Chapter 27 Then Fourteen Years Ago
Then
Fourteen Years Ago
Boardwalk Night was a longstanding tradition.
Held every year in late August, it was Bubba’s way of thanking her seasonal staff for a summer of hard work—as well as a bargaining chip she brandished as needed.
The threat of being barred from Boardwalk Night had a way of dissolving quarrels and complaints on the spot.
And for good reason: Bubba worked her connections to close the boardwalk to the public for an entire night, giving us free rein. In other words, it was epic.
This year’s Boardwalk Night would be different, of course.
Helen had graduated last year, Carly’s last day was in July (she was spending this August at tennis camp) and Tina would probably dip early to hang out with her new boyfriend.
Not that I minded: The only person I cared about seeing was Sebastian.
I was running late, so by the time I hopped out of my mom’s car, most of the staff was already on the boardwalk, lining up for games and rides. No Sebastian, though. Once an hour had gone by, I started to worry. I checked my phone incessantly but didn’t hear from him.
The group I’d been going on rides with decided to take a break for lemonade and funnel cake, which was when I overheard bits of a conversation between Ravi and Chris Cappelli, friend of Maren’s long-ago flame Aaron Reingold and this year’s snack bar manager.
“… with Louros and Silva, probably.” This was Chris. “… better get his ass over here in time for Skit or I’m bailing, too.”
I snuck another look at my phone. Nothing. I shot him a message: Marco? Then vowed not to check unless I felt a vibration.
I didn’t.
A pit of dread formed in my stomach, heavy and unsettling. I realized I hadn’t seen Bubba at the restaurant today, either. Had something bad happened?
My darkest worries evaporated when Sebastian finally did show up, just as the rest of us were gathering in front of the Ferris wheel, the traditional backdrop for Skit.
But he wasn’t alone: Theo and Andre rounded the entrance behind him, in a fit of hysterical laughter about who knew what.
Sebastian, in contrast, looked lost in thought.
I sprung up from where I’d been sitting on the ground and jogged toward them, ignoring the quiver in my stomach. Non-staff members were strictly prohibited from Boardwalk Night, and it wasn’t like Sebastian to so blatantly disregard his mother’s rules.
“You made it!” I said, smiling. I was relieved that he was okay.
Sebastian blinked several times, like I’d broken him out of a trance. “Hey, Mariano,” he said finally.
Normally, Sebastian would greet me with his megawatt smile and a hug, maybe even lift me off my feet and spin me around while I half-heartedly begged him to put me back down.
But now he kept his distance, hands shoved in his pockets.
Still, we were close enough that I could smell the alcohol he’d been drinking.
“Where do you want to sit?” I asked, still trying to sound upbeat even though he clearly wasn’t. “I was up in front with Ravi and Chris but I can grab my bag and move wherever.”
“Actually we’re just passing through,” he said, gesturing to Theo and Andre, who were now passing a joint back and forth. “Might hit some rides.”
I squinted at Sebastian, who continued avoiding my eyes altogether. What was going on with him? Showing up late was one thing, but arriving with a cross-faded entourage just to take advantage of the free rides was another. Bubba would be livid.
“You’re not actually going to skip out on Skit, are you?” I asked, my tone more serious now. “I mean, will it be dumb? Definitely. But you can’t miss it!”
Sebastian raked a hand through his hair, which looked even wilder than usual. “Yeah. I’m just not in the mood tonight.”
I frowned. I felt certain that Sebastian would regret missing out on the tradition, especially considering he was about to be a senior and probably would only have one more summer here before trading his Bubba’s shifts for a nine-to-five internship like most college kids did.
But something told me not to push it. What mattered more was talking about the kiss.
I needed to find out if it meant as much to him as it had to me.
“All right,” I said carefully. “Will I at least see you at Chris’s later, so we can talk?” Chris had volunteered to host the traditional post–Boardwalk Night soiree. We could have the conversation we needed to have there.
“I don’t know, Lina.” His eyes met mine.
There was no sign of the warmth and affection that had been there last night, before he kissed me.
Worse, there was an unfamiliar edge to his voice.
He rarely called me by my first name. It made me feel like a child getting disciplined.
“Didn’t realize I had to clear my schedule with you. ”
I took a step back, and I’m sure my face spelled out exactly how much that sentence shocked me. “You don’t. Obviously. I just—”
“You don’t need to be so obsessed with me,” he said, cutting me off.
Behind him, Andre and Theo both stifled a laugh, like this was part of an inside joke they’d all heard and told many times before.
My eyes went wide, and Sebastian took a step toward me, rushing to correct himself.
“I didn’t mean that. I just meant you’re so worried about what I’m doing or not doing, and it’s kind of … ”
I forced myself to hold his gaze. I felt more humiliated than I ever had in my life, but still I wasn’t going to let him off the hook. If he was going to hurt me like this, I at least wanted to experience the pain in full. “It’s kind of what, Sebastian?”
He threw up his hands in frustration. “It’s just kind of a lot right now. Okay?”
Correction: Now I felt more humiliated than I ever had in my life.
I nodded slowly, tears stinging at the corners of my eyes.
To Sebastian’s credit, his indifferent expression shifted, and I could see the regret written all over his face.
But whether he regretted the actual words or just the fact that he’d admitted them out loud, I didn’t plan to stick around and find out.
I whirled around so I could head back to my spot, and that’s when I realized we had an audience.
The whole staff had witnessed everything.
“Lina,” Sebastian called after me. “Lina! Hang on, please.”
As I wove through the group, ignoring their wide-eyed stares, I heard one of the bussers just walking up call out, “Hey, Nikolaou made it!”
Chris and Ravi called my name, but I walked right past them, not looking back.
I didn’t have a destination in mind at first. I just knew that I couldn’t imagine facing my mother in my wrinkled sundress and tear-streaked makeup. So I kept walking, Sebastian’s words playing on an endless loop in my mind.
Eventually I turned onto Maren’s street. I didn’t want to wake up the Murphys, so I sent her a text and waited outside until she opened the front door. She took one look at me and waved me inside, no questions asked.