Chapter Three #2
I remember the tears that pricked my eyes and the gentle weight of the pendant and how it felt warm against my skin. Alex’s necklace, her good luck charm, the one piece of jewelry I never saw her without, was now mine and acting like a balm for my bleeding heart. Her Sagittarius archer.
She never let me return it, and eventually, I stopped trying. So I wore it like a badge, a constant reminder that the Wyatts of the world would come and go, but my best friend would always be there to pick up the pieces. A reminder of how loved I already am.
I press the tip of the arrow with my thumb, then drag it along the outward arch of the bow. Alex follows the movement, and we share a smile.
“She did push him into the pool during break and got him benched for fifteen minutes,” Chloe says, pulling Alex and I from our unspoken exchange. I remember how proud Alex had been afterward.
“Do you think he knows it’s you?” Tyler asks, still eyeing him warily.
Wyatt seems perfectly lost into his own little bubble, and I sit up, no longer feeling the need to hide. “I doubt he even remembers me.”
Tyler puts his arms around my shoulders and pulls me close. “I don’t think so. You’re impossible to forget.” He bends his head, and I meet him for a kiss.
Chloe leans back to rest her weight on her hands. “Eh, screw Wyatt. You’ve upgraded since then.”
“Aw, thanks Chloe,” Tyler says, sounding genuinely touched by her compliment.
“I meant her boobs,” Chloe corrects and flashes him a smile.
He playfully splashes her while Alex laughs and slowly floats away on her back.
The afternoon sun is glaring, and I close my book, wondering if we should head out soon.
The pool is getting kind of crowded, and I’m starting to get hungry for something other than what they sell at the snack bar.
I check on Chloe and Tyler lying on their stomachs on either side of me, only to find both of them asleep.
I’m not sure the last time either of them reapplied sunscreen, and I’m slightly concerned.
I check Chloe first, but fortunately, she doesn’t burn easily and appears to be okay.
Tyler, who has weird tan lines thanks to his baseball uniform, is starting to look like a tomato all along his back and legs.
I open the umbrella behind us and tilt it so it’s covering most of his skin, then grab my sunblock.
He flinches when I squirt the cool lotion on his back, then mumbles a quiet “Thanks, babe” and continues to snooze.
Once I’m done, I glance at my own arms and legs. While no longer pale, I’m not quite tan, either, and I really don’t want to end up with a burn. I generously lather on the sunscreen and debate waking either Tyler or Chloe to get my back. My other option is Alex, but she’s not in her chair.
Eventually, I find her on the other side of the pool, squinting up at my field hockey cocaptain, Simone, who’s sitting on the edge beside her.
At first glance, it just looks like friendly conversation.
But I notice Simone leaning in, her hand grazing Alex’s forearm, and the way her head tilts back when she laughs.
It’s Flirting 101, and she’s nailing it.
“What are you looking at?” Chloe asks through a yawn.
“Simone and Alex.”
“Simone Howard?” She sits up, interested, and glances around until she spots them just as Alex pulls Simone into the water.
Simone squeals, and Alex pulls her deeper, finally letting her go once they’re in the center. Simone drapes herself over Alex’s shoulders from behind, and Alex gives her a ride to the deep end.
“Wow,” Chloe says, still staring. “Didn’t know they liked each other.”
“Me either,” I admit.
Simone and I were the only two freshmen to make the varsity field hockey team.
We clicked on the field, Simone playing defense and me on offense.
There was never a rivalry, both of us the best at our own positions.
While the chemistry on the field never quite extended to off the field, we’ve always gotten along.
The same goes for Alex and Simone. They’ve spoken before, sure. They’ve even had a few classes together, but Alex was always in my circle and Simone in hers. To see them act as if they’re something more than acquaintances is surprising.
Chloe snatches the sunscreen. “Think they’re hooking up?”
“Alex has only been home for a few days. When could they have managed that?”
“I don’t know. We’re horny teenagers. We find a way to make it work.” She peers at me over top of her sunglasses. “Just like you and Tyler sneaking in a quickie in the bathroom at Bobby Miller’s Halloween party.”
Horrified, I look at her. “How do you know about that?”
“Girl,” she says through a laugh, “everyone knows about that.”
I sink in my chair, beyond embarrassed. Tyler and I had started dating that May but didn’t start sleeping together until almost three months later. By Halloween, we were still very much in the honeymoon phase and couldn’t get enough. We thought we were being sneaky.
I guess not.
“I’m just saying, those two were making eyes at each other the other night at the all-night grad party.”
“They were?” How the hell did I not notice that?
Chloe shrugs like it’s not a big deal, and it really isn’t. It’s just kind of out of the blue, considering we’ve all been going to school together for the past four years, and this is the first time I’ve seen them flirt, let alone touch.
They eventually detach, mainly because Simone seems to be meeting up with a few friends, so Alex heads back over to us.
The closer she gets, the more irritated I feel.
We used to be attached at the hip, but ever since she left, there’s been a shift, a gentle shove, separating us.
I thought for sure when she returned home that the space would close itself back up, and we would go back to how it once was.
But she keeps surprising me. A motorcycle. Tamed hair. A toned body. Interest in Simone Howard. It makes me wonder what else she’s been keeping from me and what other kind of changes I’ve missed.
She hauls herself out of the water, and I stare, my annoyance growing the longer she goes without saying anything. Chloe and I both watch as she grabs her towel and ties it around her waist. It isn’t until she sits and snags her water bottle that she even notices us staring. “What?”
“You and Simone?” I say, letting the question hang.
She takes a long chug. “What about us?”
“Are you two a thing now?” Chloe asks bluntly.
Alex rolls her eyes and leans back in her lounge chair. “We were literally just talking.”
“She was hanging all over you,” I point out.
“Yeah? So?” She closes her eyes and tilts her face to the sun.
“I was just wondering what the deal was, that’s all.”
“She’s single,” Chloe says when it’s clear Alex isn’t going to respond. “She and Elise broke up months ago.”
“I know,” Alex says easily, “she told me.”
“I didn’t know she was your type.” This seems to get Alex’s attention because she cracks open her eyes to pin me with a curious kind of glare.
“And what, exactly, is my type?”
“I don’t know,” I confess, running through the few girls Alex has shown interest in over the years and the even fewer she’s dated. I blurt the first name that comes to mind. “Sandy Peterson.”
Alex laughs. “Sandy Peterson? Jules. I was thirteen years old, and she looked like the lifeguard from The Sandlot. Who didn’t like Sandy Peterson?”
“Me,” I tell her deadpan, not finding any of this funny.
She sits up, the smile slipping from her lips, and this time, she definitely glares. “What’s your problem? I thought you liked Simone.”
“I do,” I tell her quickly because honestly, what is my problem?
It feels a lot like jealousy, but that can’t be right.
I have a boyfriend who I love, who is still sleeping soundly to my right, completely oblivious.
So, no, it can’t be that. I sigh, knowing that I’m being weird.
“I do like her. She’s great. And if you like her, you should totally go for it. ”
My encouragement doesn’t seem to get rid of the tension that’s rapidly rising because Alex doesn’t at all look convinced. “Really? Because it doesn’t seem like you want me to.”
“Nothing wrong with a summer fling,” Chloe supplies, clearly trying to defuse the tension.
“Except Alex doesn’t do flings.” It’s meant to be a joke, but even to my own ears, I can hear the bitterness.
“Maybe I do,” Alex fires back.
Chloe lets out a whistle, clearly impressed.
But I’m not. In fact, I’m not even convinced that Alex is telling the truth. I lean forward and narrow my eyes. “Since when?”
“Greece.”
The single word hits me square in the chest. It steals any kind of response straight from my mouth and leaves me stunned.
Alex and I talked all the time while she was gone.
Even if it was just a quick text to check in, we spoke every single day.
Her two months in Greece last summer was no exception.
I heard all about the food, her internship, her host family and the elderly couple next door that tried to fatten her up.
She told me about the mopeds and the sunsets and all the ancient ruins.
What I didn’t hear was anything that could remotely be tied to why she suddenly likes flings.
I can feel Chloe watching us, but she’s silent, probably just as surprised as I am.
But Alex doesn’t shy away. Instead, she squares her shoulders and stares right back, taking another long sip of water and arching a single brow in silent challenge.
But I don’t even know where to begin. Or know what to say.
The whistle blows, signaling break, and the kids in the pool groan and take their time getting to the edge.
“Yo, Pestano,” Tyler says, the blow of the whistle acting as an alarm. He groggily motions to the now freed up basketball net. “Rematch?”
Without another word, Alex stands and removes her towel, tossing it back on her chair. “You’re on,” she says and dives into the pool, much to Tyler’s delight.
Chloe pops open two sparkling waters from the cooler and sits next to me, handing me one. “What do you think happened in Greece?”
We watch Alex sink a shot before Tyler even dives in the water. She looks back at us, and my chest tightens. “I have no idea.”