I turned around to look behind me, and felt my stomach plunge when I saw Henry heading toward me, smiling. Before I could say or do anything—although what I would have said, I had no idea, as I felt totally frozen—he had reached us.
“Hi,” Lucy said, in a giggling, high-pitched voice I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard before. She smoothed down her bangs and tucked her hair behind her ears, smiling wide at him. “How’s it going, Henry?”
“Fine,” he said, glancing at me, and giving me a smile. “When did you get back?” I saw him start to reach for my hand, but I immediately stiffened, and moved my hands so that both were around my Cherry Coke can.
“Oh, about a week ago,” Lucy said, her voice still high-pitched and giggly. “Did you miss me?”
“What?” Henry asked, looking baffled. He took a step closer to me. “Um, I guess.”
“Taylor,” Lucy said, turning to me, still smiling brightly but a little fixedly. She jerked her head in the direction of the concession stand. “Why don’t you go get us some napkins or something?”
She was trying to get rid of me. She was trying to get rid of me so that she could talk to Henry—my Henry, who just a second before had tried to hold my hand. I closed my eyes for a moment, wishing that all of this would just stop, the whole time knowing it was my fault this was happening at all.
“Taylor?” Lucy asked again, her voice a little sharper this time.
“I’ll come with you,” Henry said, taking a step closer to me and, before I could stop him, taking my hand in his. “Lucy’s being weird,” he whispered in my ear.
Lucy was staring at the two of us, and she looked much paler than she had just a moment ago. “Taylor, what’s going on?” she asked, her voice no longer giggly.
Henry looked between the two of us, uncomprehending. “Didn’t Taylor tell you?” he asked with a wide, happy smile. He squeezed my hand and swung our linked hands a little. I just stood there, feeling like I was rooted to the spot, not able to speak, or look away from the expression on Lucy’s face.
“She didn’t tell me anything,” Lucy said, her voice now laced with anger.
“Oh,” Henry said, his smile dimming a little. He looked at me, frowning slightly. “Tay?”
I cleared my throat, and even when I spoke, it was like the words were sticking there. “Listen,” I said haltingly. “Lucy, I didn’t…”
Lucy narrowed her eyes at me, then turned to Henry. “The only thing Taylor told me about you was that she doesn’t like you. That you just want to spend all your time in the woods. That you’re a huge dork.” She looked back at me, her expression hard. “Isn’t that right, Taylor?”
Henry’s face fell, and he also turned to me, looking more hurt—and confused—than I had ever seen him look. “Taylor?” he asked. He dropped my hand. “What’s she talking about?”
I looked between the two of them, and I realized how much I’d hurt them—both of them. I didn’t see any way that I could make things better, or even start to fix anything. And I was backing away from the table before I even realized I’d made a decision. But by then, it was too late—I just went with it. I turned and ran for the entrance, leaving them both—the two people who meant the most to me, who I had just managed to hurt simultaneously—behind.
I had left all my things back at the pool, but I didn’t care. None of it seemed to matter anymore. I biked home on autopilot, tears blurring my vision. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I knew I needed to be home. I could figure things out once I got there.
I threw my bike onto the gravel of the driveway and ran toward the house. I had just opened the door when I almost crashed into my father, who was heading out of it, his weekend bag in his hand.
“Taylor?” he asked, looking down at me. “You okay?”
“Are you leaving?” I asked, looking at the bag. Usually my father was up only for the weekends, but he had planned on taking this whole week off, now that it was August, and things usually quieted down at his office. “Now?” I could hear the disappointment in my voice.
“I know,” my dad said with a grimace. “Work has just gotten crazy, and I have to be there. Sorry, kid.”
I nodded, but my mind was suddenly racing ahead with all kinds of possibilities that I knew I really shouldn’t let myself consider. But once the idea was planted, it was all I could think about. I took a deep breath before asking, “What if I went back with you?”
“What do you mean?” he asked. He put down his bag and frowned at me. “You mean go back to Connecticut?”