Billy plopped down in an Adirondack chair and surveyed the party, even though it looked like every other one he had ever thrown. There were a few dozen kids from Pelican Island Academy dancing on his brick patio by the pool. Most everyone was in a bathing suit, though the bikini tops seemed to ride up by the minute as his friends grinded with one another to the beat of some bad EDM song.
Billy wondered who’d stolen the aux cord and changed up his carefully curated playlist, but he didn’t have the energy to get up from his chair, to actually give a shit. As long as the music was thumping, he didn’t care.
He swiveled his head and saw his cousin Olivia perched on the stone ledge overlooking the water. When her gaze met his, she rolled her eyes at him, like she couldn’t believe she was back here at a party with these people. But she had nowhere else to go. She had arrived from the city a few hours ago, dumped on his doorstep by her totally negligentparents—and coming from Billy, that certainly said a lot. It’s not like Sally and Reid Godwin were about to win any awards in the parenting department. Hell, his mom had taken a handful of pills a few hours ago and told him to only wake her if someone set the place on fire. He hadn’t seen his dad since midafternoon, when they played nine holes at the Club.
But for the most part, Billy didn’t mind. They left him alone as long as he got good grades, which he did, and they had good enough manners to scream at each other when they thought he was out of earshot, though he rarely was. But Olivia’s parents…They didn’t give a shit about her. That’s what his mom insinuated while Olivia was unpacking in the pool house. “At least we never ditched you and went to Europe.”
Olivia looked as she always did—tan, blond, preppy, basically the female version of Billy—and when he told her she was right in time for the party, she asked exactly only one question: “Will Lucy be there?”
Billy had shrugged. “Probably not.” It was a Friday, after all, and you never could count on seeing any of the Silvers or the Golds on Fridays. Olivia seemed disappointed, but Billy reminded her that Lucy and Ethan were basically married, and that was lame as hell.
Secretly, Billy didn’t think their love was lame. In fact, he was a little envious. For a while, he thought he and Erica had that kind of relationship, too. He even entertained the idea that they might stay together freshman year when she was at NYU and he went off to Boston College. Not the whole year. A semester. Maybe until Thanksgiving. At least until he could find his footing in a new place, see if there was anyone else out there better suited for him.
That plan got royally fucked when Erica dumped him right afterprom. Said she didn’t like who she was around him. That she wanted a summer on her own to find herself before school.
Billy suspected Lucy had something to do with it. He saw the way she looked at him.
Like he was a pity hang. Like he wasn’t good enough for Erica. Like Ethan was wasting his time hanging around Billy. Man, she was so stuck-up.
It’s good to be honest about the people you know the best. Billy was sure of that.
Anyway.
Tonight he would prove Erica wrong. He could show her that he really was a good guy! Billy scanned the crowd and saw her huddled with a group of girls by the firepit. Her long dark hair was tied up in a cute, messy bun on top of her head and she wore a bright pink bikini top and jean shorts. He smiled. She was so pretty. So fun. She tossed her head back and laughed, placing a hand on her chest. Billy wanted tobethat hand. He wanted to kiss that bare skin.
But he stayed in his seat, sipped whatever was in his red cup. It tasted like ass, but it was doing the trick.
He needed to wait a little while before approaching her. She might be more amendable if she had a few drinks, if her guard was down. But Billy needed some backup. Dylan was here, obviously, but he really needed Ethan. He’d texted him a little while ago, but there was no response. Not yet.
Ah, screw it. No time to waste, really. In June, summer seemed endless, but by August, you’d slap yourself, shocked that you wasted so much time. Billy would not waste a single second of summer. Not this year.
“Erica!” he started to call, but the syllables came out mushy, bleeding together. That’s not a good look, he realized. He should find Justin. That kid always had a stash of something that would wake him up.
He started walking the perimeter of his property, nodding at his guests, holding his cup up as a greeting. Without him, his friends would have no parties, no fun, no excitement.Hemade the magic happen on Pelican Island.
Someone called Billy’s name, and he blinked, looking up.
“My man,” he said, his face splitting into a smile. “There you are.”
Frankie
“I can’t believe this is an actual job,” Alex says, bouncing his knee up and down.
I shield my eyes from the sun, which slices through the small wooden welcome hut at the Pelican Island Tennis and Beach Club. “Kind of crazy they let the babies have the best gig.” I elbow him in the ribs and reach for a salt-and-vinegar chip from the bag in front of us.
Millie and Lucy complained about being on welcome-hut duty during the summers between their freshman and sophomore years. I can’t really see why. We’re only a few hours into our first shift, and I can already tell it’s going to be the easiest job of all time.
All we have to do is say hi to our neighbors as they stop by to pick up free sunscreen and fresh fluffy towels, tell people where to go for their tennis lessons, and make sure visiting relatives have guest passes. Besides that, we can basically do whatever we want. For Alex and me, that means working through the hardest level of logic puzzles from the big book I found in my dad’s office around the holidays. It’s as heavy as my world history textbook, but it’s ten years old, marketed as a study guide for law school hopefuls taking the LSAT, and when I asked Dad about the book, he waved his hand. “I do them for fun. They keep you sharp.”
Dad handed it over, then bought me a few more books for Hanukkah, each one leveling up in difficulty. “The associates at my firm can barely get to level ten,” he said. “But you will.”
I’malmostthere, but really only with Alex’s help. I find them relaxing and Alex’s competitive streak makes him to want to solve them as fast as I do. He’s the perfect partner for this kind of thing.
I extend my long legs beneath the desk, wincing as my joints ache. My doctor called the consistent pangs growing pains, but I don’t totally understand why reaching my full height has to cause such distress. Especially when both of my sisters remain at a very average and nonpainful five-foot-four.
“Want some ice?” Alex asks, motioning to my knee, which I’m bending back and forth. “I can grab you a bag from the Snack Shack?”
I swat at him. “You want to go over there because Rishi is working today.”
