Chapters (47)
- Cover
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- 2 Months Later
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Books by Kasie West
- Back Ad
- About the Publisher
She wasn’t getting it. Not that she should’ve. I hadn’t filled her in on what my dad had said. But seeing her reaction made me think that maybe I was overreacting. Yes, I was overreacting. Especially right now, before a race, before the relay where three other girls would be depending on me to have my head on straight.
“Do you like DJ?”
I ripped my gaze away from my parents. “What?”
“DJ. Do you like him?”
I shook my head. “No. Not at all. You still like him, right?”
“Yes. A lot. And I really don’t want to have to compete against you.”
“What does that mean?”
“I mean, every boy you give the tiniest amount of attention to falls at your feet.”
That was so untrue, I didn’t even know where it was coming from. “Like who?”
“DJ.”
“He was just icing my shoulders.”
“Robert.” She pointed to the stands and I looked up and saw that he too was up there, watching the meet. He wasn’t here for me. Luke was on the swim team. He was here for Luke.
“He broke up with me, in case you forgot.”
“Jackson.”
“The guy who is single-handedly trying to drive me crazy?”
“Heath Hall.”
My mouth dropped open. “Heath Hall? He’s not even real.” I took her by the shoulders. “Amelia, if those are your only examples, then I reject your statement. None of those guys are anywhere close to falling at my feet.” I looked her straight in the eyes. “I promise I don’t like DJ. He’s all yours.”
She smiled and hugged me. “I’m sorry. I just get so jealous.”
“I know.”
She shoved me away with a laugh. “You love me anyway.”
“Always.”
A whistle blew by the timing table. “Let’s get your shoulder pads off. It’s time to swim a relay.”
Amelia swam the best relay of her life. I swam the worst of mine.
Eighteen
I tried to forget about the awful swim. About the way everyone congratulated me like it wasn’t an awful swim. About how Coach didn’t even mention it. About how my shoulders hurt so bad that I feared I wouldn’t be able to swim for a week. It was over. The season was over. There was nothing I could do about it now, so I wasn’t going to dwell on it.
I was also trying to avoid my parents. I didn’t need to hear from Mom that she agreed with my dad about Jackson. So I shrugged off an after-swim celebration, claiming exhaustion, and had been holed up in my room ever since.