Out of Sight

Chapter 12

The only thing less predictable than life is the weather. Two days after freezing my butt off at the beach with Jeremy, I was dying. At least it felt that way. It wasn't even 11 in the morning yet and I was sweating more than I ever had before. I felt like my body was dragging behind me as I pulled it along the trail loop by the shore. There were usually a few bikers and soccer-mom joggers, but today it seemed I was the only one crazy enough to be exercising in the heat. I got to the very end of the loop and jogged with painful slowness to the water’s edge.

It was easily 90 degrees out. It wasn’t just that it was hot, it was humid. I could barely breathe through the thick air and I panted as my legs pulled me along on autopilot.

When I finally made it to the ocean, I ran straight into the foamy waves. I let the water seep into my clothes, but the sea was barely refreshing. Naturally, the air was even more humid away from the land. What surprised me most was how warm the sea water was. I treaded around for a while, hoping the water would become icier as I swam deeper, but it was in vain.

I paddled back to the sand and pulled my body out of the ocean before heading home. My shorts and t-shirt felt mostly dry by the time I finished the short run back to my house.

“Desiree, are you packed?” my mother asked absent mindedly as I came in the door. She came into the foyer from the kitchen. “Oh my God. Is it really that hot?” she asked, referring to my sweat.

“This is water,” I explained defensively. She didn’t push the matter any further.

“Well, I’m off to work. Don’t forget to finish packing. What are your plans for today?”

“Nothing much. I will probably start some of my summer reading today.”

She leaned down to give me a kiss goodbye before settling for a pat on my head. I don’t think she believed me about the water thing.

She half jogged out the door, late for work as usual as it was a Friday. Fridays were her “late days” and she was supposed to go into the office around eleven. As a workaholic lawyer, she took full advantage of those precious morning hours and was generally out the door by 11:30.

Evidently, I took after her as I had pressed the snooze button on my alarm as many times as possible before waking up. And that’s not an exaggeration. My alarm legitimately has a limit of 5 fifteen minute increment snooze buttons per morning. Ironically, it was a Christmas present from my mother.

I headed upstairs for a refreshing shower, making it first priority over everything else. I could never eat right after a run. All I wanted to do after a run, especially in hell heat like today, was to sit in the shower and rake up my parent’s water bill. And so, I did.

I took my time getting dressed in cotton shorts and a tank top before going downstairs for a quick breakfast. I made myself a Nutella protein shake and a piece of toast that I carried upstairs with me to my room.

Finally, I checked my phone. It was almost 12:30. More of a time for lunch than breakfast, but these Nutella shakes were so good. Then, I noticed a missed call and two text messages. One of the messages and the call were from Jeremy and the other message was from Lindsay.

Lindsay: “OMG! I JUST SAW MEGAN AND SHE SAID UR D8ING THAT JEREMY GUY!!!!

She was an all caps, exclamation point kind of girl. I would respond later, I decided.

Jeremy: “Camping trip cancelled. Call me if you’re free today and want to hang.”

I called him immediately.

“Hey. I was hoping you’d call.” Two statements.

“What happened to your camping trip?”