Back to his place to sleep? The ocean with waves crashing against the sand to lull me to sleep? Yes please! “I want to sleep at your place,” I say, slowly sipping my soup.

He laughs. “I figured that’s what you would say. You love the beach. That’s why you chose to come to Talania for school.”

That is another memory I do not recall. He must recognize the look on my face by now because his smile turns into a frown.

“I’m sorry.” He drops his hamburger back on the plate. “Would you like me to tell you about it?”

I look out the window, nodding as I do so.

“It was our second summer together. We were playing on the beach with your video camera, working on a summer project for your art class,” he sighs. “We were waiting for the sun to go down so you could record the sunset, but somehow we lost track of time like we always did. We started playing in the water in front of the camera while it was recording. By the time we realized the sky was getting darker, it was too late. There we were in the film, playing in the water while the sun set behind us. Damn, you were so upset, but then we flopped right there on the sand with our clothes soaking wet and watched the video of the two us.

“After the video was over, you put the camera back in its case. Then you whispered, “Where are we going to college, Tristan?” I didn’t know why you were asking about college, after watching us playing around in the ocean like a couple of little kids. I said, “Where ever you want to go. I will follow you anywhere.” I swear that next day you had our whole entire future completely planned out. You told me you had picked Talania because you wanted to make more memories like the one we filmed while playing in the water.”

Oh! “So I picked Talania because it sits next to the coast?”

“Yeah baby, you did.” He takes a sip of his soda. “There was no talking you out of it. I was not going to try to stop you if it meant we were going to school together and living our lives together.” He sits back. “Hell, I still came here even though you had left.”

I finish what little soup I have left and take a sip of my tea. “I don’t understand something though. Did my parents know about our plans? My Dad is the one who suggested Talania because of my love for the ocean and since it was only a few hours from both our homes.”

Tristan crosses his arms, looking up as if he is scrolling through memories and trying to pick me out the answer.

“Actually, your mom knew. I don’t think your dad knew about Talania at all. He was always out of town. Hell, he was gone until two days before you left Laguna.”

That just doesn’t make any sense at all. My mom refused Talania with everything she had, but my father and I outnumbered her.

“My mom didn’t want me coming here. Now I am even more confused as to why she would want keep me away. Even if she thought you might still have come here without me, it just doesn’t make sense.”

“Evelyn, I need to tell you something. I don’t want you getting upset, okay?”

Those words are never good. I feel like throwing my hands to my ears to block out what he might say.

13

Ev is shaking, probably out of fear for what I am about to tell her. I keep playing this memory repeatedly in my head. I wonder if I should say anything, and if I do, how I should say it.

“Tristan!” I look up and see that Ev is running towards me, almost tripping through all of the puddles. The rain is pouring down hard and this is the coldest temperature I have felt in Laguna in a long time. We are in the middle of a bad rainstorm right now.

She falls into my arms, and her body is shaking so bad. She only shakes like this if she’s nervous, scared or cold. Right now, I think she is all three.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” I pull her away so I can see into her eyes.

“Don’t call me that right now!” she cries.

She hardly ever yells at me unless I am being a prick and I haven’t been one lately.

I take a step back, distancing myself from her.

“I don’t understand what I did. Why can’t I call you baby right now?”

I watch her as she bites her lip and cries even more.

“Well?” I ask again.

“Because we might have created one, that’s why,” she whispers.

We might have WHAT?

“My period is a week late; it’s never late Tristan.” She looks at me.

Oh, f**k!

“But we use condoms every time,” I croak out.

“Don’t you think I know that? I put in all the factors Tristan, and we were careful, but even the stupid box says only 99.9 percent effective. I don’t know what to do. Please tell me what to do!”

Okay, we can get through this. We have always talked about having kids— just not while we are still kids ourselves. Shit! I take a few minutes and get the words straight in my mind so I don’t freak her out when I say them. “Look, we always talk about having kids, and if we are having a baby we’ll just look at it like we’re starting early, way early.”

She stops moving and just stares at me while the rain drips down her beautiful face. “Areyouserious?” she says in one long word.

“Well, yeah babe. I’m serious.” I grin.

She launches herself at me so fast I don’t see her coming.

“See what I did there?” I ask against her lips. “I just deducted the y and added an e.”

Her sweet giggle fills my ears and her sweet voice echoes in my mouth. “Yeah babe, I caught that,” she whispers before crushing our lips together again.