A Necessary Struggle: Spring Semester

Chapter 33: A Sentimental Wave

Harmony abandoned her Birkenstocks the moment her steps sank into the warm sand. The drive from the hill country to the Gulf Coast was longer than the three hours estimated by Siri. Maybe it was the stop in Goliad to see the Old Mission or the barbecue they filled their stomachs within Lockhart or it could've been the teems of co-eds crowding Interstate 37. Regardless, they didn't arrive in Corpus Christi until sunset.

Samuel threw his tuckered-out body on the couch. Ariel claimed the room with the balcony and hit the shower while Cairo was still in the driveway on the phone with Heaven. The languid waves rolling into the coast were a siren's call to Harmony. She lost herself in her thoughts as she buried her toes in the sand with her eyes trained on the blue tint of the sky with its hues of coral.

Harmony originally planned to stay in Austin—and think about her future and the conversation she had with Wes afterward. A conversation she hadn't told anyone she had for fear of how they would react if they knew all the intricate details. So, she kept it to herself and pulled the light cardigan's sleeves down to her wrist ignoring the perspiration that percolated from her dermis. 

As she watched the tide roll in, she cursed herself for not following her instincts and now she was stuck.

She swallowed the anxiety that flooded her throat and thought of something else. The other issue weighing her down was deciding the type of career she wanted. She knew the kind of lawyer she didn't want to be. She had an honor code, a strict line of what was wrong and right in the world but now the words of Caroline tainted her perception. There would be times when the black dipped into the white creating a lake of gray. Did she have to go against her morals to achieve her dream or could she become a lawyer and still be a good person?

"Is this the year you cross number five off your bucket list?" Cairo shouted over the crashing waves as he strode towards her.

Harmony peered up at him, brushing the wisp of rebellious curls out of her face, "Huh?"

"Surfing," Cairo stated lowering his body to the sandy patch of ground next to her as the wind created ripples in his lime collegiate shirt that complimented his hazelnut skin. "Are you going to do it?"

Harmony weakly smiled remembering the bucket list they made for a psychology class they took sophomore that tackled life and death. "Maybe." She turned her gaze back to the ocean. "But my swimming technique isn't like Simone Manuel. I should probably stick to pools and ponds.

Cairo chuckled, "I'll join you if you're scared."

"Scared." She quipped leering at him with a challenging look, "Me...I'm never scared."

"All righty then, Bone Crusher." He bumped her shoulder with his and they both smiled at the reference to the rapper from the oughts. "But I think you should do it...I think you'd be good."

Harmony matched her eyes with him and just like before when she was gazing at the waves, she lost her thoughts again. The squawk of a pelican woke her from the trance that went on a second too long. Her mouth quirked up, "I'll think about it...it is Spring Break, after all."

"Yeah." Happiness brimmed in his tone as he kicked out his legs and fell back in the sand. "We should have fun." He tapped her arm and she flinched, pulling her limb away from his touch like it was a wound wing.  "And not think about the complications back home."

He studied her, "Are you cool?"

She ignored his question and gazed at the cloud-filled sky stroking her still tender arm, "I'm going to quit. I know it's a paid internship but...Alyssa's—"

"You don't have to explain it." His hand moved across the sand until it found hers.  He fitted her hand in his, "Not to me. You can talk to me about anything."

The comfortable warmth of his hand disrupted the rhythm of her breaths—less easy and steady; more short and ragged. Harmony closed her eyes and then pulled her hand away from him. She had too much going on and didn't want to bring him into her drama again. Their closeness was why she was in a predicament she didn't know how to escape without someone getting hurt. 

Harmony abruptly stood up, "We should spend less time together." She pushed herself off the ground; granules of sand speckled her tone lower limbs from years of afternoon jogs. "Lines have been blurred and I need some space." Her words died on her tongue as her throat knocked against her voice box from the way he peered at her like a deer in headlights. "Wesley was right." 

"Fuck Wes!" He impulsively retorted. "I don't give a damn what he thinks about anything. Nor should you."

 "Forget it." She quickly moved and stepped away from him. "I'm too tired for this." She strode back to The O' Connor beach house, hurriedly.