The Reality of Growing Up//Wattys 2k16

△luke△

chapter 12: △luke△

published: 6.29.16

With Blake busy training for the surfing tournament and Maeryn away in New York probably having the time of her life, it's just me and Cora.

We sit inside Vic's completely bored with what to do.

"Arcade?" Cora asks, slurping down her strawberry smoothie.

I shake my head and pop a french fry into my mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "How about a run across the beach?"

"Already ran a mile this morning," she says, sighing. She puts her face in her hand, smooshing her cheek. I have to admit, it's kind of adorable.

"What about the lighthouse? We haven't been there in awhile," I remember. Right as I say it, though, I remember our last encounter with the lighthouse. Blake found a mouse and put it on Maeryn, resulting with her not speaking to any of us except for Cora for the rest of the week.

Cora groans loudly. "This town is so freaking boring," she whines.

Maria comes to us right as Cora complains. "C'mon," she says, "why don't you get a job or something? Don't y'all need to pay for college?"

College. I was lucky enough to get a full ride into the local state university. Cora, on the other hand, totally slacked her senior year. She had been getting average grades before, but senior year came and she had apparently failed her midterms and finals. So she ended up getting into a few schools, but she had to pay full tuition.

"I already took out a bunch of loans," she grumbled, clearly upset about the topic.

Maria, sensing the bad mood now, backed off. "Alright, just a thought. We're hiring here and there are also spots down at the boardwalk. Enjoy your meal."

After she left, Cora pushed her smoothie away from her, spilling a few drops on the counter. "She shouldn't even be talking to me about money," Cora hissed. "She's been a lowly waitress all her life, what does she know?"

I widened my eyes. "Cora, you shouldn't say that stuff," I said. Never in my life had I heard Cora say a mean thing about anybody. And here she was talking about Maria, someone whom we had known since we were all kids.

Cora locked eyes with me. They were the same blue eyes I had seen all my life, but now there was something else in them. Something I didn't recognize. "Whatever. I'm gonna go down to the beach. Come or don't."

I waited until she left the diner to follow her. I didn't want her thinking I would just follow her wherever she went.

When I got up, I saw Maria staring off into space. "Maria," I called out, causing her to snap up and look at me. We made eye contact and for a moment, I could see just how old she really was. Her gray roots were starting to show, wrinkles around her face were more prominent. Her soft brown eyes aren't full of the cheeriness I always saw when I was a kid. They were dull and old. Swallowing hard, I just nodded at her. "See you tomorrow."

I didn't even wait for her response; I bolted right out of Vic's and onto the beach. Cora was nowhere to be seen. Luckily, I ran into some other girls that came during the summer like we did.

"Hey Luke!" They purr, swarming around me.

I offer them a halfhearted smile. "Hey guys. Have you seen Cora around? She said she was going to swing by..."

Stacy (Blake's friend with benefits) rolls her eyes. "You guys always hang out with each other. Never with me or anyone else," she whines. "What's so special between all of you anyways?"