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My dismount from the rim executed so beautifully that even a gymnast would be impressed enough to praise a compliment.
“Perfect. Can’t wait.” I lie, the same way Hailey has been doing to herself for years.
thirty-one
Finn
“Hellwouldbelesshot,” Eli whines, wiping at his brow. A nice bead of sweat already lining the rim. The faintest pink scar rests on the very edge and it brings a sad smile to my face.
High school had been rough on us all, but it was also one of the freest moments of my life. Fewer responsibilities and more carefree fun, like that day Eli had earned his scar. Hailey gave it to him after we’d all skipped school and gone to an amusement park instead.
Eli shoots me a scowl, misinterpreting my staring.
Good times.
“If you think this is hot, then you should never move to the coast,” Hailey’s dad throws in. “You’d never survive.”
“That bad, huh?”
“This time of year,” he tuts a whistle. “I remember one time Hailey and her friend begged for a couple of eggs after a kid at school told them sidewalk breakfast tasted better than the stuff from a skillet.”
“Did you let them do it?” Eli asks.
“Heck yeah, I did,” he drawls with a good-natured chuckle.
This piques Cole’s attention enough that he asks, “Why would you do that? You knew the kid was messing with them.”
“Let me give you boys a piece of advice. Sometimes we have to agree to things knowing ahead of time it’s a mistake.” Her dad leans in close like he’s sharing a secret and greedily, we all close in. “But the only way to learn is by going through failure.”
“Okay, but were they good?” My question earns me a slap on the back of the head from Cole.
“Of course they weren’t!” he sympathizes. “They made pavement omelets.”
Hailey’s dad’s face gleams, enjoying the banter. “They might’ve,” he confesses, and I return the favor and give Cole a nice thump back. “You know, if Hailey hadn’t found a dead ant cooked on the bottom of hers.”
Even Aiden’s face twists in disgust, like he understands what’s been shared. His tongue falls from his mouth with the limpness of a dog’s. I hug him closer to my side. I swear, this kid.
“And then what happened?”
I shoot her dad a knowing look after his face goes blank.
I like to think I understand Hailey enough to know she would nevernotdo something in return, especially after a kid almost made her eat a bug.
“Come on,” I refute. “She didn’t doanything?”
I don’t believe it.
“Oh,” he says, finally catching up. “Oh yeah! She convinced the kid the word ‘refuse’ actually meant ‘consume,’ so for months, they’d walked around school saying things like ‘I’m going to refuse these strawberries,’ or ‘why is this dog consuming to let me pet it?’”
We all lose it. Aiden joins in with his own high-pitched fits of giggles after he spots us all laughing. The hat I’d given to him weeks prior bobs up and down as he bounces with amusement. The matching one I now proudly own is worn too, only mine is backward on my scalp.
We may be under a covered pavilion, but as Eli had mentioned, it’s hotter than balls on a camel’s nuts, so I keep the bill of Aiden’s forward, adding another layer of protection.
So far, the girls have been doing pretty well out there and not a single competitor has passed out from a heat stroke which is saying a lot. Guess this means Rory and Hailey will have to win the old fashion way.
Pure dumb luck.
I’m not a woman hater by any means, but Rory’s never played this sport in her life, and Hailey, well, let’s just say she’s basically carried the team thus far.
