“Hi, Troy,” a female voice purred, lots of breathiness behind it. Lexi. She shot him a big grin, complete with eye batting. Kendall was with her, but her attention was on her phone.
“Lexi. Hey.” He tucked his books under his arm. “I better get to my next class.” He took a few steps, then spun around, and gave Summer the nod. “Later, Sunshine.”
“Wait, Troy.” Lexi hurried after him. “I want to ask you a quick question.” Yesterday at practice, Summer had told Lexi that Troy liked someone else, but apparently she wasn’t going to let that minor detail get in her way.
“Did you run out of product?” Kendall poked at Summer’s curls. “Your hair is huge.”
“I forgot it.” Summer patted the top of her head, assessing the frizzage. “It’s not that bad, is it?”
“As your friend, I feel I’m obligated to tell you the truth, even if it hurts. So yeah, it’s bad.”
Summer gave her a tight smile. “Well, thanks.”
“You should pull it back.”
Summer shrugged. “Whatever.” Her leftover high from surfing this morning made her crazy hair not seem like that big of a deal. Besides, she’d decided to run with the crazy today.
Kendall shook her head. “Just make sure you look presentable on Friday.”
“Yeah, about your party. You’ll be busy, and you’ll have Jack—”
“You are not cancelling on me.”
“Of course not.” Summer bit her lip. “I was just thinking of bring reinforcements. I need someone to get me through the night.”
Kendall leaned in conspiratorially. “Who’s the new guy?”
“No, not a guy. I’m going to bring Ashlyn. For moral support,” she added when Kendall continued to stare.
“That girl you keep hanging around?” Kendall asked, as if she didn’t know.
Summer nodded, deciding the fewer words Kendall could turn on her, the better.
“Whatever,” she huffed. “Just don’t bring the whole Reject Gang. That would be a huge party killer.”
Good enough for Summer, even if she didn’t agree. She broke away from Kendall before she changed her mind and headed to the cafeteria. She caught Ashlyn just before she reached the table. “Okay, so you’re going to come with me to Kendall’s birthday party on Friday.”
Ashlyn’s eyebrows shot up so high they got lost in her bangs. “No way. I’m not goin’ to that.”
“But…?” Summer thought she’d be happy. Kendall went all out, and most people tried to get invites. “It’ll be fun.”
Ashlyn pressed her lips together, almost like she was afraid of how she might respond.
“Come on, you dragged me out into the freezing water first thing in the morning,” Summer said. “I doubted you at first, but now I’m happy that I let you talk me into it.”
“I don’t want to be around those people.” Ashlyn’s eyes met Summer’s. “And I’m afraid of who you’ll be around them.”
Frustration bubbled up, along with a twinge of offense. “I’ll be me. But I’ll have you to make the night more interesting.”
Ashlyn started toward the table, then spun around so fast Summer nearly plowed into her. “I heard you and your friends making fun of some people a couple months back, okay? You didn’t really say anything, but you laughed along with the rest of them. That’s why I didn’t like you at first. That’s why I felt so protective of our group. I like hanging out with you, but you and them…? I don’t think I’ll like it.”
All the times she’d made fun of others came back to her, unwelcome memories she’d rather erase. Jabs against fashion. Dancing. Social skills—she’d pretty much covered all the topics. She’d thought of it as light-hearted fun. But she couldn’t deny the fact that most of the people she’d mocked were kind-hearted guys and girls who would be crushed by her comments. Memories stacked one by one on her shoulders, weighing her down.
“You’re right. There’ve been times when I was downright bitchy, no good excuse for it. I can’t change the past. But I swear, I’m trying to be better. I have to go to this party, and Cody will be there. I don’t want to face him alone.”
“Then take Troy.”
“That’s not a good idea with Cody there. They don’t like each other, and the last thing I need is a fight to break out.” The bag in Summer’s hand crinkled as she clasped her hands in prayer position. “Please, Ash. I really want you to go with me. I need you to remind me of that stuff we talked about in the car before your soda peed all over you.”
Not even a smile. Tough crowd. Without a word, Ashlyn looped around the table and sat in her normal place. Unsure what else to do, Summer sat in hers. When Ashlyn looked across the table, Summer put on her best puppy dog face, sticking her bottom lip out as far as she could.
Ashlyn rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh. “Fine, I’ll go. Don’t make me regret it.”
“I won’t. I promise.” Summer got out her lunch: A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a mini bag of Doritos, and a sandwich bag filled with Oreos.
Ashlyn shook her head. “I seriously can’t believe all you eat is junk food. It’s so unfair.”
“It’s not junk food. There’s…fruit in the jam. Yeah, that makes it healthy.”
Troy plopped down next to Summer, straddling the bench and facing her instead of the table. “Meant to tell you earlier, but you look very rocker today.”
Summer tucked a frizzy curl behind her ear. “This is what happens when I don’t do my hair.”
One corner of Troy’s mouth twisted up. “I like it.” He glanced at Ashlyn. “I hear you got Sunshine out in the water this morning. Is she any good?”
“Not yet,” Ashlyn said. “But she will be once I’m through with her.”
Troy stole one of Summer’s Oreos and stood. “See you guys around.” With that, he was off. His visits were always so sporadic. A quick hi. A cookie snatching. A compliment about her wild hair—warmth filled her chest as she thought about that last one. She definitely preferred rocker to a huge mess.
But why’s he in such a hurry to be somewhere else, lately?
She twisted and watched him weave his way through the cafeteria. People stopped to talk or wave, no matter what group they were in. Skaters, gamers, stoners—there was some overlap there—the drama club, the people who were somewhere in between jocks and geeks, girls, guys. Basically Troy knew everyone, and everyone knew him.
Darren scooted next to Ashlyn, drawing Summer’s attention. It took almost an entire week, but Summer finally saw the small differences between him and Aaron. “Hey, I’ve got a joke for you guys.”
Summer propped her elbows on the table. “It’s been a while since I heard a good joke.”
Darren readjusted his round glasses. “How many computer support staffers does it take to change a light bulb?” He raised his eyebrows and looked at them, apparently waiting for an answer.
“No clue,” Ashlyn said.
He didn’t say anything, simply sat there like someone had hit his pause button.
Ashlyn nudged him. “Tell us.”
“Four. One to ask what the registration number of the bulb is, one to ask if you’ve tried to reboot, another to ask if you’ve tried reinstalling, and the last to say it must be your hardware, because our light bulb here is working fine.” He broke into laughter and smacked the table with his open palm.
Summer laughed more at his reaction to the joke than the actual punch line.
“So what did you think?” he asked.
“You know how I said it’s been a while since I’ve heard a good joke?” Summer was going to say, It still has, but he looked so proud and sincere, and she didn’t know if he’d get her sarcasm. “I guess I’ll have to restart my countdown.”