Meet Me at the Boardwalk by Erin Haft Page B

look…she’d traded them in for something…boho? She wore a long skirt, sandals, and some sort of psychedelic concert T-shirt (Aquarium Rescue Unit?) which screamed, in a word, Dad. She’d also lost weight and gotten color. How, I don’t know. She looked frighteningly like me.
    I closed the door behind me. I closed it pretty hard.
    Turquoise and Megan turned at the same time.
    “Hey, Jade,” they announced in unison.
    Then they turned back to the computer screen, deep in concentration.
    “Hey, guys,” I said with equal nonchalance. “So, I meant to tell you. I’ve decided to get that sex-change operation.Also, there was a thermonuclear explosion on the beach. Anybody up for some din-din? Lobster rolls?”
    Turquoise peered at me over her shoulder. “What did you just say?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Don’t joke about the beach,” Turquoise said with a sigh. “This thing is real.”
    “What thing? Aside from everyone’s insanity?”
    “Insanity?” she repeated.
    Now it was my turn to sigh. I flopped down in the chair beside them, too exhausted to go on. “Please explain to your dumb sister what you’re talking about.”
    “Arnold Roth is planning to make some sort of announcement about the boardwalk. He’s going to do it at Clam-Fest. He and his pretty little daughter really do want to tear it down.”
    Megan shook her head and folded her arms across her chest. “Lily-Ann has nothing to do with it. But you know why I’m really mad?” she grumbled, nodding at the computer. “That he’s using Lily-Ann. And that he’s using Clam-Fest as the platform. Like he’s a…he’s a…”
    “Like he’s a local,” Turquoise concluded.
    “Exactly,” Megan said.
    “So, what’s the difference between him and you, Turkey?” I asked.
    She spun around and smirked. “Excuse me, Jade?”
    “You’re not a local, either,” I said. I stood and lumberedover to the refrigerator, scouring for leftovers. Classic. There was nothing but salad (hers) and pizza (mine)—and the salad was getting that scary grayish color it does when it’s been sitting on a shelf for over a week. “This is only the second time you’ve been back in two years. Even tourists come back more often than you do. Like Sean Edwards. He visited at Christmas.”
    “Did you see Sean today?” Megan asked. Her voice had an edge.
    I closed the fridge door. My appetite suddenly vanished. “Um…no. Why? Is he back in town?”
    “Yes, he’s back in town,” Megan said. “And he looks fantastic. He’s changed.”
    I raised my hands, trying to make a joke. “Okay…I…I didn’t know,” I stammered. “I’m just—”
    “Trying to make us feel stupid for caring about something,” Megan cut in. “Because Jade Cohen doesn’t care about anything, least of all this dump of a town. Right? You said it yourself a million times. All you want to do is leave here.”
    My eyes widened. For one of the first times ever, I was at a loss for words. “Meg, why are you mad at me?” I finally managed.
    “I’m mad because you don’t care. We happened to grow up in a town where if you’re a local, you’re an outsider. Well now we outsiders are fighting against the insiders, who aren’t the locals. So are you in or are you out? Sounds to me like you’re out. You always have been.”
    My lips quivered. “Meg…this can’t be about the boardwalk. And if outsiders are fake insiders, why is Lily-Ann your new best friend?”
    She didn’t answer.
    “Hey, you guys,” Turquoise murmured. “Let’s all just calm down. Things might not be as dire as they seem. Maybe this Roth guy wants to tear down the boardwalk so he can build his daughter an even better boardwalk. Huh? Huh?”
    I laughed. Another first: laughing at one of my sister’s jokes. It was a day of firsts all around, but most of them pretty crappy. I stepped toward Megan.
    She whirled and stormed out of the kitchen. “Bye, you guys. Turquoise, I’ll talk to you later.”
    The front door