summer?”
“Not really,” I said. “Except that I have to stay out of trouble. My mom put me on this three-strike thing, and let’s just say I only have one left.”
“What were the first two?” he asked. I would’ve asked too.
I took a deep breath.
“I made some new friends this year, and they go to the mall after school to hang out. I wanted to go, but I had track practice. So I told my coach that I had a bunch of doctor appointments, and I skipped practice.”
I pause. “But the coach saw my mom and asked how I was feeling. My mom didn’t know what Coach was talking about. And the next day the coach asked me to return my uniform.”
He said, “That’s pretty bad, but not terrible.
“I made it worse.”
He waited for me to go on, but I wasn’t ready to do that.
“Can we talk about something else?” I asked finally.
“Sure. So, no big plans for the summer?”
“Nah. This is vacation, so I’m just going to see what happens,” I said. “Tomorrow we’re gonna snorkel, so that’s a one-day plan.”
“Action-packed day.” He laughed. “What else, like longer-term for the summer?”
I wasn’t sure what he was getting at. I shrugged.
“Like, do you think about people you might hang out with?”
“Uh, I guess not.…”
“If you did think about that, would I be one of those people?” he asked.
Now I got what he was getting at. And I liked where he’d gotten.
“I hope so. I mean, I’d like to.”
He smiled. “I was thinking we could do something together sometime. You like Skee-Ball?”
I felt my face flush. “I love it. I’m really good at it too.”
A group of girl guards started singing and dancing to the latest Flying Fish song, “A Basket Full of Seashells.” I sort of lip-synched along, and TJ’s legs bobbed to the beat.
TJ asked, “Which band member is your favorite?”
Without thinking, I said, “Evan. You?”
“Hard to say. Depends on the song. Austin’s drum solo in this one is great. But Lucien rules the keyboard in ‘Sand on My Towel.’ ”
“I agree with both of those, but Evan is the best dancer.”
“That’s not fair. Since he’s on the guitar, he can move around, and the other guys can’t.”
“True,” I said.
“You like a guy who can dance?”
“Sure.” I turn to him. “Do you dance?”
“Not even a little,” he said. “I hope that’s not a deal breaker.”
“I can show you some moves.”
“You’re on.”
I saw Josie move away from the crowd and head in our direction. She covered a yawn with her hand. “You ready, Stell?” she asked.
“Umm,” I started. I was going to ask her if she wanted to stay for a while longer, when a four-wheeler tractor growled behind us. Timmy was driving.
TJ started putting on his Reefs.
He said, “Sorry to cut this short, but me and the guys have something we have to do.” He stood and wiped the sand off his legs. “Tuck!” he called. “We gotta go.”
Timmy left the four-wheeler running but got off to talk to Josie. “Hey,” he said. “Sorry I didn’t get here earlier. Do you want a lift back to the boards?”
She looked at the distance from the fire to the boardwalk. “It’s not far. I can walk.”
“Oh,” he said. “Okay. Maybe next time.”
“Sure. Maybe.” Then she asked, “Where are you going?”
“Secret lifeguard meeting,” Tim said.
He returned to the four-wheeler, where Tuck was already sitting, both cheeks plumped out with marshmallows and both hands full too. He couldn’t talk, but he was able to pump up his muscular arms for us to see. It’d become his signature move.
TJ got on the tractor behind Tucker. He called to us, “See you guys tomorrow?”
“Yup,” Dario managed to say, although some browned marshmallow dripped out the side of his mouth. He had white sticky marshmallow all over his face and hands. It was gross. I’m sure the Three Ts had noticed.
The tractor roared away.
“Where’s Apple?” I asked.
Dario made a poof motion with his marshmallow-coated hands.
I said to him, “Looks like you lost in the Great Marshmallow Battle.” I was trying to drop a hint that he’d gone unnecessarily overboard with the marshmallows.
He checked out his hands, swallowed, and said, “Can one of you get my sandals?”
Josie bent down and looped her fingers in the straps; then she said to me, “Sorry about interrupting you guys.”
Dario licked his fingers. “Interrupting what?” he asked. Then he looked at the guard sweatshirt I was still wearing. “Wait a minute. Were you having a moment? You and TJ? You like him? Is