Authors: Katlyn Duncan
Will tosses the water bottle to Lily who catches it without looking. A reflex of growing up with older brothers.
We watch the show for a few minutes, not one of us talking. When did this get so awkward?
“So Hadley,” Lily starts, her voice louder than normal. I know this voice. But before I can stop her she continues, “About tomorrow. Jordan is super excited to meet you.”
I glance at Will, whose eyes are on the TV. “Great.”
“We’re tailgating before the fireworks starting at four. So I’ll pick you up. Okay?”
“Okay,” I say, exasperated.
“Super.” She turns to Will. “What are your plans for tomorrow night?”
Will shrugs. “Probably going to get a head start on the downstairs bathroom.” His eyes sparkle as he flicks his gaze to me.
“Boo!” she cries. “You should come to the park. It’s tradition.”
“Maybe,” he shrugs again.
She sighs dramatically. “I think the South took all the fun out of you.”
He chuckles as his fingers tap on the arm of the couch. “I’ll be there.”
Lily grins at him. “There’s the Will I remember. Never letting a party go to waste.”
For a second, his expression darkens, but it quickly rises into a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.
“We should probably head out,” I say.
“Fabulous idea,” Lily says, untangling her long legs from the couch pillow and standing up from the seat.
Will clicks off the TV and stands, gathering the water bottles.
I head for the door and Lily is on my heels. “That’s not your shirt.”
I push Lily through the open door. “His sink is broken, I got sprayed with water and, like I said, Ethan locked me out.”
We wait for Will halfway down the driveway.
She crosses her arms. “So you were wet and needed a change of clothes?”
Her insinuation makes my cheeks flush. I pinch her arm and she yelps, stepping back.
“You are so easy!” she says through short bursts of laughter.
I glance over my shoulder and Will is at the door, locking it. “Enough,” I hiss. My entire body is on fire. I can’t let him see me like this.
Lily sobers. “Only if you give me all the details later.”
“There are no details!”
She opens her mouth but he’s almost on us.
“Okay, okay,” I hiss.
She mimes zipping her lips closed and tossing the imaginary key away.
Will joins us. “Ready?”
***
The light from the sun reaches out in long fingers above us, holding on to the last bit of the day. The scent of popcorn swirling with other mouthwatering food envelops me. The closer we get to the carnival, the more my heart starts to flutter. I love the carnival. I have been going since I can remember, usually with Will by my side. It was always a night filled with reckless abandon for a kid, and even working the booths brings back so many memories of our relationship. It was something that I looked forward to every summer in addition to camp. The carnival is another one of those monuments in the camp life that I know I will miss.
“I’m going to grab something to eat before it starts,” Will says, breaking off from the group.
“Okay,” I say. When he’s out of earshot, I grab Lily’s arm and drag her towards the game booths.
“My turn,” I say. “What was up with you mentioning tomorrow in front of Will? I thought this summer was about us?”
A cluster of counselors and pool staff gravitate toward us like hungry animals.
Lily’s mouth quirks to the side, but she waits until I hand out the rest of the coupons. She picks up one of the plastic rings from the Ring Toss both her and Aiden are assigned to and spins it around her hands.
“Spill,” I say.
“A magician never—”
“Lily!”
She cocks her head. “Fine. As much as I could never compete with you and Will’s friendship, I do know a few tricks about him.”
“What do you mean?”
She cracks her knuckles, a habit that always makes me cringe. “My many years of observation are finally tested,” she says with a sly smile. She looks around, pausing for effect. I’m getting more agitated the longer she delays. “If there is something Will Carson can’t stand it’s not being a part of something. Even though he willingly chose to not take part in the past two years of his life here in Spring Falls, when he shows up tomorrow, you will be all that more desirable to Jordan. Men can’t help their pissing contests.”
I open my mouth to say something, but I’m literally speechless. My best friend is a genius. I smile until my jaw hurts.
She preens and pats herself on the back. “I charge $250 an hour, remember that.”
My stomach is light and fluttery. Lily seems to have guys down to a science.
She places the ring on the counter. “Before you get all strategic, or in your case,
attempt to
—”
I swat at her. “Hey!”
She eyes me and I concede. Working with guys is her thing so I let her talk. “You just be your adorable self and I will take care of the rest, okay?”
“Okay,” I say.
Aiden saunters over to us and Lily grabs his arm, twirling around him. He nods his head in a “right on” gesture as she shamelessly flirts with him.
“Where do I get the food thing?” he asks.
I hand him the last two coupons. I fold the envelope and toss it into the trash.
I check my phone. “I should head over to the booth,” I say. “The gates open in five minutes.”
“Ta-ta,” Lily wiggles her fingers at me and sends me a wink. Aiden doesn’t stand a chance.
I take my time getting to our booth, making sure on the way that everyone is settled in theirs. I catch Dad across the way doing the same. His eyes meet mine and he smiles, waving a hand to indicate he’s got everything under control. Like father like daughter. I pass the food trucks, my stomach growling. I weigh the choices in my mind as I arrive at my booth.
Will is already at the Balloon Dart booth, his hands full as he bites into a hamburger. French fries spill over the top of his plate and my stomach protests further. I smile, a voyeur in the new life he’s set up for himself, his guard completely dropped. I glance to the booth next to ours and my heart drops. Seriously Dad? Not like he could understand, but he could have at least assigned us one booth apart from Carter and Isabelle. Isabelle leans her body close to Carter as she speaks to him.
Carter glances up, noticing me, and steps away from her. I give him a friendly wave and enter from the opposite side of our booth.
Will takes the last bite of his burger and rolls a fry in a puddle of ketchup as he speaks. “I forgot how good Lou’s Burgers are. Even though I’m pretty sure it’s not all beef.”
My stomach growls again and I press my hand over it.
“Nice,” Will says.
I flush.
“Do you want to get something? I can cover the booth.”
“I’ll go later,” I say, eyeing the stampede of people, mostly kids, running toward us. “I guess they opened the gates.”
Will moves his plate to the small ledge out of sight next to us. I pop a fry in my mouth and he grins. “Have as many as you want. That burger was intense.”
I take a few until the growling in my stomach ceases for now. Will hops over the divider and plucks a dart from the tray next to us. He expertly twirls it through his fingers and eyes the growing crowd. He catches the attention of more than a few women who are drawn towards his infectious charm. The women who have husbands and boyfriends on their arms urge the men to win the game for them and in an amusing competition some of them actually succeed. I fall into the role of prize girl, giving the girls their choice of a gigantic panda or pink elephant.
I’m having a great time until the buzz-kill of my existence shows up at the booth.
Sarah Winters is dressed in typical trophy wife attire: heels too high for a pregnant woman with too low cut shirt, tight around her belly. Her arm is in the crook of Mr. Winters’ arm. “Honey, this is Will,” she says with a smile.
Mr. Winters shakes Will’s hand with a shrewd smile. One that I’ve seen many times around town. His eyes move to mine and he offers an appraising and slightly creepy nod.
Casey is on her father’s hand. “Daddy, can I have a panda?” she asks sweetly. I don’t know what their home life is, but from the few interactions I’ve seen with Casey and Sarah there is a battle between the girls for his attention. He looks down at his daughter and for the first time I see a crack in his facade. Casey is definitely his favorite of the two. He takes his hand away from Sarah and crooks it under Casey’s chin. “Whatever you want, sweetheart.”
I glance up to Sarah, whose attention is still on Will. He gives her a polite smile and hands Mr. Winters a dart. “You get three darts to pop a balloon.”
Mr. Winter’s slides his other hand from Casey’s grip and lines himself up facing the booth. I back away. A few darts have ricocheted my way and tonight is not the night to go to the hospital. The first dart pops a smaller purple balloon in the middle of the board. Casey squeals and jumps up and down.
I hand him the panda that Casey requested and his determined scowl is gone. He smiles down at his daughter and gives her the prize. Two girls I don’t recognize applaud Casey on the prize as if she’d won it herself.
Mr. Winters hands Will a few bills, but doesn’t let go when Will reaches out. They have a small tug of war until Mr. Winters lets go first. He takes Sarah’s hand and pulls her away from the booth.
I’m momentarily struck by the whole situation but Will seems unruffled. A few more people come to the booth and try unsuccessfully before Will and I are alone again. By then the situation and air have dispersed and I don’t really want to delve back into it.
“I know you are dying to say something,” Will says, his eyebrow twitching.
I suppress a grin. Why does he still know me when I’ve only seen the surface of the boy I grew up with? I slide off the ledge I’ve been hanging out on for the last twenty minutes and lean my hand on the booth in front of him. I look over my shoulder to make sure no one is hanging out near us and lower my voice. “What was that about?”
“Tyler told me about Sarah’s ‘honesty is the best policy’ policy with her husband. And even though we’re ancient history, he knows about our relationship.” Will’s gaze drops to the space between us. “All of it.” He shakes his head and looks back up at me expectantly.
“Is he jealous or something?”
Will chuckles. “Doubt it, but maybe he was just setting me straight. Tyler told me a bit about him and how his wife actually left him before she died. I think he’s dealing with some issues. Sarah’s been helping him.”
It’s my turn to laugh.
Will rubs his chin. “She’s not as terrible as you think. She’s grown up a lot.”
I clench my jaw and turn to the front of the booth.
Will’s fingers touch my upper arm. “Don’t be like that.”
I shrug petulantly. “Like what?”
“Like you’re sixteen again.”
My mouth pops open. “Since you remember her so well I’m sure you remember how she tortured me for being your friend. And again you’re taking sides.” I move away from him, needing space from his piercing eyes and the visions of Sarah and her plastic friends throwing food at me in the cafeteria or filling my locker with shaving cream.
Will comes to my side but I don’t look at him. “The only side I’ve ever been on was yours. Obviously I had nothing to do with what she did when we were together.”
I’m about to say something when the Yates family arrives at the booth, ending the discussion.
Will
Hadley returns to her side of the booth and I know she’s pissed. Sarah was always a touchy subject between us and I could see the remnants of our relationship still affecting Hadley. The second I found out about the “jokes” she played on Hadley, I broke up with her. But I never told Hadley. Another secret I keep bottled inside of me.
Mr. Yates hands me money and I give Harry and Oliver their darts. Oliver quickly throws his and I move out of the way, avoiding his wild attempt.
Harry throws his next.
Pop
!
Harry launches his hands in the air. “I got it! I got it!”
Oliver shoves his hands in his pockets. “Good job Harry.”
Harry hands Oliver his remaining two darts. “Try again.”
Oliver misses, but his smile returns.
I turn to Hadley, shirking on her duties as prize girl, but she’s in a private discussion with Mrs. Yates. Mrs. Yates’ mouth is pursed as she listens to whatever Hadley is saying; most likely related to Oliver.
I point to the prizes. “Which one do you want?”
Harry whispers in Oliver’s ear and Oliver’s eyes widen before he whispers back. Harry turns to me authoritatively. “The panda, please.”
I knock the prize off the nail and hand it to the boy. Harry moves aside and allows Oliver to take the prize. Oliver looks like he is about to burst, but he holds his composure as usual.
“You’re Will? Their counselor?” Mr. Yates asks, eyeing his sons, whose attention has diverted to the leap frog booth. More specifically, the hammers.
“Yes, sir,” I say. I’m expecting the same speculative look as Mrs. Yates gave me, but Mr. Yates doesn’t seem worried.
“If you’re anything like your father, I have faith in you.”
I stiffen. “How so?”
“He’s hardworking and doesn’t break his promises. He got me out of a jam when we were kids.” Mr. Yates rubs a hand over his stubbled chin, grinning. “And we had some killer rock fights.” It’s strange to hear someone else’s perspective on him, considering he was a drunk most of my life, but as usual, I keep my opinions to myself. If anyone has anything in life, it’s their reputation. And keeping far away from Spring Falls has kept what’s left of mine and Dad’s in check.
He looks over his shoulder. “Is he here tonight?”
“No,” I say quickly. “He’s staying with my aunt this summer.”
He claps a hand on my shoulder and nods deeply. “Be sure to tell him I said hello.”
“Yeah,” I say.
Mrs. Yates returns to his side. “It’s good to see you again, Will. We’ll be on our way.”
I wave and take a few steps back towards the booth. My eyes are trained on the Yates so I don’t realize until too late when I bump into the adjacent booth.