“That’s a jelly bell,” Becca said.
“And?”
“You went to my mom’s bakery,” she said, dumbfounded.
“Your mom owns that place? That’s cool. Jenny was handing out flyers to the team during lunch. Thought I’d swing by and take up that free cannoli offer. That place is amazing. . . . Why are you staring at me like that?”
Becca’s mouth was literally hanging open. “Jenny handed out flyers?” she said.
Jeff looked at me. “What is going on?” I shrugged. Hell if I knew. He pulled a pink crumpled ball out of his pocket and smoothed it down on the table. It was a flyer for Hart’s Cupcakes. Becca picked it up, held it to her face like she was conducting a scientific analysis.
“Jenny gave you this?” she said again.
“Yes.” Jeff gave me a look, picked up his bag, and left.
I turned to Becca, who still looked dazed. “What’s going on?”
“Don’t you think it’s weird?” she said. “Jenny handing out flyers to my mom’s bakery?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
She nodded to herself. “Very weird.”
I steered the conversation back on track. “You don’t really have to come to the party if you don’t want to.”
She carefully folded the flyer into a square and put it in her pocket. “I don’t mind,” she said, now looking at me. “And it’ll be good for people to see us out together somewhere other than your football games. Make this seem more real.”
Sometimes I actually forgot that we were supposed to be dating. Our friendship already felt so normal. I reached across the table and grabbed her hand then, just in case.
“I think people are buying it,” I said. “My teammates haven’t said a word. Even Jeff hasn’t doubted it. Back to Lovers’ Lake, I didn’t think you’d say yes.”
“It’s not my usual scene, sure, but it sounds sort of fun. And it’s not like I’ll be awkwardly alone. You’ll be there, and you’re pretty good company.”
“Pretty good?”
“Definitely above average.”
“I’ll have you know I’m somewhat of a hot commodity in these halls, Hart.”
“Then lucky me for being the one dating you. Now tell me”—she lowered her voice, leaned across the table—“ever brought a girl to Lovers’ Lake?”
I leaned in too, until our noses were almost touching.
“No,” I said. “You’ll be the first.”
Becca
LOVERS’ LAKE WAS DISGUSTING.
And crowded. And it smelled horrible.
I was trying to remember how I allowed Brett to drag me here when he tugged on my hand, pulling me forward. Yes, we were wading through grass that was covered in murky water and yes, I was purposely trying to keep my mind preoccupied with anything other than this disgusting lake/marsh/whatever-the-hell-it-was I was currently attempting to walk through. I could hear voices and see some sort of light farther down. Definitely not a fire. It was too wet. Maybe a flashlight? That would be nice. Let’s illuminate all the bugs circling my head.
“Stop pulling me!” I hissed, tugging back on Brett’s arm. “I’m going to trip and drown.”
“The water’s not even a foot deep, Becca.”
Whatever!
We kept walking. It was dark. Like dark enough that the moon seemed to be ten times brighter than normal. There were people walking behind us and a few in front, leading the way. Brett introduced me to them when we first arrived. I tried my best to remember their names, I really did, but one step into this mushy grass had me forgetting everything other than my new white Converse, which were currently being destroyed.
I still wasn’t entirely sure what Lovers’ Lake was. And it was way too dark for me to make out my surroundings. All I knew was that Brett had driven down a bumpy pathway—I flew into the window a few times—until we came to a clearing where dozens of other cars were parked. It looked like all the grass had been crushed by tires so many times it just gave up trying to regrow. That wasn’t the end of the journey, though. After we exited the car, we had to walk through this path in the forest and my life was left in the hands of Brett (literally) and whichever teenager with a flashlight was leading us to Lovers’ Lake.
For the record, my expectations weren’t high.
I could not believe people willingly came here for fun. Let alone took their clothes off and did whatever else in the trees. I kept glancing around and shuddering. I wanted to take a shower just thinking about it. Plus, the marsh had that weird fishy smell that fills the air after it rains and there were bugs flying everywhere. It was too dark to see them—which may have been a good thing—but they were buzzing in my ears and I kept imagining one flying right into my brain. The bottom half of my legs were covered in mosquito bites (partially my fault for wearing shorts). All in all, it reminded me of the summer when my family, pre-divorce, went camping. We didn’t even last the first night. After the tent collapsed, we packed up all our stuff and left.
I checked my phone and saw it was almost eleven. I couldn’t believe the night hadn’t even started yet! My curfew was one, but I suspected my mother would be okay with me coming home late as long as Brett was the one dropping me off.
The people in front of us started to cheer then, and I peeked around Brett’s back to find the narrow path opening into a clearing. Thank god. I could have cried on the spot. I had no idea what to expect, maybe some blankets or some sort of organized structure for people to sit on. Instead there were fallen tree trunks rearranged in a square, a few lawn chairs, and flashlights dangling off of branches to light up the area. People were sitting around drinking, leaning against trees, splashing each other with muddy water and, yes, as Jeff said, sneaking off into the surrounding forest.
It was all very high school. Meaning it was both completely gross and a weird kind of cool.
Brett let go of my hand when he spotted his teammates. They’d won their second football game tonight, and he spent the entire ride over replaying every moment out loud, as if I wasn’t sitting in the first row of the bleachers watching. The upside was that I was slowly learning football lingo. (My vocabulary had surpassed “touchdown.”)
I also noticed that his parents weren’t at the game. Again. I tried to ask him about it and he mumbled something about his dad having just left for Ohio. Two missed games in a row, I added to my mental tally. This wasn’t looking good. Brett, on the other hand, was looking great. That smile on his face could fool anyone. It hadn’t left since his team won. It was weird, because he’d been kind of moping around at school this week. He didn’t talk about it much, but I knew his parents were weighing him down. Especially since they’d missed this game too. But now? In this clearing? He was the normal Brett Wells that everyone loved. One-hundred-watt smile and all.
So, sure, I’d go along with it. Tonight we’d be Brett and Becca: The Couple. We already had the hand-holding part down. Even the couple bantering. And I’d yet to take one glance at the book in my bag. The night was off to a good start.
If only I could find somewhere to sit so I could take my feet out of this grass/water situation.