“Oh no,” he said.
“Oh yes,” I replied. “Race ya!” I broke away from him andcannonballed into the pool. He followed right behind me. We popped up out of the water, laughing. Luke’s white shirt clung to his chest, and his lips were a little blue.
“Are you cold?” I asked, realizing I was shivering despite the warm night.
“A little,” Luke said, floating closer. “You are too. I can tell.”
“I’m great,” I said, my chattering teeth giving me away.
Luke settled his hands on my arms, rubbing them, trying to warm me up. “You’re freezing,” he said, wrapping all the way around me until our noses were almost touching. Everything went still. The sloshing water seemed to settle around us, the music faded, and the chatter of the party guests was a distant hum. All I needed to do was lean in and kiss him, consequences be damned. I stepped a little closer, my skirt floating up around us like a cloud. That’s when Ryan surfaced out of the water right next to us.
“Break it up, kiddos,” he shouted. “My parents are pissed. Time to get out!”
Just another moment I misread,I tell myself as Maddy and I hit the corner of Main.
“I haven’t bought new clothes in ages. It just seemed like a waste when everything was still so…uncertain,” I say as we cross the street.
“Sure, I get that, but don’t take this the wrong way: You’re built for a style way cuter than Abbi’s black-and-white hand-me-downs and your mom’s oversized beach clothes. And now that you’ve got Paris to prepare for, you gotta refresh. Let me help redirect you?” Maddy begs.
“Deal,” I say.
At the first few clothing boutiques we give each other shocked looks when we see the price tags. Still, it’s fun to browse. We continue down Main to a big thrift shop. I collapse into an old fancy armchair inside, claiming I need a break, but Maddy isn’t having it.
“You’re totally fine. Get up. You’re going to love this.”
At the back of the shop is a wall of prints and paintings. A sign tells us that local artists donated the pieces and proceeds go to repairing the boardwalk. There’s a huge oil painting of Northport Beach, a series of small paintings of boats in the harbor, and even some watercolor sunsets of Thirds Beach and the lighthouse. There’s also a huge whale-shaped weather vane made of what looks like bone and driftwood that reminds me of Luke’s grandpa’s pieces.
“Okay, this is cool,” I say. I lose track of time for a bit as I try to decide if I want this one painting of a humpback whale swimming up the canal. Maddy shouts my name from a few aisles down. I pull myself away from the painting and go find her.
“Where are you?” I ask, walking through the kitchen supply aisle and then a corner full of lamps.
“Over here!” I follow her voice to the clothing section, where she has a cart full of things to try on.
“See, it’s notnewor expensive, but some of this stuff is still so quality.” She flicks through another handful of hangers in the dress section. “The rich people with summer houses like to dump practically their whole wardrobes every year and buy new stuff. Some of this still has tags on it.”
I join her in looking for the most outrageous dresses we can find, before lugging our discoveries to the dressing rooms.At the last second, Maddy drops a yellow dress on the top of my pile.
“Youmusttry this. It’s required.”
I laugh. “Why?”
“Because it’s a great date dress.” Maddy’s eyes shine, and she winks. “When are you seeing Jackson again?”
“Oh, um, I’m not sure…He’s still in Nantucket,” I say. He’s been posting a lot, but I haven’t heard from him much since he left. “But I’ll try it. Do you need one, too, for any…dates?” I ask. “You still haven’t told me what’s going on with Sienna. I’ve seen her at the diner like three times now.”
Maddy blushes. “Well, I wasn’t sure it was anything…”
“But…” I egg her on.
“But…we’ve gone out a couple times and it’s been fun. Her family just moved here and she’s a rising sophomore at Berklee and into DJ-ing, and…me…apparently.”
I squeal. “Maddy! That’s great!”
Maddy blushes a little. “Early days, but I like her a lot.”
I make a mental note to find something date-appropriate for her to try on too.
In the dressing room, we laugh about how short the curtains are as we try on giant colorful caftans and more blue-and-white-striped clothing than we can count. Then I finally pick up the soft yellow cotton sundress. It’s covered in tiny white flowers. I drop it over my head and zip it up. It fits perfectly. I step in front of the big mirror outside the changing stalls and stare at myself. The dress falls slightly past my fingertips and flares out from a corset-like bodice. The sweetheart neckline ties with a bow at the center and covers all but the very top ofmy scar. The straps are these fun off-the-shoulder kind that aren’t actually doing anything, but make my arms look strong. Maddy gasps when she comes out to see me.
