From the Jump(59)

I considered pointing out that, between his studying and his internship at the accounting agency, he was only available on Sundays anyway, but I bit my tongue. I had blown him off the last two Sundays, first to cheer on Simone at her powder-puff football game and then to celebrate Mac’s birthday. They’d been important events. Much more important than going out to eat so Chad could whine about his internship over an endless basket of bread.

I didn’t actually feel hurt until later that afternoon when I spotted him on the Ferris wheel with Lainey Massey, his long-standing “study partner.” By the looks of things, they’d transitioned from math to biology a while ago. His hand was up her shirt, and I could see his tongue from the ground. It clearly wasn’t a first kiss. He’d been cheating on me, and now he was ready to let everyone see it.

I didn’t let myself cry, but I felt my entire body stiffen up, my expression carved entirely of marble. My insides shriveled, and a whooshing sound roared between my ears, drowning out the din of the boardwalk. The late-afternoon sun turned cold, the crashing waves ominous instead of dancing. I’d thought I’d understood how my mom felt, but it was much worse to experience it myself. Chad had seemed to need so little, yet I still hadn’t been enough.

It was Phoebe who spotted them first. We were waiting in line for the Ferris wheel, after all. It’s not like she could’ve missed them. She whipped toward me, her eyes wide. I faked a smile.

“Um,” Simone said, spotting him next. “Isn’t that your boyfriend?”

I couldn’t look again. “No. We broke up this afternoon.”

Deiss looked at me, but if he was surprised that I hadn’t told anyone, he chose to keep his mouth shut. Mac wasn’t as discreet.

“Awesome,” he said, picking me up and twirling me around. My legs slammed into a stranger unfortunate enough to be passing by. “I hated that guy.”

“You did?” I gasped out with the small amount of air his bear hug had left in my lungs.

“We all did,” Phoebe said. “He was the human equivalent of a lecture on dust particles.”

“So boring,” Simone agreed.

“Lainey doesn’t seem to think so.” My words slipped out, pathetic and embarrassing.

“Did he dump you for her?” Mac seemed too shocked.

“Liv dumped him,” Simone said quickly. “Because he called her mom a bitch.”

“Simone!” I shook my head at her. “He did not.”

“So, you’re mad,” Mac said, seeming not to hear me. His eyes lit up.

“I’m not mad,” I said.

“She’s furious,” Simone said.

“She is?” Mac bounced with excitement. “You know what that means. Mad people get to throw stuff.”

He grabbed my hand and started to run, dragging me toward the booth with the glass bottles set up in pyramids. Before I could object, Simone had come up behind us and slapped down a hundred-dollar bill.

“Keep ’em coming,” she ordered the man behind the counter, gesturing toward the basket of baseballs.

“You can’t spend that much on a stupid game,” I said, horrified by the wastefulness of it. “It’s absurd.”

“Please.” Simone rolled her eyes. “My parents spent more than that on a bottle of wine at dinner last night. And they didn’t even drink half of it.”

“My game isn’t stupid,” the man behind the counter informed me gruffly.

I opened my mouth to apologize, but Phoebe stuffed a wad of bright blue cotton candy in it.

“Throw this,” Simone said, folding a ball into my fingers.

I looked for help in Deiss, but he simply lifted his eyebrows.

“I can stand behind you if you want,” he said with a smirk. “Show you how it’s done.”

His flirtation was shocking enough to knock a laugh out of me. To hide my blush, I turned toward the wall at the back of the booth and hurled the ball. To my surprise, it crashed into one of the pyramids, shattering glass and sending it flying. I shrieked with delight, my friends’ cheers filling my ears.

“Again,” Deiss said, plucking the ball Mac was about to throw from his hand and putting it into mine.

I threw with more confidence this time, laughing when it hit the wall, leaving the bottles intact. Beside me, Mac finally got a ball of his own into the air, and the sound of shattering glass made us scream again. For over an hour, we hurled baseballs, shrieking and laughing until the sun drifted down and our voices grew hoarse.

I didn’t think of Chad for hours. And once I did, it was only long enough to admit that he’d been right. I didn’t have time for him. Not when there was so much more fun to be had with my friends.





CHAPTER 17


You look great,” Phoebe says, despite the fact that I’ve shown admirable restraint in not tugging at the leather bustier she’s insisted on lending me for tonight’s show. I haven’t complained about the gray jeans that cling like a second skin, either. There’s been no mention from me of the strategic holes in the legs or even the black booties they’re tucked into or the eclectic jewelry she’s paired with the outfit. In fairness, though, I do like the booties and the jewelry. I wouldn’t have picked them for myself, but I definitely would’ve admired them on Phoebe.