The Storm Spirits
Chapter Eight

Anyway, after finishing my shower, I threw some clothes on, made a small snack, and took it out to the porch to sit with Nana. “How has your afternoon been?”

“Very quiet and peaceful,” she responded, marking her place and putting her book down. “I finished one book and started another.” She laughed lightly. “It’s a good thing I brought a good many books!”

“Really good.” I smiled and took a bite of the small sandwich I’d made.

“How was the beach?”

“Good. We were in the water for awhile, then sat down. I read, Zack napped. After two hours of that, I called quits and he walked me back here.”

She nodded. “And you’re going to supper tonight. That sounds like a fun day.”

“It has been.” I sighed. “You know, it’s been nice getting to know Zack. I’ve really enjoyed his company.”

“Too bad we’ll be leaving in a few days and you won’t see him again.” She winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. “Nanaaa! I’m not offering to connect with a stranger on social media!”

“It doesn’t sound like he’s exactly a stranger, dear.” She changed the subject slightly. “Is that what you’re wearing tonight?”

I looked down at my shirt and pajama shorts. “No, of course not! I’ll put on a pair of jeans and a different T-shirt. Just thought I’d be comfy until I need to get dressed.”

“Sounds good, Char.” She went back to reading while I finished off my sandwich.

After I discarded my plate in the sink, I went into my room and fussed over what shirt to wear that night. I eventually decided on a shirt that had a saying about how reading expands the imagination. A dragon and a small child holding a balloon accompanied the quote. I slipped on my mint Converse, then added a pair of silver stud earrings, along with a black choker and a silver bracelet. It wasn’t fancy, but it was nicer, and I felt like I needed to look at least a little nice for a date.

I was waiting on the porch when Zack showed up again at six. He was wearing his normal dark clothing, but his dark-light hair was slicked back, and he was wearing a collard shirt. “Hey, Char.”

“Hey, Zack.” I turned, opened the door, and stuck my head in. “We’re leaving, Nana! I’ll be home … I don’t know, but by nine.”

Nana appeared before me, and I stepped back to let her in the doorway. “Char, you’re twenty-one; you don’t have a curfew anymore. You’ll be home when you’re home.” She smiled up at the young man behind me. “Hello again, Zack.”

“Hello, ma’am. How was your afternoon?” I had to admit, his charm was very attractive.

“Just fine, thank you. Yours?”

“Very good.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “We should probably get going.”

I nodded. “Yeah. We should. Bye, Nana!”

“Bye, you two.”

Zack and I walked down the stairs, then up to the boardwalk. “Where is this taco place?” he asked.

“Up on Eleventh Street. Sorry, it’s kind of a long walk.”

“No, no, it’s fine. A little exercise never hurt anyone.” He smiled.

We chatted a little, mostly about trivial things, until we passed the mini-golf place he’d met us at a few days prior. “That’s Nana and my favorite place to golf,” I told him, pointing it out.

“You really like that game, don’t you?”

I nodded emphatically. “Oh, yeah! It’s great. Have you ever played?”

He shook his head. “Nope.” His face lit up a little. “Would you show me how tonight?”

A grin stretched across my face. “Absolutely! I never turn down a chance to play mini-golf.”

He smiled back. “OK. That’s what we’ll do after supper, then.”

“Perfect.” A few blocks later, I pointed out the taco place. “There’s our destination.”

We went over to where a frazzled hostess was standing and rearranging menus on their shelf. “Table for two, please,” Zack said to her.

She nodded, looked at the seating chart before her. “There’s a table opening up soon; can you wait ten minutes?” Her tone was extremely apologetic.

He looked down at me, and I nodded. “No rush,” he told her. “Take you time.”

The hostess blew a piece of hair out of her face and nodded. “There’s a couple finishing up, and then we’ll clean it right away. Shouldn’t be more than ten minutes. You can wait right over there.” She pointed to the left of the restaurant, where a line of three chairs sat. “What name should I call when the table is ready?”

“Zack.” She nodded and scribbled it onto a piece of scratch paper. Zack gestured to me, and we sat down. “You’re not super hungry, are you?”

I shrugged. “I’m pretty hungry, but that’ll just mean that the tacos will taste even better when we eventually get to them.” I turned to him. “So. Is this your first time at this beach?”

He nodded. “First time at any beach.”

“Really?” He nodded again. “Wow.”

“Can you show me all of the best places here? For future reference.”

“Of course I can.” I grinned. “There’s this amazing candy place a few streets back on Eighth Street. They have the best fudge and salt water taffy anywhere!”

“We’ll have to pop on on our way back to your place.”

“I do need to get some taffy for Papa. Even though he’s not supposed to have it, because of his unstable jaw, he loves the stuff. We just don’t tell his doctors.”

Zack chuckled. “Your Papa sounds like an interesting guy.”

“He is. I love him.” I cocked my head as I looked up at my date. “Are your grandparents still around?”

His face fell a little, and he turned away. “No.” Something in his voice caught.

I instinctively put a hand on his shoulder, only to get shocked and remove it quickly. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Zack. Were you close to them?”

“As close as I could be, given …” He trailed off, and I got the vibe that I shouldn’t ask any more questions about them. Zack cleared his throat. “Just so we move faster once we’re seated, I’m going to ask for a menu so we can decide ahead of time.”

“Good idea.” I waited while he got up, asked the waitress for menu, then came back with it. “What’re you in the mood for?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure. You?”

Flashes of light reflected off of the plastic-coated sheets in front of us, and I looked up to see what could be causing them. Nothing around us was even flickering, although when I looked into his eyes, something seemed to be moving. Maybe it was light, I don’t know, but I answered the question. “Not sure. I usually get the supreme tacos, but I always look to see if there’s something else the might interest me more.” I looked at the menu again. “Hey, pizza tacos! I wonder how those are.”

“That does sound good.” His voice seemed to be returning to normal. We scanned the options for a few minutes. “The supreme tacos also sound wonderful.”

“We could order both and then share them,” I suggested. “You get, like, two tacos.”

He smiled. “Perfect.”

“Cool! So we’ll get an order of pizza tacos and an order of supreme.” I happened to glance to my right and saw T-shirts hanging there. Peering around the corner of the store, I saw that we were right next to a T-shirt shop! I gazed at the shirts that were lined floor-to-ceiling.

“What’re you looking at?”

I jumped a little, then turned to Zack sheepishly. “Sorry … we’re right next to a T-shirt store … and I have a thing for shirts.” I giggled and pointed to the shirt I was wearing. “As you could probably tell.”

He smiled. “What do you like about them?”

“Oh, I don’t know … they’re cool, I guess. I can’t really explain it.” I shrugged. “Then again, how do you explain why you collect what you collect?”

“Excellent point.”

“Every year, I get a shirt when we come. I keep them all and make them into a T-shirt blanket.” He tilted his head to one side, apparently confused. “You know, you take T-shirts, cut the sleeves and collars off, and sew them into a blanket?”

The confusion cleared up, replaced by understanding. “Ah! Very clever.”

I nodded. “I already have one blanket done, and I’m well on my way to a second.”

“What do you do with the blankets?”

“Keep them in my bedroom in case I get chilly, which happens a lot, because my room is sort of isolated from the rest of the house. All of us agree that it’s the coldest room at home.”

Before he could answer, the hostess appeared. “Zack?”

We hopped up. “That’s us,” he responded. He handed her the menu; she took it.

“Follow me; your table’s ready finally.” She turned to us as we followed her into the crowded, noisy restaurant. “I’m so sorry you had to wait.”

“It’s really fine,” I assured her. “We didn’t keel over.”

“That’s good.” She led us to a small table with two chairs at the back of the place. “Your waitress will be right over to get your drinks.” She hurried off again.

Right as Zack was going to speak again, the waitress appeared, looking just as frazzled as the hostess.

“What can I get you guys for drinks?” she asked, pulling out her pad and pen.

“We’re ready to order everything,” I told her.

She nodded. “OK. Let’s start with drinks.”

“I’ll have a Pepsi, please.”

She looked at Zack who echoed, “Pepsi.”

“We’d also like the supreme tacos and the pizza tacos,” I told her.

The waitress nodded as she scribbled everything down. “Great, thank you! I’ll get this order in right away and bring your drinks out. It might be a little bit until your food comes out, because we’re so busy. Sorry about that.”

Zack shook his head. “No problem. We’re in no rush.” The waitress left.