I hated the taste of beer, but I liked the smell, since it reminded me of being at baseball games with my dad. I was about to tell her no, thanks, when I thought,why not? I was thirsty, and I wasn’t driving tonight. There wasn’t any good reason to say no, now that Leo wasn’t using the beer to taunt me.
“Sure, if you don’t mind.” I leaned up, tilted the bottle into my mouth and then screwed up my face. “Yeah, it’s pretty flat. Ugh.” I shuddered and handed her back the beer. “Thanks, though.”
“I really am sorry about what I said. I honestly don’t care about who’s popular or who isn’t. Jake seems like a really great guy. He’s funny, too.”
“Yeah.” I watched Sarah take a long swig, and this time I didn’t even hesitate when she passed the bottle back to me. “He is. We’re just friends, though. I came with him tonight because ...”Because your boyfriend kissed me senseless a few weeks back, and since then, I’ve been going crazy.“I needed distraction.” I finished my sentence lamely. “And uh, I haven’t really dated. Like, at all. Anyone. So he asked me and, I guess, I figured, why not?”
“You’ve never dated? Why?” She seemed genuinely curious, not at all as though she was about to make fun of me.
“I don’t know.” I let my head thump onto the other armrest. “Or maybe I do. No one ever asked me before. At least, no one I would seriously want to be with.”
“No way.” Sarah held up the beer bottle. “Finish it up, why don’t you.”
I discovered that the third time was the charm when it came to beer, because I actually kind of liked it this time. I killed the bottle and dropped it onto the grass.
“So do you like Jake? I mean, he’s cute. You two make a nice couple.”
I lifted one shoulder. “I’m not sure. He’s funny, and he’s sweet, and he’s a good friend. But I don’t think he looks at me as anything other than that.”
“Ah, you’re wrong about that. I was picking up a definite vibe. I think he’s hot for you.”
I giggled. “Oh, I highly doubt—” I felt a buzzing in the back pocket of my jeans. “Hold on a second.” Pulling it out, I squinted at the screen, frowning when I saw Nate’s name. “Um, Sarah, I kind of have to answer this. I’ll be right back.” I struggled to hit answer on the phone at the same time that I tried to sit up.
“Stay there.” Sarah stood, waving a hand at me. “I need to go pee anyway.”
I relaxed back into the chair and held the phone to my ear. “Nate? What’s up?”
“Where are you?” He sounded strained and anxious.
“I’m ... out. Why? What’s wrong?”
“I went over to your house to see if you wanted to come to the head races tomorrow. My dad’s driving me over early, but Mom’s coming separately, and she said you could ride with her if you want.”
Closing my eyes, I suppressed a sigh. The last thing I wanted to do on my Saturday was stand alongside a river while Nate’s boat club went through their races. I loved my friend, and I tried to support him as often as I could, but everything to do with crew rowing was long and drawn-out. It wasn’t like going to one of Leo’s football games, with a prescribed four quarters of action, where I could sit in the bleachers in relative comfort. Being there for Nate meant hours of monotony at the river and a few minutes of intense cheering.
Still ... loyalty and guilt mixed together and made me answer in the affirmative. “Sure. What time is she leaving?”
I could almost hear the relief in Nate’s voice. “Ten. Do you want her to pick you up?”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll just walk over there.”
“Okay.” There was silence on the line, which was not unusual when it came to my conversations with Nate. He never felt the need to fill the gaps that made me uncomfortable.
“So I’ll see you ... well, I guess after you’re done.” I wanted to wrap this up before Jake came back, and now that Sarah had mentioned it, I realized I needed to go to the bathroom, too.
“Where are you, Quinn?” Nate’s voice took on a tone I’d never heard from him before. It was a mix between concern and ... was that anger?
“I’m at a party. Why?” Yes, I sounded defensive. There was that guilt again, the same feeling I’d been struggling with for as long as I could remember when it came to Nate. When we were very young, I’d stayed inside with him if he wasn’t feeling well enough to go out and play, because I felt bad for him. It was the same reason I’d avoided playing kickball the year we were in fifth grade and instead hung out on the swings with Nate. And now, I was almost afraid to tell him I’d gone out tonight, since he hadn’t.
“Whose party?”
“Um, Mike Anders.” I didn’t say anything more, but I felt even worse, knowing the history between Mike and Nate.
This time, the silence was heavier. I was about to try to explain, to justify why I was here, when Nate spoke again.
“Who are you there with?”
I switched the phone to my other ear. “Jake. He, um ... we were out eating, and someone invited us here, and it sounded fun ...” Oh,thatdidn’t come across too lame. “It’s not like you’re thinking, Nate. I haven’t even seen Mike since I’ve been here. Jake and I were just sitting outside with Leo—”
