The Summer I Met The Girl

five

Matt doesn't want to be here. It's loud. Despite being regulars in this town, he doesn't know hardly anyone besides his family. And everyone is far too drunk. He keeps an eye on Beck and Grant. They're the youngest and are still at that age of trying too hard to keep up with the older kids. He watches carefully as some guy, who looks to be about 25, chats Beck up. She giggles like a school girl and pushes her hair behind her ear.

Matt can feel his blood boiling from his spot on the stairs. She's just a child. He wants to rush over there and drag her away from him. But he knows there's more harm in that than anything else.

Mallory spots him from across the room and Matt can see her visibly relax. She makes her way over and practically falls onto the stairs next to him.

"Have parties always sucked this much or am I just getting old?"

Matt chuckles, "Yes."

Mallory looks at her phone. Her screen is blowing up with messages. It's like a never ending scroll of Tik Tok and Instagram notifications. Mallory looks up at him and follows his eye line to Beck. She slaps him on the shoulder. "Stop being an overprotective big brother. She's fine."

"She's just a kid, Mal."

"So let her be a kid. Trust me, that boy doesn't think he can get out of here with her. He's just chatting her up."

Matt wipes his palms on his jeans, "I don't like it."

Mallory smirks, "You're a good brother, Matt."

"Thanks," he grumbles.

"Why don't you take a walk? I'll watch her." Mallory suggests, "I have to catch up on some of my DM's anyway."

Matt nods, "Okay. Please don't let her out of your sight."

Mallory nods.

Matt walks through the sprawling house. There are so many people, he can hardly walk. He manages to squeeze through the throngs of bodies and out onto the deck. It's just as crowded out there, but Matt can hear the ocean and his nerves settle slightly.

He fills a solo cup with water and heads towards the beach. It's not far, just a steep staircase down the side of what feels like a cliff. He slips off his sandals and lets his toes sink in the cold sand.

"Are you lost?"

He turns towards the sound of the voice. She must have followed him down the stairs because she isn't far behind him.

"What?" He asks.

She cocks her head and raises her eyebrows, "The beach is private."

"I came from the party."

"So? The beach is still private."

Matt frowns. Who the hell is this girl? It's a beach for crying out loud. "There's no sign."

She huffs and stomps towards him, "My brother doesn't want to be held responsible for stupid drunk people drowning on his beach."

"I'm not drunk, and even if I was, I wouldn't drown."

"You're missing my point."

"What is your point?"

"Go back to the party." She says, her voice hard and sharp.

"I actually don't think I want to." He turns away from her and sits down in the sand.

He can barely make out footsteps in the quiet sand, but he's pretty sure she's gone back to the house. So when she says, "Are you too good for this party or something?", it surprises him.

"No?"

"Then why are you down here, by yourself, sober?"

Matt looks over his shoulder at her. For the first time, he notices her long tan legs in little white shorts. Her dark brown hair is blowing in the wind, and she's not holding a drink either. "I'm chaperoning."

"There's no one down here to chaperone."

Matt turns back to the water, "They're at the party. I tapped one of my cousins in to babysit while I got some air."

She surprises him yet again by sitting down next to him. The scent of vanilla wafts over him when her hair blows. "Are you a swimmer?"

"Huh?"

"You said you could swim in that water, even if you were drunk. Which must make you a good swimmer."

"Ah." Matt shrugs, "I surf. Have my whole life. I know the water."

"Are you from here?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

She looks over at him, "I need to know more about you, just in case you die on my beach."

"I thought it was your brother's beach."

"I live here too. He pays the mortgage though."

Matt digs his feet further into the sand, "I'm not from here, no. But we come up here every summer. Have been my whole life."

"And you like it?"

"My favorite place in the world."

She snorts, "You and I see this place very differently."

"I take it you're not loving it."

"Nope."

Matt looks back up at the house wondering if he should be going back up. Mallory has probably lost track of Beck by now. "It's a really great place. Give it a chance."

"I was born in Chicago. I grew up on the north side in a 6 bedroom penthouse. Small beach towns don't do a whole lot for me."

Matt raises his eyebrows, "So what did you do?"

"What?"

"Rich girl gets shipped off to small town. Sounds like a novel. And in those novels, you did something that made your parents mad. So what'd ya do?"

The corners of her lips turn up and Matt can't tell if she's smiling or snarling at him, but he knows it's really cute. "I didn't do anything. My brother is successful," she throws her head back towards the house, "obviously, and they wanted him to positively influence me."

"And how's that going so far?"

"Boring. All he does is work all day."

"But he has all of this. Doesn't seem half bad to me."

She kicks sand, "I want my life to mean more than money and a fancy car."

Matt raises his eyebrows. How his conversation with a stranger got so intense, he isn't quite sure. But he likes talking to her. He realizes suddenly he doesn't even know her name.

"What's your name?"

She looks over at him, her deep brown eyes piercing his. "What's yours?"

"Matt. Fisher."

Her eyes go wide, "Holy crap. You're Matt Fisher?"

"Yeah?" His stomach fills with dread. How does this strange girl know him.

"Your parents are famous around here."

He relaxes. "Oh. Yeah."

Before she can say anything else, Matt hears his name being called from the top of the stairs.

"You have to go?" She looks at him, and for a brief second, she seems almost sad he might be leaving.

He hoists himself up off the sand and dusts his pants off as he goes, "Curfew."

She doesn't get up, "It was a pleasure, Matt Fisher."

Matt starts walking but stops, "You never told me your name."

She looks over her shoulder at him, "That's too bad for you, isn't it?"

Matt opens his mouth to say something but is startled by the footsteps coming down the stairs. It's Henry. "Where the fuck have you been? We have to go!"

Matt looks at his watch. It's 11:49. They have 11 minutes to get home. He doesn't turn back around to look at the nameless girl again.