I sighed, turning my back on the line of cars illuminating the pasture that was, thankfully, devoid of cows at the moment. Someone was blaring really bad music that I knew would be stuck in my head for a week.
“Hey, sorry!” Annie, my best friend since childhood, grabbed my arm. “I didn’t mean to run off on you like that.” Her face was flushed, and I knew my earlier assumption about her whereabouts was spot on. She and her boyfriend still lived with their parents, so they used whatever alone time they could find.
Annie had made plenty of time for me while I was home, but I sensed that I was getting in the way of the new life she’d created since I’d left the previous fall. I never planned to go back to Gasden that summer. I wanted to find something to do in Charleston, but it didn’t happen. I needed a paycheck and a roof over my head, so I took my old job lifeguarding at the town pool for the fourth summer in a row.
“It’s fine. Where’s Greg?” I searched around the dense crowd for her boyfriend. Generally, he stayed pretty close to Annie when there were other men around. If Greg had a major fault, it was his over protectiveness.
“He ran into Jason.” She brushed some of her long light brown hair behind her ear. My hair was about three shades darker, the darkest brown you could get before you called it black.
I groaned. “He’s not going to bring him over here, is he?”
“I don’t think so. But he’s really not so bad. Didn’t you guys have fun at the movies?” Her tone was light but excited. She was still on a high from her stolen time with Greg.
“No. I already told you he spent the whole time bragging about how cool his frat was.” And going on about how many girls he’d been with. Why would that have made him seem more appealing to me?
“Maybe he’s just intimidated by you. Guys sometimes brag like that when they feel insecure.” Annie smiled sweetly. That was the problem. It was impossible to be angry with a girl who smiled that way. Her whole personality was sweet as sugar. I tried to come off that way, but generally my true colors shone through. They weren’t as sparkly as hers. “And you’re in a sorority. Maybe he thought talking about his frat would impress you.”
“It didn’t work.” All his talk did was make me miss college more. I’d almost survived the summer, only one week remained before I got to go back to campus for rush. I was dying to move into my sorority house.
“He’s Greg’s friend, and I got to know him much better this—” She stopped suddenly.
I sighed, taking another huge swig of my drink.
“Hey, girls!” The president of our graduating class, Becky, hugged us like she hadn’t just seen us a few days before. She was just one of many people present at the party that I’d had no desire to see again after graduation. “How are you?”
“We’re doing well.” Annie smiled. Once again, she was the polite one.
“Have you heard from Jack at all?” Becky turned her attention to me, bringing up my ex-boyfriend like she was discussing the weather. Her low cut top left little to the imagination, and I wasn’t sure why she felt the need to annoy us.
I fought down the real answer I wanted to give and put on the biggest smile I could muster. I’d found that the more enthusiastic you were, the less likely a mean person was to strike against you again. You took away their fun that way. “No. Not recently.”
“Oh that’s too bad. He was always such a cutie.” She fluttered her eyelashes. I’m not kidding, she actually did that. “Ta ta, ladies. See you later.”
Annie put a hand on my arm as soon as Becky walked away. “Don’t let her get to you.”
“I’m trying not to.” I ignored the tightness in my chest that always developed when someone mentioned Jack’s name. Despite all the good times we had, those memories were overshadowed by the way he dumped me. Being told you aren’t good enough is the kind of experience you never forget.
Annie smiled sympathetically. “She’s just jealous, and you know it.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.” I said the words Annie wanted to hear. After a year and a half, she was probably getting tired of me reacting so infantile every time Jack’s name came up in conversation. Too bad time didn’t seem to make the hurt and humiliation go away.