Lauren's Beach Crush Read Online Free PDF Page A

toward town. Lauren’s was a sleepy dead-end street with very little traffic. “Our beach is that way,” said Lauren, pointing in the other direction, toward the ocean. “It’s usually full of little kids because it faces the Sound and doesn’t have huge waves. We can check that out later.”
    Chrissy closed her eyes and breathed deeply. “I love how the air smells like the ocean,” she said. “Salty and fishy, but in a good way.”
    Lauren nodded. She did too. Several seagulls darted above their heads, heading toward the ocean.
    After a short walk, turning right and then left, they arrived in the middle of town. “So this is Main Street,” said Lauren, sweeping her arm in a ta-da! gesture. “It’s not a very big town, as you can see, but it gets really crowded in the summer. Main Street goes all the way down to the pier. There are a lot of old houses and antique stores and stuff on the side streets.” She shrugged casually. “I can show you those later, if you want.” She pretended it wasn’t a big deal, because she didn’t know if Chrissy liked that sort of thing. Lauren loved the hidden treasures of the town—all the funky old houses, clumped so closely together with “widows’ walks” on their top floors. Lauren’s mom had told her that a really long time ago women and children would stand out there to watch and wait for the return of the whaling ships in the harbor. Those ships held their husbands and fathers, and sometimes they never returned because the voyages were so long and dangerous back then. Lauren got the chills just thinking about it. She hesitated to tell Chrissy about it though. She also wanted to show Chrissy the whaling museum, and best of all, the town’s wonderful old library, but she decided not to dothat today. What if Chrissy thought that stuff was boring or dorky? Maybe she’d just see what Chrissy liked and go along with that.
    Main Street was busy, full of slow-moving cars and bicycles, the wide sidewalks crowded with people milling along. Officially dressed village traffic officers, most of them college kids on break for the summer, directed traffic, gave directions, and politely asked idling drivers to move on.
    Lauren pointed places out as they made their way toward the end of the street, where they could see fancy sailing boats docked at the pier. “That’s a really good book store,” said Lauren. “And this is a fun place to get cool jewelry and funky hair stuff, and that store across the street has awesome clothes that aren’t too expensive.”
    â€œI love all the outside restaurants,” said Chrissy, marveling.
    â€œYeah, we’ll probably go to a few of them. Oh, and there. That’s Rudy’s, the ice cream place I told you about. The place where I had the Conversation.” They stopped and peered inside. The place was packed with customers.
    â€œLet’s walk all the way down, okay?” asked Lauren, as she gestured down the street toward the ocean.
    It was a short walk to the end of Main Street, and then a right turn, which took them past the harbor, parallel to the ocean. About a quarter of a mile down the narrow lane lined with tall sea grasses, Lauren turned left onto a sandy pathway, which quickly changed to a weather-beaten boardwalk. Three steps up, and they emerged on the beach.
    Chrissy gasped. “Wow! It’s amazing.” She stood and stared, the wind whipping her hair around her face.
    Lauren was secretly thrilled at Chrissy’s enthusiasm because she had a hard time taking charge. “You need to assert yourself!” her dad often told her. Easier said than done. She didn’t like to stick out. It was always just easier to go with the flow or stay in the background. If Olivia wanted to go to the mall, or Padma suggested ice-skating, or Jessica wanted to go see a movie, Lauren always just agreed. She always ended