Leah glanced at me. ‘Or so we thought.’
‘I just saw him doing it that one night on the boardwalk,’ I told her. ‘It was really late. Or early, actually.’
‘Well,’ Maggie said, ‘I guess that means something. What, I don’t know. But something.’
There was a sudden burst of noise from behind us: when I turned, I saw one of the fishermen pulling something over the rail of the pier. It was flopping, catching the light here and there, before he eased it down behind a tackle box, out of sight. The other people fishing took note, then returned to their own lines.
‘And Belissa,’ I said, warming my hands around my cup. ‘What’s the story there?’
‘They’d dated since sophomore year,’ Leah told me. ‘She stuck with him through the funeral, and a couple of months after, but eventually things just fell apart. She dumped him, is what I heard. Although apparently she sees it differently.’
‘Apparently,’ I said.
Leah smiled, shaking her head. ‘I swear, when she asked you what kind of a name that was, and you were about to answer her… I almost just took off running and left you there to fend for yourself.’
‘She asked me a question,’ I said.
‘She didn’t want an answer, though.’
‘Well, then why did she ask?’
‘Because,’ Leah said, ‘she was gearing up to smacking your face. God! Don’t you know anything about dealing with jealous ex-girlfriends?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘Not really.’
Maggie smiled. ‘Well, you just got a crash course, then.’
‘Crash being the operative word,’ Leah added. ‘I mean, did you see how pissed off she was? And then she tells you to get lost, or else, and you say…’
‘“All right,”’ Maggie said.
Esther’s eyes widened. ‘No.’
‘She totally did. And said it just like that, too. Like she was doing her a favor by agreeing.’
‘I did not,’ I said. Leah and Maggie just looked at me. ‘Did I?’
‘Yup.’ Leah shook her cup, then took another sip off her straw. ‘Which was either incredibly ballsy, or incredibly stupid. I’m still not sure which.’
Esther laughed, and I just sat there, looking down at my coffee and remembering how completely out of my element I’d been at that party, and that moment. Never before had it been so obvious that although I’d spent my entire life learning, there was a lot of stuff I still didn’t know. Enough to get me into big trouble, apparently, if someone hadn’t been there to help me out.
‘It was stupid,’ I said out loud, thinking this. They all looked at me. ‘I mean, what I said. The truth is, I didn’t have much of a social life in high school. Or ever, for that matter.’
This was greeted with an extended silence. Or maybe it just felt that way to me.
‘You know,’ Leah said, ‘that actually explains a lot.’
‘It does,’ Maggie agreed.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ I asked.
‘Nothing,’ she said quickly. Then, glancing at Leah, she added, ‘I mean, just how you came to town, and hooked up with Jake right away, and then were surprised when people, um, drew conclusions about you.’
‘And by people,’ Leah said, ‘she means us.’
‘Got that,’ I replied. ‘Thanks.’
‘Plus,’ Esther added, ‘there’s the way you’ve always kept to yourself.’
‘Except for tonight,’ Leah pointed out.
‘Except for tonight,’ Maggie agreed. ‘I mean, we just figured you thought you were better than us. But maybe you just didn’t know how to hang out.’
I wanted to believe it was the latter. But I knew in my heart of hearts, my truest place, that I had assumed my superiority. In Maggie’s case, with a single glance.
‘Like I said,’ Leah said, ‘only a girl who didn’t have any real girlfriends would actually begin to answer the question, “What kind of a name is that?”’
‘I thought she wanted to know!’ I said.
‘I doubt Belissa Norwood has much interest in learning about the life of a modern poet famous for his works on politics, nature, and unrequited love,’ Maggie said.
I turned, facing her. ‘You know about Auden?’
‘I wrote my senior thesis on the use of loss in his poems,’ she replied. ‘It’s what got me into Defriese. Hey, Leah, you have any Tic Tacs left?’
I just sat there, stunned into silence as Leah pulled out the pack, passing it to her. I’d had a lot of surprises that day: my mom showing up, almost getting my butt kicked, and learning about Eli’s past. But this was the thing that left me speechless. Maggie was going to Defriese. Just like me.
‘Shoot,’ Esther said, glancing at her watch. ‘It’s past midnight. I better get home. Who needs a ride?’
‘I guess I do,’ Leah said, standing up and wiping off her jeans with her hands, ‘considering I didn’t get to meet some hot guy to drive me home from that party.’
‘Sorry,’ I said.
‘Oh, she’ll survive,’ Esther said, sliding her arm around Leah’s shoulders as we started back down the pier. ‘Tomorrow night, we’ll go to Bentley’s for open mike, and maybe you can find yourself a nice, greasy artist type there.’
‘Maybe I will,’ Leah replied, ‘just to spite you.’
‘What about you, Auden?’ Maggie asked, falling into step beside me. ‘You want a ride back to Heidi’s?’