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“How long will this take?” Tiffany asked as we approached her family.
Everyone turned to us. “This is a big honor for your sister,” Charles said. “She’s Student of the Month and number three in her entire graduating class.”
I met Lake’s eyes, trying to convey how proud I was with a look. She smiled back. Wrapped up in her, it took me a moment to feel Charles’s eyes on me. Quickly, I looked at Tiffany, my go-to whenever I was caught staring at Lake.
Tiffany put an arm around Lake. “Congrats, little sis,” she said and whispered something in her ear—a long, seemingly detailed message that made Lake’s eyes go huge and her cheeks flush.
What was it about? Not me, I guessed, since both girls started to giggle. They didn’t often have moments like this, but it always threw me when they did. I was used to them bickering.
Tiffany returned to my side, and everyone looked at me. “Congratulations.” I cleared my throat. “You should be so—proud.” My heart tightened into a ball as I said it. I knew how hard she’d worked. How smart she was. How much she wanted to impress her dad.
“We all are,” Charles said, kissing her on top of the head. “It isn’t number one, but it’s certainly still impressive.”
Lake glanced at me and then the ground. Why was she embarrassed? Because she wasn’t number one? In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to be the man who announced in front of everyone that she was number one in my eyes.
“Cut her some slack,” Tiffany said. “Senior year is supposed to be fun.”
“You’ve had enough fun for the entire family,” he retorted.
Tiffany flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Can we go in? It’s hot out here.”
Tiffany’s dad hurt her when he spoke like that, but she didn’t show it. At least, not the way most people would. Tiffany’s emotions surfaced in other ways. As we walked into the auditorium, I put a hand on her upper back to comfort her.
Lake looked away. “We’re in the front row,” she said and waved to where other students had gathered. We took our seats right under the stage, me at one end, next to Tiffany, Charles and Cathy at the other, with Lake in the middle.
After a short speech, the vice principal called each honor roll student to the stage to shake hands and get a photograph taken.
“Lake Kaplan,” he announced. She stood, her strappy, loose dress flowing around her legs as she walked by me. She had red marks on her knees and thighs where she’d crossed her legs. I was tempted to reach out and smooth away that redness until it was white again. To tuck the strands of her hair that’d come loose back where they were supposed to go. She climbed the steps at one side of the stage and uncurled her fists to accept a certificate. Behind the podium, a row of students had formed.
All at once, I felt Tiffany’s glare. “Do you always look at seventeen-year-old girls that way?” she asked.
She’d said it softly, but not so softly that her parents might not hear. I leaned into her and whispered, “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You’re practically drooling.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. She’s your sister.”
Tiffany narrowed her eyes. “I wasn’t talking about Lake.”
I swallowed down my irritation. It wouldn’t do an ounce of good to make a scene here. Fact was, Lake was the most conservatively dressed of all the girls, and if I hadn’t been so distracted, I probably would’ve looked at them. Thin and beautiful, they stood in a row as the vice principal spoke about their accomplishments, California beach girls with tans, mile-long legs, and golden hair, even though we were still a couple months from summer.
Why had it been Lake who’d captured my attention that day on the site and hadn’t let it go since? I was grateful I didn’t see these other girls and feel stirred the way I did for Lake, but at that moment, I wished it was anyone but her. I wished I’d never fucking met her.
I just didn’t wish it enough to walk away for good.
After the ceremony, in the parking lot, Charles announced, “We’re going to dinner to celebrate.”
Even Cathy looked surprised. “We are?”
“Manning and I have plans,” Tiffany said, even though we didn’t.
“Cancel them. This is important.”
“Oh, let them go,” Cathy said. “Lake makes honor roll and student of the month every year. It’s not as if it’s her first time.”
“I made reservations at the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point,” Charles said.
The girls gasped. “Really?” Tiffany asked. “It’s so fancy.”
“I’m aware.” He smiled a little. “Lake’s worked hard this year. I just want us all to take a night to recognize that.”
“We recognize it every day,” Tiffany said, but when her mom eyed her, she added, “but I guess tonight’s a big deal.”
