I didn’t tell him I was thinking the same thing.

So I guess it was, like, nine when we got there the next day. Nick went for a run and I was reading alone when I sensed someone walking toward me. I didn’t want to seem too eager, though, or like a stalker, so I pretended not to notice until she was standing over me saying, “Hey.”

I made a show of pulling my earbuds out of my ears and acting like I hadn’t heard her before when I went, “Huh?”

She said, “Hey,” again.

I nodded.

“Where’s your friend?”

I jerked my head toward the far end of the beach. “Down there somewhere. Jogging.”

“Ambitious,” she said, and she sat down next to me without asking.

“You just graduated, right?” (I wanted to kill myself for admitting I knew who she was.)

“Yeah, finally,” she said. “I can’t wait to get the hell out of here.”

“Tell me about it.”

She laughed. “Didn’t you just get back for the summer?” (So, hey, she knows me too.)

“Yeah,” I said, “but I get it. You going to school far away or something?”

“No.” Her red hair fell in her face and kind of glowed from the sunlight. “I’m taking a year off. A gap year, as they say in Australia.” She said that last part in a really bad Aussie accent, which made us both laugh. “My grandma gave me an around-the-world ticket for graduation. She’s sort of my savior.”

“Damn,” I said. “That’s cool.”

“Yeah, well.” Her attention trailed off somewhere mysterious. “I kind of fucked up getting my college applications together this year.”

“Oh.” Not so mysterious after all, then. I guess there wouldn’t have been much time for essays and SATs during all that drama with Mr. Voss.

“Yeah,” she said, like she was reading my mind. “I bet you’ve been overseas lots.”

“Couple times,” I told her, but I didn’t say that both times were London. “You?”

“I went to Paris with French class last year. It was cool. I’ve been to Canada, too, if you count that.”

I don’t really, but I nodded. Nick’s dad was from Canada. I tell Kayla, “That’s funny, because they speak French in some parts of Canada, too.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said. She didn’t say it mean, but I still wanted to tell her she didn’t have to be a bitch about it. I don’t know why. I’ve never talked to a girl that way in my life.

“You going to Crowley’s party next weekend?” Kayla asked.