Chapter 13: Hermosa Beach

The early morning sun was crisp and hot as Jo led me to the garage. She was wearing a pair of high-waisted jean shorts with a loose white button-up sloppily tucked in. She donned a different pair of sunglasses, these ones more rounded. Her fluffy, wavy blonde hair was being tussled by the wind as we approached the garage. She was carrying a beach bag on her shoulder, and after I had told her I didn't have a swimsuit, she had stuffed an extra one of hers into her bag. Unsure of what to put on, I had decided on one of my more casual blue sundresses with no sleeves.

Still feeling like a burden, I kept a bit of distance as I followed Jo across the front driveway of the house. There were more workers in the front lawn and flowerbeds, and even from afar I could see the sweat already accumulating on their faces.

The sound of Jo lifting the loud garage sliding door startled me, and when I looked over, I was shocked to see that the garage had several nice, shiny cars lined up. Among them I noticed a yellow Porsche 911 and a black Ferrari 500, but Jo was walking towards the nicest, sportiest car in the garage.

"Old Fury," Jo remarked as she walked over to the convertible car whose top was already down, tossing the beach bag into the creamy white backseat. She opened the door and slid into the driver's seat as I walked along the side of the car, almost too afraid to touch it. It was a Plymouth Fury, painted a bright, hot red that did not have one smudge or scratch anywhere on it. Silver chrome sparkled in the sun that the open garage let in.

"Jesus," I whispered as Jo turned the car on, listening to it loudly roar. I looked up at her—she was looking at me through her sunglasses with a half-smirk.

Coolly leaning one arm on the side of the car, she leaned her other elbow on the seat and pushed her sunglasses down with one finger. "Ever seen a car like this, pretty lady?"

Although enamored and amazed, I was shocked at how cool she looked and the way that her mood seemed to change only in the matter of time it took to walk from her room to the garage.

"I have not—ever," I said as I carefully opened the door, petrified of marking this epitome of vehicular beauty. I slid into the car, and Jo's smirk turned into a grin. She was about to turn when she looked me up and down again.

"Where's my sunglasses?"

"Oh," I remembered, reaching into my small black purse and taking out Jo's sunglasses that she had given me at the pool. "Sorry, I forgot." I handed them out to her, expecting her to take them back.

She looked down at the sunglasses and then back at me, grinning so widely that she absorbed every atom of the sun blaring into the garage. "Well, put 'em on."

I hesitated with a small, creeping smile before I gently unfolded the glasses and put them on my face.

Jo grinned at me. "Cool girl." With that, she put one hand on the wheel and slammed on the gas, zooming the car so fast out of the garage that the force pushed my head against the soft leather seat.

"Jo!" I exclaimed as she sped down the driveway dangerously fast, the wind blowing my bangs straight up off my head. I grabbed onto the seat as she laughed maniacally, leading us out of the Donnelley Estate.

I could hardly settle my eyes on anything with how fast Jo was driving down the highway. When Neil had driven me through the area the first time, it was getting dark and I was too tired to really look at anything. Now, in the midmorning sun with the top down, I could see everything. The palm trees and other blooming trees, the shiny cars that passed us on the bright highway, the little stores and shops as we got further into a town.

The people that walked down the streets looked so different. They were hardly clothed. The women were wearing shorts and tank tops, and some men were not even wearing shirts. Everyone was skinny, tan, and beautiful, and looked like their pockets were filled with cash. Everything was clean and nautical as we got closer to the beach. Although New Orleans was by the sea, I had never been to an actual beach before. When Jo took a turn onto another narrower road, I looked past her and spotted the wide, blue stretch of the ocean and the sparkly white sands of the beach as we drove parallel to it. Brightly colored hotels and restaurants lined the coast, and even from there I could see all the bodies of people crowding the beach.

Finally, Jo drove down to a lot where other cars were parked, recklessly pulling fast into an open spot and slamming the brakes to bring the car to a park with a loud screech. There was a big sign on the lot that read Hermosa Beach.

"You're not a very good driver," I said, feeling breathless both from the adrenaline of Jo's driving and from the sight of the beautiful beach.

"You're still kicking, aren't you?" she remarked as she hopped out of the car and reached to the back to grab her bag, already walking down towards the beach. I scrambled out after her, pushing my sunglasses up on my head so that I could see everything in full color.

Right where the beach started, there was a row of orange and white striped changing houses. Jo opened the door to one and was about to walk right in until she remembered that she had my swimsuit.

"Here," she said as I caught up to her, pulling something pink out and throwing it at me. "My mom got me this for my birthday, and it's horribly ugly." I caught the swimsuit in my arms and looked at it sheepishly, wondering why she gave me it if she thought it was so ugly.

Jo disappeared into one of the houses, so I walked to the next one and went inside to change.

It was quite difficult to maneuver my way into the tiny swimsuit. By the time I finally had it all the way on, Jo was knocking aggressively on the door.

"Did you hang yourself with the bikini in there?" she called.

I looked down at myself and felt chills run up me. I was horribly exposed. The bikini bottoms were barely big enough to cover my behind, and the top was thin and small. My stomach, arms, and legs were completely exposed, and my face started to go bright red with the thought of walking through that crowded beach half-naked.

Jo knocked impatiently. "Come on, teacher. You're wasting my time."

Quickly, I bundled up my dress and shoes in my arm, holding them over my stomach to cover myself. I opened the door and stepped out, keeping my clothes tucked tight against my abdomen as I looked at Jo. She was wearing a red one-piece but kept her unbuttoned white blouse on.

She had pushed her sunglasses to her head, and I saw her eyes look at me up and down, settling on the way I was obviously using my clothes to cover my stomach.

"You gonna hold onto those like that all day?" she remarked, taking the bag off her shoulder and opening it. "C'mon. Put 'em in."

Hesitantly, I looked between the bag and her. "I feel a little... naked," I quietly said in shame.

"That's the point," she said with a chuckle. "It's the beach. You're supposed to be naked."

Frowning, I looked around to see dozens of other girls wearing less clothing than I. Even looking at the other girls made my face turn bright red under the sun.

Jo's impatient expression softened a little. Huffing, she set the bag down and started to take her blouse off. "Turn around."

Apparently, I didn't turn quick enough, because she grabbed my shoulders and sharply twisted me around. From behind, she took my clothes out of my hands and stuffed them into bag before quickly putting her blouse on me. I stuck my arms into the blouse as she lifted it over my shoulders.

"Feel better?" she asked, and I slowly turned around, pulling the blouse together at the front.

"Yeah," I sheepishly chuckled. "Thanks."

Picking up the bag, she started walking down the beach, and I followed her, trying to fight back the warm feeling of her giving me her blouse to wear. Jo kept walking until she found a group of four people who were laying on beach towels.

"Hey, guys," she said, throwing the bag down and getting out a towel, laying it down beside these people.

One of the people, a black girl who was laying on her stomach, looked up at me through her sunglasses. "Who's this?"

"This is Becca. She's teaching my sister and brother French this summer." Jo pointed to the girl who spoke. "This is Delores." She pointed to a skinny guy with greasy black hair. "That's Johnny." Johnny grinned at me as Jo pointed to another white boy who was blonde and very buff. "That's Bobby." She then pointed to a black boy who was laying on his side. "And that's Tony."

"Hiya," Tony greeted me.

"Hi," I said, looking at the four who all were just staring at me.

"Oh, I didn't bring another towel," Jo said as she scrummaged through her bag before standing up and looking at the one towel she had laid down on the ground beside Tony. "We can share this one."

"Okay," I said with a nervous laugh as Jo sat down on one edge of the towel. Carefully, I sat down beside her, accidentally brushing my hip against hers before I quickly scooted away, feeling the other side of my butt touch the sand.

"Where you from, Becca?" the one named Johnny asked. "You have a Southern accent."

"New Orleans."

"Damn," Delores remarked. "That's a way away."

"She's a college girl," Jo told them. "Just graduated."

"Good for you," Bobby said, sitting up and holding his buff arms over his knees. "Nowhere would let me in."

"You barely passed high school, Bobby," Delores argued, causing them all to laugh.

They started talking about things I was not a part of, so I just sat and quietly listened. They were all such beautiful people that I felt like an ugly duckling sitting there, constantly adjusting Jo's blouse to make sure it covered me.

At one point, Jo reached behind me to grab her bag that was sitting beside me. Her arm touched my lower back, and I could feel her hair tickling my shoulder. I stared down at the sand, feeling her arm nudge my back as she pulled something out of the bag before finally moving away. I watched as she pulled out a little baby blue and white transistor radio, jerking the silver antenna out of it before tucking it in the sand in front of her, turning the knob until some staticky pop music started playing.

For a while, we just lounged around and talked—well, they talked. I just sat and listened, laughing along occasionally. They were roughhousers—the boys kept punching and wrestling each other, and Jo was spitting curse words like a sailor. At one point, they all lit some cigarettes, and when the one called Johnny offered me one to which I politely declined, Jo called me a prude.

"Let's get our feet wet," Jo suggested and jumped up all at once, and the others all clambered up and started jogging down towards the water. Jo looked down at where I was seated. "C'mon." She held her hand down to me.

"I don't know how to swim," I murmured.

"We won't go that far," she insisted, but I was reluctant in getting in the turbulent water.

After a beat of silence, she clicked her tongue and then suddenly reached down to me, grabbing me by the upper arms.

"Wait, no," I defied as she started pulling me up off the ground.

"Get off your ass, old lady," she said as she yanked me to my feet and snatched my hand in hers so that I wouldn't go anywhere. "If you're gonna explore California, you gotta feel the Pacific Ocean. It's like a rite of passage."

"Jo, I don't want—"

She was pulling me towards the water, and I tried to resist, but my feet were just dragging uselessly in the sand, and Jo was surprisingly strong.

"I'll hold onto you!" she yelled as we approached the water line that pulled back slowly, stalled, and then rushed over our feet all at once as we splashed further through the water.

The ocean water was warm on my ankles as I felt the wet sand squeeze between my toes. Bits of jagged seashell gently scraped my foot as Jo pulled me further into the water.

"Is she scared?" Delores called out, and I looked up to see the other four were way out where the water was up to their chests.

"No, of course not!" Jo yelled. "Who would be scared of a little water?!" She turned to me with a grin.

"Jo, that's enough," I said once the water was up to my thighs. "I won't go any further." To be fair, I managed to make my voice strong and firm, but Jo was still tugging me out. "Jo, please!"

We were with the others now, the water splashing up my neck. I noticed that Jo was still tightly holding my hand under the water.

"Can you not swim?" Tony asked, the sun glimmering off his damp hair.

"No," I answered honestly. "And I don't feel like drowning my first week on the job."

"You're not gonna drown," Johnny said, turning to see that a wave was slowly coming towards us. "Look, when a wave comes, all you gotta do is jump up a little bit and then come back down to the ground."

"Oh, God," I murmured, watching the water roll closer towards us. Jo squeezed my hand tighter the closer the wave came, which soothed me a little. When the wave came upon us, I was fully prepared to die as I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Jump!" Johnny yelled, and when I felt the pressure of the wave coming towards my chest, I jumped up a little. To my surprise and relief, I came safely back down on the ground, the only harm done being that the wave slapped a little water over my mouth, giving me a taste of the salty water.

"There you go!" Bobby cheered, his muscular chest flexing as he raised his hands over his head and clapped for me, inciting a round of cheers from the ground. I laughed, and the next time a small wave came, I jumped over it a little better.

Something joyous rose in me as the six of us floated around in the water. The sun was hot but the water was cooling, and I could hear the excited shrieks of kids on the beach. The group of friends were very talkative and cheerful. I was able to pick out that Delores had quite the attitude but was overall nice. Bobby was a little dense but innocent. Johnny was quick-witted and flirty. Tony was quiet but smart. He reminded me a little of Roger.

After several minutes, I realized that Jo was still holding my hand. Her attention was focused on the conversation and the water, so she must not have even realized it. But I noticed it, and I smiled a little.

In the middle of their talking, Johnny noticed that a very large wave was coming towards us from the distance. The wind picked up and blew the parts of my hair that weren't wet.

"There's a big one!" he yelled, pointing out at the wave. My eyes widened when I saw that wave had already rose to a crest even from so far away, and it was not breaking. It was only growing larger and taller. It looked like a monster.

Jo got excited as she watched the wave, but I was squeezing her hand hard. She noticed, looking over at me and squeezing my hand back. "Just hold onto me, okay?"

"And don't forget to jump, or you'll get tugged out all the way to Mexico."

"Johnny!" Delores reprimanded him, looking a little nervous herself.

"I wish I had my board," Bobby said with excitement.

"Jo, Jo," I said nervously, trying to step backwards, but she was keeping me close beside her.

"It's okay, just ride it out," she said, readying herself for the wave.

It was rushing fast towards us now, snarling up so high it shadowed us. I saw it hit Johnny first, completing enveloping him in its blanket of water. Bobby squeezed his nose with his fingers and ducked underwater, and Jo crouched down. All I could do was squeeze my eyes and try to jump like Johnny said, but the wave was taller than me. The water crashed hard over my head, its force so strong that it pushed me down to the ocean floor. Jo's hand slipped out of mine, and I took a big mouthful of water as saltiness filled my mouth and nostrils, burning my eyes. It felt like I was tossed and turned a thousand times until finally my head came out of the water, my elbows and knees touching the wet sand.

I tried to suck in a breath of air, but the water I had ingested made me start coughing and hacking. I wiped my burning eyes and nose furiously, trying to cough up all of the water I had swallowed. I could hear splashing coming towards me, and I felt a hand on the small of my back.

"Becca, are you okay?!" Jo's voice asked in my ear, but I felt blinded and deafened by all the water in my senses. Some had even plugged up my ear.

"Holy Toledo," Johnny's voice exclaimed as I heard a number of feet splashing towards me. When I finally opened my eyes, I saw that the wave had pushed my body all the way out to the edge of the water. Delores sprinted onto the sand and grabbed one of our towels, coming back over and wrapping it around me. I felt quite like a wet dog as Jo wrapped the towel tighter around me.

"You're okay!" Jo said once I had stopped coughing. "You did it! You braved the wave, dude!"

"That was messed up," Tony mumbled.

Jo crouched in front of me and took my chin, lifting my face up to look at her. "You're alright," she said, moving some of my wet hair out of my face. As I looked at her, I realized that I wasn't looking through the tan lens of her sunglasses.

"Your sunglasses!" I exclaimed, turning around and looking through the group's legs to see if they were floating in the water. "I lost your glasses!"

"That's okay," Jo said. "That doesn't matter. You nearly just drowned, and you're worrying about my sunglasses?"

I turned back to her with my wide eyes and worried face, seeing her smiling softly at me. "Sorry," I whispered, both for losing her glasses and also for caring about it.

"Come on," she said, helping me up to my feet. "That's enough beach for you today."