Rachel took an uneven, stilted breath through her nose. She blinked rapidly, a couple of tears spilling from her eyes. She brushed them away quickly and gave me a watery smile before pulling me into a sudden hug.
“Thanks, Elle.”
“S-sure. No problemo. Anytime.” I patted her back awkwardly.
Rachel drew back, wiping her hands over her face again to finish making Amanda’s tea. “For the record, you are my friend, too. With or without Lee. And you can bet your ass I’ll be visiting you at Harvard next year and expecting you to visit me at Brown. You’re not far enough away that we can’t hang out for a weekend.”
The suggestion caught me completely off guard. In all the time since I’d accepted my offer at Harvard, it hadn’t actually occurred to me that I’d have another friend around. I’d told Lee he could visit both me and Rachel at once, but hadn’t thought that I could just visit Rachel, to hang out.
I smiled at her. Maybe we never would’ve been friends if Lee hadn’t asked her out at the carnival last year, but I’d never been so glad he did.
Chapter Eighteen
Noah and Amanda had headed out to the beach, according to the note on the kitchen counter; Rachel and Lee were nowhere to be found. I guessed I shouldn’t be so surprised: one of the college girls at work had asked to take my second shift, if I could take one of hers in a few days. An afternoon off hadn’t sounded so bad, so I didn’t mind helping her out.
I looked at the note on the kitchen counter in loopy writing.
I wasn’t jealous, because that would be stupid, as there was nothing to be jealous of.
I thought about joining them. The note didn’t say they wanted to be left alone or anything—if anything, it implied the reader should come join them. But I thought about spring break and that, while I’d had fun hanging out with Noah and his friends, I’d wanted some time to Noah myself, just us. And I thought that if it were Lee or Levi, I’d want some time to hang out without a crowd.
I trusted Noah.
I grabbed a pen and left a note of my own: Off work early. Heading back home to see Dad & Brad. See you guys for dinner!
On my way home, I stopped off at the 7-Eleven.
Levi’s face lit up when I got to the cash register with a couple of supplies. “Hey! What’re you doing here?”
“I’m supposed to be watching Brad tonight, but I got off work early. I thought he could come hang with us at the beach house tonight. He’s desperate to stay over.”
Levi laughed, ringing up my items slowly. “Bet he’ll love that.”
“You’ll have to come by, too. You haven’t been yet.”
He looked down for a minute. “Just been busy, you know. But I’ll see you at the water park tomorrow afternoon?”
I beamed. “Dude, I’m so glad you’re coming with us. Noah thinks it’s kind of stupid.”
“Well, maybe Noah’s kind of stupid,” Levi shot back with a grin.
I laughed. “Something only a Ravenclaw would say.”
“Ah, so you admit it? I thought you were convinced I was a Hufflepuff.”
Shit, he was right.
“Maybe, like, a sixty–forty split,” I conceded. “Still mostly a ‘puff.’ ”
“That’s thirteen sixty-eight,” he told me, bagging up my items. “And I for one can’t wait for tomorrow. It’s gonna be epic. You sure you don’t need me to bring anything?”
I shook my head. “Nope, we’ve got everything under control. See you, Levi!”
Back home, I let myself in and immediately heard Brad’s video game in the lounge. I stuck my head inside, grinning. “You beat my high score yet?”
Brad jumped, just about managing to pause his game before my shock arrival ruined it.
“Elle! I thought you weren’t supposed to be here till later?”
“Change of plans. How would you like to come spend the night at the beach house?”
Brad gasped and threw himself across the sofa, kneeling on it to beam at me with wide eyes. “You mean it?”
“Absolutely.”
“Wait…” Brad’s eyes narrowed, his smile turning into a pout as he looked at me suspiciously. “Is this a trick?”
“Oh, come on. When do I ever trick you?”
“Hmm…” He thought on it for a minute but eventually decided that even if it was a trick somehow, it’d be worth it. “Okay! Awesome! I’ll go grab my stuff!”
I’d picked up milk and peanut butter, knowing we were running low from last time I was home. But when I opened the refrigerator, I saw milk there already.
Huh. Weird. Maybe we’d had an extra bottle in the fridge and I’d not noticed.
I put it in there anyway and opened the cupboard to put the peanut butter away.
Even weirder, there was a brand-new jar there already, and it wasn’t our usual brand. I stared at it for a second, trying to work out what the hell was going on. We always got the reduced-fat one with the blue lid—it was the one Mom always bought, but we’d switched to the low-fat option a year or two ago.
Why had Dad suddenly switched brands now? Besides, I’d thought he was expecting me to buy some.
I drifted out into the hallway.
“Hey, uh, Brad?” I yelled up the stairs.
“Yeah?” He popped out of his room and into view. “You haven’t decided I can’t come to the beach house, have you?”
“No,” I reassured him. “Where’d the peanut butter come from?”
“What?”
I held up the jar to show him.
“Oh! Linda bought it.”
He vanished back into his room and I stared blankly ahead for a second before going upstairs, following him. “What do you mean, Linda bought it?”
First the wine and the staying overnight and now this?
“Uh-huh. We went to get groceries yesterday after camp.”
“She…picked you up from camp?”
“Uh-huh,” Brad said again. “How many swim shorts do you think I need, Elle?”
“Just one pair,” I told him absently.
Linda had picked him up from camp? She’d taken him grocery shopping? What the hell?
Why hadn’t I met her? Brad had met her a couple of times now. That seemed like—