Since 1998

Chapter 6

"Devin!" Sam’s voice cut through the house, followed by a frantic pounding on the front door.

"Devin Austin! Open up!"

Devin leaned his head back against the sofa and exhaled at the ceiling. "You fool," he muttered.

He forced his lead-heavy limbs to move and swung the door open.

Sam stood there with a restless grin, giving him the look. It was time to go.

"What’s the plan?" Devin asked, stepping onto the porch.

"How about that glass house of yours? I want to see if it’s actually habitable yet," Sam said.

"Fine. We’d better start walking," Devin replied flatly.

"Walk? In this heat? Are you serious?"

"Unless you feel like swimming there, yeah."

A block away, the sky-blue Beetle sat under the heavy shade of an oak tree.

Inside, the AC was losing the battle against the humidity.

Allison leaned forward, her forehead nearly touching the glass. "What if he recognizes me, Anna?"

"Ali, relax. You aren’t a scrawny eleven-year-old anymore." Anna pressed closer to the windshield. "Wait. The gate is moving."

A young man stepped into the heat. Anna squinted, leaning over the dashboard. "That's Sam, right? The best friend? Hmm... I think I like the view already."

Allison rolled her eyes, her stomach doing a nervous flip. "You what?"

"What? I'm just appreciating the local scenery. He's cute."

Allison's lungs suddenly felt tight. A second figure emerged behind Sam, squinting against the glare. He was taller, broader, and carried himself with a quiet heaviness that hadn't been there before.

But it was the hair that gave him away—that messy, sun-bleached blonde that the wind kept flicking over his forehead. When Sam nudged him and he finally laughed, the hard lines of his face softened into the boy she remembered.

"Anna..." Allison’s voice was a ghost of a whisper. "That’s him. Go. Follow them."

Anna kept a safe two-block distance, the Beetle chugging along as the boys headed toward the coast.

"They’re going to the shore," Allison noted. Her heart was a frantic drum against her ribs.

"Perfect," Anna said, shifting gears. "Romantic. Scenic. Great place for a fake 'meet-cute.'"

"I feel like a creep," Allison admitted, sinking lower in her seat. "Maybe we should just go home."

Anna thumped the steering wheel. "We are not turning around. You crossed an ocean for this, Ali. Don't tell me you're satisfied with just staring at the back of his head from a dusty car. The 'tourist' act is going to be hilarious. Trust me."

The beach air was exactly the same—a thick, salty mix of coconut oil and old wood. The smell hit Allison so hard it felt like 1998 all over again.

A few yards down, Devin was staring at the horizon. Sam looked like he was dying of boredom.

"Bro, I thought we were going to the house," Sam groaned, kicking a clump of sand. "Let’s just get in the water. Maybe it’ll wash the gloom off you."

Devin gave a dry, short laugh. "If we go to the house, I’ll just miss her more, Sam. Everything there reminds me of her."

Sam started to reply, but his eyes locked on two girls walking across the sand. "Well, never mind. I guess it's destiny that we stopped here."

"Destiny?" Devin turned.

When he saw Allison and Anna approaching, he went completely still. He stood up, pulling his shirt off to head for the surf. Allison inhaled sharply, quickly shielding her eyes with a shaking hand. The boy was gone; six years had built someone solid, tangible, and—as Anna had noted—dangerously attractive.

"Anna... the sun," Allison muttered. "It’s too bright."

Anna raised an eyebrow, watching Devin wade into the waves. "Yeah, the 'sun' is really something," she teased. "Finally, the egg is cracking. I was worried I'd be babysitting the whole summer."

"No—I think I have a fever."

Devin surfaced from the water, droplets running down his shoulders. He didn't look like a memory anymore. He looked like a problem.

"He's... hot," Allison whispered, the word escaping before she could stop it.

"Yes, he is," Anna agreed smoothly, her eyes shifting to Sam. "But the one on the left? I think I’m going to have a lot of fun breaking him in."

Allison snapped her head toward her friend. "What?"