Washed Up

Eddy

Ross

Eddy. Noun. [ed-ee]. A current at variance with the main current in a stream of liquid or gas, especially one having a rotary or whirling motion.

I still can't believe Riley kissed me.

Granted, she ran back to the pizza shop right afterwards without so much as a goodbye, but still. She kissed me. Or maybe I kissed her. Honestly, I don't know; there was a gravitational pull between us that drew us into each other against our will. We were intoxicated by the heady aura of the black sky and crashing waves. I shouldn't have been surprised that her kiss matched her spirit: wild, hungry, searching.

Now, in the light of day, I wonder if things will be different. I wonder if she'll even show up to our psuedo-date tomorrow morning. It's taken everything in me to keep from jogging over to the pizza shop to say hi like some sort of clingy stalker, but there's something about her that draws me in like a siren from the sea. I don't just want her; I want more of her, the same more I want from the entire world. Riley has become synonymous with my desire for escape and exploration.

I lean against the wooden back of the lifeguard chair and stretch my legs out, casting my gaze between the two black and white checkered flags that mark the swimming area. With the official start of summer, the beach swarms with sunscreen-slathered tourists and shrieking children and I have a headache from just sitting here. Even the distraction of Riley just makes me anxious to leave the beach so tomorrow comes sooner.

"Hey, Ross."

I lean forward and look down at the beach below me to find Earnest staring up in a t-shirt and swim trunks. "Please tell me my shift's over and you're here to relieve me."

"You still have ten minutes."

I groan. I remember when this job used to be fun. Teenage me had hopes of Baywatch-esque rescues of hot girls in bikinis, but I pretty much only go after screaming kids in floaties or guys who drank too much and lost all muscular control.

"Mind if I join you?" Ernie asks and I scooch over to make room for him.

He sighs and leans back next to me, eyes skimming the ocean. "So you were out late the other night."

I groan. I expected friendly ribbing from Javier, but not from Earnest. Not after he ditched us summer after summer to spend time with Lucy.

Ernie laughs. "I'm just saying. You guys were still on the beach when Lucy and I went home, and we're usually the last ones."

"Oh, screw off, Ernie. Not all of us are destined for serial monogamy like you and Lucy."

This just makes him laugh harder. "I didn't expect to see you coupling off at the beginning of the summer."

"I'm not coupling off."

"That's not what I heard. I heard you're taking the new girl on a date in the morning."

I glare at Earnest. This is what happens when the girl you're into lives with your best friend's girlfriend. There are no secrets on this island.

"That sounds an awful lot like a date."

I check my watch. "Six minutes. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shove you off the chair."

"Seriously, Ross, what's going on?"

I can't look into Earnest's eyes. What's going on? I want to get off this island and go travel the world for a year. I want to talk to a girl I just met even more than I want to make out with her. I hate so much about my life right now and this rich girl with pain hiding behind her emerald eyes is just about the best thing to happen to me in a long time.