sign of my mom’s plants. There are a few old seedlings of lavender and valerian, which I carefully put into my pocket. But other than that, every trace of my lovely mother’s presence has been eradicated.
What could have happened? Try as I might, I can’t imagine why Big Jon would want to get rid of my mother’s sacred place. There’s only one thing to do now: ask Reggie, the only person who will understand how devastating this is for me. Wiping the tears away, I bust out of the gate and run to the bike, then pedal back down the hill to the soccer field, riding so wildly that I lose control and fall into a pile of red mud. Billy, who is the first to see me, lets out a yelp of laughter.
“Pudgy Pudge!” he cries. “You’re back!”
I pick myself up, wiping off as much of the dirt as I can. Then I look over to the field to witness the worst scenario I could ever imagine.
It’s Reggie, with his arms around another girl. And it’s not just any girl. It’s Crystal, the girl from the bus. He’s kissing her in front of everyone. I watch as his hands move down her back, then lower.
My boyfriend told me about it. Boyfriend? That’s what she said.
The hair on my arms is standing on end. I feel like I’m going to throw up. What can I do? I should probably say something, but what is there to say? Hey, Reggie, flew about three thousand miles to visit you, but looks like you’re busy! Or, Wow, congrats! Guess you got over your girlfriend’s death enough to kiss someone in public. Too bad it wasn’t me!
The coolest thing to do right now, I suppose, would be to leave. But unfortunately, I’m never very cool in this kind of situation. So I get off the bike and walk to where Billy and the other kids are hanging out, so Reggie’ll see me. When he does, his eyes widen, and he drops his hands away from Crystal. At least he has the decency to do that.
“Alex?” he says, looking nervously from side to side. Hesitantly, he walks toward me. “What are you doing here? You should have told me you were coming.”
I stare at him, at a total loss for words to say. Crystal sidles up to us now, looking at Reggie questioningly.
“Pudge, I want you to meet Crystal. She’s… my girlfriend.”
“Your… girlfriend?”
“Yeah,” she says, snaking her arm around Reggie’s. “This is the guy I was telling you about. We’ve been going out since eleventh grade. Haven’t seen him for a while, but it’s on, man. On like Donkey Kong!” She glances around, obviously looking for the boyfriend I stupidly mentioned on the bus.
“Crystie, give me a minute, okay?” Reggie says. He puts his arm on my shoulder and leads me aside. “Listen,” he whispers, “that was—you know—a little fib I told you about losing my girlfriend and everything. I just felt so bad for you, and, you know, wanted you to feel better, about your mom and all. I felt sorry for you, you know?”
I look at him incredulously. “You mean the plane crash was a lie?”
“Not a lie, exactly. A story. For you.”
It takes me a moment to respond. “For me?”
“I wanted you to know I understood.”
“But you don’t understand,” I say. “You just wanted me to feel sorry for you. God. Did you lie about the other stuff too? Running supplies to Burma? Helping the orphans in Ghana? Are you even from Bolinas?”
Reggie looks nervously at Crystal, who is obviously straining to hear us.
“I’m from New Jersey, Pudge,” he whispers. “Cherry Hill. And, listen—I might not have done all of those things, but I did go to Mexico on a surf trip.”
“I can’t believe I came all the way back to see you,” I say, suddenly numb inside. “I was actually going to ask if you wanted to go camping tonight.”
“Camping?” And then, for just a moment, he treats me to that easy grin of his, and I think everything will be okay. “Oh, Pudge, come on. That was never a great idea to begin with.”
“But… why?”
Reggie looks uncomfortable. “You’re just not… I mean, you’re funny and all. But it was just a fling.”
My face is burning. “Is that why you wanted to keep us a secret?” I say in a small voice. “Because I’m not pretty enough?”
Reggie doesn’t answer, but his face definitely does.
“And what would Crystal think of your ‘fling’?”
“She