“You don’t have a choice.”
“I’ll get another.”
“What other?”
I turned back toward the bus. Everyone else had grabbed their tubes—there were none left.
“They don’t have extras?”
“Nope.”
“Come on.”
The bus pulled away, leaving me standing there as everyone else got into the water. I watched Kyle and another pledge tie the keg onto a tube. I wanted that tube.
“Let’s do this.” Ryan walked toward the river holding my only means of getting home.
I groaned. “I want Dylan.”
Ryan held the tube for me to get in. “My goal is that you’ll beg for him by the end of the day.”
“Go easy on me.” I pushed my sunglasses down from the top of my head.
Ryan jumped onto the tube next to me, splashing me in the process. “All right, do you want your first cup?”
“Of beer? It’s ten-thirty.”
“We can wait. What should we talk about?”
“Can’t we just enjoy the scenery?” It really was gorgeous. The bank was surrounded by trees.
“The scenery, huh? I’ll enjoy the scenery.” He gave an exaggerated nod toward my chest.
“What’s Dylan going to say when he finds out how you’ve been talking to me?”
“Because you’re going to tell him?”
“I could.”
“You know what he would say, don’t you?”
“What?”
“He’d get mad at you for wearing such a revealing swimsuit without him around to watch.”
“No, he wouldn’t. You act like we’ve been dating for months. We haven’t even been on a real date yet.”
“I guess you made a big impression.”
“Did he really tell you about me before that party?” I still couldn’t believe it.
“Oh yes. I’ve never heard him like that. Usually, he just hooks up with girls. He had one girlfriend freshman year, but they didn’t last long. He said you were different. I think he’s been into you awhile, but didn’t want to get locked up for statutory rape.”
“He never even noticed me in that way before.” I thought about the past few summers when I’d done everything to get his attention. He told me I looked good in red once. I had a lot of red clothing—like the bikini I had on.
“So you’ve liked him a while too?” Ryan put on his sunglasses.
“Oh yeah.” I figured there was no reason to lie.
“Then what’s up with you flirting with Kyle?”
“I don’t flirt with Kyle.”
“Yes you do.”
“I don’t.” I closed my eyes and leaned back.
“A piece of advice. Dylan likes you a lot, but if he thinks you’re into anyone else—especially his brother—you’re not going to last long.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I dipped my hand into the warm water.
“You do that.”
Chapter Ten
From: [email protected]
Subject: Boys…
Dear Amy,
How do you tell a guy the sex is bad without actually saying it? Don’t read too much into the question. I’m just asking.
Your Almost Innocent Cousin,
Juliet
The first day of classes was mostly uneventful. I started with Freshman Writing at nine. Mallory was in it with me, and the professor seemed decent, although he was ancient. Our first assignment was straightforward: a paper about our favorite book. The only problem was I didn’t have a favorite book. I know what you’re thinking—I’m a ditz or something—but that’s not true. I’d simply never found a book that spoke to me enough to be my favorite. I liked a lot of books. I loved A Farewell to Arms and The Quiet American. Now that I think about it, most of the books I liked were about war. I wonder what that says about me? But that’s beside the point. I didn’t have one favorite.
Our next classes were on opposite sides of the quad, so I said goodbye to Mallory and went in search of my Modern U.S. History class. I found it with five minutes to spare and took my time setting up my laptop.
“Hey, Annie.” Reed took a seat next to me.
“Hey. You’re in this class?”
“No, I’m just randomly sitting here.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re so funny.”
“How was the rest of your weekend?”
“It was good.” It was. Kind of. The float trip wasn’t all bad. I’d learned a lot more about Dylan, and Tally was so psyched about meeting Gregg that we got to have a lot of girl talk that night. It turned out she was really cool. I’d kind of expected Dylan to call or at least text, but he never did. So much for Ryan’s speech about how crazy he was about me.
“You’re not very talkative today.” He said it as a statement and not a question. “But that’s okay. I’m not either.”
I thought about asking him why, but that went against the whole not being talkative thing. Class went by in a blur, and before I knew it, we were walking out.
“I’ll see you at work at five-thirty.”
I appreciated the reminder. “All right. I’ll see you then.”
He grinned. “Almost forgot about your first day of work?”
“Second. You said Friday night counted.”
“Fair enough. I’ll see you later.” He waved before heading off in the opposite direction.
***
“How skanky does this look?” I checked myself in the mirror again.
“Hmm, it depends on your skankiness scale.” Cara laughed from where she lounged on my bed.
“Do you want my opinion?” Tally turned in her desk chair where she’d been working on a paper.
“Yes.”
“You’ve got nice boobs—show them off.”
I laughed. “Wow, I wasn’t expecting that answer.”
“What? I’m flat as a board. If I had what you do, I’d flaunt them.” Tally might have had a small chest, but she had an incredible body. I wished for legs like hers.
I took another look at myself in my too-small Al’s Pizza t-shirt. “I can’t believe it shrunk. I was going to ask Reed for more anyway…”
Cara sat up cross-legged. “I don’t think he’ll have a problem with the shirt.”
“I don’t really have a choice now. I’m supposed to be at work in fifteen minutes.”