Shuffle, Repeat(50)

“I’m out.” Lily grabs her bag. “There’s an arcade.”

“I will kick your ass in Pac-Man,” says Darbs.

“Bring it,” Lily tells her, and they take off.

Shaun looks back and forth between Oliver and me. “You guys play. I’m going to see if they’ll give me an extra hot dog.”

Oliver and I almost knock each other down trying to get to the joke first. “That’s what she said,” Oliver tells him.

At the same time, I say, “Kirk’s not going to like that.”

Shaun shakes his head—“You two are predictable”—and walks away.

Oliver nudges me, motioning in the direction Shaun went. “Are he and Kirk still a thing?”

“Yes and no. I think they’re in the Awkward Conversation section of the relationship, where things either get better or go downhill.”

Oliver nods and we both stand there for our very own Awkward Moment. Then he lifts his chin toward the pins. “Should we?”

I glance at the far lane, where I know Ainsley landed when we all came in. Sure enough, she’s looking at us. At me, standing here with her boyfriend. I raise my hand toward her and flap it around a little, because maybe that’ll make it less weird. She immediately flashes me a brilliant smile, waving in return…and then Theo leans over and whispers something to her. They both crack up—and look at me again before laughing even more.

I turn back to Oliver, who doesn’t seem like he’s noticed any of it. He has blinders on where Theo is concerned.

Well, screw Theo.

And screw my stupid caution where Oliver is concerned. There’s a strong chance his perfect family life is going to explode around him any minute, and if I can give him a little fun before that happens, I’m doing it. I choose a glittery pink ball. “I’m warning you,” I tell Oliver. “I’m small but I’m feisty.”

“Just how I like ’em,” Oliver says, and then looks uncomfortable. “That came out weird.”

“It came out right.” I immediately feel the same way Oliver looks, and I shake it off by giving instructions. “Make yourself useful. Type in our names.”

He gets busy at the keyboard and I get busy looking anywhere besides at him. I know—I know—what’s trying to happen in my heart, but I refuse it. I’m not going there. Oliver Flagg and I are just friends, and that is how it’s going to stay. He has a wonderful girlfriend and I have a wonderfully uncomplicated life.

Even if I feel my insides tighten when he flashes a grin at me from behind the keyboard. He points up to the screen, at the names he’s assigned us for everyone to see: Roller Rafferty and One-Ball Ollie.

I burst out laughing and Oliver looks confused. “What?” he asks. “They’re our bowling names.”

“Some people might take yours wrong,” I manage to say before being overtaken by another gale of laughter.

Oliver squints at the screen and I see the look of comic horror wash over him. “Oh crap!” he says, and plops back down in front of the keyboard. “I meant the pins! I can knock down all the pins with one ball!” He taps at the keys. “How do I change this?”

“Too late,” I inform him, and sprint to the lane. Before he can figure out how to get back to the name screen, I chuck my glittery pink ball and watch it knock over two pins on the right side. “Already started!”

I look back at Oliver, who is shaking his head. “You’re killing my rep, Rafferty.” But he has a big goofy grin plastered on his face.

Oliver and I end up playing only one game together (he wins, but not by much) before Shaun and Lily return to join us. The four of us play, and of course Shaun clobbers everyone again, and then Ainsley arrives to retrieve Oliver. She says she wants to get a picture with him in the photo booth. I try not to look at the curtained area where they’re definitely not getting pictures, because they’re in there way too long and Ainsley’s feet are facing his.

Instead, I head to the arcade to beat Darbs at Dance Dance Revolution. We play Skee-Ball and Ms. Pac-Man, and then take turns trying to balance on the railing surrounding the snack area until we get yelled at by a food worker. At some point, the bowling people remember they have a sound system and start pumping really loud disco music, so Darbs and I find Lily and pull her onto the spatter-patterned carpet to dance. Ainsley pops out of the photo booth to see us leaping about and decides to join in with one of the cheerleaders. In a flash minute, a whole bunch of them are there and everyone is dancing and the teachers are trying to make us stop but they’re not trying very hard. The day is silly and fun and crazy, and on the way home in the bus, someone starts up the Robin High fight song again.

This time, I sing along.





“Hey, what’s going on with the Flaggs?” I ask Mom. We’re out on the porch, using brooms to sweep the cobwebs from the rafters above us. “Marley hasn’t been over this week, has she?”

“No.” Mom pokes at a particularly dirty corner of the ceiling. “She and Bryant are going to counseling, so I think things are getting better.”

“Did he cheat on her?”

“I can’t…That’s not a question I should answer.”

“So that’s a yes?”

“It’s not a no,” she tells me.