Finally she found him. There he was, trying to persuade the blonde boy up atop the chair to let him stand watch. This made Maven smile. It seemed he was always trying to keep busy.

“I told you, Henri, Jack will kill me if I leave my post. Besides, you’re not even certified.” The kid spat at him, doing his best to shoo Henri away.

“I’m a strong swimmer. I swim better than you, Liam.” He ran a hand across his hair. “Twenty bucks.” He waved the money in his other hand.

Liam shook his head in a hurry, scanning the waters to make sure no one had drowned while he was being bought.

“Henri you never swim. You never take your shirt off anymore.” He shook his head in frustration. “Get going now before someone dies on my watch.”

Maven approached. “Hi.” She gave a small wave.

Henri sighed. “Hi.” He started away from Liam and Maven defeated. As Maven hurried along the sand, Liam shot her a concerned look as she came up to the chair, he was sorry he upset Henri, but he would never hear the end of it if he handed the reigns over to someone unqualified.

“My boss would kill me,” Liam explained.

Maven nodded, understanding. “I get it. I’m sure he does too. I’ll go talk to him.”

“Henri!” She shouted, her quick step turning into more of a sprint to catch him.

He slowed down and finally turned around. “Sorry about that.”

She shoved her hair behind her ear and pushed her sunglasses back to the top of her head. “It’s okay. Would you like some company?”

Henri raised an eyebrow. “What for?”

Her mouth dropped, she was astounded. She didn’t know what to say. She was a girl on the beach chasing after a boy. Suddenly she felt stupid when she realized how that must look.

Henri’s smile returned as he watched her fail to produce any kind of answer. “I suppose you could tag along for a bit.” He waved her over. She slowly joined, walking alongside him.

“Should I get my dress?”

Henri gave her a quick inspection. Not a slimy kind, just a casual one. “No, it’s a beach, you’re fine.”

She looked at him. Shorts and a black t-shirt. “What about you?”

Henri examined his own outfit. “What about me?”

“Black attracts the sun.” She pointed at his shirt. “You must be sweating.”

“Is this your subtle attempt at getting me out of my shirt so you can see my bod?” He laughed, Maven blushed. “I’m only kidding. Besides, I’m pretty scrawny.”

She studied his frame. He was, but not skeletal. “No you’re not. You look just fine.”

Henri took a spot under the shade of a willow far away from the water. Maven did the same. She touched her neck making sure the pink top was still tied securely and dropped her legs, staring at her French manicured toes. So much for a tan she thought.

“Nice toes,” Henri commented, staring at her feet. “I didn’t know girls worried about manicuring their toes.”

Maven looked at him. “Do you think it’s too much?” She never thought it was weird before.

“No, I think it makes you look fancy. That’s not a bad thing though.”

“Fancy. I don’t know if that’s a good thing.” She looked away, overwhelmed.

“Okay, I take that back then. It makes you look…maintained. Groomed?”

They both began laughing. “Now I feel like a horse.”

Henri laughed some more at her joke.

“Why don’t you ever swim?” She concentrated on the water. “It’s the best part of coming here in the summer.”

At one time, Henri would have agreed. But now his shirt housed a secret, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to explain that to her. She seemed sad enough as it was already.

“Horrible tattoo, I’m too embarrassed to let the world see it.”

Maven studied Henri closely. He didn’t look the type to ever brand his body. But she didn’t want to keep pushing either. “What horrible tattoo? Is it a girl’s name? Or what about Mom? Those are always the worst.” She smiled at him.

“Yeah those are pretty horrible. I’d never put a person’s name on my body.”

“Me either. Talk about a big mistake.” She imagined how awful it would feel to be branded with Jake’s name. And suddenly this made her feel somewhat better.

Henri could see it in her eyes. Something about their conversation made her features soften.

“What is it?” He searched her eyes.

“I just realized something.” She looked into his brown eyes. “Thanks for that.” She squeezed his arm. He stared down at her grip, not moving an inch. Just staring. It was the first time in a long time someone touched him with real emotions, not for medical procedures, or to comfort him.

Maven pulled away. “Sorry.”

Henri shook his head. “Are you kidding? Glad I could make you feel better.”

“Well, thank you, Henri.” She dropped back into the grass, propping herself up on her elbows taking in the water, the way it splashed slowly against the shore. The multitude of teens parading around, some swimming, some tanning, it always made her feel better.

“Care to share why?” Henri said, breaking her concentration. “If you want to, that is.”

Maven nodded, she wanted to. “The guy, that guy at the yogurt hut, we had a bad breakup this year. And I just realized that things could be worse. And that made me feel better.”

Henri scratched his head. “Worse how?”

“I could have tattooed his name on my body. That could be worse than what I feel now.”

“What do you feel now?” Henri watched her, she let out a nervous sigh. He wanted to comfort her, he didn’t know why, but he wanted to. Suddenly he found himself wishing she would cry just so he could wrap his arms around her and tell her everything was going to be okay.

“I have this pain in my chest always. And I feel empty.” She sat up, staring at her hands. “Everything feels terrible.” She had never revealed that to anyone, not even to her parents who asked her all the time if she was okay. She felt stupid feeling so bad over somebody like Jake.

Henri cursed himself, standing up. “What if I said I’d go swimming with you?”

Maven stood. “Really?” She already felt a little better.

Henri nodded. “Sure. If it makes you feel better.”

“It would.”

“Well, let’s go.” They started to the water and Henri was the one with the chest pains now. He thought about backing out of it, but when he looked at her and the big smile on her face, he couldn’t. He thought about going in with his shirt on, but knew that would only cause more questions.

“Ok, are you ready?” Maven asked excitedly, waiting on Henri to remove his shirt. He gave a nod and pulled his shirt over his head. Suddenly he felt as if everyone on the entire beach was looking at him. It wasn’t a great feeling.

Maven noticed the scar close to his shoulder. It was new, she could tell. She was the daughter of two doctors, she knew a lot about stuff like that. She noticed several gawkers nearby. She took Henri’s hand in hers and pulled him toward the water, not bothered in the least by his scar.

“I feel better already,” she said, running into the water until it was touching her thighs. Henri stared down at the current. “Isn’t this fun?” she asked.

He had to admit it was a bit fun. He moved further in, until the water covered the scar he was so ashamed of. “Pretty fun.”

Maven disappeared under the water. Henri searched for her and finally she emerged behind him. She poked his shoulder with her fingertips. “Boo!”

An hour later, when their skin was shriveled like an aged person, they found a spot on the shore, Maven found her beach towel and they both sat staring at the water, tired and at peace.

“That was fun,” Maven said for the third time since they finished.

“Yeah it was.” He smiled. Already back in his black t-shirt. She was okay with that, it didn’t take much to realize how insecure he was with the scar. But it didn’t bother her at all. She wanted to tell him that. But she worried bringing it up would end their fun time and make him withdraw into his shell.