As I headed toward the locker room, the sky already on fire with the setting sun, I saw Robert standing by the gate, leaning against one of the posts. My stomach fluttered. I hesitated, not sure if he was waiting to talk to me or not. I hadn’t seen him at the pool since we’d broken up. Before, I would’ve given him a big hug, soaking the front of his shirt and he would’ve pretended to be mad about it. But today his arms were crossed in front of his chest, not exactly a welcoming pose. He had on sunglasses, even though they were past necessary, so I couldn’t tell if he was even looking at me. If he wanted to talk to me, he’d need to say so. I picked up my towel and wrapped it around me.

“Hadley,” he said when I was closer.

I turned toward him, keeping a good twenty feet between us. “Yeah?”

He didn’t move either, just leaned there against the metal post of the chain-link fence. “You still have some of my things. Could you bring them to school tomorrow?”

“Some of your things? Like what?”

“Like my Nike sweatshirt.”

I slept in that sweatshirt at least once a week . . . maybe more. “What Nike sweatshirt?”

“The navy one with the red lettering.”

“Okay, I’ll bring it tomorrow.” I loved that sweatshirt but it was time I let it go. Let him all the way go. “Anything else?”

“I think I left my math book there too.”

“How have you been doing your math homework?”

“Borrowing from Tony.”

I hadn’t seen his math book. “I’ll look for it.”

“Okay.” He finally straightened up from his lean but didn’t move to leave. “Thanks.”

“Sure.” I needed to be the one to leave first. He had been the first last time, after all. I surprised myself by actually acting on that thought.

“Hadley.” He stopped me before I got too far. “Did you find out about Heath Hall?”

That question had me turning back around. “Not yet. Did you want to tell me who he is?”

“No. He’s going to be at the museum tomorrow, though.”

I leveled him with an annoyed stare. Really? He still wasn’t going to tell me, but he was trying to make sure I remembered he knew? Those few butterflies left in my stomach were going to be easier to crush than I’d thought. “I saw that online.”

He shifted from one foot to the other. “So . . . you’re going?”

I looked at his feet, which were still shifting his weight back and forth. Why was he nervous? “You’re surprised?”

“You’re not exactly an art fan. Plus, it doesn’t seem like something you’d do.”