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could tell she liked it when he treated her like an adult, and he recalled how at fifteen, when he had taken off on his own, he didn’t like it when people treated him like a kid. He figured Shelby had more maturity than he did at her age.
    Nico brought the beers and Rick handed him a hundred drachma. Nico began to argue the payment, but Rick made him take it. “Just don’t tell him I paid.” He was sure Kostas didn’t realize just how much they could drink in five weeks.
    “Do you always wear that necklace?” Shelby asked, pointing to the shell necklace around his neck.
    “Yeah, I guess. For about ten years now.”
    She nodded and added, “I like those, they’re cool. I should get one.”
    “They seem to be pretty popular right now.”
    Almost twice as many people as usual danced, and he and Shelby sat back and watched.
     “So Rick, exactly how long are you here for?”
    “A little over a month,” he said. “At first I thought it would be too long, but now I’m starting to worry it won’t be long enough.”
    “You can always come back.”
    “It’s really hard to get away, things are planned out a long way in advance, and your schedule fills up quick. You just don’t even want to look too far ahead.”
    “I’m sorry,” she said, “it must be exhausting.”
    “It can be.”
    Her hair fell into her face, and again, he fought the urge to brush it away.
    Deciding it was his turn to move the conversation, and being very curious about her, he asked, “How long have you been sneaking out at night?”
    “I did it a couple of times last summer, but I guess this summer I’ve been doing it a lot. I just get so bored at home, and I hate going to bed early.”
    Rick laughed. “I guess you sound like a typical teenager.” The comment made her blush, so he continued on, pretending not to notice. “How do you do it? I mean, do you walk out the front door or what?”
    Giggling, she said, “I wish it was that simple. No, I have to sneak into my dad’s studio, then climb out the window onto our neighbor’s roof. They have steps that end at their front door, so sometimes it’s a little tricky. Timing is important.” She looked very serious, and it made him laugh. “I mean it! They stay up late, and they’re always in and out the door.”
    “I believe you. I’m sure you have to be very careful,” he said. “Do you always come here when you sneak out?”
    “Usually, but sometimes I ride with friends to other towns on the island, just for a change.”
    “Do your friends have cars?”
    “No, but most of them have motorcycles.”
    He was beginning to get a picture of her as a wild adventurer, but the images of her racing down the island’s narrow roads on the back of a motorcycle in the middle of the night was unnerving. He knew by friends , she meant boys.
    “Well,” he said, stubbing out his cigarette, “I hope you’re careful. Motorcycles can be very dangerous.” The sound in his head of the warning made him feel a little stupid.
    “Don’t worry,” she said with a smile. “I only ride with people I trust.”
    Rick was starting to worry that even at twenty-four, he sounded like a meddling adult, so he changed the subject. “So what do you do for school?” As soon as the question was out of his mouth, he realized he’d done nothing but strengthen that role for himself. She didn’t seem bothered by it, and explained that she had been home schooled for a while, but that eventually her parents enrolled her in the Greek school when they discovered that she had fallen behind her peers.
    “What do you want to do when you finish high school? College, or are you going to find a nice Greek boy and settle down?” He looked around, noting that several of her boyfriends around the club watched them, and he hoped the joke would make him seem like less of an authority figure.
    “Well, promise you won’t laugh?” She took her feet off the stool and sat up straight, pushing her fists into the bench on