Boys of Summer by Jessica Brody Read Free Book Online

arm. Actually, we didn’t agree on it. My father suggested it, and I didn’t dis agree.
    â€œWhy burden other people with our problems when they have their own?” he said.
    Which is code for “Why let other people see our weakness when we can just as easily hide it?”
    I think he’s still convinced that my mom is coming back. I think he still believes this will all blow over.
    I’m pretty sure it’s that same blindness that made her leave in the first place.
    But I keep those thoughts to myself.
    â€œYeah,” I say numbly to Harper. “Football.”
    Let her think this was a heroic injury. Let her think I busted my arm getting sacked in the end zone as I scored the winning touchdown and won the national championship. Let her spread that rumor around. It’s better than the alternative. It’s better than the truth.
    She nods, and in that moment her face catches a glint of moonlight. I can see the tear streaks on her face. The smears of black around her eyes. The redness of her nose.
    â€œWhat happened?” I ask. The question surprises her. It seems to take her a second to remember she’s been crying,because she eventually reaches up and runs a fingertip under each eye.
    â€œOh,” she says, forcing a laugh. “Nothing. Just, you know, trying to figure out why I’m so fucked up.”
    I laugh too, because the way she says it, like it’s just a normal everyday activity (like gardening), is actually kind of funny.
    â€œCome up with anything?” I ask.
    She plops down onto the sand next to me again with a heavy sigh. “No.”
    â€œDamn. I was hoping to cheat off you.”
    She cocks an eyebrow.
    â€œYou know, copy down your answers. So I don’t have to come up with any myself.”
    She scoffs. “Yeah, right. Grayson Cartwright already has all the answers. Grayson Cartwright was born with the answers.”
    â€œI think you’re confusing having all the answers with never asking any questions.”
    She doesn’t seem to follow this. I’m not sure even I know what I’m saying. I kick at a pebble lost in the sand. “Never mind.”
    I’m afraid she’s going to press the issue, and it makes me regret even opening my mouth in the first place, but thankfully, she doesn’t. She falls quiet. We both stare at the waves, and for the first time in history, I wonder what Harper Jennings is thinking.
    â€œMike and I are done,” she blurts out.
    The sound of my best friend’s name on her lips makes me uncomfortable, and I instantly remember why I don’t like her. I mean sure, when we were kids, it was all fun and games. She was almost one of the guys. She’d go swimming with us in the ocean, skip rocks with us in the creek, race homemade sailboats with us in my family’s pool. She even joined in ona few of our pranks. Then we hit puberty and Harper got boobs—nice ones at that—and everything changed. She and Mike started having “special alone time” together. There’d be days on end when Ian and I wouldn’t see either of them. Mike lost his virginity to her, and then he lost his mind to her too. That was when the games started. That was when Ian and I stopped knowing which Mike we would be getting each day. The happy-go-lucky, carefree, hopelessly-in-love Mike. Or the one who was waiting for Harper to come back.
    That was when I stopped liking Harper Jennings.
    â€œSo I’ve been told,” I mumble.
    â€œNo,” she clarifies, her voice leaden. “Like, for good. I ended it.”
    I chuckle skeptically. “Yeah, I’ve heard that one before.”
    She doesn’t respond. She’s silent for a long moment. And then she breaks into tears, dropping her face into her hands and sobbing uncontrollably.
    I’m so taken aback by the outburst, I don’t quite know what to do with myself. I completely freeze. What is the best friend of a