really talked about. And Austin wasn’t exactly a close friend.

Justin took advantage of my contemplation, tagging my shoulder and dodging out of my way. I splashed him with a smile. “Oh, you’re going to pay for that one.”

Attention Hammerheads

Melinda is always trying to build her vocabulary. What were some words in this episode that were new to you? She will add them to her vocabulary journal.