Seeley flops into the seat beside me. “I heard you christened the suit.”
I’m still rehydrating, freshly showered and in my regular work uniform, and Seeley’s joined me on her lunch break. I planned to walk the park for a little while, looking for lost kids or rowdy teenagers, since I have to take a break from the hot dog suit until my stomach settles down a little more.
“Who told you that?” I ask, even though I know. Of course I know.
“Your lover boy.” She swoons. “He said you ran into the breakroom, pulled off almost all your clothes, and started crying and puking in the garbage can.”
I slink lower in my seat because, wow, I was hoping his story wasn’t going to be totally accurate, but yeah, it definitely was.
“He gave me his towel,” I say, like that makes everything better or something.
“Are you going to fold it up over your headboard and make a shrine?”
“That was one time!” I raise my arms and drop them to my side with a thunk. “Seriously, See!”
Seeley dissolves into giggles. “You know what I mean.”
And yeah, of course I know. She’s talking about that time in eighth grade when my crush forgot his hoodie on the bus, and I may have taken it home with me. And then I may or may not have hung it up over my headboard, letting the scent of nice boy hoodie drift down over me every night while I slept. And okay, maybe I also slept in it a few times too. I only took it down a week later because Seeley threatened to tell if I didn’t give it back. It didn’t even smell like him anymore, so whatever.
I look at her, trying not to laugh. “It was one time—once—in the entire history of my life!”
“Once is one time too many.” She smiles, pulling some fries from the puddle of ketchup and shoving them in my direction. “Can you eat?”
I shrug. Maybe I can. I guess we’re going to find out one way or the other. “I don’t know. Nick was sweet, but then he also implied that I smelled.” I take a bite, enjoying the familiar squish of fried potato goodness between my teeth.
“He said you smelled?” Seeley raises her eyebrows. “Seriously?”
“Not like in a bad way,” I say.
“There’s a not-bad way to tell someone they smell?”
I shake my head. “He also bought me this drink.”
“As long as he bought you a drink.” She laughs.
“Why are you being like that? I though you guys were best friends now that you have that whole judo carpool thing happening.”
“He’s cool, I guess, I don’t know. He’s a little doofy once you really start talking to him.”
“He is not, he’s . . . interesting,” I say, stealing his word from earlier.
Seeley tilts her head as she turns back to me. “Books are interesting, Lou. The evolution of mankind is interesting. The way people utilize social media to subtly manipulate the reality of their lives is interesting. Nick Mulholland is not that interesting.”
“You just don’t understand him.” I pull my hair back into a ponytail and check my watch. If I hurry, I can probably still catch the tail end of his diving show. I might even get there in time to see his high jump. “Shoot. See, I gotta go. I’m scheduled for rounds. I think I’m the only one that’s supposed to be walking now too.”
“Right.” She laughs, making air quotes. “Rounds.”
“I do have rounds.” I scoot out of my chair. “Check the schedule yourself.”
“You made your own schedule, so that proves nothing.”
Okay, so maybe I timed my rounds to perfectly coincide with the dive show, but still, technically, I do have rounds.
“Tell Nick I said hi,” Seeley calls out after me.
I turn back and pull a face, sticking my tongue out while walking backward . . .
. . . straight into Jessa. Princess Jessa to be exact, with Ari trailing just a few steps behind.
“Tell Nick what?” she asks. “Isn’t he doing a show?”
“Uh, yeah,” I say. “I think so. I wouldn’t know, really. It’s not like I memorized his schedule.”
Smooth.
“Okay?” Jessa giggles.
I take a deep breath and look behind me, watching Seeley dissolve into a puddle of laughter as I jut out my chin and march off to do my duty. The park needs me, after all, and I need the dive show.
I take a deep breath as I dart across the food court, ignoring all the crying kids and full garbage cans. My stomach twists at the smell of all that fried food and spun sugar, but I swallow it down; no time to be queasy now. I’m a girl on a mission.
I get held up twice on my way by people asking for directions to the water park, but somehow still make it before Nick’s high dive. I even find the perfect spot on the rock wall: no gum and an unobstructed view. I mean, what more could anybody want? The announcer drones on about the daring feats of all the pirates, and I mouth the words along with him, watching as Nick climbs the ladder for his finale. He is all lean lines and lithe angles: a dancer trapped in a diver wrapped up in a boy with a slightly pink nose from too much sun and not enough sunscreen. Meanwhile, I am sweat-soaked and graceless and . . . jealous.
Extremely jealous.
I’m sweaty where he is water-slick, pale where he is tan, soft where he is toned. We are opposites in every way and I’ll never be—
“What are you doing?” Seeley bumps into my shoulder with a smile.
I look up startled to realize the dive pool’s empty and most of the crowd has filtered away. Crap, how long have I been sitting here lost in my own head? Seeley scrunches up her eyebrows, clearly waiting for a response.
“Nothing. Rounds. Like I said.” I grab a discarded soda cup off the floor and toss it into the garbage with great emphasis. “See, I’m making sure everything is on the up-and-up.”
“Right. On the up-and-up.”
I push my lips out into a sad little pout. “I am.”
“Sure thing, whatever you say.” Seeley glances back toward the pool, biting her lip as her eyes flick back to mine. “I have a date.”
My eyes get huge. “Oh my god, seriously? When?”
“Next Saturday.”
I squeal and wrap her in a hug. “I’m helping you get ready.”
Seeley rolls her eyes, but I know she’ll let me anyway.
“Tell me this is a good idea.”
“It’s a good idea,” I say, fussing with her shirt collar a little.
“If you say so.” She sighs, and then heads back toward the carousel to finish out her shift.