You and Me and Him by Kris Dinnison Read Free Book Online

swing set. Most people never go near it, but Nash and I meet there when we want to be alone, or be left alone. When I get to the park, Nash is already waiting.
    “I have been busting to talk to you about Tom. By the way, do not”—at this Nash wags a finger at me—“do not ignore a call from me when you know I am feeling neurotic about a boy. That is Best Friend 101. Page two of the user’s manual.”
    “Duly noted,” I say.
    “Here’s what I’ve learned: There’s the moving around, which you knew. His mom’s great. Older brother at UC Berkeley. Dad’s gone a lot. No pets. Keeps a journal. Favorite color is green.”
    “Wow, did you give him a survey or something? What’s with all the random factoids?”
    “People talk to me, Maggie. It’s a gift. Anyway, your turn. Spill. Your impressions of Tom?”
    I take my seat, always the swing on the left as we face the lake. “He seems . . .” I search for a word that will be both honest and neutral. “He seems nice,” I finish. So much for that SAT vocab we’ve been doing in English.
    Nash blinks. “‘Nice’?” He stares at me. When I stay quiet, he gets out his iPod and starts to put in the ear buds, his mouth a hard line. “Okay, ‘nice’ is nice. If you don’t have anything else to say . . .”
    “Nash, I’m sorry. He’s great. And he seems to like hanging out with you. It’s just . . . well . . . don’t you find him a little annoying? He’s so . . . friendly. To everyone. And he said it usually only takes him a couple days in a new town to figure everyone out. What the hell does that even mean? Do we lack originality to the extent that there are stock versions of us in every town he’s ever lived? Anyway, sorry. I didn’t want to rain on your New Guy parade.”
    He takes out the ear buds and stares at me again. “Let me get this straight. You find his pleasant demeanor and interest in people irritating?”
    “Yep, in a nutshell.”
    “Jealous much?” he says. “I admit I wish he was a little more standoffish with some people. Kayla, for instance. I don’t trust her as far as I could throw her into a vat of boiling hot lattes. I don’t mind if we lose Tom to someone worthy, but I will be more than a little disappointed in the young man if he doesn’t see through the Kayla . . . thing. Whatever that is. Anyway, don’t worry, Mags. Next new guy is all yours.”
    Nash smiles. I know as the best friend it’s my job to ask the tough question. “So, do you think he’s, like, into guys?”
    Nash’s swing goes still. He turns and stares at the lake for a minute. The light is fading behind the range of tree-spiked hills across the water, the shapes dissolving in those muted shades of purple and gray possible only in that moment between sunset and true dark.
    “I honestly have no idea, Maggie.” He doesn’t look at me. “He’s not from here, which means there’s a chance, at least more of a chance than I have with any other guy in town. Until I escape Cedar Ridge’s clutches, an out-of-towner like Tom is pure catnip for me.”
    I can tell I’ve killed his crush-buzz. Crushes are serious business to Nash. He has this book of boys he’s fallen for. Nobody knows about it but me, and I’ve only seen it once. It’s not a creepy, stalker kind of thing. It’s actually sort of beautiful and sweet. It’s more a way for Nash to figure out what he likes about his crushes and what he wants when he finally finds a real boyfriend. Once in a while he’ll include a yearbook photo, but most of the time he does a portrait of them from memory. It’s amazing what Nash can do with pen and ink. Sometimes we watch those reality shows about tattoo shops. It seems like every other episode someone’s coming in to get a portrait tattoo of someone who’s died. Nash could knock every one of them out of the park any day of the week.
    Anyway, the book doesn’t have real names, just nicknames he’s given them, though his drawings would be