Page 64 of Summer Romance
“Life isn’t all about work,” Libby says. I am starting to be embarrassed. Like they spent the whole drive here plotting how they could lasso me a guy.
Cliffy saves me. “There’s also skateboarding.”
Ethan gives him a side glance. “Yep. And Cliffy and I are starting tomorrow after camp in the high school parking lot.” I haven’t heard anything about this, and the thought of Cliffy skateboarding terrifies me. But I do love that they’ve made plans and the happy way I imagine this makes Cliffy feel.
Frannie rolls her eyes. “You were always so embarrassing riding that thing around like it was attached to you.”
Ethan says to Cliffy, “It really takes some women a long time to realize what’s cool.”
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I’m not going tonotlet him go. It’s important that Cliffy try things and build his confidence, though Cliffy on a skateboard sounds like the fast track to a broken arm. But I thought I was going to crash and burn the first time I tried, and I didn’t. In fact, I am starting to understand the lightness that comes from focusing so hard on a single thing. Without all the distractions, it’s almost as if you could fly.
Iris isn’t really interested in skateboarding but brings a soccer ball. Greer comes under duress. She was still low before camp this morning, quieter than usual and epically preoccupied with her phone. I want to grab her and pull her back from this psychic ledge, but my efforts seem to backfire every time. So, when in doubt, fresh air.
Ethan meets us at the high school at three. He’s brought a small skateboard for Cliffy and one for himself. He’s trying to get Cliffy to be easy about it, but Cliffy seems scared. Ethan leans down and tells him something and Cliffy shakes his head. Ethan goes to his car and retrieves two baseballcaps. When he’s back to Cliffy, he makes a big show of placing it on his own head and turning it around backward. This makes me smile so much that I have to put my hand over my face.
He hands the other hat to Cliffy, and Cliffy places it on his head and carefully swings it around. Ethan approves and they high-five. Soon Cliffy is standing on the board. Ethan holds his hand and gets him to bend his knees a little. Cliffy is concentrating so hard as Ethan starts to ride him around the parking lot slowly. They go back and forth, and I am mesmerized. Everything in my life has changed since the night he did this with me.
“This is so boring,” Iris says, abandoning her soccer ball and plopping down next to Greer and me on the blacktop. “Can we go canoeing?”
“Yes,” I say without really thinking. I do not want to be inside today.
Greer’s scrolling through her phone with a blank expression on her face. I know this expression because I’ve felt it on my own face. You scroll through the photos of all of your friends who are having better, more meaningful lives than yours until the only thing you remember about your own life is that you’re not living your best one. Instagram knows this because it sends me commercial breaks from this NumbScroll™ to suggest how I could get that best life. This usually strikes me as funny, or at least ironic, but it’s not funny when I see it on Greer’s face. There’s an emptiness there that makes me ache.
Ethan gets Cliffy to put his right foot down and push offa bit. It’s a slow start but he does it. Ethan picks him up off the board and spins him around. And the lesson is over.
“Is that it?” Iris asks.
“Yep, you’ve got to stop while it’s still fun.”
“It was fun,” Cliffy agrees, and falls into my lap.
“You were great,” I say, and smooth his sweaty hair off his forehead.
“Come on, Ali, your turn,” Ethan says, reaching out his hand to pull me up.
“Mom? You’re going to try?” Greer asks. It might be the first thing I’ve heard her say today, and I have an urge to be brave for her. To show her something that’s not on her phone. I get up without taking his hand. I don’t know how to touch him in a way that looks platonic.
“Sure,” I say. “Scooter’s given me a couple of lessons. I think I’ve got it.” I take Cliffy’s hat and put it on and turn it backward. He gives me a thumbs-up and Ethan hands me his board. They’re all watching me and I know that I could fall flat on my face, but I want to trust this thing, this piece of wood with wheels. I want to trust myself to stay in balance.
I push off with my left foot. The parking lot is flat so I only get as much speed as I try for. I lean a little and turn and feel the way I’ve controlled the board. Just a slight lean in, almost imperceptible, makes all the difference. I turn as I go, showing off now.Who’s more unstuck than me, I think. I make a sharp turn at the end of the lot but can’t quite stay on my board. I get back on, and I can feel how little is weighing me down. I imagine myself going up the half-pipe and turning in the air the way Ethan does. I imagine Greerdropping her phone to cheer. I skate back to them and Ethan and Cliffy are beaming. Greer rolls her eyes.
“Can we go canoeing now?” Iris asks. Before I can answer, she says, “Scooter, you can come too. My mom is so fast.”
“I’ve heard,” he says. “Let’s do it.” And he’s so comfortable. Like of course we should all go out in the canoe—it’s a beautiful day. He doesn’t know how loaded that canoe is in my head. Ethan in my canoe sounds absolutely perfect.
Linda has abig smile for my kids. “Two days in a row! What a fun surprise!”
“Cliffy was learning to skateboard and it was hot and boring so we came here,” says Iris.
“That’s pretty much it,” I say. “Linda, this is Ethan.”
Ethan reaches out his hand to shake. “Hi, Mrs. Bronstein.”
She pulls him into a hug. “Scooter Hogan. US history. I cannot believe it. I ask Frannie about you all the time, and she tells me about your life up in Devon. I can’t believe you’re all grown up.”
“I get that a lot,” he says, and hands Cliffy a set of oars.
