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He laughed. “I’d like to see you try.”
“You can count on it.” I knew I sounded like a spoiled brat, but I couldn’t let this injustice go unpunished. I just couldn’t.
He pulled a pack of gum from his pocket and popped a piece in his mouth. It smelled juicy and sweet when he blew a huge bubble. “You want a piece?” he asked. He held the pack out to me.
I took a piece reluctantly, slowly opened the wrapper, and tossed it into my mouth. It took a solid five seconds of chewing to soften it up, but then I blew a bubble even bigger than his. It was so big that it popped and covered my face. I lifted the sticky film from my face and shoved it back in my mouth.
“You have a little right here,” he said, and he reached out and touched under my eye. I blinked and looked down. I had a piece stuck to my face. I picked it loose and rolled it between my finger and thumb. Then I did the almost unthinkable, and I flicked it toward his face. I regretted it almost immediately, but he didn’t do anything I expected him to do.
In fact…he laughed. It was a full-on belly laugh, and I caught the tips of my lips quirking into a grin.
“I’m Eli,” he said.
“Bess,” I replied.
“Is that short for anything?”
I raised my eyebrows. “Is Eli short for anything?”
“Elijah.”
I grinned. “Elizabeth.”
“You want to play pool?” he asked, jerking his thumb toward the table.
“Sure,” I said, and I motioned for Lynda and Aaron to join us, but they preferred to go stand in a dark corner together. If they stayed there too long, Mr. Jacobson would get out his high-powered spotlight and shine the light into the dark corner of the room. Nobody enjoyed that.
“You’re new,” I said as he racked the balls.
“We just got here,” he replied and handed me a pool stick.
“How long are you staying?” I pretended like I didn’t care, but I kind of did.
“Until the end of summer,” he replied. “You?”
“Same.” I took in a breath. “Do you have any friends here?”
He smiled at me. “Just you.”
My belly dropped down toward my toes. Then he tossed his head to get the hair out of his eyes, lined up his shot, and broke the balls.
I beat him, and I didn’t feel bad about it at all.
7
Bess
“And that was how it all began,” I say as I stand up and take a small bow. Aaron has just been unhooked from all the tubes and he looks like he can barely keep his eyes open, but he’d listened intently as I’d talked. He grins at me. He has a signature smirk and he’s had it as long as I can remember.
“An auspicious start, to say the least,” he says with a grin. “You two were inseparable that summer. I never thought I’d get to spend time with you again.”
“You’re one to talk. You and Lynda were glued together even before Eli came along.”
“True.” He stares at me. “I still missed you. You were my best friend.”
And he was mine. Only time and distance had kept us apart. Then it became easy not to talk. “Well, you have me now,” I say.
He nods. “Thanks for hanging out with me.”
