Tiffany grabbed Corbin’s forearm, pulling him away. “Have you met Manning?” she asked. “He’s in college.”
“Cool.” Corbin dropped the skateboard on the ground and planted a big, fat Airwalk sneaker on it to stop it from rolling away. “I should get back to my friends. We’ll be surfing Huntington Pier all next week, Lake. South side, in the mornings. If you want to come watch.”
I waved. “See ya.”
Manning watched Corbin skate off, his eyes narrowed. “Who was that?”
“Corbin Swenson,” Tiffany and I answered at the same time.
“What’d he want?” Manning asked.
I shrugged. “Just saying hi.”
Tiffany tightened her ponytail. “Are you friends?”
Both Tiffany and Manning towered over me. For just getting off a carnival ride, neither of them looked very happy. Had they fought? I could almost convince myself I’d heard something like jealousy in Manning’s questions just now.
I pulled my knees against my chest. “I wouldn’t say friends. More like acquaintances.”
“Oh.” Tiffany sat next to me on the stairs. “I went out with his brother once. I always thought Corbin had a crush on me.”
That was a typical thing for Tiffany to assume. “So?”
“So just keep in mind that some guys might look at you and see me.”
“Meaning?”
She brushed some of my hair off my neck, glancing up at Manning as if checking to see if she should proceed. “You and I are different. I cut class. Went to bonfires on the beach, drank, smoked weed.”
I wanted to relax into the feeling of Tiffany’s fingers in my hair, but I worried an insult was coming. “And?”
“And you do homework for fun.”
I made a face. “I do not.”
“Just don’t be na?ve. Corbin’s a nice guy, but he can have any girl he wants, which means he probably does. He’s a heartbreaker.”
Maybe I did focus too much on school, and maybe I had no clue about boys like Tiffany thought. But I didn’t want Manning to know that. “I’m not as innocent as you think,” I said.
Tiffany laughed and hugged me from the side. “Yes, you are.”
Okay, so she was right. I’d experienced embarrassingly little—less, even, than my friends, and they were mild compared to most girls at my school.
“Innocence is good,” Manning said, sounding funny, as if his teeth were clenched. “She has the rest of her life for parties. For punks like that guy.”
Tiffany ruffled my hair as if I were her child, not her high school-aged sister. “What should we ride next, Manning?”
“You want that stuffed animal?” he asked.
Her eyes lit up. “Do you really think you can win it?”
I tasted metal. It was as if I wasn’t even there. They acted like they were my babysitters. I should’ve paid more attention to the guys Tiffany had dated in the past. How long did it take for her to lose interest and move on to the next? To me, Manning seemed as untouchable as the glossy celebrities taped to Tiffany’s wall, so why did she get to touch him?
Manning and Tiffany turned to the booth with the stuffed animals, ignoring me. As long as I sat there being my quiet, innocent self, they could carry on with their lives.
I stood, brushing dirt off the seat of my shorts. “I’m going to see if Corbin wants to ride the Ferris wheel with me.”
Manning turned around first. “What?”
“I said—”
“I heard you.” He glanced at the ride and back at me. “I thought you were scared.”
“I was, but you said I could do it, so I think I’m ready.” I wasn’t ready. Not to go it alone, and if I wasn’t riding with Manning, I might as well be by myself.
Manning’s expression didn’t change, but he cracked a knuckle. “Maybe it’s better to wait.”
I crossed my arms over myself. When Manning ignored me, everything hurt, but when he looked right at me, like now, the contents of my stomach turned upside down, as if my insides were doing acrobatics. “I’m going to do it now. With Corbin.”
“You like him,” Tiffany teased. “I don’t blame you. All the Swensons are totally gorgeous.”
Manning put a firm hand on my shoulder, physically keeping me where I stood. “I’ll go with you.”
I cocked my head. I had no intention of hunting down Corbin—maybe he wasn’t as intimidating as I thought, but I wasn’t about to approach one of the most popular guys in school for a kiddie ride. Manning didn’t want me to do it, though, and fighting with him was better than being ignored by him. “You already went. With Tiffany. Remember?”
His hand warmed the entire left side of my body. By the look on his face, the sarcasm in my comment didn’t amuse him. “Do you want to ride it or not?”
“Yes. With Corbin.”
Manning shook his head. “You’re too young to be alone with someone his age—”
I opened my mouth to protest, but Tiffany beat me to it. “It’s a Ferris wheel, not Seven Minutes in Heaven. Don’t you remember being sixteen?”
“Too well. That’s why I’m saying no.”