body ached to lean back into his. His fingers lightly traced
the blades of my shoulders as he pulled out the tag.
“There you go,” he said, staring at the floor. “Now
you're good to go. Really good, I mean. I mean – you know,
the bathing suit. It fits. I guess I got the size right and
everything.”
Varun's embarrassment amused me. From what
Coach Matthews had hinted at, Varun was pretty used to
luring girls into his embraces. But from the way Varun acted
around me, he seemed more than a little tongue-tied.
“Hel lo, new girl!” A handsome K-pop idol Asian boy
with a pearly smile, washboard abs, and a surfboard in hand
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sauntered out of the dining area. “I see you brought
entertainment for the grownups too, eh Varun?”
“Brandon, shouldn't you be slopping out pizza?”
“We're waiting for a second batch from the kitchen.
Little monsters swallowed them all down already. Sally's
making sure they don't kill each other in the meanwhile.
Anyway, who are you?” He turned to me.
“This is Mac Evers,” said Varun. “She goes to our
school.”
“Nice one!” Brandon laughed. “If we had girls like
you at Aeros, Mac, I definitely would have met you by now.”
“I transferred in this morning,” I said. “I'm a new
senior. We used to live on Angel Island.”
“I'll do my best to make you feel welcome,” Brandon
took a couple steps towards me, getting ever so slightly too
close.
“Welcome, Brandon. Not harassed.” Varun rolled his
eyes. “Told you, Mac. Fresh meat.”
“She gave me a scare, though!” Brandon kept
talking. “When I saw her from a distance, in that hot pink
bikini – you know, she always used to wear pink. And from
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the back, you know...God, I thought I was seeing a ghost.”
Varun visibly stiffened. “It was the only color left in
the gift shop.”
“I was like ‘whoa! Is that Jana? Am I seeing
something spooky?’ Really Vertigo, right?” Brandon kept
laughing, but Varun's silence made it clear that he was
evidently not amused. “Sorry, man.”
“Go get your pizza.” Varun looked away.
Luckily, we were interrupted by another girl – Sally,
according to the name-tag – who grabbed hold of us all at
once. “You are not leaving me alone with these brats,
Brandon! One of them asked me if he could touch my
breasts! Little pervert. You guys come too.”
She dragged us into the dining room, where we all
began serving out the next round of pizza pies. I breathed a
sigh of relief as the awkwardness passed. Who was this Jana
– and why had the mention of her name made Varun so
upset?
“So, is that the new trendy thing or what?” Brandon
came over to me. “Hanging out at kids' parties?” I couldn’t
help noticing how he was just as well-built, tall, and
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handsome as the Cutter Cousins. His chocolate eyes took me
in appreciatively.
“My mom works here,” I said. “Antonio asked me to
help out. Figured I'd meet some of the younger staff as well.”
“That's how he lures us all in,” Varun gave a mock-
sigh, his annoyance evidently forgotten. “Charming us with
pizza.”
“Hey, it works!” Brandon stuffed a pie into his
mouth. “Next up is surfing, Mac. You ready to take these
little perverts out for a spin?” His good-natured humor was
contagious. I could see how Brandon and Varun were close
friends.
The party passed without a hitch. The boys gleefully
played Marco Polo and water-tag in the pool before heading
to the ocean for a spot of surfing. As Sally had suggested,
they were a little too keen to stare at my bikini top, and I
heard a few snickers from the more obnoxious loudmouths,
but we managed to get through the evening without too many
accidents. At last, as the sun began to set on the water, its
orange flames shooting through the dark ocean, we returned
to land to roast marshmallows. Varun vanished into the hotel,
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returning with his guitar in tow, and began to play as Sally,
Brandon, and I helped man the making of the s'mores.
“Down on the island/where everything's lovely
Down on the island/where everything's fine
I knew a girl, I knew my true love.
Down in the waters I made her mine.”
Varun's voice rang out true and clear – a light, lovely
sound. The cool light of the sunset made his golden hair
shine even brighter than before.
But down on the island/where everything changes
Down on the island/where time goes by
I knew a girl, I knew my true love
Down in the fires I watched her die...”
Varun's face grew mournful once again as he played,
and I couldn't help but wonder what lay behind his bright
blue eyes. Did Varun, like Chance, have secrets too?
After the kids left, we began clearing up, paper plate
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by paper plate.
“So, isn't Chance supposed to be here?” I asked
Varun, trying not to sound too eager. “Your dad said
