“No,” I say a little too forcefully. “I mean—there must be a reason you came so early to school. I won’t stop you.”
He shrugs. “I just moved here and had to fill out some forms in the office, but I can do that later.”
“Are you sure?” I already feel like a burden.
“Yeah.” He stands up and lifts the bucket like it's full of feathers before we both climb out of the bushes.
“Where did you move from?” I ask, deciding to make small talk as we walk along the sidewalk toward the rainbow chalk letters.
“California.”
“Nice. Some pretty good beaches there.”
“Definitely. Have you been?”
“No, but I want to go. Or just anywhere with a beach, really.”
“Ah, you're a beach bunny.”
“Actually, I’ve never been to a beach before that I can remember. But I'd take a sunny beach over cold winters any day.” Just the thought of low temperatures makes me shiver. It’s only the end of September, but I’m already reaching my cold-weather threshold. I pull the sleeves of my blue jacket down so they cover my hands. “One day, I want to travel around the world and find the best beach on every continent.”
“I’ve heard those Antarctic beaches are to die for.”
“Ha ha—you’re funny,” I say sarcastically.
“No, I’m Jordan.” He tosses me a teasing smile. “And you must be… Lilly? Lana? Laura?”
I quirk my head to the side. “I must really be giving off the L vibes.”
Jordan points to the gold bracelet on my wrist with the letter L dangling from the links.
“Oh!” I laugh. “No, this is to help me tell my lefts from rights. My friends gave it to me as a joke. Well, sort of.” I finger the tiny letter, which has never been the best left and right guide since I tend to switch which wrist I wear it on. But it’s pretty and reminds me of my friends, so I always wear it.
“That makes a lot of sense,” he says with his ever-present smirk.
“What does?”
“When I first saw you at the faucet, you were turning it to the right. Lefty loosey, righty tighty.”
“Ah.” I must be trying to set a record for how many times I can humiliate myself in one morning. “Well, that just makes it even more impressive that you undid all my efforts to tighten it. You really must have an eight-pack in there.”
“Excuse me?”
My eyes go wide.Why did I say that out loud?I raise my hand and point to the non-existent muscles in my palm as if this demonstration will clarify things.
He looks at me with pure amusement.
“Never mind.” I blush and try to laugh it off.
“So, the J and L finger trick never worked?”
“Not really.” I shake my head. “It just makes me second-guess which one is J and which one is L.”
He laughs. “So if your name doesn’t start with an L…”
“Oh, right. I’m Paige Devons.”
He sends me a crooked grin. “Nice to meet you, Paige.”
