Page 36 of The Starfish Sisters

“I like the rain. It gives me room to think.”

We made it to the beach and the crispy sand that was washed hard and flat. I’d been to other beaches, but none of them had this walkable, hard sand I loved. The waves were soft and ruffly, flowing flat and friendly this side of the stacks. “What do you think about when you think?” I asked, and was embarrassed instantly over how stupid it sounded.

But he didn’t react badly. “Lots of things.” He tucked his hands in his jeans pockets. “Space travel lately. I’ve been reading this cool science fiction book about other planets, and now every time I look up at the stars, I think about what planets might be around them.”

“Cool. What’s the book?”

“A Wrinkle in Time.” He looked at me. “Have you read it?”

I stopped in my tracks. “Ilovethat book!”

His grin this time was big, making his eyes tilt. In the dark, you couldn’t really see his acne at all. “Right on. That’s right, Suze said you love to read.”

“I do. You can pick up a book and go somewhere else.”

“Yeah. I gotta say I didn’t really likeGo Ask Alice, though. It seemed kinda fake. Like she gets addicted to drugs in five seconds and she’s peddling to elementary school kids? Who does that?”

I frowned. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“No big thing. Just didn’t make sense.”

“You’re right, though,” I exclaimed, retracing the narrative in my mind. “I mean, that’s hard core, right? Dealing to little kids.”

“Yeah.”

We drew up to the Starfish Sisters. The trees on top of the biggest sister were outlined against the clouds. I stopped to breathe it in, the moment, the sky, the trees, and the smell of the ocean. “When I’m in Portland, this is what I think about. This spot, right here.”

He stood next to me. “What about it?”

“The trees,” I said, pointing. “The tide pools. I love those tide pools with my whole heart. I’d like tobea starfish in a tide pool.”

He laughed. “Kinda boring, though.”

I laughed, too.

The rains suddenly started again, not drizzle, but solid rain. “Shit!” Joel said. “Run!”

We did, dashing over the hard sand toward the dunes and leaping over the stream. We didn’t stop until we smeared ourselves against the wall of a garage, sheltered by the roof and a tree. I laughed, wiping rain off my face. “Whew!”

He leaned on the wall beside me. “I had fun with you today,” he said.

My stomach flipped. I looked at him, standing a lot closer than any boy had ever stood. “Me too.”

“Would it be okay if I called you?”

“Yes!”

Right then, in the rain and the soft shadows, he leaned closer. It took me a second to realize he was going to kiss me, so our lips didn’t fit quite right at first, and then he cupped his palm around my cheek and gently turned my face toward him, and we connected.

It was the first time I ever kissed a boy. His lips were slightly chapped but firm. Sensations, heat and something buzzy, moved through my body like lava, through the hollow of my throat and the inside of my elbows and all through my stomach.

He lifted his head. “Is that okay?”

“Yes,” I whispered, and he moved around in front of me until our bodies were touching tightly, chests and thighs, and kissed me again.

It was heaven on earth.

He walked me home when the rain lightened up, holding hands. It was the most romantic day of my life. I ran inside, floating. It wasn’t until I got all the way in that I wondered how Suze would feel about those kisses. He was her friend, after all. Would she get mad? She did say that she didn’t like him as a boyfriend, though, so it was probably okay.