Cipher

something unforgivable.

Summer pulled her smashed-from-lying-on-them-all-day curls into a ponytail, swiped on mascara, and added lip gloss for good measure. No reason not to look my best when I tell Cody to go to hell.

As she descended the stairs, Tiffany’s laugh, along with the blare of the TV, came from the living room. Cody stood in the entryway, shuffling his feet, eyes fixed on the floor. Summer slowly approached him, hating the way her heart tugged—the sight of him looking all sad and deflated made it hard to stay mad, and she needed to be strong. “What are you doing here?”

Cody scratched the back of his head. “I, uh, came to take you to the beach party.”

Summer glanced over her shoulder to make sure Dad’s attention was still on the movie, since he tended to play Spy Dad whenever her boyfr—ex boyfriend—was around. “You think I’m going to the party with the jerk who left me last night?”

“Summer, I’m so sorry about last night. I should’ve never left like that, and I swear it’ll never happen again.” He brought out his sad puppy-dog look and threw a hand over his heart. “It’s just that I care about you so much, and I get upset when you don’t feel the same way.”

Summer glared at him. “That’s the only way you know of to show you care?”

“You know that’s not what I mean.” Cody reached out and took her hand. “But still, it’s no excuse. I was a jerk. A total asshole. I’m so sorry, and it won’t happen again.” Her first instinct was to pull away. But then his thumb brushed the back of her knuckles—it was always hard to think when he did that. He looked sincere, too, not like when he was only half paying attention, talking to her while playing his videogames. And she knew she wasn’t always the easiest person to get along with. There were dark days when she’d been mean to him for no reason.

“Please forgive me, baby,” he whispered. “I’ll give you all the time you need. No more pressure, I promise.” He used his grip on her hand to pull her into a hug. All the good memories of their relationship, the ones she’d been reliving all day came back to her. Surely they outweighed last night’s fight? And being in his strong arms again, the smell of his familiar woodsy cologne with just a hint of spice, calmed her. Made her feel wanted. Needed. Loved.

She put her hand on the side of his face and his blue eyes practically glowed in the dim light. “Okay,” she said. “Let me just change my clothes and we’ll go.” She raised her voice and called out, “Dad, we’re going to the beach.”

The noise coming from the television muted, and she knew Dad had paused whatever he and Tiffany were watching. “Is your phone charged?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Don’t forget your mace.”

“Yeah, those seagulls are aggressive.”

“Funny, Summer. Hey, Cody…?”

Cody stood straighter at the mention of his name. “Yes?”

“You take care of my little girl,” Dad said. “She better not look like she’s been crying when she comes home tonight, like she did last night. We have a two-strike rule in my house.”

Cody’s eyes widened and he mouthed, “Did you tell your dad?”

Summer shook her head and kept her voice low. “I didn’t say anything.” Dad had asked if she was okay when she checked in last night. She’d told him that she was just tired, then headed straight to bed. She thought she’d done a good job of acting like everything was okay. Somehow, he’d seen through it.

“I need to hear that you understand,” Dad’s voice boomed into the room.

“I understand, sir,” Cody said.

Summer hurried upstairs to change, leaving Cody there to stew. Nothing wrong with making him squirm for a few minutes after what he’d put her through.

* * *

Even though Cody promised he wouldn’t leave her stranded again, Summer insisted on driving. Dad had gone over all the safety features when he’d first given her the Civic. He’d gone on and on about the high crash ratings and said something about a body shell designed to withstand an impact. Summer was just glad to have a car, only caring that it got her where she wanted to go, looked nice, and had a good stereo.

As they headed to the beach, Cody talked about football practice and the game this next weekend, like nothing had changed. He kept leaning over and placing kisses on her cheek, too, telling her that she was pretty. Even though she’d told him that she forgave him—and she did—it was like a dark cloud was hanging over their relationship now. Even though she wanted to get over yesterday’s fight, she wasn’t sure she could just forget about it this time.

You know better than anyone that people make mistakes. She hoped that forgiving other people for their mistakes would help scrub away her past—she needed to know that a person could be forgiven, no matter what they’d done. She closed that door in her mind, like she worked so hard to do whenever she thought about it. Focus on the here and now. Beach. Boyfriend. Friends.

After finding a parking space, she and Cody walked toward the spot on the beach their group usually set up camp in. A football came hurtling through the air toward them. Cody released her hand and caught it with practiced ease, then tossed a beautiful spiral back to the guys.

Kendall ran up to Summer and enveloped her in a hug. “You came! I’m so glad! The guys are throwing the ball around…” Kendall made a shooing motion at Cody and tugged Summer the other direction. “The girls are over here.”

“I’ll come find you in a little while,” Cody said, walking backwards with his eyes on her, before turning to join the guys.

Kendall grinned at Summer. “I knew you two would make up.”

Summer wanted to say it wasn’t that simple, but arguing wouldn’t do any good, and she supposed she and Cody had made up. It was easier to just let it go, so that’s what she did. With the salt water-scented breeze floating over her, nothing mattered as much anyway. She closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before letting it out. The beach had been a big selling point when Dad had sat her down at the beginning of last year and told her he was thinking of taking a job in San Diego. It didn’t take much to convince her to leave Chicago. A fresh start in a new place was something they both needed. And what better place to start over than sunny California, where the beach was practically her new backyard?

Summer said hi to the girls, drifting in and out of the many conversations they had going on. When everyone else was involved in talking about their upcoming dance routine, Summer broke away. She moved closer to the shore and sat in the sand, just a couple of feet back from where it was damp from the reaching fingers of the ocean. This was exactly what she needed. A couple of moments to relax in one of her favorite places.

“Hey, Sunshine.”

A smile spread across her face. Only one person called her that, and he’d been doing so since the day they’d met. “Mister Bond.”

She’d felt it only fair she give Troy Bond a nickname, too, so she’d decided on Mister Bond. Maybe not the most original, but it stuck. He sat next to her, and she turned toward him. “So, what are you doing here?”

“You know me,” he said with a casual shrug. “I love a good party.”

“But you think you’re above all the people at this party.”

Troy grinned, mischief dancing in his eyes. “I am. So are you, though, and you’re here. I suppose you came with that boyfriend of yours. How is Studmuffin anyway?” Troy refused to call Cody by his name, too, but the way he said the nickname was far from a compliment.

The real answer to his question was complicated, and one she didn’t plan on telling anyone, so she decided to go with a joke that was based in the truth. “I think he’s more muffin than stud today.”

Troy laughed, lifting her spirits with the sound. He actually got her jokes, which apparently wasn’t an automatic thing—who knew? Lately, they’d been hanging in different circles, though. At least they shared chemistry this semester, giving them a few minutes of interaction at school.

Summer remembered that Troy had a date last night, and she was glad he hadn’t answered her call during it—things would’ve gotten messy. “What about you and Lexi?”

Troy grabbed a handful of sand, then let it slowly drift through his fingers. “She’s pretty.”