Washed Up

Sessile

Ross

Sessile. Adjective. [ses-il]. Permanently attached; not free to move about.

One of my favorite things about summer is the beach bonfires. Almost every night, a group of lifeguards and islanders gather on the beach for a roaring bonfire, accompanied by hot dogs and s'mores. It seems kind of ridiculous that after spending the entire day on the beach we would want to come back here at night, but no matter how tired I am of the island, I will always love the ocean. In the evening, the temperature drops and the reflection of the moon glitters across the dark waters. If we're lucky, we can even catch a glimpse of the stars.

"Rossy, is Javier gonna be at the bonfire tonight?" Ivy asks from beside me, tugging on my hand as the four of us make our way to the beach.

I raise my eyebrows and laugh. "Javier? Yeah, probably. Why?"

"Oh, no reason."

I laugh as we make our way to the edge of the dunes, the bonfire glowing against the black night. My muscles are sore from rescuing that girl in the ocean yesterday and from hours spent in the lifeguard chair, but I feel all of my stress fade away when my feet touch the sand. As soon as Mason sees the fire, he sprints toward it, yelling like a banshee. I should probably be concerned that he'll try to run through the fire or go for a swim, but I know someone will stop him. The islanders and lifeguards are a family, and we watch out for each other. Plus, everyone knows my family's story and they try to look out for the Montgomery kids when they can.

Ivy stays beside me and starts to chatter about something related to her American Girl doll, and Sammy bends down to look in the sand for a "complex organism he desires to examine." Some days I feel like I live with Bill Nye the Science Guy.

A dark shadow turns in front of the fire. "Montgomery! It's about time."

Javier lopes toward us, his white smile the only thing visible in the dark. Even though Javier, Earnest, and I all work as lifeguards, since we've been here for a while, our boss spreads us out along the beach. We don't see each other very often during the days except for brief conversations during ATV patrols of the beach.

"Hey, Javi," I say, clasping hands with him.

He kneels down in front of Ivy and gives her a smile. "Hey, my favorite girl's finally here! How are you, Ivy?"

She ducks her head and grins at him, tugging on a blond wave. "Hi, Javi."

He clutches his chest. "What, no hug for me?"

That brings the end of Ivy's momentary lapse of timidity; she jumps towards him and nearly knocks him back into the sand. Javier laughs, picking her up and carrying her to the fire as I follow him, hollering for Sammy to come with us.

Javier carries Ivy to where Earnest sits in the sand, his cellphone in hand. "Hey, Ernie," I say as Javier, Ivy, Sammy and I have a seat. Mason is running around the beach terrorizing seagulls; I let him be. At least he's not terrorizing babies and toddlers like last year. "Who you texting?"
"Who do you think?" Javier interjects.

"Lucy's not here yet?" I ask, scanning the crowd for Lucy's shoulder length black hair and constant smile.

"Nah, she's on her way. Had to work late at the pizza shop."

My stomach grumbles when I think about the Covingtons' pizza. It's by far the best pizza on the island, and the Covingtons are some of my favorite islanders. I'm going to have to drop by soon.

"So Ross, I hear you have a story for us," Javier taunts in a singsong voice.

"Oh yeah, didn't you have to rescue some girl yesterday?" Earnest says, setting down his phone.