Jade

Standing at Maria’s door, I switched the small paper bag of pastries from Yun’s to my other hand, then wiped my palm on the front of my jeans. I don’t know if I was sweating from the heat or nervousness. Silly as it seemed, I was hesitant about seeing everyone again for the first time since last summer. But when the door swung open and I caught my first glimpse of Maria, I couldn’t help but smile.

“OMG, Maria!” Pulling her in for a hug, I breathed a sigh of relief at our reunion. Unfortunately, I also smashed the bag between us.

“Jade, hi…” Maria said quietly in my ear. I didn’t like the defeated tone in her voice, but I remained hopeful that maybe I’d just caught her off guard. Then she pulled back and added, “How did you know I was here?”

I grinned. “My mom saw your car pass our place.” Then I held up the crinkled bag. “She wanted me to bring you this. Kick-ass pastries from our favorite Korean bakery.”

Maria’s grateful smile relaxed my nerves, and the moment I handed over the bag, she was yanking it open and digging inside. “Yes, my favorite sweet bun. Tell your mom thanks.”

As Maria nibbled on a bite, I reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. “So…how are you holding up? Is your dad’s company going to be okay?”

Maria’s face fell, and she glanced over her shoulder into the house. I’d obviously jumped the gun; my friend was probably not ready to talk about everything going on with her family and maybe was even a little embarrassed since it’d been in the news the past few months. The problem was, every time I texted her to make sure she was okay, she’d changed the subject.

Considering I’d had my own personal drama to deal with, I needed to play it safe, just enjoy seeing one of my best friends in the whole world.

I held my breath, waiting for her to let me in or shut the door in my face.

Finally, Maria sighed. “Can I ask a favor?”

“Anything!” I burst out a little too loudly.

“Can we not talk about that stuff this summer?”

I blew out a breath. “Of course.” With my brows raised expectantly, I waited.

But when Maria smiled and said, “Great. Want to come in for a bit?” I thought of something even better.

“Actually,” I said, stepping into the doorway and grabbing her arm. “Let’s get your swimsuit and get out of here.”

Maria narrowed her gaze, took a step back, and tucked a lock of dark brown hair behind her ear. “Where? I literally just got here, so…”

I could see this was going to be a challenge. All I wanted was for things to feel like they always felt between us. We might go our separate ways at the end of every summer on Horseshoe Lake, but we kept in constant contact and even had a group chat. But lately the silence between Maria and Ariana when we were all chatting was awkward and painful—at least for me. I might not be as book smart as Esther, but my heart was definitely bigger than my sister’s, and I could feel something was going on with two of my best friends. Not only did they stop responding to each other’s comments, but at times they didn’t reply to mine either, forcing me to reach out to each of them separately. And making me realize it was up to me to fix this shit.

I mean, who’s going to come to my funeral when my parents find out what I did at school and kill me?

Maria’s hand appeared in front of my face, waving back and forth. “Hello? Jade? The heat already getting to you?”

“What? Sorry, I…”

“What’s the deal with you?”

Shaking it off, I said, “Nothing. I was just thinking it’s, like fate or something, you guys all arrived today.”

“Who?” she said with furrowed brows over her dark brown eyes.

“Ariana and Benji! Who else? So, let’s go grab them and do our inaugural summer dive!”

Maria shook her head, braced her hand on the side of the door. “No, sorry, I can’t. I’ve got a lot to take care of. But you go ahead…” She threw on a fake smile that I saw right through.

Disappointment and frustration battled within me for top spot, but I steeled myself, determined not to back down. This was not the Maria we all knew—she’d never have said no to this before.

“You know what…it’s fine.” I moved past her, stepping into the foyer of their place like it was my own home. “I’ll just hang here with you for a while.”

I heard the door shut behind me and a sigh come from Maria; I tried not to take it personally. Instead, I let the memories of this big old house flow through me as I moved around and took it all in. I probably spent more time at Maria’s than our own place on the lake. When one of the wood floor panels creaked, I grinned, thinking of the summer I was so into ghosts that I’d convinced everyone to do a seance in the attic. It was actually really beautiful up there with a window that overlooked the lake.

“Looks like you were just cleaning up,” I said, picking up a rag from a console table.

“Yep, like I said, lots to do.”

I shrugged and began wiping it down. “Well, two are faster than one.”

“Okay, you and your stubbornness win. How about some lemonade?”

“Sounds perfect.” I flashed her a grateful smile.

After wiping the top of the table, I got down on my knees to do the bottom. A burn mark on the throw rug next to my leg caught my attention, and the memory of us making indoor smores came flooding back. Benji, so adorable and awkward, dropped his marshmallow—which was on freaking fire—on the rug. Maria’s mom was so cool about it, even though we tried to hide it.

Moving to the mantel, I noticed the frames were not lined up like usual, and one was face down. I set the dust rag down and picked up the frame. “Oh my gosh,” I said with a soft giggle. Our four smiling faces were so pure and carefree. The nostalgia from seeing that image didn’t last long, and my heart sank realizing Maria must have turned this frame over, not wanting to see it. What could possibly have happened to make her so upset with Ariana?

I heard Maria coming back from the kitchen, so I turned the frame back over, sadness still lingering in my chest.

“Sorry it took so long. I had to wash everything first.”

“No worries,” I said, walking over to her before taking one of the glasses.

Maria sat on the couch, and I did too.

“So, where’s Lucas?” I asked.

Maria rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Probably standing on the highest cliff trying to get a Wi-Fi signal from a passing satellite.”

“Your parents still refusing to get Wi-Fi?”

Maria nodded. “Yup. And, of course, most of the nerdy tech crap he does needs internet.”

I grinned, thinking of her little brother. “He’s still majorly into computers, huh?”

Maria shook her head. “It’s like an addiction, but my mom just keeps supporting it.”

“That’s what moms are supposed to do.” I couldn’t help but be a little jealous of that, wishing I had that type of parents.

“I guess. But she thinks he’ll get into one of those private high schools for geniuses.”

“No pressure, right?” I chuckled but didn’t feel it. Unlike me, Lucas would have been the perfect child for my parents. Maybe they should adopt him.

Maria laughed. “I’d love for your parents to take him. We’ll trade Lucas for you.”

When she touched my arm, it hit me that I’d said that adoption thing out loud. Heat flushed my cheeks, but I laughed it off. “Yeah.” I never had to worry about saying too much to Maria—all of us have shared a secret with the group one time or another. But things change. People change. It was tough to even consider that some of us were keeping secrets, and my chest tightened knowing it wasn’t just Maria and Ariana holding something back. Still, I couldn’t mend our group if I didn’t figure out what was going on between the two—and that was exactly what I planned to do.

“So, you are going to the big welcome bonfire this evening, right?”

Maria’s mouth formed a thin line.

“Dude…come on. I heard they’re going to have an entire roast pig. You can’t miss that.”

Maria stalled, sipping her lemonade, and when I shot her a head tilt, she shook hers. “I don’t know…” Obviously avoiding eye contact, she drew her gaze to the window.

I blew out a frustrated breath. “Please tell me you’re not going to do this all summer.”

Her head snapped back to me. “Do what?” she said, sounding defensive.

“I set my glass down on the side table, shifted my body to her, and folded my arms. “Look, I know something is going on between you and Ariana. Tell me what it is!”