Read Online Beach Blondes: June Dreams, July's Promise, August Magic (Summer) by Katherine Applegate - Free Book Online
Authors: Katherine Applegate
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that?”
The answer was obvious, Summer knew, only she couldn’t think how to express it. “Because my aunt owns this place,” she said lamely.
Diver sneered derisively. “Yeah, right. Maybe you should go tell Frank that. Maybe he’ll care.”
“Frank is not the problem,” Summer said tersely. “Frank is out there, not in here.”
“Duh,” Diver said. “He’s a bird. Like he’d live in here? This is ready. If you want some, you’d better get a plate.”
“Just answer me this,” Summer said. “Are you the dangerous kind of insane or the harmless kind?”
Suddenly Diver smiled, a slow, almost shy smile that all by itself answered the question. “I guess I’m more the harmless kind. Only I’m not crazy.”
Summer thought about that for a moment. “In Minnesota you’d be crazy.”
“This isn’t Minnesota,” Diver said.
Summer squeezed past him. She grabbed two plates down from the cupboard and two more or less clean forks from the drawer. Then she followed Diver to the small round table.
“I don’t need a plate or fork,” Diver said. “I’ll eat out of the pan.”
“Of course,” Summer said. “I should have known.”
“Shouldn’t use stuff you don’t need,” Diver explained. “Otherwise everything gets used up.”
“I agree with that,” Summer admitted.
She took a bite of the fish. “Whoa, this is excellent.”
“Gotta be fresh, that’s the important thing.”
Summer watched him eat, watched him use his fingers to gingerly break pieces from the fish in the pan and pop them in his mouth. He didn’t look dangerous. If he’d wanted to hurt her, he could have done it the night before. Or now.
Of course, he could still turn out to be nuts. Only…there was something about him. Something innocent. So innocent he made Summer feel old and sophisticated. He must have been at least her age, maybe a year or two older. But his eyes held no guile, no secret agenda. He was eating fish and happy doing just that. He believed he could communicate with a big, gray-brown, poop-producing bird.
“I guess you don’t have anywhere else to live, huh?” Summer asked him.
He shook his head. “Sometimes I sleep on the beach, but the cops don’t like that.”
“Is your family from around here?”
He shook his head and formed that embarrassed, shy smile. “I’m the whole family.”
“How can that be? You must have some kind of family somewhere.”
“I don’t know,” he mumbled around a piece of fish.
“Okay, let me ask you this. Do you have any clothes? I mean, besides your bathing suit?”
“I have this shirt…somewhere.” He glanced around as if it might be somewhere nearby.
Mom and Dad would kill you, Summer, if they knew what you were thinking.
Too bad. Mom and Dad were far away. Even Aunt Mallory wasn’t there, so it was kind of up to her. “Okay, look, you have to swear to me that you won’t get weird on me,” Summer said. “I mean, any more weird.”
His clear, simple gaze met hers. “Okay.”
“Swear.”
“I swear I won’t weird out.”
“Okay, then you can stay. We’ll have to make up some rules, I guess, but I don’t have time right now. I’m supposed to go to a party pretty soon. The only rule I have right now is that no one else can know about you, because if my aunt found out she’d probably ship me back to my parents, who would take turns killing me and grounding me until the middle of the next century.”
“Cool. If you come home late, try not to make a lot of noise, all right? It gets Frank all upset.”
“Frank.”
“Yeah.”
“Diver, can I ask you…why do you call him Frank?”
Diver shrugged. “It’s his name.”
Footsteps on the deck outside and a knock on the door.
Summer froze. Her first panicked thought had been that somehow, by some unknown psychic means, her parents had found out and been instantly transported down to Florida.
“Hey, you in there, Summer?”
Summer relaxed. Marquez. Then she un relaxed. The party.
The answer was obvious, Summer knew, only she couldn’t think how to express it. “Because my aunt owns this place,” she said lamely.
Diver sneered derisively. “Yeah, right. Maybe you should go tell Frank that. Maybe he’ll care.”
“Frank is not the problem,” Summer said tersely. “Frank is out there, not in here.”
“Duh,” Diver said. “He’s a bird. Like he’d live in here? This is ready. If you want some, you’d better get a plate.”
“Just answer me this,” Summer said. “Are you the dangerous kind of insane or the harmless kind?”
Suddenly Diver smiled, a slow, almost shy smile that all by itself answered the question. “I guess I’m more the harmless kind. Only I’m not crazy.”
Summer thought about that for a moment. “In Minnesota you’d be crazy.”
“This isn’t Minnesota,” Diver said.
Summer squeezed past him. She grabbed two plates down from the cupboard and two more or less clean forks from the drawer. Then she followed Diver to the small round table.
“I don’t need a plate or fork,” Diver said. “I’ll eat out of the pan.”
“Of course,” Summer said. “I should have known.”
“Shouldn’t use stuff you don’t need,” Diver explained. “Otherwise everything gets used up.”
“I agree with that,” Summer admitted.
She took a bite of the fish. “Whoa, this is excellent.”
“Gotta be fresh, that’s the important thing.”
Summer watched him eat, watched him use his fingers to gingerly break pieces from the fish in the pan and pop them in his mouth. He didn’t look dangerous. If he’d wanted to hurt her, he could have done it the night before. Or now.
Of course, he could still turn out to be nuts. Only…there was something about him. Something innocent. So innocent he made Summer feel old and sophisticated. He must have been at least her age, maybe a year or two older. But his eyes held no guile, no secret agenda. He was eating fish and happy doing just that. He believed he could communicate with a big, gray-brown, poop-producing bird.
“I guess you don’t have anywhere else to live, huh?” Summer asked him.
He shook his head. “Sometimes I sleep on the beach, but the cops don’t like that.”
“Is your family from around here?”
He shook his head and formed that embarrassed, shy smile. “I’m the whole family.”
“How can that be? You must have some kind of family somewhere.”
“I don’t know,” he mumbled around a piece of fish.
“Okay, let me ask you this. Do you have any clothes? I mean, besides your bathing suit?”
“I have this shirt…somewhere.” He glanced around as if it might be somewhere nearby.
Mom and Dad would kill you, Summer, if they knew what you were thinking.
Too bad. Mom and Dad were far away. Even Aunt Mallory wasn’t there, so it was kind of up to her. “Okay, look, you have to swear to me that you won’t get weird on me,” Summer said. “I mean, any more weird.”
His clear, simple gaze met hers. “Okay.”
“Swear.”
“I swear I won’t weird out.”
“Okay, then you can stay. We’ll have to make up some rules, I guess, but I don’t have time right now. I’m supposed to go to a party pretty soon. The only rule I have right now is that no one else can know about you, because if my aunt found out she’d probably ship me back to my parents, who would take turns killing me and grounding me until the middle of the next century.”
“Cool. If you come home late, try not to make a lot of noise, all right? It gets Frank all upset.”
“Frank.”
“Yeah.”
“Diver, can I ask you…why do you call him Frank?”
Diver shrugged. “It’s his name.”
Footsteps on the deck outside and a knock on the door.
Summer froze. Her first panicked thought had been that somehow, by some unknown psychic means, her parents had found out and been instantly transported down to Florida.
“Hey, you in there, Summer?”
Summer relaxed. Marquez. Then she un relaxed. The party.
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