My mom looks up from her computer. “Yes, Mila. You have to go.” My mom winks at me. “I have a conference call I have to take, and I need the apartment to myself.”
“But it’s my birthday and I want to be with you.” Mila starts to cry. “I don’t understand why you have to have a call on a Saturday. On my birthday? I mean, why do you have to work so much?”
I think that maybe my mom will bust out with the truth that she’s just trying to get us out of the apartment because she has a surprise for Mila, but she sticks to the story. “I’m sorry, Mila. I have certain responsibilities. One day you will understand. One day you will have to act like a grown-up, too.”
This seems harsh. I want to call my mom out on her unnecessary guilt trips, especially on Mila’s birthday, but I figure it will just lead to another fight, and the only thing I can really work on right now is getting Mila down to the pool.
“Come on, Mila. We’ll go down for a little bit, and then when we come back upstairs, maybe there’ll be a surprise for you.”
That perks her up. She takes her finger out from the corner of her mouth. “What kind of surprise?”
“Well, it wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you. Now go get your suit on!”
Mila jumps off the couch, runs to her room, and reappears in less than two minutes fully decked out in her purple bikini, goggles, a snorkel, and flip-flops.
We head downstairs and snag a shady spot next to a potted plant.
“Is Evan here?” Mila asks as I spray her with sunscreen. “Are you going to kiss him again?”
“What are you talking about? I’ve never kissed him.”
“Yes you did. That day during the tomato attack. You kissed him while we were under the umbrella.”
“I—how—how did you see that?”
“I’m not blind, you know.”
“Well—turn around, let me spray your back—I haven’t kissed him since and I’m not going to kiss him again. Anyway, it’s none of your business.”
“I like Evan.” Mila peers around toward the pool. “Is he here?”
“Yeah, probably somewhere.” He was working earlier when I was here, but we didn’t speak to each other, partly because it was so busy, and partly because I’ve put up a wall that he knows not to cross.
Since that day in Professor Cox’s apartment, I’ve had only a few days when Evan’s been working, and each time, he’s tried to talk to me with whispered apologies and questions.
As he leaned over the desk to grab his whistle: “I didn’t realize Sammie liked me.”
While I swept the deck: “I’m so sorry you guys aren’t talking now.”
As I counted money: “Why won’t you talk to me?”
From his chair while he was on duty: “Aren’t you at all curious about Professor Cox?”
As we passed in the hallway by the equipment room: “Can’t we even be friends?”
At first, I didn’t say anything. I just stared at him until he backed off. But finally, after he asked that last question, I responded with a quick reminder that it’s none of my business—not Professor Cox, not Sammie, not his desire for friendship. “Can’t you please just leave me alone?”
And since then, he has. For a good week, he hasn’t asked any more questions. I still feel his gaze sometimes, while we’re talking in groups, or if he comes into the office when I’m there. But he doesn’t talk to me anymore.
“Okay, okay, I’m covered.” Mila steps away from me and the sunscreen bottle. “The sun’s going down anyway. Can we go in already?”
She runs away from me toward the water. I spray myself as quickly as I can and follow her. Mila’s at the foot of the lifeguard chair, where Evan is on duty. Vanessa’s sitting at the edge of the pool, dangling her feet in the water.
“You’re back!” Vanessa says to me. “I thought you were gone for the night.”
“It’s Mila’s birthday, and she wanted to go swimming.”
“I didn’t want to go swimming.” Mila crosses her arms across her chest and pouts. “I wanted to sit on the couch and watch my program.”
“You’d rather watch TV than swim?” Vanessa asks.
“It was National Geographic. They were talking about how there’s a kind of moth that lays its eggs in sloth poop. They have a symbiotic relationship. It’s gross but also cool.”
“Symbiotic?” Vanessa asks. “How old is she?”
“I’m nine today!” Mila says, beaming. And then she looks up at Evan. “Hi, Evan!”
Evan keeps his eyes on the pool, which is packed with kids.
“Will you play Marco Polo with us again today?” Mila calls up to him.
“Wish I could,” Evan says without looking down at us. “I have to work.”
Mila pouts and drops her shoulders.
“I’ll play with you,” Vanessa says.
This appeases Mila, and we all jump in.
I dive underwater, and when I come up, I can’t help but look over at Evan to see if he’s looking my way like that day in June.
He’s not.
I’m not sure if I’m relieved or disappointed.
Mila splashes water in my face. “You’re it, Vivi!”
I close my eyes and reach out to play the game.