Chapter Ten
What happened to your eye?” I ask Jonathan when he finally arrives at Collin’s. We’ve been waiting for him for forever. We were running out of ideas.
“What do you think?” Collin waves his colorful fingers in front of Jonathan. He let me color his fingernails with markers while we waited. “I think I’m starting a trend.”
“Doubt it,” Jonathan replies, not answering me. “I thought of a new game we can play.”
“Finally! I couldn’t think of anything to do.” Collin sounds so relieved, like he was about to die from boredom. It wasn’t that bad without Jonathan. He just has better ideas than we do most of the time.
“Where’s your skateboard?”
Collin runs to the garage. While he’s in there, I inspect the bruise under Jonathan’s left eye. “Does it hurt?” I wince at the sight of it. It looks like it hurts.
“Naw,” he answers, turning his head away from me so I won’t keep staring at it.
“Found it!” Collin bursts out of the garage with the skateboard raised above his head like a trophy.
“Did you bring your jump rope?” Jonathan asks me.
Of course I did. I don’t go anywhere without it. It’s my favorite thing to do at recess. And after school. Or anytime really. I grab it from my backpack.
“I’ll pull you around on the skateboard from behind my bike. Kind of like water skiing.”
“Do we sit or stand?” I ask, not sure I can balance that good. I’ve tried to skateboard a few times, but end up jumping off once I get moving, afraid I’ll fall.
“You can choose.”
“I’m going first!” Collin announces loudly with a hand raised, like he’s in class.
Jonathan ties one end of the jump rope under the bike’s seat, and Collin holds on to the handle. He decides to stand and only holds on with one hand.
“You can’t let go,” Jonathan tells him. “Sadie, time us. You have to make it to two minutes to get a point.”
“Easy,” Collin boasts. “I could do this all day.”
As soon as Jonathan starts pedaling, Collin jolts forward, jumping off the skateboard with a staggering step, and releases the rope. “That didn’t count. I wasn’t ready.”
I roll my eyes.
“One more try,” Jonathan tells him. This time, Collin stays on the board. He’s hollering with a fist in the air, like he’s already won, when Jonathan turns. Collin keeps heading toward the curb and goes flying and nearly lands on the sidewalk. He rolls onto Mrs. Blake’s lawn with a groan.
“You okay?” I run over to him, and his groan becomes laughter.
“Sorry ’bout that,” Jonathan says, his bike set on the kickstand so he can check on Collin.
“That was awesome!” Collin says, still laughing.
“I’m next!” I declare. I choose to sit. I still fall off in under a minute.
We spend the afternoon skateboard-skiing, or street-skiing, as we decide to call it, around the neighborhood. Crashing. And laughing. My mother isn’t happy to see my skinned knees or another pair of ruined leggings.
That Monday, when we get back to school, the teacher asks Jonathan about his eye. He tells her he fell off a skateboard while playing a game with us that weekend. When she sees Collin’s freshly scraped elbow and my bandaged knees, she doesn’t ask again. And I don’t know why he lied.
My phone rings, pulling me out of the memory. I’ve been sitting in the parking lot of Just in Time for twenty minutes, waiting for Jonathan.
“Hi,” I answer with obvious excitement. “Are you almost here?”
Silence answers.
“Jonathan?”
“I, uh, can’t make it,” he finally says, his voice heavy with regret. “My dad expected me home after school to help him. I didn’t see his note this morning when I left. So, I have to help him now. I’m sorry.”
“What is he making you do? You only have one arm.” The disappointment comes out as accusation.
He lets out a humorless laugh. “Oh, he’s found plenty for me to do with one arm. Doesn’t really care if it takes me twice as long.”
I don’t understand his father. Never did. Jonathan and I don’t talk anymore about how impossible he is. Collin and I’ve gotten used to Jonathan arriving late or going home early over the years because his father expects him to do something. And it’s not like we can do anything to change it.
Except, this time, I can’t hide my frustration.
“Did you tell him you have plans?”
“Sadie,” Jonathan says with a sigh. “You know he doesn’t care. I have to get this done. What about tomorrow?”
“I’m performing tomorrow night; then I’m staying over at Livvy’s with the girls.” I think better of it. “I could cancel.” It’s not like I’m really friends with Livvy.
“No, don’t do that.”
“Jonathan!” his father calls for him in the distance.
“I gotta go. We’ll figure this out. Sorry.” They’re a rush of words, as if he’s literally being yanked off the phone. And then he’s gone.
I stare at the phone. What just happened? Doesn’t his father have actual workers to do things for him? I don’t even know if he pays Jonathan. But free labor is probably more important to him than his son’s social life.
I’m about to drop my phone into my purse when it starts ringing.
“Where are you?” Collin asks, practically drowned out by the crowd in the background.
“At Just’s, on a date that never happened,” I answer glumly.
“Jonathan stand you up?”
“His dad,” I say, blinking back tears of disappointment.
“Sorry,” Collin says, understanding in his voice. “Want me to meet you? You know I only come to these games because I’m so popular. My fandom demands my attention. But I’ve made my appearance, easy enough to slip away.”
I release a broken laugh. “Yes, if you can tear yourself away. I don’t want you leaving any broken hearts behind.”
“There will always be broken hearts in my wake. But my heart only belongs to you, Sadie Prescott,” he says, taking on a dramatic, deep tone, like he’s reciting lines to a princess standing on a balcony in some cheesy play.
“Be there in fifteen. Order my usual so it’s ready when I arrive. Extra cheese. See you soon.”
As if he planned it, Collin slides into the booth across from me just as the bacon cheeseburgers, fries and shakes are served. He places a mini pumpkin, the size of a baseball, on the table in front of me. There’s a smiley face painted on it in bright yellow.
“Sorry about your date,” Collin says. “But I’m starving, so I’m not that sorry.”
I smile faintly. “Thanks, I think. I mean, I’m glad you’re here. And this pumpkin is so cute. That was sweet of you.”
“That’s what friends do. Cover for other friends when their dad’s a total dipwad.”
“Dipwad?” I question with a laugh. “Where did that come from?”
“Heard this old guy say it once and thought it was funny.” Collin dunks a fry into his Oreo shake before popping it into his mouth. “It works. So I’m keeping it.”
“How was the game?” I ask, dipping a fry into my chocolate shake.
“I think we were winning,” he says with a shrug. “I don’t like football—you know that. I really have no idea why I was there. I only go for Jonathan, and he’s not even playing.”
I eye him suspiciously. “Maybe there was someone else there you wanted to see?”
“Uh, no,” he answers bluntly. “The only two people I can really tolerate were supposed to be on a date. I can sorta tolerate Danika and sometimes Darren. But the rest of them are useless. I cannot wait to get away from Hollis after we graduate.”
I swallow the sip from my shake with a gulp.
College. With everything that happened this past month, I almost forgot about the stack of college information packets waiting on my desk.
We visited at least a dozen college campuses the past two summers at my mother’s insistence.
But with Dad’s campaign, she’s been too preoccupied to remind me every other second that I need to narrow down my selection.
I have my essays done and requests in to the teachers to write letters of recommendation.
The problem is, I have no idea where I want to go…
or what I want to do. My mother created her own list. I’m not looking forward to disappointing her, although I probably will.
“We haven’t really talked about it much, have we?
” I say quietly. I’ve been dreading this conversation since they started forcing us to attend the college seminars and career day events last year.
We haven’t asked each other the most important question because we’re afraid of the answer. “Where are you looking?”
Collin’s eyes meet mine over the top of his burger as he sinks his teeth in. I wait as he chews. He takes his time, delaying his response.
“Where are you looking? I know your parents are all about the Ivies so you can get into a law school like the rest of the Prescotts, but where do you want to go?” He swirls a fry in his shake.
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “Maybe we should apply to Penn State, just in case we can actually stay together. I know that sounds stupid. We can’t always be together.”
“I wish,” he admits with a wan smile. “Jonathan’s still waiting on the official acceptance letter, but we know that’s where he’s going. So, you wanna apply there?”
“Do you?”
Collin gives me a sheepish smile.
“You already did!” My mouth drops open.
“I mean, it’s a good school.”
“But it’s not exactly far away.”
“As long as I’m with you guys, it’s far enough.”
I bite my lip before admitting, “I requested their application too.”
Collin laughs. “I knew it!”
My parents don’t know about it.
“What about Brown? That’s where your dad went, right?”
I scoff. “I’d only get in because my father and grandfather went to school there. I don’t have the grades. And Rhode Island is too far away.”
“What do you plan to major in? Because I know you don’t want to be a lawyer.”
“Definitely not.” I scrunch up my nose. “I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life. What does Jonathan want to do? Did he ever tell you?”
“Not become his dad,” Collin offers with a chuckle. “Other than that, I’m not really sure.”
“What about you?” I take a bite of my burger, swiping at the juice that dribbles down my chin with my napkin.