The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

bringing him to a stop. “Why don’t you take my calls anymore?”
    He said nothing. There was really nothing he could say.
    “I want to know what I did wrong,” she demanded.
    “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
    “Then what is it?”
    When he didn’t answer, she gave him a beseeching smile. “Just come over and we’ll talk about it, okay?”
    He knew she deserved an answer. The only problem was that it was an answer she wouldn’t want to hear.
    “Like I said, I’m just tired.”
    “You’re tired, ” Scott bellowed. “You told her you were tired and you wanted to go to sleep? ”
    “Something like that.”
    “Are you insane?”
    Scott stared at him across the table. Cassie and Ashley had long since headed up the pier to talk, no doubt dissecting everything Will had said to Ashley, adding unnecessary drama to a situation that probably should have remained private. With Ashley, though, there was always drama. He had the sudden sense that the summer was going to be a long one.
    “I am tired,” Will said. “Aren’t you?”
    “Maybe you didn’t hear what she was suggesting. Me and Cassie, you and Ashley? Her parents’ place at the beach?”
    “She mentioned it.”
    “And we’re still here because…?”
    “I already told you.”
    Scott shook his head. “No… see, that’s where you lose me. You use the ‘ I’m tired ’ excuse on your parents when they want you to wash the car, or when they tell you to get up so you can make it to church. Not when it comes to an opportunity like this.”
    Will said nothing. Though Scott was only a year younger—he’d be a senior at Laney High School in the fall—he often acted as if he were Will’s older and wiser brother.
    Except that night at the church…
    “See that guy over there at the basketball booth? Now him, I get. He stands there all day trying to get people to play the game so he can earn a little money and buy himself some beer and cigarettes at the end of his shift. Simple. Uncomplicated. Not my kind of life, but one I can understand. But you, I don’t get. I mean… did you see Ashley tonight? She’s gorgeous. She looks like that chick in Maxim .”
    “And?”
    “My point is, she’s hot.”
    “I know. We were together for a couple of years, remember?”
    “And I’m not saying you have to get back together with her. All I’m suggesting is that the four of us head over to her place, have some fun, and see what happens.”
    Scott leaned back in his seat. “And by the way? I still don’t understand why you broke up with her in the first place. It’s obvious she’s still into you, and you two always seemed perfect together.”
    Will shook his head. “We weren’t perfect together.”
    “You’ve said that before, but what does that mean? Is she, like… psycho or something when you two are alone? What happened? Did you find her standing over you with a butcher knife, or did she howl at the moon when you went to the beach?”
    “No, nothing like that. It just didn’t work out, that’s all.”
    “It just didn’t work out,” Scott repeated. “Can you even hear yourself?”
    When Will showed no signs of relenting, Scott leaned across the table. “C’mon, man. Do this for me, then. Live a little. It’s summer vacation. Take one for the team.”
    “Now you sound desperate.”
    “I am desperate. Unless you agree to go with Ashley tonight, Cassie won’t go with me. And we’re talking about a girl who’s ready to ‘Romance the Stone.’ She wants to ‘Free Willy.’”
    “I’m sorry. But I can’t help you.”
    “Fine. Ruin my life. Who cares, right?”
    “You’ll survive.” He paused. “You hungry?”
    “A little,” Scott grumbled.
    “C’mon. Let’s get some cheeseburgers.”
    Will got up from the table, but Scott continued to pout. “You need to practice digging,” he said, referring to the earlier volleyball games. “You were sending the ball in every direction. It was all I could do to keep us in the