Her stiff muscles screamed at her as she rolled to her side. “I’m sore everywhere,” she groaned.
Ashlyn sat up and covered a yawn with her hand. “Those waves were brutal, that’s for sure.”
“And I spent all my time trying to get on my board. Just in time to get knocked right back into the water.”
Ashlyn rolled her neck from side to side. “Let’s go get some breakfast. I’m starving.”
They headed to the kitchen, where the smell of food filled the air. Pamela stood at the stove. “Summer, do you want one or two egg whites?”
“Whites?”
“Yes, you can buy all whites.” Pamela lifted a carton that looked like it was for drinking and most definitely not something eggs should come in. “The yolk has all the fat and cholesterol.” She motioned to the plate on the table. “Ashlyn, I already made you a spinach omelet with two whites, the way you like it.”
Ashlyn wrinkled her nose. “No. That’s the way you like it. I’m with Summer. I miss the yolk.”
“Summer’s skinny enough to eat the yolk. Maybe you can have one when you reach your goal weight.”
Ashlyn’s face dropped, and Summer clenched her jaw. How was she supposed to convince Ashlyn to make peace with her mom when she took cheap shots at her all the time?
Do something! Anything! “Ashlyn took me surfing all night, though. She’s going to need real food to make up for it.”
Pamela set the spatula on the counter. “The omelet is very filling, especially when paired with some whole grain toast. You’ll see.”
A few minutes later, Pamela presented Summer with a white and green mix of food. Summer took a bite. Since Pamela was watching, she mumbled, “So good.” But as soon as she turned around, Summer made a gagging motion to Ashlyn, who erupted in laughter.
Pamela spun around. “What?”
“Nothing,” Ashlyn said. “I was just thinking of a joke I heard last night.”
Pamela dumped the skillet in the sink and ran water over it. “Well, girls, I’ve got to get going. I’ve got people to whip into shape.”
As soon as Pamela left the room, Ashlyn muttered, “Would it be so bad for her to say one nice thing about me?”
Summer took a bite of her omelet. “She cared enough to make you breakfast.”
“That’s just control. She wants to make sure I eat healthy.”
“She’s trying to take care of you the only way she knows how.”
Ashlyn scowled at her. “Who’s side are you on?”
“I’m on yours, of course.” Summer tried to think of a way to be on both of their sides for her job, but that’s the thing about sides. You can’t really be on both of them at once. “How about we go to my house and get something to eat that doesn’t taste like rubber. Dad and I don’t cook, so we have all the sugary, grab-on-your-way-out-the-door stuff. I put cream cheese in the middle of two strawberry Pop-Tarts, and it’s like having cheesecake for breakfast.”
Ashlyn pushed away her hardly-touched food. “I’m not really hungry anymore. I’m going to go for a run or something.”
Summer set her fork on the counter. “You want some company?”
“It’d be too embarrassing when I started breathing heavy and couldn’t keep up with you.”
Summer wanted to offer to walk. She searched for something to say to make it better. After all, she was supposed to be a natural at this. But nothing came. “I guess I’ll see you later then.”
The skin around Ashlyn’s eyes was red, like she was on the verge of tears. “Yeah. Later.”
Chapter Fifteen
The first thing Summer saw when she walked into the school Monday morning was Lexi talking to Darren. Every nerve in Summer’s body pricked up—the girl had been trashing the guy a few days ago. Why was she all buddy-buddy with him now?
A surge of fierce protection shot through Summer, and she charged toward them.
She just caught the end of Lexi’s sentence. “…sit next to you in class, and you give me the signal for the answers.”
“He’s not doing that,” Summer said.
Lexi turned toward Summer and a frown replaced the flirtatious smile she’d had plastered on her face. “This isn’t about you, so stay out of it.”
Summer ignored her and made eye-contact with Darren. “It’s not worth it. Does MIT take cheaters? Any of the colleges you want to go to? Would they take you if you get caught cheating?”
“We won’t get caught.” Lexi put her hand on Darren’s shoulder. “We’ve done it before, and it was fine.”
Unwilling to let Lexi push Darren into doing something she knew that, deep down, he didn’t want to do, Summer stepped between them, crowding Lexi the way she had done to her the other night at the party. “Why don’t you study to get your answers, Lexi?”
Lexi took a large step back.
Summer closed the gap again, anger fueling her forward. “If you can remember all the gossip, surely you can mix some useful facts in with the catty half-truths you spread around.”
“I don’t know what your deal is lately. You think you’re so high and mighty.” Lexi lowered her voice. “Then you keep ignoring your friends to hang with the losers. Like you’re not doing the same thing.”
“I like Darren,” Summer said, not bothering to whisper back. “I’m not asking for help or test answers, and he’s most certainly not a loser.”
Fury filled Lexi’s eyes as she glared at Summer. “You think long and hard about this. I might not have quite as much pull as Kendall, but I can make your life miserable if you cross me.”
“Your threats don’t bother me, Lexi. You’re just a self-centered gossip, and I won’t let you take advantage of my friends because they’re too nice to say no.”
“Remember you brought this on yourself,” Lexi said, then she spun on her heel and stormed off.
Summer turned to check on Darren and almost bumped into Troy. “Whoa. What are you doing here, Mister Bond?”
“I thought you might need reinforcements,” Troy said.
“I didn’t realize we were still on the same team.”
One corner of Troy’s mouth twisted up. “Neither did I. You just proved me wrong.” He glanced at Darren. “You cool, dude?”
“I should’ve said no, but she’s pretty and…”
“And nothing else, dude. That’s it.” Troy nudged Summer. “Let’s take a walk, Sunshine.” He started down the hall, not bothering to look whether she was coming. His overconfidence annoyed her and drew her to him, all at the same time.
She hung back for a second, waiting to see when he’d notice.
He glanced over his shoulder and raised his eyebrows, a silent you-coming-or-what gesture.
She wanted to talk to him too much to continue fighting with him. She caught up to him, matching his quick stride, waiting for him to break the silence.
He twisted the leather cuff on his wrist. “So, I was kind of a jerk about the party.”
Summer raised an eyebrow. “Kind of?”
“Okay, I was, and I’m sorry.” Troy sat on one of the benches lining the hall and patted the spot next to him.
“Well, I might’ve overreacted because I was having a bad day.” Summer sat, tucking her leg under her as she faced him. “I still don’t get why you got so mad about me hanging out with people who you know are my friends.”
He draped his arm on the beach and tapped his long fingers on the top of it. “I thought you’d get around those people and then you’d disappear again. And I wanted to hang out on Friday night. Instead, I pictured you hooking up with that loser again.”
Summer wanted to tell him how wrong he was, but unfortunately, he hadn’t been that wrong.