“Yep. They sounded like they were fighting about my mom coming back to Ocean Beach and something about her book. I don’t know. None of it makes sense to me.”
“Hmm… I wonder what that’s about. My mom has always kept Richard out of it but it sounds like they all were involved. I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s always about a guy, you know?”
“Yeah.”
We walk a little bit, following Sibley as she picks up shells and tosses them in the water. “Okay then, my question,” Anita says.
“Ready.”
“What are you running from?”
I give her a sharp look. “What makes you think I’m running from something?”
“You’ve just got that look—kind of skittish. Like Maggie before she broke up with her ex. What a douche bag. Thank god she found Ivy.”
I stop short. “Wait, Ivy and Maggie are a couple?”
“Duh.”
“How was I supposed to know? Ivy was all over Justin the other day.” It made sense though, with what Nick told me about their pact. No girlfriends.
“That’s just what they do. They’re really comfortable with one another.” Anita frowns. “Stop avoiding the question. What’s going on? You can trust me, you know.”
“I know,” I tell her. “It’s just hard letting the world know you’re an idiot.”
“I’m not the world, Summer. I’m your cousin. We have a bond,” she laughs.
She’s right, and so far Anita has been nothing but great to me. There’s no reason not to trust her. “I’ll tell you but seriously, no one knows about this. I haven’t even told my mom.”
“I can keep a secret,” she says.
“Remember the ex-boyfriend I told you about?”
“Yeah?”
“He was my teacher.” I pick another shell up off the ground and toss it in the water.
Anita’s eyes pop wide open. “Wow.”
“Right.”
“You dated your teacher. Like a for-real relationship.”
“Yep. Well, he was a teaching assistant, but still.”
“That’s illegal. Like he could go to jail.”
I nod. There’s no doubt it was a risk. A stupid risk.
“That’s just…” she stares at me.
“What?”
“Girl, I just did not see that coming. Not with the modest bathing suit and old-lady vibe you’ve got going on.” I frown at the old lady jab. “I mean, a taboo relationship with your teacher? Mind blown.” She leans in and whispers. “Is he hot? Did you have sex? Tell me everything.”
Her response is a bit of a relief, not the shock and disappointment of my friends back home. “Mason didn’t look like a teacher. He’s young—only twenty-four. He had that hipster thing going on; all intellectual and understanding. I felt the spark between us right away and yeah, things were kind of hot and exciting for a while. We snuck around and left each other stupid messages and little love notes. I’d go to his office for a meeting and we’d make out behind the desk for an hour. I’d hang around after class, wait outside at his car, you know, whatever I could do to see him and not get caught.” Just talking about it sent a thrill up my spine.
Again, all she says is, “Wow.”