Page 51

I stare down at the water dripping off my legs to keep from watching Naomi as she lowers herself into the hot tub ahead of me. Shal laughs as I climb in next with the inner tube still slung around my chest.

“I think you could probably take it off now,” she tells me.

All three of them are submerged up to their necks, the bubbling jets concealing their chests.

“I don’t want to be the only one sitting around with my tits out.”

Shal and Priya both snort, but Naomi keeps her head down as she searches for the best spot against the jets.

Once we’re all settled, we end up lapsing into a conversation about our road trip plans for tomorrow. I’ve never been to the water park we’re visiting, but the rest of them know it well enough to strategize about what rides we should prioritize waiting in line for and which of them will pose the most risk for our piercings.

I take the opportunity to tip my head back and close my eyes while the jets massage my back muscles. I have to hand it to my dad and Sandy; whatever they paid for this hulking, state of the art hot tub was probably worth it.

I flinch as a cold drop of water lands right in the middle of my forehead, followed by another on my cheek.

“Is it raining?” Priya asks.

I lift my head and look around the yard to see splatters of rain are now dotting the concrete and pinging against the surface of the pool. In a matter of seconds, the rain starts falling fast and hard enough I can feel my hair getting soaked.

“Guess that’s our cue to go inside,” Priya says.

She and Shal start scrambling out of the hot tub and then dart over to wrap themselves in their towels. I stay where I am even after Priya comes over to hand some now very damp towels to me and Naomi.

“I think I’m gonna stay out for a bit,” I say. “The rain is kind of nice.”

With the rest of my body nearly boiling in the hot tub, the cool water on my face is a refreshing relief.

“Me too,” Naomi says, her voice so soft I almost don’t catch it over the rumble of the jets. “I want to warm up a little more.”

Priya shrugs and stashes our towels under one of the pool chairs. “See you inside, then.”

A little of the frostiness has come back to her tone. I nod towards the house once she and Shal have disappeared inside and ask, “So do I get to know what’s going on there?”

Talking about Priya seems a lot safer than sitting in silence until I can’t help asking why she stayed out here alone with me.

She looks past me to stare across the yard as she shrugs. “Just…some stuff about school.”

I shift a few inches closer so I can hear her better.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She shrugs again. “I thought we had a rule to not talk about what happens in the fall.”

I see the corner of her mouth lift into the hint of a teasing smile, and I chuckle.

“Yeah, well, it would be far from the first rule I’ve ever broken.”

She laughs. “I don’t have any trouble believing that.”

I know she’s just trying to tease me, but the words hit me like a punch to the chest. I wonder if that’s all she sees me as: some crazy rule-breaker who just rolls through life wasting her time and dragging her belongings around in garbage bags.

I haven’t given her a reason to see me as anything else. I haven’t given anyone a reason to see me as more than that.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” She leans a little closer to me, her head tilted to the side and her face pinched with concern.

“Oh, uh, I think the jet just hit a knot in my back. It’s all good now.”

She leans back and nods. “Yeah, they’re pretty strong, aren’t they? I’d turn them down, but there are like five thousand buttons, and I don’t really want to run into the house to look for the instructions your dad gave me.”