I turn toward Luca’s voice, the grin on my face fading when I see he’s not alone. Kimber smiles at me, her long hair tied into a low ponytail.
And Eva is right behind them.
“Hi, Grace,” Kimber says, her yoga pants clinging perfectly to her thighs.
“Uh, hi.”
Luca bumps my shoulder. “I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.”
I grunt acknowledgment, but my attention is on Eva. She’s staring right back at me, a million questions in her eyes.
“What exactly are we doing again?” Kimber asks as Luca slips his hand into hers. She leans against him. Definitely a familiar, we’ve-made-out kind of lean, which means Luca must really like this girl. He talks a big game, but he’s a total sap when it comes to girls and he’s never hooked up with someone for only a night. Aside from a round or two of spin the bottle, Luca’s only ever kissed girls he’s actually dating. Now, he may only date her for a week, but, dammit, he makes sure she knows his noble intentions before he plants one on her.
“We’re going to make it look like beach gnomes are doing the nasty,” Luca says casually, like we’re talking about watching a movie or something.
“Why?” Kimber tilts her head at me, her gaze curious.
“Why not?” I say.
“That’s not really a reason.”
“Do you need a reason for everything?”
“Usually, yeah. Especially if it involves handling someone else’s property without their permission.”
I feel my eyes narrow into slits. “You don’t have to do it, Kimber. I called Luca. Not—?”
“All righty, then,” Luca says, slinging an arm around Kimber’s shoulders. “It’s just something Grace and I have joked about doing for the past few years.” He proceeds to tell her about our paper route and Mrs. Latham’s subsequent eye daggers. I watch Kimber as Luca talks. She watches me back. We’ve always gotten along in the past, working together last summer and sharing some classes. Back in ninth grade, she even lent me a pair of sneakers for gym for about a month when my own got so ratty that the soles nearly disintegrated during a rousing game of four square. I wouldn’t call us friends. I wouldn’t call us not friends, either. But now she’s looking at me like she’s not quite sure who the hell I am or why her brand-new boyfriend is friends with me.
“Sounds like Mrs. Latham has one too many well-behaved beach gnomes,” Eva says. “I say let’s do this.” She meets my gaze for a split second before I flick mine away.
“Fine,” Kimber says. “But if we get arrested, I’m claiming hypnosis.”
“Because that’s believable,” I mutter. Luca elbows me in the ribs, and not very gently, either.
We make our way down the sidewalk toward Mrs. Latham’s neighborhood. Luca and Kimber walk in front, hands linked and whispering.
“Why did you leave like that?” Eva asks. We walk side by side, but I keep my eyes on Kimber’s ass. That is, until I realize I’m accidentally staring at Kimber’s ass, then I shift my gaze to Luca’s curly head.
“Leave like what?”
“You pretty much bit your mom’s head off for making lasagna, and then you stormed out.”
I keep walking, keep staring at Luca’s hair, which now has Kimber’s hand twined into it. I have no idea how to answer Eva. To answer her is to explain. And to explain is to become a kind of sad story you see on Lifetime movies.
“What were you doing there?” I ask instead.
“I ran into your mom at the store, like she said. And then . . .” Her voice fades and I dare a glance. She blinks into the night air and stuffs her hands into her pocket. “I was having a shitty day, okay? And we started talking, and your mom . . . I don’t know. She seemed like—?”
“Like she’d do anything to make you feel better?”
Eva swings her eyes to mine. “Yeah.”
I nod. I get that. I live that every single day. New York City itineraries to soothe the sting of a new move and an asshole ex-boyfriend, promises of beautiful necklaces, early-morning cuddles that make me forget she ever disappeared on me for those few days back when I was thirteen.
“And I was sort of hoping to see you,” Eva says, her voice as quiet and full as the night around us.
All thoughts of Eva and Mom fizzle from my thoughts. Now there’s only Eva. Maybe even Eva and Grace.
