gazed out at the ocean. Any other day it would have been a pleasant journey, but I was feeling nervous and unsettled, totally incapable of working up any false enthusiasm.
“Your Aunt Abigail is really looking forward to having you,” he continued on louder, still trying to sell me on the move, and no doubt assuage his guilty conscience. “You and Cruz will get to spend your senior year together.”
We drove south, hugging the shoreline, soaking up the afternoon sun and expansive ocean views. I looked at the tiny flying lady ornament on the car’s hood, the land and sea whizzing past her outstretched arms and billowing gown. She looked happy and free- the exact opposite of how I felt. We came to a section of highway with a few vans and beat up old trucks lining the side of the road. Dad pulled over and parked.
“Marina, look at the surfers,” he said, leaning across me to get a better view of the water.
I looked down to see a smattering of tiny figures on the ocean, sitting upright on surfboards.
Several of them suddenly materialized upright and skimmed across the waves, leaving plumes of white water behind them, flying like the lady sailing on the highway.
He slumped back in his seat with a sigh, “Honey, you know I’ll miss you, but you should spend some time at a real school. I’m afraid I’ve been selfish... keeping you with me all these years. I just want to give you a chance to live a normal life for a while.”
“Dad, I like my life. I don’t want it to change,” I said.
“Change is not always a bad thing,” he smiled encouragingly, “This is your last chance to go to high school before you start college. You know, football games... prom?”
“Not interested in the least,” I replied with a grimace.
“You never know until you try,” he said cheerily.
I sighed, and cast him an annoyed glance. I knew he worried about me. I’d always had a solitary nature, but my father perceived me as being isolated. I could happily go an entire day without speaking a word to anyone, and I spent all my time with adults. I truly considered Evie my best friend and didn’t see anything at all wrong with it. The situation bothered Dad, but I’d always been able to talk him out of sending me to boarding school. He’d often argued that I needed to spend time with younger people, but he could never win me over in a debate on the merits.
Reason failed this time so he went to work on my conscience.
He looked across at me, his eyes solemn, “Honey, I can make a big difference for some people that really need the help.”
Dad had an annoying way of putting things into perspective. Though his work didn’t always attract the same sort of attention more glamorous scientific research did, I knew how vitally important it was. An expert in the field of agronomy, my father pioneers new agricultural techniques, helping farmers to increase production and improve their crops. It sounded like a small thing, really, but countless lives had been saved from poverty and starvation as a direct result of his research.
And now he was going to risk his life in a remote and primitive country in yet another sincere effort to help even more people. A flood of shame and guilt washed over me.
“I’ll be fine,” I said, managing a convincing smile, “I’ll just miss you.” We sat there for a few minutes, watching the surfers ride the waves. I noticed a small group of girls gathered by the parked cars, and I studied them. Boldly wearing miniscule bikinis and flipping their sun-streaked hair in the warm breeze, they laughed as though they hadn’t a care in the world. They were all so tanned and healthy I felt like I was looking at a summery perfume ad in one of Evie’s fashion magazines.
When their faces all turned to us I realized that Evie’s shining silver Rolls Royce was starting to attract attention. They elbowed each other and pointed as I slumped down in my seat, hiding behind my sunglasses. Evie loved causing a stir with all of her fine things, but their open stares made me uncomfortable.
“Let’s go now, dad,” I said.
We followed the coastal highway until we reached the Aptos exit. As we neared the shoreline I caught a whiff of spicy Eucalyptus leaves mingled with briny sea air. The scent was at once exotic and familiar, and