December, 1986
Michael looked up at his sister as they walked down the beach. She was looking at the ground, the wind pulling at her hair and her dress. As ridiculous as he found the amount of time and money she spent on fashion, he had to admit he liked the way she dressed. She always looked so cool, and he kind of liked to be seen with her.
He felt a rush of embarrassment as he remembered what the woman who had taken their picture had said. But it wasn't a big deal, it only looked like they were boyfriend and girlfriend because they were the same age and they didn't look like each other for some reason. He had wrapped his arm around her, but that was perfectly normal, everyone did that in pictures. But not all brothers gave their sisters necklaces… God, that was weird. He'd been unsure about it before, but he'd brushed his concerns aside, wanting to do something special to celebrate the beginning of her recovery. A gift card didn't seem like it would cut it. But the look on her face when she'd opened it had instantly told him it had been a bad idea. But she knew it didn't mean anything like that, that he would never… Still, he would try to avoid that kind of thing in the future.
"Do you remember when Andrew broke up with me and you said he was lucky to have me?" Lindsay said suddenly.
"Uh, yeah," Michael said, confused.
"Did you really mean that? Or were you just being nice?" She said it casually but there was an intensity in her voice that startled him.
"Uh, yeah, I meant it, I guess," he said. "Why?"
"I don't know, I was just thinking about it," she said.
"Okay," he laughed, quickly pushing away the thought in the back of his mind. He didn't know if he'd really meant it. It was true that he'd only said it to make her feel better, but she was really attractive. She was also shallow and selfish, but that was just how she was. It was only because their parents had messed them up so much. And she was so fun to be around, and she understood him better than he understood himself. Andrew didn't know her like he knew her, no one did.
"Oh no, I feel raindrops," Lindsay said.
"Oh yeah, me too," Michael said, looking up at the night sky. "Let's head back."
They turned and started walking in the direction of the car.
"Oh, shit," Lindsay said as raindrops started falling all around them. "Shit!"
Suddenly rain was thundering down on them. "Come on, over here!" Michael said, running towards the pier. She followed him under it. Raindrops were still coming through the cracks, but it was a little drier.
"Oh my god," Lindsay said. "How are we going to get to the car?"
"Maybe it will clear up soon?" Michael said hopefully, though one glance at the rain pouring down on the beach told him this was wishful thinking. Lindsay shrieked as a river formed in the sand where she was standing and jumped closer to him.
"Okay, we're going to have to make a run for it," she said. "Ready?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, go!"
She pulled her jacket up over her head and took off towards the parking lot. He ran after her, slipping on the wet sand. The rain came down hard on his head as he left the cover of the pier. Lindsay shrieked with laughter, though he could barely hear her over the sound of the rain and the ocean. She stopped when they reached the parking lot.
"Wait, where did we park?" she said as he stopped beside her.
"Oh, uh…I don't remember."
"What?!"
"Well, you don't know, either!"
"You were the one driving!"
"What difference does that make?"
"Oh my god," she said, taking her jacket off her head and looking up at the sky so that the raindrops splashed off her face. "That's just fantastic."
"I guess there's no point in running anymore," Michael laughed. They were both soaked.
"No, not really," she said. "Well, let's find the car."
They walked together through the busy parking lot, which was red and gold with the lights of the cars shining through the rain. Michael scanned the rows of cars, but there was no sign of theirs. It wasn't raining quite as heavily now, but it was still coming down all around them and splashing around their shoes, which were soaked through.
"Hey, is that it?" Michael said, spotting their car in the next row.
"Oh, thank god," Lindsay said. They hurried over to it and got in.
"Oh my god," Lindsay said as she closed the door, leaning her head back and laughing. "Is my makeup running?"
Michael looked at her. There were indeed long black streaks of mascara running down her face.
"Uh, yeah," he laughed. "Yeah, it's like, all over your face."
"Damn," she said, trying to rub it off.
"It's fine, it's only me," he laughed.
"Yeah, I guess," she said. "Well, happy birthday!"
He laughed. "Happy birthday."
His breath caught in his throat when she looked at him again. She looked beautiful, with raindrops clinging to her eyelashes and her wet skin shining in the orange glow of the streetlights outside. Even the mascara running down her face was kind of sexy in a way. She smiled breathlessly at him for a moment, but then her smile fell slightly and she turned away. He looked away, too, embarrassed, though he wasn't quite sure why.
