Chapter Thirty. Sarah Lynn
CHAPTER THIRTY
SARAH LYNN
“That seems like a pretty stupid idea, even for you, dumbass,” I say.
Hannah, Olivia, and I are working our shift at Smoothie Palace. The place is empty except for Kayden and his idiot friends, who have come up with the brilliant plan to throw a party at The Hollow.
“Before this cold front blows in,” Kayden says. “Come on. We need chicks.”
He’s banking on me bringing all the Lone Star girls along.
“Yeah, I don’t know,” Olivia says, worrying the dish towel between her fingers. “Isn’t that place, like, haunted?”
Silence hangs a beat, and then Kayden grins, milking it. “I can protect you,” he says, leaning on the counter toward Olivia. Olivia dips her head, a blush creeping up her face as she wipes around the tubs of fruit.
I shove Kayden’s elbow out from under him.
“I meant that it’s stupid because you just got in trouble for hanging out down there.
You want Dad to send you to military school?
” Part of me says it so Olivia knows that Kayden is no good, but I see her peek her eyes over at him through her lashes.
Of course she’s digging the bad boy vibe.
The quiet girls always do. That’s why those dark romance books are going wild through all the mom book clubs. Those nerdy girls are closet freaks.
“Hannah,” I say. “Back me up.”
Turned from us, filling the blender, Hannah lifts a shoulder as she drops a banana in. “It could be fun.”
“I knew you were cool,” Billy says, pushing up the glasses that are always slipping down his slim nose. His floppy curls fall down his forehead and into his eyes.
Hannah turns on the blender, like she doesn’t care either way.
But I know the truth. She has a massive crush on Billy, and she doesn’t mind the idea of swimming under the stars with him.
Fair enough. He’s not my type, but he does have that quirky, slightly too pretty, Timothée Chalamet-kind-of-thing going on.
“Fine,” I say.
“I don’t want to get in trouble though,” Olivia says, but even as the worry scrunches her forehead, I can hear the excitement in her voice.
And, to be honest, I think we all kind of feel it, the electric tingle running through the group.
We’ve all heard the stories of the parties our parents used to throw at The Hollow.
They talk about them in that glitter-soaked memory way, that God-we-got-up-to-some-trouble-in-our-day way, voices tipping into laughter, without ever giving us the concrete details we want.
But for us, it’s always been off-limits, making it all the more tantalizing.
The boys grab their smoothies and leave, the bell jingling as the door swings shut. Through the window, I see Kayden stop on the sidewalk when Mr. Magnuson passes. They do one of those complicated handshakes boys always do, and Mr. M. claps him on the shoulder like they’re old friends.
Once, when Kayden was about to get cut from the basketball team for flunking history, Mr. Magnuson spent an afternoon shooting hoops with them, then stayed late to help him rewrite his essay. The guys still talk about it like he’s some kind of legend.
That’s the thing about Mr. Magnuson. He’s impossible not to like. Not just because he’s ridiculously hot, but because he actually cares.
I shove a finger into Hannah’s side, making her double over with breathless laughter. “Cut it out,” she says.
“I think you mean thank you,” I say, flashing her my sweetest smile.
She rolls her eyes. “For what?”
“Oh, come on. Olivia?” I turn to her for support.
Olivia is biting down her smile, but the mere idea of doing something she’s not supposed to has her all puffed up and reckless.
“You are pretty thirsty for Billy,” she says, covering her mouth like she can’t believe she said it.
Hannah grabs the dish towel from Olivia’s hand, winds it up, and smacks her in the hip with it. Olivia squeals.
Here in the little bubble of our Smoothie Palace world, things are the same as they’ve always been.
Olivia has no idea the way things have shifted, the way we’ve ended up on two ends of a chessboard, the stakes, at least for me, higher than she can imagine.
But when I look at her, her eyes dancing with mischief, her laugh like an invitation, I just can’t see her as the enemy my mother wants me to.
We’re all still laughing when the door opens again and Mr. Magnuson steps in.
Hannah leans in close to me. “Speaking of thirsty,” she nearly purrs in my ear.
He’s wearing basketball shorts and a T-shirt with the sleeves cut off, displaying some serious deltoids. I mean, talk about dark romance material.
“Watch and learn,” I whisper back.
Hannah spins away to the back counter again, and Olivia retreats into the corner, leaving me alone at the register when he walks up.
“Hi, Mr. M.” I have both hands behind my back as I sway my shoulders, jutting out my breasts in a way that is just shy of obvious.
“Hey, Sarah Lynn.” He glances up at the menu. “I’ll take a protein power smoothie. Extra boost.”
“Sure thing.” I start gathering ingredients.
“That was pretty intense today,” he says, voice low enough that it feels like something private. “You okay?”
I lift my shoulder in a shrug, keeping it light. “What’s a pageant orientation without a little drama?” I say, even though my heart had been pounding through the whole thing.
“Still,” he says. “Something like that can shake a person up.”
“I’m fine,” I say, flipping on the blender. “We’re all fine.”
Hannah sidles up next to me. Once the blender drowns out the noise, she whispers, “I’m taking notes.”
“Just wait,” I say, and pour the smoothie into a cup.
I turn back to Magnuson and slide the drink across the counter to him, then I pick up two straws. “Small or big?” I ask.
“Excuse me?”
I hold the straws up beside my face. “I like the big ones. They’re easier to suck, especially with a thick smoothie, like yours.”
“Oh,” he says, after a beat too long. “Sure. I mean, that’s fine.” Then his eyes drop down as he fumbles with his wallet.
Olivia positively squeaks in shock behind me, and Hannah pulls her into the back, shutting the door behind them.
I don’t even flinch, my smile locked and loaded, as I set the straw down on his drink lid.
As he pays, Mr. Magnuson’s eyes flick to the back room, where we can hear Hannah and Olivia’s muffled giggles.
When he’s halfway to the door, I say, sweetly, “See you soon, Mr. M.”
He turns and looks me right in the eyes now.
One corner of his mouth lifts in the most delicious smile I’ve ever seen.
“Looking forward to it, Sarah Lynn. And, hey, if you ever need to talk, just let me know.” All my bravado drains in an instant.
I swear my knees nearly buckle, as though someone has ripped the floor out from under me.
He strolls out the door, and the girls come tumbling back into the room, cackling.
“I can-fucking-not,” Hannah says between wheezing breaths.
“You’re a menace,” Olivia laughs.
But I can barely hear them over the humming of my skin.