“What!”
“I don’t wanna talk to you about my date!”
“Ooh, so itwasadatedate. So there’s something totalk about.”
I buried myself in my blanket again. “CAN WE NOT?”
“So it went well?”
Suddenly the memory of last night’s kiss came flooding back. Night air laced with jasmine. The glow of the apartment lights throwing half of Hamlet’s face into shadow. The taste of grass jelly. I giggled involuntarily.
My dad gaped at me. “Whoa.”
“Can youleave?” I yelled, tossing my stuffed sriracha bottle pillow at him.
He caught it swiftly. “All right, all right. Have a good day, Shorty.”
I dragged myself out of bed to give him a hug. “You too.”
He made a face. “Get out of here, Morning Breath.”
“Youget out!” I pushed him to the door.
***
“Clara, can you slather me?”
I squinted up at Patrick. “Can you not say ‘slather,’ though?”
He handed me a giant bottle of generic brand sunblock. “That’s what it is. Would you rather I say ‘rub’?”
I got up and tugged on my baseball cap and sunglasses. “I’d rather not have to do this task.” Patrick turned his freckled andbony back to me. His shoulder blades were sharp and delicate like bird wings.
The community pool was unusually crowded today. It was in the high nineties and scorching hot on the concrete. We had spread out layers of towels, but the heat still managed to seep through and I got the distinct feeling that, from space, we looked like little rotisserie hens gathered around a blue rectangle.
“Babe! Get in the water!” Felix shouted from the edge of the pool.
Cynthia made a face from under her giant umbrella. She had alabaster skin that turned into a third-degree burn upon contact with the sun. Between that and her inability to walk more than half a mile without complaining, I was pretty sure she was meant to live in a Victorian attic.
“I just showered this morning,” she said with a sniff.
“So did I—who cares?” Felix said, exasperated.
After I finished smearing sunblock on Patrick, I put in my earbuds to avoid hearing the inevitable testy couple fight ahead.
When I swiped my screen to pick my music, I noticed a few missed texts.
Want to come over and hang out by the pool?Rose.
And then Hamlet:
I had fun last night. Hope you did, too.
What are you doing today?
I have the day off, too!
Didn’t even give me a chance to answer any questions. His texts were as enthusiastic and rapid-fire as real-life Hamlet.
