Interim(84)

It was a front. He knew. He knew deep down her heart was shredded, and he hoped his kind words would act as the thread to piece it together again.

“Jeremy?”

“Hmm?”

“I . . . I realized something today after I got home from school.”

He waited.

“I—” She lowered her voice. “—I threatened to kill you. I would never do that. You have to know I would never do that.”

“I know.”

“So it made me realize that I finally get it.”

“Get what?”

“Your journal,” Regan whispered. “Your tattoo. I get it. I get you.”

You don’t get me at all, he thought sadly.

“No more back and forth,” Regan said. “I believe you. All the way.”

And then Jeremy’s heart ripped into a million pieces. His friend—his girl, in another, better world—entrusted to him her confidence in his goodness. A goodness he didn’t possess. And he would break her heart all over again when she finally discovered it.

He turned his face.

“I . . . I got suspended,” Regan said. “I’ve never been suspended in my life. That mess is on my permanent record.”

“You shouldn’t have gotten suspended,” Jeremy mumbled.

“Oh, yes I should have. It was fair.” Regan groaned. “But I wish I weren’t suspended from my next two matches.”

“It didn’t even hurt,” Jeremy said.

“Huh?”

“Your punches. They didn’t even hurt. If they didn’t hurt, they shouldn’t count.”

Regan laughed. “Well, where were you when my sentence was being handed down? Could have kept me from getting grounded, too!”

Jeremy chuckled. “You’ve had the worst day ever.”

“Tell me about it.”

Just then, Caroline popped into the living room.

“I know how to fix that,” she offered.

Jeremy and Regan turned in her direction.

“How?” Jeremy asked.

“Let’s show Jeremy our dance,” Caroline suggested.

Regan’s eyes went wide with embarrassment. “Um, no.”

“What dance?” Jeremy asked.

“The answer to that is no,” Regan replied. He laughed.

“I wanna see your dance,” he insisted.

Caroline flashed him a toothy grin then addressed her sister. “Please, Regan! It’ll make you feel better!”

“It will not make me feel better. It’ll make me feel mortified,” she explained.

“Oh, Regan. You love to dance with me. Come on!” Caroline yanked on her sister’s hand until Regan stood up grudgingly.

“Oh my God,” she muttered, watching Caroline turn on the TV.

“Jeremy, have you seen High School Musical?” Caroline asked.

He shook his head. What the hell was High School Musical?

Caroline’s mouth dropped open. “Really?”

“Really,” he replied. “Am I missing out?”

Caroline considered his question. “I don’t know anyone who hasn’t seen it. It’s the best movie ever. Well, movies. There are three of them.”

“Three, huh?” he asked.

“Yes. And Regan and I have almost learned all the dances.”

“Please stop talking, Caroline,” Regan said. She turned to Jeremy. “It’s just a silly thing we do. These movies are, like, ancient, but Caroline loves them.”

“You love them, too!” Caroline cried.

“Yes. When I was seven,” Regan countered.

“You love them still!” Caroline insisted.

Regan sighed. “Yes, Caroline. I love them. Now can I go crawl off somewhere and die?”

Jeremy didn’t understand what the big deal was, but he wasn’t letting Regan go anywhere. Not until she danced for him.

“You gonna show me?” he asked the girls.

“Oh, yes yes!” Caroline squealed.

Regan rubbed her forehead. “This day just keeps getting better and better.”

Caroline frowned at her. She instantly felt guilty because she knew it was only that her sister was trying to make her feel better. Well, that, and Caroline wanted to show off in front of Jeremy. She grunted and moved into position next to her sister.

“All right. Press PLAY,” she said, then glanced at Jeremy. “You better eat it up because you will never see this again, got it?”