MEL WAS UP AT the crack of dawn on Saturday morning. She was bound and determined to meet the ferry Justin would be on, and not look sleepy. In fact, the night before, at Mel’s insistence, Dee had given her a crash course in makeup, and Mel methodically applied blusher, mascara, and eyeliner before she left Moonrise House.
She reached the ferry dock ten minutes before the boat was due in, and sat on a wooden bench, straining her eyes across the bay for the first glimpse of the Kiki. At last she could see it, moving slowly through the gray water. It chugged toward the island, motor roaring, until it reached the markers a little distance from the dock. Then the motor was cut and the boat purred in lazily.
Mel spotted Justin on a seat on the upper deck. She waved madly to him, and when he saw her, he waved back, grinning broadly. A few seconds later, he disappeared. When the gangplank was lowered, Justin was the first one off the Kiki.
He ran to Mel. “Hi!” he cried.
“Hi! I missed you!”
“Same here.”
“Is that all your stuff?”
Justin was carrying a duffel bag in one hand and a knapsack in the other. “Yeah, that’s it. I travel light.”
They ambled to the end of the ferry dock. “It’s early,” said Mel. “What do you want to do?”
“Let’s go to my house so I can dump my stuff off and tell Leila I’m here. Then do you want to take a walk on the beach? I could use a little exercise.”
“Sure,” replied Mel. “That sounds great.” In the back of her mind, she was thinking that if Justin had asked her to come along and pick through trash at a dump, she would gladly have accompanied him.
They reached Justin’s house, which Mel found out was named Dune House, and Mel waited outside while Justin went in with his bags. He had asked her in, and she had declined. She wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t feel like meeting Leila just then.
Justin returned presently, and he and Mel set off for the beach. Mel told him what had happened with Lacey.
“It works the other way, too,” Justin said. “Sometimes girls come between guys.”
“Has it ever happened to you?”
“No, but I’ve seen it happen to one or two of my friends. It started happening last year, when we were freshmen. It was no big deal, though.”
“Something you’ll look back on and laugh about?” asked Mel.
Justin smiled. “I guess so.”
“Well,” said Mel, “Lacey and I haven’t laughed about our fight, but I think we saw that there wasn’t that much to be fighting about in the first place. Neither of us did anything actually wrong, although I know Lacey felt hurt.”
Justin nodded.
“Well, on to cheerier subjects,” said Mel.
“So, besides having a fight with Lacey Reeder, what did you do while I was gone?”
“Played Trivia Chase till it came out my ears. I bet I know the answer to every single question on every single card. And I finished an Agatha Christie mystery and worked on a watercolor and wrote poetry in my journal. What did you do?”
“Nothing much,” replied Justin vaguely. “You sure were busy. Do you always have so many projects going?”
“Usually. I don’t know why. Dee once told me I act like someone who’s been told she has only six months to live, and has to cram as much as possible into her remaining time. I’ve always been like that.”
“Hey, Mel?” said Justin.
“Yeah?”
He paused. “Nothing.”
But the next thing Mel knew, he had reached for her hand and laced his fingers through hers. Mel’s heart pounded. They walked up the beach in silence.
On Sunday, they didn’t see each other. Mr. Braderman was on the island, of course, and Justin’s father had flown in unexpectedly. Mel and Justin spent the day with their families.
On Monday afternoon, Justin took Mel clamming in the bay. Mel loathed clams—live or cooked—but she enjoyed clamming under the lowering sun with Justin.
On Tuesday evening, they walked to Watch Hill again. They saw four deer in the wildlife preserve. “If I were a deer, I’d be scared of us,” commented Mel.
“I guess they’re used to people,” Justin replied. “Besides, if I were a deer, I wouldn’t be scared of you.”
He took her hand and they walked on.
Wednesday was a rainy day, so Mel stayed at home. The entire Reeder family came over just after lunch, and Mel, Lacey, Timmy, Jackie, Dee, Jeanmarie, Mrs. Braderman, and Mrs. Reeder began a vicious game of Monopoly. By the time Timmy won, four and a half hours later, he had cleaned out every player plus the bank, and the sun was shining palely.
Mel decided to find Justin. She ran along the damp walks, the wet trees dripping onto her skin, and nearly slammed into somebody as she rounded a corner.
“Justin!” she exclaimed.
“Mel! Where are you going?”
“To find you. The sun’s out and I thought maybe we could take a walk.”
“Oh, good. I was on my way to ask you the same thing.”
Hand in hand, they walked to the beach. Neither one felt the need to speak. When they reached the steps down to the dunes, Mel paused. “Let’s sit up here and look at the ocean,” she said. “The sand is too wet to sit in.”
They sat side by side on the top step, their shoulders touching. Justin took one of Mel’s hands and held it between both of his. “A hand sandwich,” commented Mel.
“You know what I’ve been thinking?” Justin said a few moments later.
“What?”
“That in less than two weeks, we’ll have left the island.”
“Yuck. I know,” said Mel. “Back to school. We might come out for a few weekends in September, though. What about you?”
Justin shook his head. “We only have the house until the end of Labor Day weekend.”
“Oh.”
“And then I’ll be back in New York.”
“And I’ll be back in Bronxville.”
“How often do you get into the city?” asked Justin.
“Not very often. Maybe three or four times a year—to see the Reeders or go to a show or something. My mother doesn’t like New York.”
“We’re not coming back, you know,” said Justin abruptly.
“Not coming back? Oh, you mean not coming back here next summer?”
He shook his head. “Dad’s thinking about going to Block Island. Or maybe back to the Hamptons. And my mother’s moving to L.A. I might be out in California a lot from now on.”
“Oh.”
“We’re really not going to see each other much after Labor Day.”
“I guess not.”
“That’s why I was thinking that we should make the most of what’s left of the summer—”
“Definitely.”
“—and then not try to see each other again.”
“What?” cried Mel.
“It would be too hard. You’ll be starting high school, You’ll want to go out with new guys. Believe me, they’ll want to go out with you.”
“You think so?”
“Yes, and we shouldn’t be tied down to each other. It would be pointless since we’ll probably never see each other again.”
“I suppose,” Mel said slowly. She stared down at the hand sandwich, willing herself not to cry.
And then, ever so slowly, Justin let go of her hand, drew her to him, and kissed her lightly on the lips. Mel was startled, then felt herself begin to tingle with pleasure. She leaned forward and, just as tenderly, kissed Justin back.
“A summer romance,” Mel whispered.
“Yes,” replied Justin. “It will have to be just a summer romance.”