Along for the Ride(39)

Her eyes narrowed. ‘Auden,’ she repeated, the way you’d say scrotum or excrement. ‘What kind of a name is that?’

‘Well –’ I said.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Leah said, cutting me off. ‘Like Maggie said, nothing happened.’

‘Was she, or was she not, in there hitting on Eli?’ Belissa demanded.

‘She wasn’t,’ Leah said, her voice flat. Certain. The blonde and the redhead exchanged looks. ‘She’s not from here, she doesn’t know anybody.’

‘Or anything,’ Maggie added, sounding less confident. Belissa glanced at her. ‘You know what I mean.’

‘I saw how he was talking to her,’ Belissa said. It was weird how she was staring at me, and yet at the same time ignoring me completely. ‘He was smiling, for God’s sakes.’

‘He’s not allowed to smile?’ Leah asked. Maggie shot her a look, and she added, ‘Look, Belissa, it was an honest mistake, and we’re leaving. Okay?’

Belissa considered this, then stepped even closer to me. ‘I don’t know who you are,’ she said, punctuating this with a jab of her finger, the tip touching my chest. ‘And I don’t really care. But you better stay away from my boyfriend, especially when you’re under my roof. Understood?’

I looked past her, to Maggie, who nodded, her head bobbing wildly. I said, ‘All right.’

‘All right,’ Belissa repeated. Behind her, Leah sighed, looking up at the sky. ‘Now get off my property.’

And with that, Maggie was yanking my arm again, dragging me down the nearby stairs. She continued her death grip on me as we followed Leah down to the beach, around a dune, and then over a public walkway, back to the street, not letting go until we were back at the car, where Esther was waiting.

‘Where the hell have you been?’ Leah demanded. ‘We could have used you back there.’

‘Let me guess,’ Esther said as Maggie and I got in the backseat. ‘Something undignified happened.’

‘If you call Auden just about getting all our asses kicked undignified, then yes,’ Leah told her. She slammed her door shut, then turned around in her seat to look at me. ‘Are you crazy? Flirting with Eli Stock in front of Belissa Norwood, in Belissa Norwood’s house, while eating Belissa Norwood’s cupcakes?’

They were all looking at me now. I said, ‘We weren’t eating those cupcakes.’

Leah threw her hands up, turning back around as Esther cranked the engine. Maggie, beside me, said, ‘You guys, she didn’t know about any of that.’

‘She didn’t know about you and Jake, either,’ Leah said. ‘But that didn’t stop you from wanting to flatten her when she hooked up with him.’

‘True,’ Maggie said. ‘But, like Belissa, I was in the wrong. She and Eli are broken up. He can talk to whoever he wants.’

‘But that’s just the point,’ Leah told her, turning to face me. ‘Eli doesn’t talk. To anyone. Ever. So why is he talking to her?’

No one said anything. Finally, I cleared my throat and said, ‘Well, I don’t know. He just does, ever since this one night when I saw him riding his bike.’

Silence. They were all staring at me, even Esther, who used the rearview. Maggie said softly, ‘You saw Eli on a bike? What was he doing?’

I shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Tricks? He was jumping around, at the end of the boardwalk.’

Maggie and Leah looked at each other. ‘You know,’ Leah said, ‘I think maybe…’

‘Agreed,’ Esther said, hitting her turn signal as the Gas/ Gro came up in the distance. ‘We definitely need some snack bang for this one.’

‘The thing is,’ Maggie began, ‘if we’re going to tell you about Eli, first we have to tell you about Abe.’

We were at the very tip of the pier, lined up on a bench and looking out over the water. On the way out to the end, we’d passed several fishermen, standing with their rods leaning over the side, focused on the water. Here, we were all alone, except for the wind and the splashing below.

‘Abe and Eli,’ Maggie said, ‘were inseparable. Best friends since, like, kindergarten. You hardly ever saw them apart.’

‘But they were totally different,’ Esther added. ‘You know, Eli’s got that dark, quiet thing going on. And Abe was…’

They were all quiet for a moment. Then Leah said, ‘A total goofball.’

‘Total,’ Maggie agreed. ‘Like, the silliest person you have ever met. He could make anybody laugh.’

‘Even Eli.’

‘Especially Eli.’ Leah smiled. ‘God, do you even remember what Eli was like before Abe died? He was actually… funny.’

‘Abe died?’ I said.

Maggie nodded solemnly, opening up a pack of gum. ‘It was May of last year. He and Eli were down in Brockton, at this event at Concrete Jungle? They were both sponsored, had been for a couple of years now. They both started out straight BMX, you know, but then Eli took up the half-pipe, and Abe stuck more to flatland, at least in competition. But they were both really good at urban, although that’s not surprising, considering where we’re from.’

I just looked at her. Leah said, ‘Maggie, nobody here but you understands all that bike shit. Speak English.’