and resolve to be cordial, but not overly friendly, at dinner.
This is the Summer of Me, when I figure out who I am and who my friends are and how to fix the things that happened last year. I’m not one of those girls who finds a guy and gets happy. Besides, with my track record, James is probably someone’s boyfriend anyway.
As nice as it is to talk to someone my own age, someone who makes me laugh, even, I am still in self-punishing mode. And all I see is dumb distraction with James. Dumb distraction and a so-cute smile. Ack.
chapter eleven
Dear Amanda,
Sometimes it seemed like you were hiding
things from me too. Like you didn’t tell me
everything anymore …
“Ethan’s boxers, holiday themed?” I said. “That’s not a fair item.”
“Everything’s fair,” said Amanda. “I didn’t make the list—Henry did.”
Henry loved creating scavenger hunts for us to do on the weekends. Bishop Heights is a small town, so creative minds tend to run our lives, and Henry was definitely our most adventurous and inventive friend.
“How does Henry even know that Ethan has holiday-themed boxers?” asked Renee.
“He does,” said Amanda. “I can vouch.” She was sitting on the army-green shag carpet in Henry’s basement, fingering the edges of her favorite sparkly blue ballet flats. Amanda was good at being coy.
“So are you guys officially dating?” Renee leaned forward and stared at Amanda intensely, and I was glad she was asking pointblank. I’d asked the week before, but Amanda just confessed to a kiss in the parking lot—she wouldn’t use the word boyfriend . Yet.
“Maybe,” said Amanda, her grin growing.
“So why isn’t Ethan here?” I asked.
“I invited him, but his grandparents are in town.” Amanda stuck out her lips in a pout. “His mom insisted on a family night.”
“Good,” said Aaron. “One more would have thrown off team numbers.”
The teams were me and Aaron versus Renee and Amanda—mainly because Aaron and Renee both had early fall birthdays and already had their licenses—with Henry acting as Director of Scavenge and Official Point Tallier. The list looked like this:
EASY (1 point):
1 tip cup from Ben & Jerry’s, minus the tips
1 bag of orange candy circus peanuts—extra points
for eating them upon reconvening
1 official traffic cone
MEDIUM (2 points):
1 buoy from Dilby Lake
1 size-6 vintage shoe (ladies)
1 pair of Ethan’s boxers (holiday themed )
HARD (3 points):
1 signed note from Henry’s mom saying she’ll allow him to stay out all night for prom
1 family portrait from Principal Sullivan’s house
1 (used) hairnet from a Wendy’s employee (with signature on a napkin attesting to its authenticity )
No team could get everything on the list in our two-hour time frame, obviously, but the idea was to get at least one Hard-level thing, because they were worth the most points. If you went for all Easy stuff, you’d never be able to win.
“I think we should beat Amanda to Ethan,” I said as soon as Aaron and I got in his car. He has a speedy little Jeep that he always drives for scavenger hunts because it has an obnoxious horn honk—it plays “La Cucaracha”—and he likes to tease the other team with it.
“It would definitely make her mad … ,” said Aaron, smirking. “Let’s do it!” Then he peeled out of Henry’s gravel driveway, spraying some rocks for effect. He hit the horn, too, a signal that the hunt was on .
We sped to Ethan’s house. Amanda’s car was nowhere in sight—she and Renee must have gone after something else.
“I’ll go.” I bolted from the passenger seat and ran up to Ethan’s front door.
I knocked three times. I was already laughing in anticipation when Ethan opened the door. He smiled this huge smile.
“Clem!” he said. “I thought you guys were—”
His gaze went to Aaron’s car behind me.
“Uh-oh … I’m not on the scavenger hunt list, am I?”
“Nope,”
This is the Summer of Me, when I figure out who I am and who my friends are and how to fix the things that happened last year. I’m not one of those girls who finds a guy and gets happy. Besides, with my track record, James is probably someone’s boyfriend anyway.
As nice as it is to talk to someone my own age, someone who makes me laugh, even, I am still in self-punishing mode. And all I see is dumb distraction with James. Dumb distraction and a so-cute smile. Ack.
chapter eleven
Dear Amanda,
Sometimes it seemed like you were hiding
things from me too. Like you didn’t tell me
everything anymore …
“Ethan’s boxers, holiday themed?” I said. “That’s not a fair item.”
“Everything’s fair,” said Amanda. “I didn’t make the list—Henry did.”
Henry loved creating scavenger hunts for us to do on the weekends. Bishop Heights is a small town, so creative minds tend to run our lives, and Henry was definitely our most adventurous and inventive friend.
“How does Henry even know that Ethan has holiday-themed boxers?” asked Renee.
“He does,” said Amanda. “I can vouch.” She was sitting on the army-green shag carpet in Henry’s basement, fingering the edges of her favorite sparkly blue ballet flats. Amanda was good at being coy.
“So are you guys officially dating?” Renee leaned forward and stared at Amanda intensely, and I was glad she was asking pointblank. I’d asked the week before, but Amanda just confessed to a kiss in the parking lot—she wouldn’t use the word boyfriend . Yet.
“Maybe,” said Amanda, her grin growing.
“So why isn’t Ethan here?” I asked.
“I invited him, but his grandparents are in town.” Amanda stuck out her lips in a pout. “His mom insisted on a family night.”
“Good,” said Aaron. “One more would have thrown off team numbers.”
The teams were me and Aaron versus Renee and Amanda—mainly because Aaron and Renee both had early fall birthdays and already had their licenses—with Henry acting as Director of Scavenge and Official Point Tallier. The list looked like this:
EASY (1 point):
1 tip cup from Ben & Jerry’s, minus the tips
1 bag of orange candy circus peanuts—extra points
for eating them upon reconvening
1 official traffic cone
MEDIUM (2 points):
1 buoy from Dilby Lake
1 size-6 vintage shoe (ladies)
1 pair of Ethan’s boxers (holiday themed )
HARD (3 points):
1 signed note from Henry’s mom saying she’ll allow him to stay out all night for prom
1 family portrait from Principal Sullivan’s house
1 (used) hairnet from a Wendy’s employee (with signature on a napkin attesting to its authenticity )
No team could get everything on the list in our two-hour time frame, obviously, but the idea was to get at least one Hard-level thing, because they were worth the most points. If you went for all Easy stuff, you’d never be able to win.
“I think we should beat Amanda to Ethan,” I said as soon as Aaron and I got in his car. He has a speedy little Jeep that he always drives for scavenger hunts because it has an obnoxious horn honk—it plays “La Cucaracha”—and he likes to tease the other team with it.
“It would definitely make her mad … ,” said Aaron, smirking. “Let’s do it!” Then he peeled out of Henry’s gravel driveway, spraying some rocks for effect. He hit the horn, too, a signal that the hunt was on .
We sped to Ethan’s house. Amanda’s car was nowhere in sight—she and Renee must have gone after something else.
“I’ll go.” I bolted from the passenger seat and ran up to Ethan’s front door.
I knocked three times. I was already laughing in anticipation when Ethan opened the door. He smiled this huge smile.
“Clem!” he said. “I thought you guys were—”
His gaze went to Aaron’s car behind me.
“Uh-oh … I’m not on the scavenger hunt list, am I?”
“Nope,”
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