smart guy, he also had a big heart. Not like some of the other popular boys Shelby had met at school who kept their distance from her. Logan was different. He looked inside the person for who they were too.
She looked closely at Madison standing at the water’s edge. Her bathing suit hung loosely on her bone-thin body. And even with a tan, Madison looked pale. Shelby felt a pang of sympathy for the girl. Madison was beautiful and rich; she could have just about any boy or friend she wanted. It must have stung when Logan wasn’t interested. After seeing Madison that day when her mother was yelling at her at the ice cream place, Shelby wondered if Madison’s meanness might come from a place of desperate unhappiness.
Shelby heard her name called and looked up. Logan waved her over. The warm sand seeped between her toes as she strolled over. Logan’s bright smile made the day even better.
“I wish we could go for a swim together,” he said.
“The life of leisure?” Shelby said with a grin.
“Well, some of us have to work,” Logan teased. “But I’ll be happy to watch.”
His words made her smile. She waded out a few feet and then dove head first in the turquoise water to swim. There was nothing better to melt stress away than your arms, legs, and body gliding through the cool, clear lake water. She put her head up to the sun and let it dance on her face as her wet hair clung around her shoulders. A fishing boat motored by beyond the swimming buoys, causing a ripple in the water. She let herself float with it.
She flipped on her back. Above, the blue canvas of sky was punctuated with white, puffy clouds in all shapes and sizes. Some even looked like a string of little pink hearts. Everything looked like hearts to her these days with Logan. If only she could float here forever, and these days would never end. The moment she started thinking about her mother’s call, the old feeling of powerlessness returned. If she couldn’t secure living with her grandmother, she’d be ripped away from all of this. Her body felt heavy, the water cold, and everything seemed wrong.
As if nature mimicked her, a gust of chilling wind blew in, bringing with it a dark gray cloud that momentarily blocked the sun. Shelby decided to get out of the water and dry off. The happy mood she entered the water with did not exit with her. And then she saw Logan wave. She hesitated to go speak to him until she pulled herself together. Worry pressed on her chest, making it hard to breathe.
She turned away from Logan and wrapped herself in her towel before plopping down on the sand. Maybe she should just go home. Before she could decide, she saw Logan being relieved for his break. Logan, eyes masked in dark sunglasses, his whistle still around his neck, approached her. It figured. As much as she wanted to talk to him, she could feel tears forming in her eyes and flipped her sunglasses on before he got any closer.
He sat down and put her cold hands in his. "You looked like a graceful dolphin out there propelling yourself through the water.”
Before she could stop it, she started to cry. Of course at that moment, Madison and her friends had to be passing by on their way to the stairs. Shelby turned her back away from the group and put her head on Logan’s shoulder. She was sure those girls were probably thinking, "Yeah! Good. Logan's breaking up with her,” which made Shelby cry harder.
Logan put his arm around her and held her close. "What's wrong? You know you can tell me."
"Everything," Shelby said. The closeness of his body and comforting sound of his voice began to relax her. "It's my mother," Shelby said. "She’s really coming this time to take me to Florida with her."
"I see." Logan didn't sound too happy about it either.
She looked up at him. "And I don’t want to go.” Tears started all over again. “And now everyone on the beach is seeing me cry.”
"So what? No one else matters," Logan said, wiping a tear from her cheek.
Those words snapped Shelby out of her pity party. She took a deep breath. “You’re right. My grandmother and I are trying to work out a way so I can live with her now. Feeling so happy in the water reminded me just