Riptide - By Lindsey Scheibe Page 0,17

talk about your crap, let’s chill.”

Why won’t he talk about himself? But I just say, “Can I stay over here a little longer?”

He burrows into the beanbag and pulls me to him. “Yeah, it’s not like we’re doing anything … you know what I mean.”

I do. He’s totally making sure I know he’s not hitting on me. He’s such a sweetheart. I fold into him, feeling his warmth against me. My chest is brushing his, my hips are leaning into him; I tentatively lay my arm across his middle, snuggling into him, relaxing as he cradles me, and letting go of anything but the thought of him. I drift off, thinking finally, peace.

six

moon cakes: a pastry associated with the

moon festival celebrated by the Chinese, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese in mid-autumn, usually filled with meats or sweets

I walk into the office building ten minutes early. Week two. Day four. My mission: wear Teresa down and get some dirt on the real work, something more than copying papers. Doing that for the next seven weeks with Hop and Brianna? Somebody ain’t coming out of that alive, and I put my money on Brianna being one of the two survivors.

I jog up the stairs, open a glass door, and enter Teresa’s lair … whistling.

She looks up from her desk, glasses perched on her nose like an old lady. She’s not that old, but she’s not as young as Jada. I’m guessing mid-thirties to forties.

I say, “Buenos dias.”

She half frowns. “Good morning.”

I walk toward her, hands in my pockets. “I thought you spoke Spanish?”

She says, “Not unless I’m translating.”

I press on. “¿Porque?”

She pushes her glasses up and looks around. “And whok e would I be speaking Spanish with? I answer phones and make appointments.”

I lean against her desk, smiling like she gave me the biggest compliment in the world. “Oh Terrrrresa.” Totally rolled that R, extra. She seems embarrassed to embrace her Latina side in this law office, which is really odd. Being bilingual is awesome. I’ll win her over. Before long, she’ll be making me tortas con carne and saying, “¿Que paso? ”

After a quick knock on her desk, I wink. “C’mon. You run this place. What’s the scoop? How does an intern get to do more than make copies? Besides—you can speak a little español with me.” I look around conspiratorially. Then I whisper, “I won’t tell. Cross mi corazon.”

She fights a smile and waves me away. “It’s a good thing you’re early today.”

I back away from her desk and bow. “Only para ti.”

She waves me away, but her cheeks are red.

I sit down and say, “Nice glasses. Kind of hipsterish.”

She types furiously on her keyboard. “Gracias. And you might talk to Jada. There’s an immigration case they’ve taken on and all the paralegals and admins are going nuts trying to keep up with the caseload, which means you might get to do something besides make copies.”

Aw, yeah. I smile wide. “¿Que?”

She says, “You heard me.”

“Yeah. I heard you.”

Teresa adjusts her headset and gets back to typing.

Brianna walks in looking like a Banana Republic model. And while it’s not free-spirited hippie-girl clothes, she’s looking good. But I like Grace’s look better. And even though I’m surrounded by hot girls all summer, they don’t hold a candle to Grace. An office romance would have nothing on our middle-of-the-night beanbag tryst. But there’s nothing wrong with a little innocent flirting—I’ve never been one to ignore a pretty girl.

She gives me a slight nod and takes a seat a couple chairs down from me.

I laugh and smell my pits. “I swear I doubled up today. Really.” Then I pat the chair next to me.

Brianna rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “Where’s your pride?”

I shrug. “Lost. With my ego?”

She picks at imaginary lint. “I doubt that.”

A slight bit of guilt crosses over me as I think of Grace. But what am I supposed to do? She’s off-limits. I gulp down the ache in my throat. I need to get focused on my own priorities, and that includes making a difference, not copies.

The door opens and in walks Hop.

Teresa says, “Barely on time.”

Hop looks at the clock. “One minute to spare. Crazies on the bus this morning.”

Now that Hop’s here, I’m ready to break the news about our potential lucky break.

Teresa says, “You may go to Jada’s office and get your assignment for the morning.”

Brianna mutters, “Great. More copies.”

“Why such a limited vision?” Hop asks. “We might graduate to filing paperwork.”

Teresa grunts. “Fat chance.”

I walk down the