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me things based on how it will look with my eyes, my hair, and my shape. She is having fun and, for that matter, so am I. She picks out two bathing suits. Nothing I would ever have picked out for myself, but I like them, they are grown up looking. I am a little nervous about wearing a bikini, so she picks out a black two piece, sort of like a tankini, except the top shows more of my stomach, but not quite as revealing as a bikini. I like it. The other is a turquoise one piece, cut high on the legs and low in the front. It reveals more than enough skin, though I like it even more than the other. I feel grown up. I have to say, I’m impressed with my body. I have put on a little more weight, which was greatly needed because it added more curves. I look older.
    I peek out of the curtain nervously. “What do you think?”
    “I think you are going to be turning a lot of heads in Bay Point this summer!”
    “Oh, right, sure. I don’t think I’ve ever turned anyone’s head in my life.”
    “I think you have, you just haven’t noticed. You’ll see.”
    As we check out, I still have plenty of money left over. She asks me about shoes and I point out the sneakers I’m wearing. “This is pretty much it,” I tell her. “Other than a pair of sandals from last summer, but they hurt my feet.”
    Of course she has found a deal for shoes as well. “Ugh, look, three pairs of flip flops for twenty dollars. That’s a good price. We live at the beach, so that’s all we wear all summer!”  She says as she picks them out, while I sit back and admire her shopping abilities. They are stylish, not your basic flip flops. They are beaded, come in different colors and have a nice wedge to give me some height; something my five foot two frame lacks.
    Finally, exhausted from shopping, we have lunch at a Mexican Restaurant, Los Amigos . We talk about plans for the summer as we snack on salsa and chips. She fills me in on the parties at the inlet, a small stretch of beach separated by thick woods that you can’t get to by car and can only be reached by foot. It’s where the bay meets the ocean.
    While we finished our order of chicken enchiladas, I ask if she has a boyfriend, but she doesn’t at the moment. I know about Luke and Alexa, but I wasn’t sure about Mikey.
    “He has lots of girlfriends. He’s a little wilder than Luke. Not that he’s an angel, either, but Mikey is more of jerk when it comes to girls, from what I hear. The girls just throw themselves at him anyway, and Luke, too, it’s pretty pathetic.”
    “Why?”
    “I think because they’re like our own local celebrities. It’s not every day that two kids from the same school may have a chance at the big leagues,” she answers.
    “Yeah, Luke told me about that.”
    “How about you? Have you ever dated? I know you missed last year, but what about before?” Deanna and I have become close rather quickly, so I filled her in about the accident one day while we sunbathed in my yard. I feel I have to come clean about my past. As horrible as it is to talk about, I confide in her about everything from my breakdown to the therapy sessions that took place not so long ago. Surprisingly, I don’t scare her away. She is compassionate and understanding and says she’d react the same way if something ever happened to her mom.
    “No, I’ve never dated. You think I’m shy now? I was probably worse then,” I answer when she turns the relationship back to me. She laughs and tells me not to worry about it. She is anxious for me to meet her friends, but says she won’t push until I feel I am ready.

Chapter 9
    (Jesse)
    I finally build up the courage to go to the beach with Deanna and meet her friends. I’ve grown comfortable with my routine over the last couple of weeks. Hanging out at De and Luke’s house, having lunch on the boardwalk every now and then, and mornings spent talking to Luke at the docks or sometimes just sitting silently, watching the sun come up. We form