‘True,’ Leah agreed.
‘Not true,’ Maggie said. ‘It’s just candy. Stop reading so much into it. You guys are ridiculous.’
I could second that. It amazed me that they’d been together all night, and yet they still, seemingly, had something to talk about. Even if it was, predictably, candy and boys.
When I came out, they were all by the front door, waiting for me. ‘I understand if you don’t want to get involved with him,’ Leah was saying. ‘I mean, he is a high school boy.’
‘He graduated just like we did, Leah,’ Esther told her.
‘True. But he’s not a college boy yet. There’s a big difference in that one summer.’
‘How would you know? You refuse to date anyone but college guys.’
‘Why does that bother you so much? I mean, in college, we’ll all be dating college boys anyway. So what’s the harm in starting early?’
‘It’s not that it’s harmful,’ Esther replied as we all filed out, Maggie swinging the door shut and pulling out her keys. ‘I just think that maybe you missed something, you know, by refusing to date anyone your own age.’
‘What would I have missed?’
‘I don’t know.’ Esther shrugged. ‘There is something kind of nice about having the age thing in common.’
‘Says the person who hasn’t dated in over a year,’ Leah said.
‘I’m choosy,’ Esther told her.
‘Picky,’ Maggie said. ‘Nobody is good enough for you.’
‘I have high standards. It’s better than dating just anyone.’
There was a sudden, awkward pause, noticeable enough that even I felt it. Maggie, putting her keys in the door, stiffened. Esther said, ‘Oh, Mags. You know I didn’t mean Jake.’
‘Okay, okay,’ Maggie said, shaking her off. ‘Let’s not even talk about it.’
This wouldn’t be easy, though, as I realized when I looked to my right, to the bike shop, where I saw the curly-headed guy, sitting on a bike and talking to two boys I didn’t recognize. Right behind him, pulling a jacket over his shoulders, was Jake. When he turned, he looked right at me.
Great, I thought, hurriedly turning my back, which left me facing Esther and Leah, who were trying to decide where to go from here. ‘There’s always the Tip,’ Esther was saying. ‘I heard something about a keg there tonight.’
‘I am so tired of the sand and flat beer.’ Leah groaned. ‘Let’s go to a club or something.’
‘You’re the only one with an ID, remember?’
‘I can get you guys in.’
‘You always say that,’ Esther told her. ‘You never can. Mags, what do you want to do?’
Maggie shrugged, dropping her keys into the bag she had slung over her shoulder. ‘I don’t care,’ she said. ‘I might just go home.’
Leah shot a glance at Jake, then at me. ‘Nonsense. Let’s at least –’
This thought was interrupted by the curly-headed guy, who suddenly rode up right beside us, braking to a stop with a screech. ‘Ladies,’ he said. Leah rolled her eyes. ‘Anyone want a ride to the jump park?’
‘Oh, God help us,’ Leah said. ‘Please, no more nights involving bicycles. What are we, twelve?’
‘They’re not just bicycles,’ the guy said, offended. ‘How can you even say that?’
‘Easily,’ she replied. ‘And anyway, Adam –’
‘I’ll go,’ Maggie said, interrupting her. Adam smiled, then sat back on his seat as she climbed onto the handlebars, arranging her purse in her lap. ‘What?’ she said to Leah, who sighed. ‘It’s better than some club.’
‘No,’ Leah said flatly, ‘it really isn’t.’
‘Oh, lighten up,’ Adam told her as he pushed off the boardwalk, starting to pedal. Maggie leaned back, closing her eyes, and then they were on their way, the other guys on bikes in front of the shop following behind them. Leah shook her head, annoyed, but allowed Esther to link her arm in hers as they brought up the rear on foot. Which left just me and Jake.
I tried to turn and start for home, but no luck. Two steps in and he was beside me. ‘So,’ he said, ‘what was all that about the other night, anyway? You took off awfully fast.’
He was too everything: too confident, standing too close, wanting too much. I said, ‘It wasn’t about anything.’
‘Oh,’ he said, his voice low, ‘I think it was. And could still be. You want to take a walk, or something?’
It was all I could do not to cringe. I’d already regretted what we’d done, and that was before he was Maggie’s ex and Eli’s brother. And how strange was it that I, who wanted to know as little as possible about anything here, now knew all this?
‘Look,’ I said to him. ‘What happened the other night was a mistake, okay?’
‘You’re calling me a mistake?’
‘I have to go,’ I told him, and started to walk away.