In Riptides

08 | invisible string

N A T E

"Nathan! C'mon, it's getting cold!"

I grumble a groan, forcing myself to roll out of bed before Lizzy stomps down here and drags me out. The smell of buttery almond croissants wafting through the house hasn't even been enough to make me budge, but I can only ignore her intensifying demands so many times.

My phone chimes with a notification and I practically leap at the thing like I've just been set alight, but my stomach drops when I'm met with the regular daily surf report, Lia's name glaringly absent on my screen. She still hasn't opened the texts I had sent yesterday afternoon, let alone the one I sent after midnight.

"Finally," Lizzy puffs when I drag myself into the kitchen. "How damn hard is it to have breakfast as a family, like, ever. The first day of the year is meant to set the tone for the rest of it, you know."

"What, so you want us to have breakfast together every single day this year?" I feel my mouth curling as I reach for the coffee. "Seems a little ambitious, Liz."

"I just wanted it to be a good start," she counters, throwing her head back. "Tyler!"

Me and Mom both flinch at the whistling pitch of her exasperated voice.

"Let him sleep, honey," Mom says as she gets up from the kitchen table, carrying her crumb-speckled plate to the sink.

"But..." she whines, throwing her hands in the air. "Cold... breakfast..."

"Everyone isn't an early bird like you. Especially Tyler." Mom gives her a pat on the cheek before she makes herself a cup of tea.

Lizzy sighs in defeat and starts to hand me a plate, gasping in horror when she sees me scratching the inside of my arm cast with a butter knife. "Ew! What are you doing, Nate?!"

"It's itchy." I shrug.

She wrestles the knife from me and dangles it at arm's length like a grenade that's about to go off. "Great, now we have to burn this."

"Quit being so dramatic." I grab it back and continue my scratching while she looks on in disgust.

She flings her hand at me with wide eyes, staring at Mom. "Seriously?"

Mom has the same look as she watches me, like she's smelling something bad. "Not in the kitchen, Nate. And you might as well keep that knife in your room now."

"God, fine!" I slide it from the cast and slam it down. "I can't think straight with this stupid thing!" I zero in on Mom. "How pissed would you be if I tied a plastic bag around it so I can surf again?"

She shoots me a dangerous look. "Don't you dare. There's only a few more weeks until it comes off, honey. You need to be patient."

"I'm going insane!" I shout after her as she leaves the kitchen. "You're depriving me of sanity, Mother!"

"Who's being dramatic now?" Lizzy mutters, handing me the plate.

I take two croissants off the cooling rack and collapse into a chair at the table, ripping a bite off. Lizzy eyes me, pulling another chair out.

"One of those isn't for a certain someone in your room?"

"If there's someone in my room then it's news to me."

"So Lia didn't stay over again?"

"Nope."

She watches me chew. Not tasting, not enjoying.

"What's going on?" she asks, concern touching her tone.

I crack my stress-filled neck, picking at one of the roasted almond slivers. "I messed up. Bad."