“Did you make the trip here to the lake in the car with Jamey’s snake?”
Jordan made a face. “Of course! That snake goes where Jamey goes. Jamey rode the whole way balancing Stallone’s cage on his lap. He was so sure that you couldn’t wait to see his dumb snake again.”
Ryan offered a soft smile. “Yeah. Jamey’s a neat kid.”
“I guess he’s okay,” Jordan remarked.
“How’s school? How’s the paper going?”
“Really well. Mrs. Rose is entering it in some statewide competition for junior-high newspapers. We may win an award. I’m thinking about taking more courses in journalism when I get to high school.” She paused for a breath. “And how’s your new school?”
“For school, it’s okay. I’ve made some good friends. I—uh—met a few cute girls, too.”
“I’m glad. I—I never meant for you to leave Martin on such short notice. Or to mess things up for you and Jennifer, either.”
“I never really liked Jennifer,” Ryan confessed. “She was pretty and it made me feel good to have her flirt with me. But she’s sort of an airhead. No offense,” he added quickly. “I know she’s your friend.”
Jordan grinned. “She was never my friend the way Laurie is.” For a moment, there was silence.
Then Ryan cleared his throat. “I also want to apologize.”
“For what?”
“For the way I acted when I moved out.”
“I’m the one who’s sorry,” Jordan said.
“And you tried to tell me that, but I wouldn’t listen. I acted like a jerk.”
“No. I deserved it. I made such a mess of things.”
He dipped his head and chucked her under the chin. “Once I started thinking about it, I understood how it could have happened.”
She blinked. “You did?”
“We all tell little fibs about things that happen—or don’t happen—to us. I’ve been known to exaggerate my basketball skills to impress people.”
“I exaggerated all right. I made up this whole story about a summer romance with a guy I didn’t know except through pictures in my baby album.”
Ryan squinted against the glare of the sun off the water. “You’re an honors student, Jordan. What do you think the odds are for having the guy you made up such a story about actually move into your house?”
“Pretty big odds,” she admitted.
“That’s right. Just think, if you would have bet money on it, you’d be a millionaire. It’s sort of weird if you think about it.”
“True. But once it happened, I should have told you.”
His expression sobered. “I agree. But you didn’t and we can’t change that.” Jordan hugged her knees to her chest. “But,” Ryan added, “you were my friend and you helped me through some rough times.”
“I did?”
“You jogged with me, talked to me, set me up with all your friends. But mostly, you listened.”
“I couldn’t stand to see you hurting,” she admitted. “How’s it going between you and your father?”
His features turned dark. “I’m spending a few weeks with him this summer. I’ve had some talks with Mom and I know their divorce wasn’t my fault.”
“Why would you think it was?” Jordan asked.
“I don’t know. My head was all messed up. I didn’t know what to think. Or feel. I was so mad at them. Why couldn’t they work it out? They’re supposed to be adults.”
Jordan shrugged. “Grown-ups are strange. We’ll just have to remember not to act that way when we grow up.”
Ryan nodded in agreement.
A speedboat passed by, rocking the platform. “So is everything all right now?” Jordan asked after the boat had passed by.
“Things are fine with me.”
“Are we—can we still be friends?” Jordan asked hesitantly.
“I’m counting on it,” Ryan said with a warm smile. “Besides there are at least six guys back on the beach waiting for me to introduce you around.”
Her eyes narrowed skeptically. “What do you mean?”
“I mean there are guys back there who want to know who the gorgeous girl is.”
“Me?” Jordan’s mouth dropped open in disbelief Gorgeous! Jordan had never even considered herself pretty. Jennifer was pretty. She was just ordinary. “I don’t believe you.”
Ryan rose and crossed his heart. “Then come back to the beach with me and see for yourself. They’re really impressed that I know you. And that we’re friends.” Friends. Jordan liked the sound of the word coming from him. They were friends. After all, she’d known Ryan for almost fifteen years! That was longer than she’d known anybody outside of her family. “Of course, for a small fee I can be persuaded not to tell them that you dump bowls of spaghetti on boys’ heads.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
He poised on the side of the platform. “Only if I get to shore first.”
He dove into the water, and she dove in after. Ever since she’d been born, she’d been tagging after Ryan Elliot. Jordan swam with sure, deft strokes. “I have a few stories of my own, you know,” she called out. “Imagine not sharing your rubber ducky with a sweet, helpless little girl.”
“Helpless!” he yelped, sending a spray of water into her face. She ducked below the surface and slipped around him, emerging a few yards away.
“You’re not so tough, Ryan Elliot.”
He grinned. “It’ll be our special secret. Okay? I don’t want to ruin my image with the women.”
“Our secret,” she agreed, stroking for the shoreline. She beat him by ten yards.
About the Author
LURLENE MCDANIEL made up her first story in second grade, wrote a play in fourth grade, and wrote a book in high school. After she graduated from college, she wrote ad campaigns. now she writes books that young people love to read.
Readers from all over the country write to lurlene to say how much they enjoy her books. They often ask “Where do you get your ideas?” lurlene says that ideas are everywhere, on television news programs, in newspapers, and even in her own family.
Writing books about kids overcoming problems like cancer, diabetes, and divorce draws a wide response from her readers. lurlene says the highest compliment a reader can give her is, “Your story was so interesting that I couldn’t put it down.” To lurlene, that’s what writing is all about—writing an uplifting story that causes the reader to look at life from a different perspective.
Lurlene lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Other books by lurlene Mcdaniel include Six Months to Live, If I Should Die Before I Wake, No Time to Cry, and I Want To Live.
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