“No, but that was what I heard today.” I swallowed. “I overheard it.”
Everett waded over to me, his skin glistening. He’d been doing all that outdoor exercise, so he had a lot more color than I did, the person who sat in various dimly lit rooms for most of the day. “What are you talking about?” he asked. “What did you overhear?”
I ended up telling him the story of the two women, who they were and what they’d said about me. “I don’t care,” I stated. “They can think whatever they want about why I was there but the truth is, I only went to that party because my sister isinsisting that I have to make up with Boyd, and also because I was afraid that she’d go out on a boat and get into trouble. She’s a worse swimmer than I am. She just sinks, and she probably wouldn’t wear a life jacket because it wouldn’t look cute so I’d have to be around to badger her about it. That was why I went.”
“You don’t have to explain it to me. They don’t have a fucking clue.” He sounded angry, very. “They think that your sister is doing you favors? They have no idea of everything that you do for her. That’s bullshit.”
“It is! It was bullshit.” But I hesitated. “I was looking forward to the party, though. Not seeing Boyd or his parents, because they all suck, but just…getting out. Doing something different.” Now, that sounded pathetic. Very un-Fun Girl.
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
I couldn’t keep the shock out of my voice. “You do?”
“Sure. It’s like you said, I didn’t have much of a vacation. I’ve been eating the same things every day so I can get the right nutrition. I spent all those hours at the gym and I’ve done so many laps around the track that I should have gotten dizzy. I wouldn’t mind something different. I wouldn’t mind if I could stop worrying for a while.” He leaned back and splashed into the water.
I felt kind of stupid. I had been concerned about him making the Woodmen roster, although (as my sister kept repeating) it shouldn’t have mattered to me—and I’d known a little about how much he was preparing, how hard he was working to make it happen. But it really hadn’t ever occurred to me that he wasworried himself. He’d seemed so sure and confident as he’d said that he’d be the starter, that it was going to happen.
“I tried to make the all-state marching band,” I commented when he surfaced. “It wasn’t about money, though. It was all about the glory. Anyway, I practiced a lot and I tried my hardest, but I didn’t get it.”
“But you weren’t upset because you don’t get upset by things. That’s what you told me.”
“I did?” I asked, surprised. “Well, that’s true. I was sorry at first about not making it but then I realized how impossible it would have been to get myself to the practices and to the concert. It had been enough of a problem to go to the audition, so it worked out for the best.”
“Yeah, you also said that things don’t always go the way you want but it could be the better outcome.”
“I guess I try to give you a lot of advice, which is a little weird.” I looked back up at the house. “Because here you are living in a mansion, doing your dream job, and driving a truck with four good tires, and I…” I was not a person who had those things. I wasn’t a person with the job that I wanted. I lived in a rental with my sister where we shared a bed, and I was still saving up for a new tire. I had probably spent too much on the tacos for my birthday.
“I’m interested in your advice.” He floated over to me. “You remind me of my grandmother.”
I looked down at my bathing suit. When I’d put it on this morning, I’d heard a similar comment from my sister: “Zo! Don’t you have a bikini? That’s what grandmas wear.”
Now I nodded. “I guess I act old.” Not mature, just old.
“She used to talk to me,” he said. “Coaches always bitch, but she used to listen and tell me if she thought I was being an asshole.”
“I don’t think you’re an asshole.”
“Kind of. Sometimes,” he said, and I shrugged. Maybe kind of, sometimes. But not to me.
Anyway, I knew that his grandma was someone he had loved a lot. That was obvious from how he’d talked to me about her, so was it terrible that I reminded him of an elderly woman who had worn modest clothing, like a bathing suit with lots of coverage, and had dispensed prudent advice?
Yes. I held my nose, submerged, and then made my best attempt at swimming. That way, I didn’t have to look at Everett for a while.
Chapter 9
“This is amazing!” Her dark blue eyes were big and so beautiful—I wondered if mine, which were the same color due to our dad’s genetics, could have looked that nice. “I can’t believe we’re here, Zoey!” She elbowed her boyfriend, who glanced up from his phone. “Right, Boyd? Isn’t this amazing?”
“Amazing,” he echoed, and I had a hard time not reaching over to flick his forehead. Was he bored or something? I didn’t even have to invite him! He was very lucky that he was here, and actually, it wasn’t due to me.
“I’ll get you tickets,” Everett had casually mentioned when we’d been down at the beach. He had picked up a stone and tossed it into the clear water. “How many?”
I had been drying myself off with my T-shirt because we hadn’t brought towels when we’d gone swimming. “Tickets? You mean, I would get to go to a Woodsmen game?”
“Yeah, you could come to all of them. If you want to,” he’d added.
“I do! I really do!” I was so excited that I’d started to hop a little on the sand. I hadn’t been interested in the high school games when I’d been part of the marching band, but something about going to see the Junior Woodsmen had lit a fire of interest in me. He had lit a fire of interest, actually, and just in case he got hurt again, I felt that I needed to be there.
Everett had grinned. “I guess you really do. How many tickets?” I’d said two, and he’d shrugged. “I thought you told me that your sister’s boyfriend is a huge fan.”
