I spun down the worn, wood planks of the boardwalk. The air was heavy and reeked of fish and also smelled very salty. Waves tossed against the shore, dragging pebbles and sand slowly back into the sea.
The moon was high and shone brightly in the sky, but the sun was just setting.
It was so good to be able to breathe, I thought. I loved the beautiful roughness of the ocean, loved the power I felt with each breath of wet, salty air. I spun again, unsteady, not caring that my long skirt was flying up over the tops of my thighs.
"Come on," Selinda called. She stepped over the overflowing, leaf-filled gutter along the street across from the boardwalk, wobbling slightly on high-heeled boots. Her black glittery makeup sparkled under the street lamps. Selinda blew out ghosts of smoke and took another puff on her joint.
"You are so going to fall." Selinda's brother, Orion said looking concerned.
My mother and I had been staying at my grandmother's for two weeks already, and even though my mother kept saying we'd be leaving soon, I knew we didn't have anywhere to go. I was glad. I loved the large old house covered with dust and spiderwebs. I liked the sea being so near and the air not making me want to throw up.
The seedy motels we passed were all closed and boarded up but they were still very popular spots for couples. The arcades were shut down also, but the prizes from the claw machines were scattered all over the floor after some teens must have broken in and smashed the machines. A worn and weathered sign above an abandoned candy store showed the words SALT WATER TAFFY and OLD FASHIONED ICE CREAM.
Selinda rummaged through her huge purse and pulled out some cherry lipgloss. I spun up to her, fake snakeskin coat flying open, a run already in my nylons. My boots had sand stuck to them.
"Let's go skinny dipping," I said. I was filled with excitement, staring at the pale moon. Everything smelled wet like it did before a storm, and I wanted to leap, happy and unafraid, beyond everything that I could see.
"The water is too cold," Selinda said, giving a breath of frustration, "and your hair is messed up. Artemis, when we get there, you have to be normal. Don't seem so strange. Guys don't like strange."
"I do," Orion stated and Selinda gave him a dirty look.
I paused and listened intently, my eyes watching Selinda carefully. "What should I act like?"
"I don't want you to act a certain way, it's just... don't you want someone to date?"
"Why bother? Let's find adventure."
"Adventure?"
"Yeah. And we're more likely to find adventure"—my voice sounding dramatic—"while swimming naked in the Pacific 30 days before Halloween than practically anywhere else in the world."
Selinda rolled her eyes and Orion covered his mouth as if holding in a laugh.
I spun again, laughing wildly.
"Why are you always acting so crazy? That's what I meant by strange!" Selinda was shouting loudly, but I could hardly hear her over the gusting wind and the sound of my laughter.
"Remember the imaginary ghosts you used to tell tales about? What were their names?"
"Which one? Whisper, Dreamer, or Secret?"
"Exactly! You made them up!" Selinda shouted. "You're always making shit up."
I stopped spinning, tilting my head to the right, hands slipping into my coat pockets. "I never said I didn't."
