As it turns out, I did not go to the movies with Juliette and Nick.
Why not? For one thing, I still had a Pretty Pretty Princess game to win. And me, be a third wheel on a date? I didn’t think so. But I wasn’t pouting. I swear. They were going to some sci-fi movie, and I am so not into them. And when Josh and Brian heard that Juliette and Nick were going, they totally hitched a ride and went to the movies, too! I could tell Nick was a little annoyed. And Juliette, too. But what can you do?
I actually ended up having a pretty pleasant afternoon. I lost the game, in the end, to Princess Ruff-Ruff, but I won a game of hearts with the adults. And I finally got a chance to practice “Under the Boardwalk” with Jay. (And if I do say so myself, it was sounding pretty good!)
Not that it was easy to “lose” both Nick and Juliette. But by the time they got back—and Nick stayed for dinner—I realized that in a way I still had them both. In fact, I now had a lot more to talk about with my friend Juliette. Plus, I could see it wouldn’t have worked out romantically between me and Nick. He loved mushrooms! Blech!
A few days later, my dad arrived—with the sun. Hooray! And before I knew it, we were counting down the days until we went home. Boo-hoo!
Karen and Jay had announced that since the Drift Inn had survived the storm, it was a sign that they should keep the house (ants, mildew, and all) and fix it up. We even started a couple of projects—like washing windows and repainting the DRIFT INN sign—but when I realized they were just making the days go by faster, they started to seem a little less fun.
I honestly couldn’t believe that the summer was almost over. By our last week, some of the lifeguards had even left to go back to school. (I was so glad Greenwood Middle School didn’t start until September!)
Juliette and I were both glad that Nick didn’t have to go early—her for the obvious reason, but me because it meant that he was around and came by one Wednesday night, just as we were finishing off a huge pot of spicy shrimp on the back porch. (Just for the record: I still hated seafood…but shrimp were pretty good.)
Naturally, I assumed he was there to get Juliette and take a walk. They were pretty cute when they did that (though I had to admit that I was jealous the first time). But on that Wednesday, it turned out Nick was not there to get Juliette. He was there to get all of us.
“Come on, you all have to see this,” he said. “The turtles are hatching down the beach!”
“Turtles?” said my dad.
“No way!” I exclaimed. “Come on, hurry!”
Nick had already told me more about the LOGGERHEAD TURTLE NESTING AREA sign that I’d seen. It marked a nest full of eggs that a female turtle had laid back in June. There was usually at least one nest found on the beach every year, and the town was careful to protect them since those sea turtles were an endangered species.
We grabbed a few flashlights for when it got dark, plus a few folding chairs for my mom and the “girls” (old ladies, if you asked me), and made our way as fast as we could down the beach. A small crowd had already gathered, along two lines of bright orange tape that formed an aisle from the nest to the water. A few people in yellow TURTLE PATROL hats were keeping everyone quiet. As I joined them, I felt a lot like a cheerleader waiting for the football team to run out.
Everyone was good about letting the smallest kids, like Kiki and Emery, sit up near the front. I stood back a little, next to Juliette and Nick. I was relieved to see that we hadn’t really missed anything yet. The nest still looked like a rough, shallow sand pit.
But then I looked more closely.
It was moving! In fact, before long it almost looked like boiling quicksand in some movie. Then, after a few more minutes, something small but solid appeared. It was smooth, and dark…and had eyes. A tiny turtle head!
And then there was another, and another, and suddenly a bunch—popping up all over the pit like magic!
“Shhh,” warned the Turtle Patrol as everyone breathed, “Ooh!” and “Ahh!”
Then the cutest thing happened: The first turtle’s little front flippers came up! They were an inch long, at most, and they waved around, reaching and pulling until the baby turtle was out of the hole. Then it was a free-for-all!
The little sand pit completely gave way and there were suddenly tiny heads and flippers everywhere! They kept flailing and flapping around, climbing up and over one another. If I hadn’t known they were turtles, I might have thought they were crazy bugs. And they didn’t stop. It was literally a turtle eruption. They just kept coming…and coming…and coming, as if from nowhere. There must have been hundreds! As soon as they were out, they started motoring straight toward the ocean. No looking around, thinking, “Oh! Check out all these people,” or “Ahh, smell that salt air.” No nothing but “Out of my way! I’ve got to get to the water now!”
It was weird, though. The turtles were so tiny, and so helpless in so many ways. If a seagull had been around, it would have gobbled them right up. The second a wave reached them, it washed their thumb-size bodies out to sea. But at the same time, they were so sure of themselves, so fearless, and so independent. They wanted the wave to take them. And after their awkward shuffle down the beach, I bet being swept away was a relief for them.
I wondered if they were scared at all, but just didn’t want to show it—especially with all the people around and a video camera rolling. (I hoped they put it up on YouTube!) I wondered if they’d meet their mother one day, and if they’d know her if they saw her. And I wondered if they’d ever come back to this beach to lay a few hundred eggs of their own…
“Bye-bye, baby turtles,” I couldn’t help but whisper. “Good luck!”
After that, there was only one good thing about the summer ending: getting Liza’s package! It not only included a picture of her dressed as Elvis—hilarious!—but a crazy little cowboy lizard that looked pretty awesome next to the hula-girl lamp in my bedroom. Too bad they had to split up so soon—they made such a cute couple.
Plus, Liza said in her card that she had a lot to tell me. She really knew how to torture me. Ugh! But it did give me at least one reason to want to get home.
“So, do you think you’d like to come back next summer?” my mother asked me as we spent our last afternoon lounging on the sand.
“Yes!” I said at once. “But only if Juliette comes, too,” I added. And I was pretty sure she’d want to (especially if Nick was still lifeguarding). Maybe she and Nick would even get married one day. The ceremony could be at the Drift Inn. And I could be the maid of honor, since I introduced them!
“Hey,” I said to my mom as another idea popped into my head. “What would y’all think if I invited Liza and Mina next year?”
“‘Y’all’?” My mom smiled. “You know, you’re starting to talk like Karen! But yes, we could ask. That could be fun. There’s definitely room.”
That night, we had a bonfire on the beach (which honestly worried me with Josh and Brian around, but it turned out okay), and Jay and I played “Under the Boardwalk” for everyone, plus another song that he helped me write. I think it pretty much summed up how I was feeling:
Stay summer, stay, never, never go away.
Summer stay, summer stay, summer stay.
Oh, but I know, I know you gotta go.
I wish it were not so, but I know…yeah, I know.
All I can do is write this tune for you.
Summer, see you soon.
Jay was a really good guitar teacher, BTW, though he did tell me that playing the bass was even more fun. Maybe I’ll ask for one of those for my birthday next year.
And who knows? Maybe next year I’ll get a lifeguard boyfriend of my own….