Spring Tide Read Free Page A

nodded. “She’s spending the summer with her sister in Rockport, twenty minutes up the road. I think she wants to get back together.”
    “Oh.” My voice went flat.
    “What?”
    “Nothin’. My news is that Joshua’s been asking around Austin about me.”
    “He can burn in hell.”
    “Thank you. Let’s leave it at that. I’m still trying to forget the shit that went down with him.” I held the edge of the table and swiveled myself around so I could sit next to him. “Did Pam break up with you because of me, because we partnered on everything—?”
    “You and I partnered because we play off of each other’s strengths. It was justice. You, me—us poor kids so graciously accepted into Falls Creek at reduced tuition like white trash takin’ a handout. I’m so sick of people calling our neighborhood the ghetto or—”
    “Derek, you gotta get over all that. So your dad’s not a dermatologist like Sarah’s and my mom’s not a lawyer like Nick’s. Big wow. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the rumors about our friendship that never die. Did Pam break up with you because—?”
    “I broke up with her. I got tired of accusations every time I came from your house. It got old.” He shifted closer to me.
    I leaned into him. “Do you wanna get back together with her?”
    “I’m not sure what the right move is, you know?” He lightly thumped my thigh with his fist.
    “I don’t think it’s about moves. Just do what feels good.”
    “What feels good,” he put his forehead against mine, “could wreck everything.” He sat up straight and wadded up his napkin. “All set?”
    I rose and dropped a twenty on top of the check.
    Wreck what? I wasn’t sure what he meant. But I did know that Pam’s upper-class family represented the things Derek wanted: security, status, respect. We came from decent, middle-class homes, but for him it wasn’t enough. Between Aaron trolling the scene, the possibility of Derek reuniting with Pam, my neighbor being a total lush, and the mention of Joshua, my idyllic summer was going to crap.
    We went out to my car and when I turned on the ignition, music blared through the speakers, startling him. I liked my music and I liked it loud, even if nobody else did. And I’d adjusted the volume before we went in because I got a kick out of seeing him jump. On the way back to his place, we took turns using adjectives or nouns to describe Nick (Boy Wonder) in alphabetical order: athletic, boner, crass, delinquent …
    _______
    I stopped at the boys’ house the next day, after going to the phone store to continue the eternal argument that cell batteries were a scam. I charged mine every night, but like clockwork, it was worthless two months later.
    Derek was sitting outside on the patio, reading a financial report on his laptop.
    He looked up from the screen and handed me a manila envelope. “You’ve mentioned ninety thousand times that you’re twisted up about a major. This might help. It’s a diagnostic test that’ll identify which areas of study best match your interests.”
    “I don’t need a test, ding dong. I just need a little time.” I picked up the deck from the middle of the table. “Cards?”
    We were on our fourth hand and I was waiting for Derek to make up his damn mind and put a card down. Observing the beach bunnies bouncing about, my eyes stopped at thick brown hair swept back from an angular face. The guy turned his head and looked right at me, a smile on his lips beneath intense eyes. “Hello, Kris” rose from my memory and a shiver trickled down the backs of my arms.
    “Edwards, it’s your play and stop gawking. It doesn’t suit you.”
    I dropped a ten of spades on the pile and wished to take it back. Dark eyes met mine once more before he strode into the water.
    Derek laid down his hand. “Gin.”
    The next week went quickly: worked, rocked Frisbee, worked, scored cheap sunglasses from the gas station, had a towel whipping