Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 73940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“Oh, thank you. And call me Mariela.” She swept the camera around her garden-filled yard. There were all kinds of roses and orchids and flowers I didn’t even know the name of. There was also a stunning painting on an easel.
“Whoa, that’s even more beautiful,” I said, leaning in to appreciate it.
“My mom’s a big artist. Has her paintings in galleries all over Europe.”
“No way!”
The camera went back to Mariela’s smiling face. “I sure do. Maybe you two can take a ‘roommate’ trip one day to Paris. I have my newest piece over there.”
“Oh, I’d love that,” I said.
“I wouldn’t,” Jay deadpanned, smiling. “Talk to you later, Mom. Love you.”
“Love you too, hijo.”
Jay locked his phone and set it back down on his desk. He leaned back on his chair. “Welp, that’s my mom.” He had his hands behind his head, eyes up at the popcorn ceiling.
“I see where you get all your talent from,” I said.
“Yeah, my dad was really talented, too.”
I dropped my bag with my change of clothes and sat down on my bed. “Tell me some more about him.”
He did. He told me all about his dad, all about what a hero he was. How he loved to make silly dad jokes, and he cooked a mean lasagna.
And then it got to the day he died. A cloud crossed Jay’s expression, dark and stormy.
I forgot all about rowing practice. Fuck that. Nothing else mattered more than being here with Jay in this moment.
“He was a marine biologist,” Jay began. “It’s where I got my ecologist spirit from. He loved what he did. He’d go on different assignments throughout the year, working on different research papers and trying to get new grants for other research projects. He’d take me with him sometimes. I got to see beluga whales being geotagged, got to watch a blood sample get taken from a mako shark, got to see a rehabilitated sea turtle get rereleased back into the ocean.
“I was supposed to be with my dad the day he drowned.”
“Jay…” I stood and went to his side, squatting down so that I was at his level. I grabbed his hand in mine as he continued.
“We were supposed to be out to check up on a pod of bottlenose dolphins. The weather was clear. Not a single raindrop was on the radar. I had to stay home that day since I woke up with a really bad sore throat.
“I was sitting in the living room when I heard the first clap of thunder.” Jay sucked in a deep, shaky breath.
I sat in silence, my heart already clenched in an iron-cold grip. The fist got tighter and tighter as Jay continued.
“It was a freak storm that was pretty much hurricane force. And it was just my dad that day, out on a tiny little boat. The waves… I still have nightmares about how bad they must have been. Or my dad yelling. Trying to hold on while the ocean tried to rip him apart. He never came home that day.” He started to cry, the sound of it tearing me apart at a cellular level. I put my arms around him and took him into a tight hug, letting him let it all out onto my shoulder.
He trembled in my arms. The pain still bloody and raw.
“It’s why I hate water. The ocean. I’ve never been back, and I don’t want to go. I hate being even this close to it. Hate smelling the salt water. I just… I’m scared and resentful. And I miss him. And I want to make him proud, every day. But I want to hug him again most—most of all. And, and—”
“You are. You are making him so, so proud.” I kissed his forehead, wiped away a streak of tears. All I could do in this moment was be by him. Hold him. He had to let it out. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Jay said, his tears beginning to lessen. My heart still hurt for him. I could see the pain in his face now. That kind of shit, it haunts you until the day you’re a ghost yourself.
“I’m the one that’s sorry,” he sniffed again. “You need to be getting to practice. Go. Go. I’m okay.”
“Nah, fuck practice.”
“Huh?”
I reached for my phone and shot a quick text to my friend, asking him to let Coach know I wouldn’t be making it.
“Come,” I said, grabbing his hand in mine. It was such a perfect fit. “I want to show you something instead. It’s where I go when I need to relax a bit.”
“You sure?”
I leaned in and kissed him, tasting some of the salty tears on his lips. “Absolutely. Let’s go.”
Jay got changed and put on his shoes, and we were off. A short walk led us to the edge of the FU campus, where an overgrown trail snaked through the trees. These weren’t the palm trees that dotted the campus all throughout. These were a cluster of pine trees that created a natural little forest that pushed away and up a small hill.