Accordance (6 page)

“He shouldn’t have yelled at you like that,” Caleb reasoned with my inner thoughts. “No matter how ‘hurt’ he is. He’s a jackass.”

“Yeah, he is,” I agreed and shook my head to clear it. “Come on. Let’s get back to Metal Petals.”

He smiled sadly and positioned me in front of him. Now we were in front of the makeshift stage. He put his arms around me from behind and kissed my neck before sticking an arm in the air and yelling loudly as the song ended. I laughed at him and we listened to the rest of the set. Once it ended that was pretty much it for the party, especially once the beach patrol showed up. He turned to me and yelled over the ruckus.

“Come on, let’s get Bish and get out of here.”

Back at the house, you could hear the giggling from the porch. I assured Caleb they weren’t doing anything unclothed and we could go in. They were sitting on the couch, she was lying on her back across his lap and laughing as he tickled and nuzzled her.

“Oh, hey, guys. You remember Amber?”

Caleb and I looked at each other and shook our heads.

“I’m going to bed,” Bish announced and came to me. He smiled and hugged me to him. “Night, Mags.”

“Good night. I had fun,” I told him sincerely.

“Me, too,” He leaned down to my ear. “I can even overlook the fact that you are an appalling dancer.”

“Ha, ha.”

I heard Caleb stifle a chuckle. Bish nodded to him in goodnight. Then he called to Kyle from the stairs.

“Night, Kyle. Don’t be an idiot.”

Kyle scoffed and Amber turned his face back to look at her.

“I’m kinda tired too, actually,” I said, “and hungry.” I looked to Caleb. “You want a sandwich?”

“Yeah, thanks. Kyle, can I talk to you, on the porch?”

I heard an aggravated noise as I left for the kitchen and soon I was joined by the bimbo.

“Hi! I’m Amber.”

“Yes. I know.”

“What’s your name?”

“Maggie,” I muttered.

“Awe, how cute! OMG! Isn’t Kyle just delicious? How do you live here with him and not just want to jump him? Though that other guy was pretty hot too.”

“Somehow I manage,” I muttered as I started to make the roast beef sandwiches.

“So, did you and Kyle used to go out or something?”

“No. Why?” I asked as she moved behind me to go to my other side.

She bumped my arm in the process and I sliced the end of my finger. I huffed and looked at her but she didn’t say anything. I rolled my eyes and grabbed a napkin, wrapping it around my finger.

“Eeew, blood makes me gag,” she said as she watched me, her neck wrinkled as she sucked it in.

“I’m fine by the way,” I said with sarcasm that she didn’t catch.

“Mmhmm. So anyway, back to Kyle. He just seemed very intent on seeing you and that other guy before we left to come here. We looked for you forever!”

“What?” I asked and got a clean knife.

“Yeah, I thought he was parading his rebound or something.”

I put the knife aside and looked at her.

“So if you thought you were a rebound, why were you so happy about coming back here with him?”

“Hey.” She leaned forward on her elbows and smiled coyly. “Don’t knock rebound booty til you try it.”

“Eeew,” I muttered before I could stop myself and resumed the mayonnaise.

“Hey!” She suddenly seemed a little bristled and stood up with her hands on her hips. “Don’t judge me. You don’t even know me!”

“You’re right, I don’t. See ya,” I said, unwrapping my finger that had stopped bleeding and grabbing the sandwiches, making my way out of the room, visibly shaking the grossness off me. Girls like her gave the rest of us a bad name. “Caleb?”

He was still on the porch with Kyle, all big brother-ish. They were discussing the no-dating rule again and Kyle was explaining basically the same thing as Amber just had to me. A one night stand, no matter even if they didn’t have sex, wasn’t a relationship. I tuned them out and went to go sit on our couch bed and wait for Caleb.

He came in shortly after, upset and shaking his head, grumbling about how Kyle was being an idiot and it was stupid how childish he was being about it all, stringing that girl along. I just sat and let him rant, listening, and then laid down with him when he was done and ready for bed. He put his arms around me from behind and spoke his words into my hair.

“Hey, uh,” he started. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you. Zeke’s band wants me to play with them next weekend, their bassists is going to a wedding in Maine or something.”

“Really, you want to do it?”

“Yeah, I do.”

I heard his thoughts. He’d always secretly wanted to be in a band or start one but never got the notion to. Plus what good would a band do for his family? He really wanted to do this. Just to say he did it once.

“I think it’s awesome. Did you tell him yes?”

“I wanted to talk to you first.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t know if you’d be...weird about it. I don’t know. I mean, it doesn’t mean anything, nothing will come of it but I will have to practice this week if I do it. Like everyday to be ready for this weekend. I’m not thrilled about the idea of leaving you alone...but Bish is here so...”

“I’ll be fine. I think you should do it.”

“Ok,” he said brightly. “I’ll call him tomorrow.”

“What about the Mutemath concert?”

“That’s Saturday night. The gig is Friday.”

“Great! Wow. I’m dating a rock star,” I teased.

“Ha, ha. It’s not a big deal.”

“It is to me. I like it when you’re happy.” I snuggled closer. “It makes me happy too.”

“You’re still amazing,” he murmured and kissed the back of my neck.

We tried to go to sleep. The giggling and loud whispering from the other room lasted for hours. Caleb shouted for them to shut up but that just seemed to make it worse. He started to get up a few times to tell them to shut up to their face but I held him back. Kyle wanted to rebel. I refused to believe this was all about making me jealous. He just wanted to do something without being told to.

Eventually we went to sleep.

In the morning, we woke early to go surfing. We made our way through the living room and saw Kyle and Amber asleep on the couch. She was all scrunched up in a ball on one side and bed hog Kyle all sprawled out on the other. Both were still clothed so that was a plus.

After a quick breakfast and changing into our wetsuits, we made it out to the beach, only one board in tow. The beach was empty except for a few other surfers. The sun was low, hanging over the water and making beautiful orange waves. The air was warm and smelled so much like the sea. It was perfect.

I started to have second thoughts.

“Caleb, I’ve never done this before. It’s so cold and the water’s deep and there could be something in there,” I complained.

“Well, I hope there’s something in there. It
is
the ocean,” he said all smart elect.

“Caleb,” I whined. “Please don’t make me.”

“This whiny side of you is very cute,” he said through a wide grin.

“Funny. I’m serious. I’m scared now. Maybe I’ll just watch you.”

“You-” he said tossing his board and grabbing me around the middle to hug me to him “-are not a chicken. I’ll be with you the whole time so there’s nothing to worry about. It’s really fun once you get the hang of it.”

I stared up at him. He really thought I was being silly didn’t he?

“Yes,” he answered. “Yes I do.”

I smiled and shook my head at him.

“Fine, but if I get bitten by a shark-” I poked his bare chest “-you are telling my dad it was your fault.”

He grimaced.

“You drive a hard bargain, lady. Deal.”

“Deal.”

He kissed me on the tip of the nose and we treaded into the surf.

“You’re gonna ride in like this first. Now wait for the wave and then paddle, paddle, paddle. Got it?” he instructed as he floated beside me.

“Got it?”

I was lying on the board on my belly and he was showing me how to start in the surf and watch for waves. He kept a hand on my lower back the whole time and didn’t seem to mind too much that my bikini clad behind was right there in his line of vision.

“Ok.” He watched behind me. “Wait, wait...Go! Paddle! Paddle!”

I paddled and got swept under when the wave crashed over me. I started again. He gave the same advice and told me what I did wrong. Over and over we did this. Not once did I make it very few feet before some mishap. He was patient and always gentle in his instruction. I still liked it though I hadn’t actually done it yet. It was still fun, but I was determined.

“I wish your uncle was here. He could teach me and I’d know it all in five seconds,” I said as I climbed back on the board.

“He’s good to have around but sometimes...it’s good to learn things the old fashioned way.”

“So wise, Confucius,” I joked and he smacked me on the butt in retaliation making me laugh.

“Now, focus, babe. Let’s try again. Wait for the wave.”

When he said ‘go’ I paddled hard and felt the wave take me up with it to the crest and then back down as it crashed. I steadied and stood up slowly. I rode it all the way to the shore in one smooth glide. This was the first time without falling off in over two hours of working with Caleb. I stood up in the sand and yelled and jumped up and down on my toes in triumph. I saw him swimming my way. Then he ran. Once he reached me he pulled me into a hug and kissed me on my smiling lips.

“You did it! Was it worth all that trouble?”

“Absolutely,” I said grinning. “How long did it take you to learn?”

He smiled looking embarrassed.

“Five seconds?”

“Cheating hypocrite!” I laughed and poked his ribs. “And after that lecture about not using your uncle!”

“Hey, I was seven, ok? I wasn’t too keen on the value of hard work just the result back then,” he said all pompous making me laugh harder.

“That was so awesome. Can we do it again?”

“Well, it’s getting late and the beach will be filling up soon. Why don’t we quit while we’re ahead? I’ll bring you back out in the morning. Ok?”

“Great. I’m starving anyway.”

“Surfing will do that. Let’s go and get dressed. We can all go get lunch at this place I want to take you to in town.”

“Awesome.”

We made our way up to the boardwalk. There was a huge pavilion there that was open on two opposite sides for airflow.

“So, how long do we have to be here?”

“Why,” he asked, “ready to go already?”
“No way, I was just curious.”

“The family is working hard to make sure everything is safe before I bring you home. You are our number one priority.”

“I was just wondering if it was going to take a week or a month. I don’t want you to spring it on me one day that it’s our last day, ya know? You have no idea of a time frame?”

“No. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out something. I expect a call from Dad soon.”

“
ow HHHHH
How is your tutoring service? Is everything working fine without you there?”

“Sadly, yes. I’m not even really needed anymore,” he said wistfully. “I basically just go in during the school year after classes to help out. We have a lot of volunteers during the summer.”

I nodded.

“Soooo,” I crooned, changing the subject. “Are you just never going to kiss me again until we go home?”

“What?” he asked genuinely puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you have barely touched me at all since Bish got here except to sleep. Are you afraid of him or something?” I said goading him.

He let the board fall to the ground.

He smiled and pulled me to him, closing the distance between us. He lifted my arms to wind around his neck and then pulled me up onto my toes with his hands on my sides, letting his warm lips overlap my top one. His hands went right to my hips and his fingers bunched in the strings and material of my bikini bottom.

I could taste the salt from the seawater on our lips but as he deepened the kiss, it was all Caleb. And I missed him. His tongue brushed my lip and I instinctively pulled him closer and pressed myself to him as close as I could get. He groaned slightly in surprise, his hands on my hips pulled tighter and then his arms wound around my back as he lifted my feet from the sandy floor.

I felt the hard pavilion side wall on my back as he pressed me against it. My legs automatically wound themselves around his sides. He kissed me differently, with a new fierceness and need than before. It was a little scary but I felt different too, somehow. Something was changing between us, moving forward. There was only going to be so much more time when pecking and kissing would be enough for either of us. I realized that then. Our imprinted bodies were made for each other and mine wanted Caleb like nothing else.