Washed Up

Tidal Power

Ross

Tidal power. Noun. [tahyd-l pou-er]. Electricity made from the moving waters of the tides.

    I literally can't stop smiling. This girl's arrogant, rude, sarcastic, uppity, everything I usually hate about mainlanders, but I still can't stop smiling. There's something so alive about her that I can't look away.

    Every time she meets my gaze, her eyes crackle and burn with energy. They're round and green, so large and haunting that they seem to take up her entire face. I feel a little better when my gaze drops from her eyes to her mouth and I see she's smiling like an idiot too.

I don't know her name, but I know that she's discontent, that she's traveled her whole life and never settled down, that she's a wild, restless soul. I don't even know her name, but I know there's something in her that's just like me.

"So did you come in here just to keep me from doing my important duty as the Queen of the Ketchup?" she asks, rolling back on her heels and squeezing the edge of the counter.

"Believe it or not, I came in here for pizza."

Her face deadpans. "No way."

"I just needed a pizza the action."

I cringe at my own terrible joke, but she laughs, contorting the myriad of freckles dancing across her tiny nose.

"That was so cheesy," she retorts and I slap my face with the palm of my hand. "So what can I get you, knight in shining armor? A slice of humble pie?" She picks up the order notebook and readies her pen, her tongue against her lip in faux concentration.

I grin at the girl's easy wit and I debate teasing her more about the near-drowning debacle, but I find myself wanting to stay on her good side.

"How about two pizzas, one with pepperoni and one with plain cheese?"

"Two pizzas?" She grins at me again. "You better be careful or you'll lose that beach bod."

Though her words were meant as a slam, I see a blush tingle across her face as she realizes what she said and I'm way happier than I should be that she already checked me out. At least I have one thing going for me.

"They're not all for me," I explain with a laugh. "They're for the kids."

Her eyebrows shoot up. "Kids?"
    Now it's my turn to flush red. "Not--not mine. My dad's. My brothers and sisters."

She laughs and winks at me as she turns to order the food. "Coming right up."

    She saunters to the back room, leaving her book and bookmark open on the counter. I watch as she leaves--a little more closely than I probably should--and try to connect what Lucy said about this girl with what I see. Lucy seemed to think she was lonely and angry about spending her summer here, and I can see that, but there's a lot more than a lonely Army brat hiding behind those emerald eyes. There's spunk and wit and determination. And a lot of attitude, but even though it irked me when I dragged her out of the ocean, now I kind of like it.

    I'm still staring after the girl when Lucy bounces down the stairs, her smooth black hair pulled into matching pigtails like a schoolgirl. "Ross? What are you doing here?"

    I stand up and head over to one of the booths by the door where I can still see the girl who's traveled everywhere I want to go. "I've been really hungry for pizza so I thought I'd stop by."

    Lucy joins me, sitting across the table from me and blocking my view of the front counter. "Did you meet our new employee?"

    "Yeah, I did." I don't elaborate on when we met. "She's not as bad as you made her seem."