Chapter 11

So, a couple of days after the night of June, Shelly and I made love for the first time. School started.

We all became swamped. To be expected. June was ramping up her marathon training. Shelly and I dove right into our studies.

But, almost immediately, June and I noticed something: Shelly seemed to be avoiding us. We would catch a glimpse of her before school – she always left before I did, way before. She would get home later than I and would immediately go into her room for the night. She ate with us at the table but gave us mostly small talk about school and stuff.

This went on for a couple of weeks. At first, I thought maybe it was just me, but June brought it up to me one night.

“I mean, before, she was always a bit aloof. She had her own thing. I mean, she’s a teenager. You’re one. You know how you are!”

I nodded. “Yeah, but ... do you think it was that night?”

June sighed and sat in bed beside me. “I don’t know. I don’t think so, but I don’t know. I mean, I have known her for her entire life. I sometimes think I know more about her than she does. I can tell when she is mad. She is not mad. I can tell when she feels guilty about something. She does not feel guilty. She’s not acting like she did anything wrong. A couple of times, I have seen her catch a glimpse of you, and she gets a look in her eye ... it is a good look. Like ... I don’t know ... like a teenage girl in love.”

I felt myself blushing. I cleared my throat. “I think I have seen those looks, too. But they are pointed at you.”

She shook her head. “Never saw it. Did you see her looking at you that way?”

I shook my head.

June let out a long sigh. “She has kind of a faraway look in her eyes. It reminds me a little bit of the same look she had for a while after April went back to school.”

I nodded. “I’ve seen that, too.”

“But ... she didn’t lose anything, did she? I mean, you didn’t say anything after that night that would give her the impression...” She left the statement empty, but clear.

I shook my head. “No. I haven’t said anything at all about it.” I let out a sigh. “That night was something, though.”

She smiled. “That night was wonderful. But I almost feel like I have lost my daughter after that night, and ... oh, I am so confused!”

“Yeah. Me too.”

A couple of nights later, I saw April out on a lounge by the pool. It was a Friday night. She was in her bathing suit.

I slipped into one of my bathing suits and slipped outside with her.

She looked up at me when I dipped into the water and smiled. “Hey,” she said. Her voice was warm and friendly.

“Hey!” I said as chipperly as I could manage but felt like I had fumbled it. “How goes it?” I asked, trying to recover.

She rolled over onto her back with a sigh. “Not bad at all. Not bad. Just enjoying life.” We were silent for a few moments as I quietly swam around the pool for a few moments, then swam up to the side near her. “I have always loved looking at the stars,” Shelly said. “Thousands of them up there! And if I look long enough, I can make out the Milky Way. I mean, it puts things into perspective. Let us know that no matter what problems we think we might have, there are none. There are billions of stars out there, with billions of worlds, and who knows how many other creatures out there with problems of their own. Ours ... nothing.”