The Seacrest by Aaron Lazar Read Free Book Online Page B

practically swoon whenever she did. That is, if boys can swoon. It sounds a little feeble, but I had such love for her when I was ten, I’d often suggest my parents have a “date” night so I could see her. I’d get all light-headed and act silly and wait on her hand and foot each time she came.
    The best times were when Jax wasn’t there, when he was old enough to spend a night at his friends and I had Serena all to myself.
    We’d play Scrabble or Monopoly for hours, with a big bowl of popcorn and pineapple juice mixed with seltzer, her favorite. Sometimes we’d watch movies—she liked the mushy ones best, and I tolerated them without a whimper of complaint.
    Serena was my first crush, and I’d never forget her.
    Tonight I decided to stay even longer for Sassy. What if she had to wait for her father and aunt to go to sleep first? What if they’d caught her coming in her window last time? Maybe she’d shown up here the last few nights, but found me gone by the time she arrived.
    I shuddered to think that. She’d think I didn’t care. And oh, how I cared!
    I settled down to wait. A parade of ducks waddled past me, mother in the front and father bringing up the rear. A turtle poked his head out at the bottom of the jetty and began the long journey across the beach.
    Sassy. Oh, Sassy. Please come to me.
    I remembered the soft touch of her hand on mine, the merriment in her eyes, her apparent shame regarding her identity. I wished she’d tell me who she was; where she lived. I didn’t care one bit if she was poor, or if she had a father who drank, or an aunt who smoked cigarettes. Nothing would matter to me except the next time I saw her, touched her, kissed her.
    With a start, I pulled myself out of my reverie. Someone had crept up behind me and put their hands over my eyes.
    Lord, please let it be Sassy.
    “Guess who?”
    She tried to make her voice deep, but I knew it was my girl from the first word slipping past her lips.
    “Jenna Sullivan?” I said, trying to sound excited.
    She smacked my back, almost knocking me off the jetty. “Jenna Sullivan? Can’t you think of a better girl than her to torture me with?”
    I turned and caught her in my arms, pulling her toward me. “I knew it was you, silly. Hey, where were you? I’ve been here every night.” I leaned forward and touched my forehead to hers.
    She turned her head aside and lowered her eyes. “I’m so sorry. Aunt Shirley went in the hospital, and we had to visit her every night after supper. By the time we got home, I figured you’d be gone.”
    “I waited every night for hours,” I said. “And if it happens again, I’ll wait ‘til midnight if you want. I missed you so much, Sassy.”
    “Me, too.” She snuggled against me. “It was her heart.”
    “Is she gonna be okay?”
    “We hope so. But it’s too soon to tell. They might have to operate.”
    “Whoa. I’m sorry. I know you two don’t get along, but this is serious.”
    “Yeah, I know.” She slid down to the beach, pulling me after her. “Let’s walk.”
    “Sure,” I said. I would have said okay to “let’s fly to the moon.” It didn’t matter what Sassy wanted, I’d do it.
    “Where’s your dad now?” I asked.
    “He went to the hospital. He let me stay home this time.”
    “When do you have to be back?”
    She glanced at her watch. “He’ll leave when visiting hours are over, around 8:30. So I have to be on my bike by then. It takes twelve minutes to drive home from the hospital, and I can beat him by five minutes if I time it just right.”
    So, I thought, she lives a seven-minute bike ride from here . Maybe I’d take a day to experiment, making seven-minute bike rides in all directions until I found her in her yard, or saw her father in the front window reading the paper.
    “I’ll make sure you aren’t late,” I said. “But it means we have to hurry if we’re going to plan out our lives.”
    “Huh?” She leaned down and splashed water at me. “What