“Exactly.”
“You don’t have to go.”
“That’s what I said.”
“And what did he say?”
“He said Anthony Adams would be there.”
She shoots upright.
“He’s using your crush to get me to do his bidding,” I say. “It’s selfish and manipulative. And we’re not falling for it.”
“Are you sure we’re not?”
“Mai, really?”
“Why can’t we go? It would help you for the contest.”
“Because I don’t want to be around him. I don’t like him.”
“Calling bullshit. You don’t want to be around him because you’re afraid you do like him.” Her eyes challenge mine, and all I can do is groan and flop back to the mattress. Her voice softens. “Would that really be so awful?”
“Yes!”
As we settle into silence, deep reverberating music floats up. Mai’s mom and dad must be working in the downstairs office. It’s meditative music that’s supposed to help the brain focus. It would put me to sleep, but then again, they’re both geniuses. Seventeen years ago, they went to Guyana to study water safety, taking their infant son with them. Eighteen months later, they came back with baby Maya, too. What if they had picked a different baby? She wouldn’t be here and neither would I. I shudder over the stream of my thoughts. If you think about choices for too long, you can end up never making another one again.
“I think we should go,” Mai says. “You can see Garrett in his natural environment, surrounded by pretty girls and a sense of entitlement. You’ll immediately remember why you hate athletes.”
“And what will you do?” I ask.
“See if I can get my thighs around Anthony Adams’ neck again.”
“You’re such a big talker.”
“I am,” she agrees. “Another one of those choices I’m making.”
The hint of sadness in her voice convinces me. I’m still not sure what’s going on with Mai, but I’m hoping it’s just the stress of graduation. I’m sure it’s why I’m feeling off, too.
Chapter Sixteen
“This is weird, isn’t it?” Mai asks. She’s sitting beside me in the truck, and we’re both staring at Jason Seger’s house across the street.
“The two of us parked here like creepers? Yeah.”
“I mean the two of us at Jason Seger’s house for a party.”
“It’s not a party. It’s a baseball game.” As if to prove that, I do a quick glance at my faded jeans, plain black tee, and comfy sandals. My hair is freshly washed, but it’s pulled back into a ponytail. No one, not even Garrett, could think I dressed up for this.
Mai is wearing a sleeveless tuxedo shirt over her leggings. She’s beautiful and also a little scary the way she’s staring at the house. “I’ve had one class with Jason Seger. It was ceramics my freshman year and I don’t think I said a word to him.”
“We don’t have to go in.” I check the clock on my dashboard. The Diamondbacks game started an hour ago. If we sit here for another hour…
Mai pulls out her phone and takes a picture of the house.
“What are you doing?”
“I want a visual record.”
“Of a house? You know what we’re going to find inside? A bunch of guys sitting on a couch watching baseball. You’ll be bored in five minutes.”
“Josie.” She blinks at me. “I was just studying the chemistry of a shrimp. This is not boring.”
“You love chemistry.”
“Right now, I love a couch full of baseball players.” She tucks her phone away. “Will they have Cheetos? I’ve always wanted to go to a party with Cheetos.”
“You’ve been to parties before, Mai.”
“When I was little. And I’ve been to your birthday parties, which are always movie-bingeing-sleepovers and have never included Cheetos.”
“I don’t like how they get all over your fingers.”
Her expression says, My point exactly. “I’ve been to book club parties and parties for National Honor Society, Language Honor Society, and Science Honor Society. None of them with cheesy puffs.”
“I’m going to buy you a bag of Cheetos,” I say. “I’m feeling like a terrible friend.”
She pops open the truck door. “We should go in.”
My heart yo-yos uncomfortably. I’m more nervous than I should be, which makes me even more nervous. Laughing with Garrett, teasing, tickling—it left all kinds of holes in my defenses. I keep trying to rebuild and then his words topple them again.
It’s okay, Walters. I like you, too.
“Oh, and call me Killer tonight,” Mai says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Killer?”
“It was my nickname at the pool.”
I shake my head, releasing an exasperated sigh. “When you let loose, you go all out.”
She stops at the open front door, only a flimsy screen in our way. Voices spill out from inside.
My heart takes another trip up and down my throat. “Hello?” I knock gently on the metal part of the screen.
Mai doesn’t pause. She pulls it open and heads into an empty living room. The noise is coming from the family room just beyond. As predicted, there’s a couch filled with guys, including Anthony. A huge L-shaped sectional of chocolate leather. There are a few girls here, too—I recognize them from school but don’t really know any of them. A coffee table is covered in soda cans and bowls of popcorn and chips. Garrett is lounging on one of the floor pillow chairs at the far side of the room. He’s talking to a brunette who’s laughing at whatever he’s saying. She’s pretty in a way that makes me feel oversize and awkward.
“Hey,” someone says, and I shift my gaze to a redheaded guy on the couch who doesn’t look sure if he’s welcoming us or not. He’s one of the players, but he spends his time on the bench, so I don’t know his name.
“Jason, right?” Mai says. “Garrett invited us.”
“Killer!” Suddenly, Anthony is sitting forward, a surprised smile flashing white against his tanned skin.
We’ve just walked into an alternate universe.
Garrett looks up at that moment, and I feel his attention like a heat lamp. I ignore him, though, and study the TV as if I actually care. D-Backs are down by four.
