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I open my arms and he runs into my embrace. “Jakie, Jakie, Jakie.”
We hold on to each other for a few seconds. With Will standing nearby, it suddenly feels really good to be back on familiar territory, with the people I love. I can live without Max Langston. I can totally live without Max Langston. I’ve got all I need.
“Aren’t you going to say hello to Uncle Will?” Will asks Jake.
Jake disentangles himself from me and looks at Will. “You’re not my uncle.”
“I know,” Will says, pulling Jake into a bear hug. “I’m your stepbrother.”
“No. You’re not,” Jake responds, in all seriousness.
“Right again, Jakie. I’m just boring old Will, Kylie’s friend.”
Mom and Dad approach.
“Congratulations, sweetie,” Mom says. “We’re so proud of you.”
The two of them encircle me. Their hands are on me, smoothing my hair, touching my face, rubbing my back, petting my shoulders, as though I’ve been off at war. They finally release me, and I know the questions will start soon. Where have I been? Why am I wearing this crazy dress? I decide to take the lead.
“Mom, Dad, I know I messed up. I’m sorry if you were worried. It was completely unintentional.…”
Mom looks at me like she’s trying to muster some anger, but she’s so busy feeling proud of me that she can’t.
“Kylie, we were really scared,” Dad says.
Dad, scared? Really?
“When Will’s mom said you weren’t sleeping over…that was not good.” Mom looks away like she’s going to cry. I feel awful.
“It’s all my fault,” Will says.
“And how’s that, Will?” Mom says. “Care to explain?”
I can practically hear the gears grinding in Will’s brain as he tries to come up with some kind of wacky spin that will deftly get me out of my jam. But I don’t want him to do that. It’s not necessary. I can get myself out of my own mess.
“That’s a lie. It’s not Will’s fault at all. He actually came to my rescue.”
“Okay,” Mom says, not knowing what to make of all this.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you guys out. It was an accident. A kind of crazy accident that spun wildly out of control.”
“You’ve got quite a bit of explaining to do,” Mom says.
“I know,” I say. “Can we wait till we get home? And then, I promise, I’ll tell you everything.”
“I loved the speech, Kyles,” Dad says.
“You did? Really?” I ask, because it seems strange coming from him.
“It was from the heart. And beautifully written, as always. Just like everything you’ve ever written,” Dad says.
That last comment really takes me by surprise. I didn’t realize Dad had read any of my writing. Man, he can keep some major secrets.
“It was beautiful, sweetie. A little salty at times for my taste, with some of the foul language, but otherwise perfect, really. But that isn’t what you’ve been working on all these months, is it?” Mom asks.
“No. I just kind of winged it. Like I said, the speech I’d been writing didn’t really work anymore. All part of the long story.”
Headmaster Alvarez waves and saunters over. Is he going to chastise me for my speech? For telling everyone to forget school and live life? I’m sure I must be the biggest disappointment ever.
“Congratulations,” he says to my parents, shaking both their hands.
Alvarez turns to me. He puts his hands on my shoulders and looks at me. I cringe inside as I wait for it.
“Great job, Kylie,” he says. “I couldn’t have said it any better myself. Though I might have put a bit more emphasis on the school part.”
“You’re not angry?”
“I was a little surprised at first. But it was refreshing to see a different side of you emerge. Maybe someday you’ll make it back here and give the commencement speech. I have a feeling you’re going to be very famous one day. Just don’t forget about us, okay?”
“Never,” I say.
And then Alvarez turns to Will. “I like the overalls, Bixby. It’s a nice change of pace.”
o, Langs, where you going, G?” Jesse Stern asks me as I brush past him and Charlie.
“Looking for someone,” I say.
Charlie doesn’t say anything. He knows what I’m doing, who I’m looking for. Thankfully, he doesn’t offer his opinion. It took me a while to untangle myself from the crowd, and I’m still reeling from my conversation with Lily, but I have to catch Kylie before she leaves.
“You coming to the beach with us, homes?” Jesse asks. “Go
Jesse Stern, nice Jewish boy from La Jolla who thinks he’s a gangster. Wonder if he’ll keep up the game at Amherst.
“I’ll meet you there. Wa
“’Kay. Peace out,” Jesse says.
I head toward the parking lot. Charlie jogs to catch up with me.
“You think this is a good idea, dude?” he asks. Guess I’m going to hear his opinion, like it or not.
“Honestly, I du
“I can’t believe I’m saying this.…She’s a great girl. But serious. Major serious. The girl is going to want you to commit. You really want to do that this summer?”
“Yeah, I know. It’s a lot.”
“Maybe let it ride for a while.”
“I know that’s what I should do. But I don’t want to.” And then I head for the parking lot, leaving Charlie standing on the lawn.
He’s right. I should let it go. I’m moving on from Lily. I haven’t been single in almost a year. I should mess around. And I’ve got a ton of shit to figure out this summer. The last thing I need is to throw myself into a relationship. What am I doing? I stop for a minute and just stare out at the parking lot. Is this a mistake?
I don’t think so. I can’t get this girl out of my head.
As I step into the parking lot, I see Kylie getting into an old Honda Civic.
“Kylie!” I call out.
She doesn’t seem to hear me as she climbs into the car and closes the door. The car pulls out, and I charge after it like a lunatic.
“KYLIE, WAIT…” People standing nearby look at me like I’ve lost my mind. But I don’t care.
The car makes a left onto Prospect and picks up speed.
“KYLIE…KYLIE…” She never turns around. The car disappears around the corner. It’s a losing battle. I stop and walk back to the parking lot.
Did she hear me as I was ru
I wander back through the parking lot. People look at me out of the corner of their eyes, wondering what’s up. What’s up is I’ve fallen for a girl who just majorly blew me off. That was humiliating, everyone. I get it, trust me. I’ve crossed over into this other world where I’m doing things I never would have done in the world I come from.
I’m making my way back to campus when Luca So
“Hey, Max. How’s it going?”
I like Luca; he’s been a buddy for years, but I’m not really in the mood to shoot the shit right now.
“Pretty good.”
Luca looks down at his feet and thrusts his hands into his pockets.
“I was just making sure you’re cool, you know, with me and Lily.”
What? I have no idea what he’s talking about.
“You and Lily?”
“Uh, yeah. We’re go
How is it possible that in the span of twenty minutes Lily and I broke up, the news traveled around the world, and she and Luca are now together? Whatever. The truth is I don’t care. At least I know she’ll be okay tonight. I don’t have to worry about her.
“Yeah, we broke up. She’s all yours, man.”
“Okay, cool, ’cause I wouldn’t want to—”
“We’re cool, Luca, don’t worry.” I just want him to go away.