Beyond the Rising Tide by Sarah Beard

saying, “Yeah. I probably could.”
    Beth returns to the kitchen and pulls a glass from the cupboard. The beach’s humidity has done a number on her curls, and they’re springing out of her scalp like a jester’s hat. She looks at me. “Did you know Avery makes the most amazing chocolates?”
    “Does she?” Of course I already know she works in a chocolate shop. I even sampled the chocolate once before I died.
    “If you go to the surf shop like Avery suggested,” Beth says, apparently having eavesdropped on our conversation, “you should stop by her father’s chocolate shop, the Chocolate Couture. Avery works there. She’ll give you some free samples.”
    Avery comes back into the kitchen, moves her plate to the sink, and then looks at her mom regretfully. “Dad needs me at work.”
    “Avery,” Beth chides. “It’s your day off.”
    “I know, but … he needs me. They’re slammed today, and he had to fire one of the new summer employees for giving out a bunch of free chocolate to his friends.”
    Beth huffs. “So much for the perfect day.”
    Avery turns to me and smiles a little. “You’ve probably been itching for an escape anyway. Do you want a bag for the rest of your sandwich? You didn’t eat very much.”
    I look down at my food, which is almost untouched. I guess I was too focused on Avery to eat. “Sure,” I say, standing.
    As she bags my sandwich, I stand there hoping I’ll have more time with her. Maybe I’ll visit her at the chocolate shop tomorrow like her mom suggested. Or maybe I’ll visit her later today, in case I don’t have a tomorrow.
    She walks me to the door and hands me the paper bag. “Thanks again for helping save the crab.”
    I nod as I walk through the doorway and turn back to her. “Thanks for the crab sandwich.”
    She smiles, and it actually touches her eyes. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”
    “Maybe.” There has to be something else to say, something meaningful in case this is the last time she sees me. I open my mouth, willing the perfect words to come out. “Well … it’s been real.”
    She nods, waves, and then shuts the door.
    I stand there a moment, like I’m waiting for her to open it back up, even though I know she won’t.
    It’s been real? That’s what I went to all this trouble to tell her? It’s been real. Brilliant. I sigh and look down at Charles’s ring. It could be minutes before he notices it missing, or weeks. There’s no way of knowing. So I need to make the most of my time here. Avery’s going to be heading to work soon, so I turn and start walking in that direction, intending to take her mom’s suggestion to get some chocolate samples.

he air is extra clear after last night’s rainstorm, and from where I’m driving, I can see the ocean below, rippling shades of blue and fringes of white foam. My chest aches at the sight of it, so I move my sun visor over the side window and focus on the road instead.
    Up ahead, a boy is walking on the shoulder of the highway. He’s tall, and his platinum-blond hair glows like a beacon in the sunlight.
    I know that hair. I just said good-bye to it on Mom’s doorstep fifteen minutes ago. I slow down and pull up behind him, lowering my window and leaning out. “Car trouble?”
    When he turns and sees me, his eyebrows rise, and the corner of his mouth follows. “You could say that.”
    “Can I give you a ride somewhere?”
    He comes to my window and lays his hand on the door. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you not to pick up strangers?”
    More than once, Dad has told me not to pick up strangers. Probably because when I first got my drivers license, I did it all the time. A lot of people don’t like to pay for parking near the beach, so when I’d see them struggling with their surfboard and beach bags, I’d pick them up if I was already on my way there.
    Kai is less of a stranger than all the others I’ve picked up. However, thanks to our crab rescue, I do know for a fact that he’s