“Don’t worry, I won’t tell Estaine about Brooks,” Teagan says. “Maybe you should tell him, but I won’t. Because, in case I didn’t make it clear already, I’m team Estaine.”
I laugh and shake my head at her. “Yeah, I think that’s pretty clear.”
“Good.”
“I’m going to have to tell Estaine before next weekend,” I say. “If I can convince Uncle Matty to let me go to The Hamptons for Labor Day, I’m going to have to explain why I am splitting my time between the two houses.”
“Or you could just tell Brooks you can’t go and hang out with Estaine the whole time,” she says.
“You’re so bad.”
“Whatever. You know you love me,” she says. “Whomever you choose, I am still your friend. But tonight, don’t expect me to do much talking. Jason and I haven’t gotten to hang out since we got back to school, if you know what I mean.”
“Gross. Just don’t kiss him in front of me,” I say.
“No promises,” she says, as we walk out from the trees and into the clearing.
The guys are already there, and Teagan doesn’t even say bye as she walks off towards Jason.
“Hey,” Estaine says, as I walk up to him.
“Those two...” I say, letting my voice trail off. “How did I not see it before she told me?”
“I know. They’re perfect for each other,” he says. “They should just make things official already.”
I nod my head, agreeing totally.
We both walk onto the old boat deck and carefully take a seat. I dangle my feet over the side and pray I don’t get a splinter in my butt.
“You weren’t at lunch today,” he says.
And the conversation I wanted to avoid.
“I was hanging out off campus with a friend,” I say.
He looks at me for a second, clearly confused. “Who? All our friends were there.”
I take a deep breath before continuing. “I’m scared to tell you.”
“Why would you be scared?”
“Because you might hate me after you find out.”
“Trust me, there is nothing that could make me hate you.”
“I wouldn’t say nothing,” I say. “I hung out with Brooks Remington today.”
“WHAT?”
I cringe.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean to yell. It’s just... Brooks... he’s not a good guy.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that. But I don’t get it. He’s really nice to me,” I say. “You’ve never told me why you don’t like him.”
“I’ve never cared much for the guy,” he says. “No, that’s not true. We were friends when we were kids. The summer we were fourteen, right before coming to East Raven, is when we stopped being friends.”
“What did he do that was so bad?”
“He started dating my sister,” Estaine answers. “She was only ten months older than me. Our parents had us super close together. And I was cool with it at first, but Brooks didn’t treat my sister very well.”
“I didn’t know you had a sister,” I say.
“She died,” he says. “Last spring break. It’s really hard being at school without her.”
“What happened?”
“She did something stupid,” he says. “Brooks and River were always fighting. They’d break up and get back together all the time.”
Uh.
Also, his sister’s name is awesome.
Why wouldn’t she have a unique name like him?
“Like Emma and Bryce,” he says. “Except, way worse. My sister deserved better. Anyway, the night she died, they had broken up. Again. So, she went out with her friends, got drunk and then drove. She died. One of her friends was with her in the car, she was drunk, too. She lived, but she’s in a wheelchair now. She never came back to school.”
“Oh. Wow,” I say. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s why I don’t like Estaine. I know it’s not really his fault my sister is dead, but I kind of feel like she would still be here if it wasn’t for him,” he says, then looks at me for the first time since telling me his story. “Please, Phoenix, stay away from him. You deserve better.”
I don’t make any promises. I just let his words sink in. I know better than to tell him that I will stay away from Brooks.
The relationship that Brooks had with River... it sucks. I get that. But that doesn’t mean that if I decided to have a relationship with him, it would be the same as it was for them. Maybe they were both bad for each other.
“I had an older sister. I don’t remember her, but she died when I was six months old,” I tell him. “She was four at the time. That’s why my parents got divorced. Their marriage couldn’t survive after she died.”
“My parents’ marriage isn’t so great right now, either,” Estaine says. “It was, before...”
“I was young when they got divorced, but it worked out good for me. I’ve got Charlie now, and I can’t imagine life without him. And my stepmom is pregnant, so I’m going to have a little brother or sister, soon,” I say. “They should’ve fought for each other, though. I think they still love each other, in their own way.”
“You said your parents met at Berkeley, right?”
I nod. “Love at first sight, according to my dad.”