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“Three! Two!”
The girl lifted her arms to take her shot, her eyes focused on the basket as if Sha
“One!”
The shot went up. Sha
“Yes!”
The timer buzzed, and the Orchard Hill bleachers emptied out onto the court, surrounding the team. Everyone was jumping up and down, hugging, screaming, crying. I was looking for Ally, hoping to congratulate her in the mayhem, when suddenly Sha
“Did you see that?” she yelled.
“That was awesome!” I replied.
“We’re going to Jump, right? Did Hammond drive?” She slung her arm over my shoulders, tugging me through the crowd. Hammond had scored an Explorer for his birthday, so he pretty much drove everywhere now. He’d been worried he wasn’t going to get a car, but apparently his parents were selling their shore house after this summer to pay for his college, so now they felt like they had spending money again or something.
“Yeah. Let’s find everyone.”
My eyes sca
“Jealous?”
I blinked. “What?”
Sha
“What? No. What are you talking about?” I said.
She rolled her eyes at me. “You so like her. Why don’t you just admit it already?”
“I was looking for Hammond and Chloe.” I spotted them standing next to the bleachers. “There they are. Let’s go.”
“Yeah. Sure you were. I have to hit the showers first,” Sha
I watched her jog toward the door, which also gave me a chance to check if Ally and Marshall were holding hands, or worse. But they weren’t. Which was good, at least. Ally turned and followed Sha
jake
“Where the hell are we going?”
“Have you learned nothing yet?” Sha
It was fifteen below outside. No one should have been out in the city—on foot, on a bike, or at all. But for some reason, we had let Sha
And now, after an hour of playing pool and drinking beer, we were out on the street again, following Sha
Sha
“Holy shit. It’s him,” Sha
Faith doubled over laughing. “Oh. My. God. Come on. Let’s go in!”
Hammond looked up from the turned-up collar of his coat. He stared at the sign, which read FIFTH AVENUE GOURMET.
“Oh, shit,” he said.
“What?”
But he was already following the girls through the door. Why couldn’t anyone answer me? I grabbed the still-closing door and tromped into the warm shop. Sha
“Mr. Ryan?” Faith said with a gasp. “Oh my God! Is that you?”
My heart took a nosedive. Mr. Ryan? As in—?
The man behind the counter was tall, slim, graying, and stu
“Hello, Faith . . . Sha
“No,” Sha
My fingers clenched into fists at my sides. Suddenly I realized what she was doing. She was taping this onto her video card. And he had no idea.
“Hi, Mr. Ryan,” Hammond said, walking up to the counter. “Sorry to surprise you like this. Sha
“What? I didn’t know he worked here,” Sha
“Well . . . yes. I do. I have . . . for about a year now,” Mr. Ryan said, looking suspiciously at the phone. “Chloe’s father was kind enough to give me a job while I get back on my feet. I’ve been trying to get my old job back.”
“Yeah? And how’s that working out for ya?” Sha
His lips clamped together, and he looked like he was about to hurl. “It . . . it wasn’t like that,” he said. “It’s complicated. You kids couldn’t understand—”
“Well, why don’t you try explaining it to us?” Faith said snottily.
He slipped his visor off. Bowed his head. Mopped his brow with the back of his hand. “I . . . I didn’t . . . I never meant to . . .”
That was it. I couldn’t take it anymore. “All right. That’s enough.”
Sha
“What’s your problem?” Sha
“Excuse us, sir,” I said, clamping my arm around Sha
“I just wanted to say thanks a lot, Mr. Ryan,” Faith said behind me. “If it wasn’t for you, my parents wouldn’t be getting divorced.”
Unbelievable. This was why we’d come into the city? To torture Ally’s dad?
“Faith, I’m so sorry,” he replied. “I didn’t—”
“Whatever.”
We were back out on the cold sidewalk, but my skin was so hot I didn’t feel the chill anymore.