mesmerized me, and I understood why she came here.
“What’s up?” I asked.
She didn’t say anything at first, ignoring me completely. After a few minutes I turned to leave. So much for being the nice guy.
“You know how my dad and your mom work together?”
“How could I forget?” I challenged her.
She winced. “I’m sorry I’ve tried to take advantage of that. I’ve had a crush on you since elementary school.” She blushed.
The back of my neck prickled with heat. What the hell was a guy supposed to say to a statement like that?
She stuttered a bit but then got into a groove. “I’m sorry but it’s the truth. I know you’re with Haley. I get that. If I flirt with you it’s not because I think I have a chance. I guess I just like to pretend.”
I was speechless.
“You see, the strange thing is, you can’t spend years thinking about someone without eventually truly caring about them.” Her admission seemed to hurt her pride and her cheeks turned even pinker.
Again, I’d no clue what to say.
“You don’t have to say anything.” She caught my gaze with a new confidence. “I know about your parents.”
I tensed but didn’t move. How the hell did she know when I just found out? “So?”
She pushed her hair away from her face and tears pooled in her eyes.
“Please, don’t shed a tear over me. I can take care of myself.”
“I’m not.” Her face turned hard, her jaw clenched. “I thought you might like to know the whole story. I probably know more about it than you.”
Seriously? “Wow, this is low. After spending years pining over someone you can’t have, you use his family problems to get close to him? Classy.” As soon as the words left my mouth I regretted them. I could tell she wasn’t working an angle, but I had no other way to respond. I didn’t want to think about my parents or their problems, and she’d caught me off guard.
The hurt was apparent in her eyes and she sagged a little bit. “Fine. I get it. But you don’t have to be a jerk. If you want to know more, I can tell you.”
“Fine. Whatever. I’m sorry.” I sat in the sand. “What do you know?”
“Is your girlfriend going to get mad at you for talking to me?” she asked, her hair hiding her face again as she sat next to me.
“Nah.” If Haley knew the whole story, she’d understand. I pressed down the guilt for not letting her know what was going on but I still stuck with my decision. Tonight wasn’t the night to burden anyone with problems.
We sat in silence but it wasn’t awkward. If we were at school or at a party it would be. I’d already have drifted off toward Haley. I wasn’t sure if Carly was waiting for me to start this or not.
“Remember the eighth grade celebration here?” Carly asked.
Memories returned of all the moms, including mine, hovering over the snack table. Of course it hadn’t been down on the beach because the seagulls would attack. Carly’s dad and a few others organized the games except it had been so hot that year we ended up in and out of the ocean even though the water was freezing.
“So much changes from middle school to high school,” she said wistfully.
I kicked at the sand. “Yeah, it does.”
“That’s when our parents first met.”
“Um, yeah. I guess so.” I couldn’t see where she was going with this.
She huffed. “You don’t know anything, do you?”
I shoved my hands into my pockets. “What do you mean?”
She let out a puff of air. “My mom’s leaving. She told me last week.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. Her eyes were glazed over and a tiny bit red.
The air left my chest, like I got sucker punched by an invisible fist. Jeez. Why couldn’t parents wait until after graduation? Hospitals should give out a list of major don’ts to new parents, and high on the list should be don’t ruin your child’s happy events with your own shitty news.
“I get it.” I didn’t know why that small admission felt so good. Maybe I did need to talk about everything, to someone who understood. “My dad talked to me tonight.” I wanted to spill the rest but saying the truth would make it real.
“What’d he say?” Her voice was gentle and soft, so unlike the usual Carly.
I held my breath and closed my eyes, then let it out and opened my eyes.