DRAMA NOVEL ONLINE Skate the Line: Chapter 1
“Say it with me.” The woman’s voice calms me. I find myself nodding. “This is the start of the most soul-nourishing year of my life.”
I repeat her. “This is the start of the most soul-nourishing year of my life.”
A deep breath escapes my mouth as if I’m blowing all my worries away. I slowly peel my eyes open and stare at the crashing waves. The taste of salty water lands on the tip of my tongue, and the ocean breeze wisps at the tendrils of hair hanging from my messy braid.
“This is the start of the most soul-nourishing year of my life,” I say again because, just maybe, if I continue saying it and nodding along, I’ll actually manifest it into the universe.
I snort and rip an earbud from my ear.
The podcaster continues on, but I find myself focusing on the sounds of the sea instead. I bury my toes into the sand and try to ground myself. I have to get used to my new normal, but no matter how far my feet dig into the granules, something feels off.
The ringing inside my ear pulls me back to reality, cutting off the self-help podcast. I slip my other earbud back in place and answer Ruby’s ringtone.
“Hello?”
“Hey, surfer girl.”
I roll my eyes. I’ve been in California for three days, and she’s already calling me surfer girl.
“What’s u—” She pauses. “Where the hell are you? Sounds like you’re standing in the middle of a hurricane.”
I unbury my feet and sit cross-legged on a blanket. “I’m at the beach.”
“Ohhhh,” she drags the word out with jealousy. “That’s right. I forgot. My bestie is just out there living her best life at the beach.”
I laugh sarcastically. “Yep. I’m just out here living the dream. All alone on the beach with a self-help podcast in my ear and nothing but a quickly depleting bank account to my name.”
“That’s exactly why I called you.”
I pick up a seashell and observe the tiny cracks along the edge. “Did my nana bribe you to call me and tell me to go back home?”
Ruby pauses. “She did call me but only to have me check on you.”
I knew it. My nana told me to “spread my wings and follow my dreams,” but she knows that something isn’t quite right. I can’t fool her, and I think we both know that my sudden departure from Washington has nothing to do with following my dreams.
“That’s not why I’m calling, though. I have a job opportunity.”
My heart goes out with the tide. “Ruby,” I warn.
She cuts me off. “Hear me out.”
Ruby and I are best friends. We don’t have that we-grew-up-with-each-other friendship, considering we’ve only known one another for a few years, but she knows me better than anyone. We met through TEN: The Elite Nanny agency.
It’s an elite, privately owned nanny placement agency dedicated to high-profile athletes and their families. The pay is exceptional, and once you’re placed with the right family, it’s a dream job. I’ve traveled, gotten free vacations, Christmas bonuses, and I’ve gained life-long friendships, like with Ruby. I’ve gained some trauma too, but never mind that.
I throw the broken seashell into the ocean and sigh into the phone. “Fine. What’s your job proposition?”
Ruby is well-aware that I’ve closed a chapter on Washington and with TEN, so I’m interested to hear what this so-called job could be.
“Well, you know TEN?”
I give the phone a strange look. “You mean the nanny agency where we met? No. I’ve never heard of it.”
Ruby ignores my sarcasm. “They’ve opened up another agency. It’s a branch of TEN.”
I quickly shake my head. “No.”
“You promised you’d hear me out.”
I laugh. “I didn’t promise you anything.”
She pauses, and through the beachy breeze and crashing waves, I hear her soften her tone toward Marybella. “You’re supposed to be in bed, monkey.”
“Oh, looks like you have to go,” I say, knowing it’s well after bedtime for Marybella—the little girl she nannies.
“Don’t you dare hang up the phone, Sunny.”
I roll my eyes and wait on the other end while she gives Marybella three loud smooches and tucks her back in.
“Okay, real quick before she gets out of bed again with some silly excuse for needing water or something.”
I smile to myself, remembering when Atlas used to do the same to me when I’d have to stay overnight.
“I’m listening,” I say.
“Jillian opened up another branch of TEN. It’s called The Nanny Roster. It’s exclusive to the eastern part of the United States.”
I swallow and remain quiet.
“Word travels with the rich and famous, and apparently, there is a major need for nannies in other parts of the United States—or so Jillian says.”
“I…” I grab another seashell and start to rub its smooth surface. “I can’t nanny again, Ruby. It’s too much…”—fear—“drama.”
“Chicago is far from Washington.”
“Chicago?” The word barely squeezes out of my mouth. “What’s in Chicago other than…Oprah?”
Ruby laughs, and I feel my lips turning upward at the sound. “Chicago Blue Devils, Sunny. Get with it!”
My spine straightens. “Hockey?” Absolutely not.
“They don’t play against each other. I already checked.”
I know my sports, especially hockey.
“Unless they both make it to the playoffs,” I counter.
She scoffs. “As if the Hawks are going to make it to the playoffs. They haven’t won a single game.”
“There is still time left in the season.” My hands shake.
“True.” Ruby’s sigh cuts through the sound of waves. “Hey, I didn’t call to get you out of sorts. I just thought since it was halfway across the country, you might consider it. Especially because Chicago is artsy.”
“Artsy?” I already know that one of the best art schools is in Chicago, but I’d love to hear Ruby come up with some explanation on what makes it artsy. “How so?”
Ruby clicks her tongue. “I don’t know…there’s, like, museums and shit.”
I laugh loudly, and it causes a flock of seagulls to fly away.
“That’s right up your alley! Come on!” she pleads. “You don’t belong on a sunny beach in California.”
I scoff. “What do you mean I don’t belong on a sunny beach? My name is Sunny.”
“Shit, you have a point,” she says.
I can almost picture her walking through the kitchen while nibbling on her thumbnail as she tries to think of another solution to get me back to myself. I haven’t been the Sunny she knows in months. Not since I left Washington. But maybe even a little before that too.
“Will you at least think about it? That’s what you’re doing out there in California, right? Thinking.”
“I like to call it soul-searching.” It sounds better.
“Do you know what’s good for the soul?” she asks.
“If you say penis…”
She snorts. “That’s obviously implied but not what I was referring to.”
“Well, then what?”
“The Windy City, baby!” I wince at her volume.
I shake my head and smile. “Have you ever been to Chicago?”
There’s silence.
“No…but I’d have a reason to go if you were there.”
“Well…” I pop up from the sand and brush myself off. “Keep looking for reasons, because my answer is no.”