In Waves | ✔️

30 | jealousy

"So Lia, Rob mentioned you're giving surfing a go," Derek says from across the dining room table. "How's that been?"

I drop my helping of salad onto my plate with a grimace. The stiffness has only gotten worse throughout the day. My waitressing tips even suffered at the restaurant this afternoon. I think my pained smiling came across as more alarming than friendly.

"Well, I've discovered that I have the muscle strength of an eighty-year-old woman, so, that's been fun. Aside from that, it's still too early to tell if I like it yet."

"And you're sure you're not taking on too much?" Mom asks, setting down her wine. "Junior year is very important, farfallina. Everything affects college now more than ever, and Matt's already going to divide your time." Her eyes shift to Rob when he lets out a poorly disguised sigh next to me. "Something to add?"

He picks at his grilled salmon. "Nope."

"Roberto."

Cue the inevitable Roberto-induced eyeroll. "Lia's been prepping for college since first grade. She should be allowed to have fun."

"I'm not saying she's not allowed to have fun," Mom counters, turning to me. "I just don't want you to drop the ball in such an important year. But if you think you can balance everything, then that's fine by me."

"I can balance it, Mom. Don't worry," I assure her.

Ironic - telling her not to worry when that's the only thing this conversation is doing to me. I want to be completely confident that I can balance school and a social life, but I have no idea if I can. It's new territory. Although if Rob made it through junior year without flunking, I should be okay.

I'm surprised he spoke up to Mom about me having fun. The reiterated importance of the promise I made him isn't lost on me.

"It's funny, isn't it? It's almost like you two have swapped places," Derek muses, wagging his finger between us. "Lia the social butterfly, Rob the hermit crab."

Rob drops his fork and looks at Derek like these are the most offensive words he's ever heard uttered. "Not by choice. I've only got a few more days of being grounded and then I'm free. Right, Mom? Right?"

She meets his urgency with a tired look. "Yes, Rob. But one toe out of line and you'll be a hermit crab again."

I don't know why he's getting so worked up, it's not like he hasn't been consistently sneaking out since he got grounded anyway. Mom softly watches him go back to his meal in his uplifted mood. The fight with Tyler was obviously a good reason, but sometimes I think she finds flimsy reasons to ground him just so she can keep him at home.

The day after his seventeenth birthday, he didn't take out the trash and she grounded him for one night only, forcing him to participate in a family board game night. She doted on him the whole time, like she couldn't face the fact that her firstborn was a year older. Despite how much he gets on her nerves, I know she's just as heavy-hearted as I am about him leaving for college next year.

After dinner, Rob and I are in the kitchen washing dishes. Well, I'm washing, he's drying. I don't trust him not to clean as thoroughly as I do.

"I know I was skeptical about you surfing and everything, but you should really stick it out," he says to me. "You'll only be sore for another day or two, anyway."

"Yeah that's what Nate said. I wasn't planning on quitting, though."

"Good."

I absently scrub an already-spotless plate, wondering how I can bring up Alexandra. I know absolutely nothing about the girl except that she's tanned, gorgeous, and dresses like a tomboy, but the weird vibe I got from her this morning has been sitting with me all day. I want to know if my brother is stepping into something he shouldn't be.