“What’s up with you lately?”
Summer covered a yawn with her hand. “I stayed out late last night, so I slept in.” Not to mention the fitful, nightmare-filled sleep.
“Well I hate to tell you this, but Lexi said that Brooke said that she saw Jenna and Cody last night, and that they were all over each other. Don’t worry, though, I’ve been brainstorming, and I’ve got the perfect solution. According to Lexi, Grossmont’s quarterback is single now, and if you started dating our rival school’s QB, that would totally show Cody.”
“I don’t really want to show Cody anything. I just want to forget about him. I’m over guys.”
Kendall sighed. “You know you’re no fun when you’re all mopey. I don’t have the energy to keep you happy if you don’t even try.”
“I appreciate all the help,” Summer said. “But I’m not ready for another boyfriend.”
“Ugh, this morning these guys kept following me all around the mall. They were the totally-loser type, too. I could’ve used your help, by the way. Lexi’s no good at picking out accessories. She wears those awful chunky hoops with everything she owns.”
Kendall only wanted someone there to echo her opinion. For some reason the girl wanted input before buying anything, yet if you said you didn’t like what she’d picked, she’d be mad for hours. Sounded like Lexi had the nerve to disagree today, poor girl.
“So, if you come over this afternoon I’ll show you what I bought,” Kendall continued. “You can help me figure out how to mix and match with my wardrobe.”
“I can’t this afternoon. I’m catching a movie with Ashlyn.” Silence followed, and Summer felt obligated to fill in the gap. “We started talking last night, and she’s really cool, so we made plans. I’m, uh, sure she wouldn’t care if you wanted to come with us.”
“No. You go ahead and go to a movie with your new friend. Don’t worry about me.” With that, Kendall disconnected.
Summer knew she should call Kendall back and figure out a way to make it better, but the thought exhausted her. Making Kendall happy would have to wait. Right now, she needed to focus on Ashlyn.
The first few minutes of the car ride were silent after Summer picked up Ashlyn, but before long they were laughing and talking again, like they had been last night at the end of the Unicorn Stench show.
Ashlyn tugged on her seatbelt, pulling it away to twist in her seat. “So, the Cody thing. I know you guys went out for a long time and that you’re hurting over it still, but you know having sex with him wouldn’t have fixed everything, right? If he cared about you, he would care about your feelings, too, not just his.”
The part of her that’d been wondering if it would’ve made a difference broke. She wanted to cry and smile and hug Ashlyn, all at the same time. “Thanks. I needed to hear that. He and I always had our ups and downs, but there at the end, it started being a lot more downs. I dealt with them because…well, don’t mock me, but I didn’t want to lose him, even when he was being a jerk. I didn’t want to be alone. How sad is that?”
Ashlyn emphatically shook her head. “Not sad. I mean, it is sad as girls we feel like that—like we have to have someone or we must be failures. But I think everyone feels like that at one time or the other.”
“I got so sucked in, and without him…” Summer shrugged. “I guess I kind of lost myself. It’s like I finally snapped out of this daze I was in, and I can’t believe I let it get that far. It’s not me. It didn’t used to be, anyway. And even knowing all that, my heart still hurts when I see him with Jenna. Or when I can’t pick up the phone and call him like I used to.”
“Trust me, I know what you mean. I had this boyfriend, and even though he ended up being a huge ass, I was still crushed when we broke up.” Ashlyn shot Summer a consoling smile. “Eventually, it does get better. And I’ll help you out by constantly telling you how he doesn’t deserve you, and he’ll realize someday what an awesome girl he lost.”
“That’s right! I am awesome!” Summer half-exhaled, half-laughed. “Seriously, though, I’m not letting another guy do that to me. Ever. Guys are evil hormone-driven idiots, and I’m done.”
Skepticism clear on her features, Ashlyn said, “Uh-huh.”
“No, I am.”
The Burger King caught Summer’s eye. “Ooh. Fries and a Dr. Pepper sound amazing right now.” She switched lanes and turned into the drive-thru. “My dad makes fun of me because I skip the burger and instead get the largest thing of fries they have.”
Summer unrolled her window as they approached the speaker, then glanced at Ashlyn. “What do you want?”
“I’m good,” Ashlyn said.
“Oh, come on.” Summer waved a twenty in the air. “My treat.”
“I guess I’ll have a Diet Coke. A small one.”
Summer repeated the order into the speaker and turned to Ashlyn. “You’re sure you don’t want anything to eat?”
“I’m sure.”
Summer turned up the stereo as one of the new Unicorn Stench songs played through the speakers. She’d already listened to it several times today, but she couldn’t get enough of it.
“This is my favorite part,” Ashlyn said, singing along.
Summer joined in and bobbed her head to the beat as the music picked up. When she stopped at the window to pay for her food, the guy behind the register looked amused by her and Ashlyn’s song and dance. He was kind of cute, so Summer gave him a big smile as she handed over the money.
The guy grinned and handed her back her change. “You girls have a great day. And come again soon. I’d like to see another dance.”
“We’ll be sure to do that,” Summer said.
“I work until eleven. Swing by anytime.”
Summer smiled at him again before pulling away from the window.
“Weren’t you, only moments ago, saying that you were done with guys?” Ashlyn asked.
“I am. I’m keeping things to a strictly flirtatious level. It’s boyfriends that are the problem. They aren’t worth the pain they’ll inevitably cause you.”
“Yeah! Who needs a stupid boyfriend?”
“Solidarity, sister,” Summer said with a laugh. At the next window, she handed Ashlyn her soda, placed her own in the cup holder, and rigged the take-out bag so she could easily dig into her fries while driving.
As Summer pulled into traffic, Ashlyn squealed. “Aaah! Omigosh, omigosh, it’s pouring everywhere!” Diet Coke leaked out of the bottom of her cup onto her jeans. She put her hand under the cup and held it away from her. The brown liquid poured through her fingers, dripping onto the floor mat. “It’s getting worse!”
Fries sticking out of her mouth, Summer dug into the brown bag and tossed Ashlyn the single napkin in the bag. She slowed down, glancing back and forth from the traffic ahead of them to Ashlyn. The napkin was already soaked through and the liquid continued to pour from the bottom.
With her elbow, Ashlyn hit the button to unroll the window. She held her leaky cup out of it. “I think I jabbed my straw through the bottom. Geez, what a wussy cup.” Ashlyn glanced down and wiped at her pants. “Shit. I’m so sorry about your car. I think the floor mat and my jeans got most of it”
“No worries. Seriously, it’s not a big deal at all.” Summer grabbed her fries out of the bag, secured them between her thighs, and handed the bag over to Ashlyn. “Put this over it for now. Maybe it’ll help.”
Ashlyn dropped the cup in the bag, but it seeped through within a few seconds. “My pants and shirt are completely soaked.”