Meet Me at the Boardwalk Read Online Free Page B

reads. There I spotted a guy who looked sort of like George Clooney, but fatter. He stood barefoot, squinting at the boardwalk’s support pylons, in a white sun hat, blue button-down long-sleeved shirt, and rolled-up seersucker pants. (A definite tourist.)
    It did seem as if he were plotting something. He barely even moved.
    A blonde girl stood next to him. A natural blonde, too. Living in a resort town your whole life as a natural blond, you develop a sixth sense for these things. She faced the opposite direction, toward the ocean, her long curls flapping in the wind. She was also barefoot, in a backless shirt and cutoffs. Judging by her flawless skin and length of her slender legs, she was probably as tall as I am and not much older.
    “Who’s that with him?” I asked. “Trophy wife?”
    Neither Megan nor Jade replied.
    “Why, do you think she’s hot?” Jade asked, laughing.
    “I…well…I mean, I can’t see her face, but…” I left it at that.
    Megan pursed her lips. “That’s his daughter, Lily-Ann,”she said. “She’s going to Williams in the fall.” Something about her tone seemed to add: She’s also a huge spoiled tourist who thinks she’s God’s gift to planet Earth.
    “So I guess that means she’s not invited to the Jade Cohen party house, huh?” I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
    Jade glared up at me over the tops of her sunglasses. “Miles, so far we only have three partygoers. Two of us are girls. If you’re going to invite somebody, it has to be a guy to even the ratio. That’s rule number one. Girls cannot outnumber guys under any circumstances. The playing field must be level at all times. After all, we all want to get lucky this summer, don’t we?”
    I should have made a wisecrack right then.
    I should have shot back with something like “ Fine, I choose Brian Ashe and I’ll raise you Sean Edwards. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to scope out this Lily-Ann girl.”
    I should have…I should have…
    I would have, too—if it were a year ago. If it were last summer, before the accident, Jade and I would be ragging on each other by now. But our relationship hadn’t been the same since September. And it wasn’t because I couldn’t surf.
    For the first time in our lives, we had a secret between us that Megan didn’t know.
    So most of all, right then, I should have acted natural for Megan’s sake.
    “You guys?” Megan said.
    Suddenly, I noticed Megan’s gaze darting between us.
    “Yeah?” I asked.
    “I’m really not sure about this party house thing,” she said quietly.
    “What, are you kidding?” Jade asked, laughing. “It was your idea, Meg.”
    “Yeah, but…Okay: We have your house to ourselves this summer. But think about it, guys. Jade…it was just like you said—this is our last summer before senior year, maybe even the last summer we’ll really get a chance to hang out and have fun together, just the three of us. Yeah, we should definitely have barbecues and stuff, and parties, and even invite some tourists if we want, but…”
    I cocked my head at her. That little outburst probably represented the most words Megan had ever uttered continuously in her life.
    “So, you’re saying…” Jade asked, pushing her sunglasses back up her nose.
    “I’m saying the three of us should make a pact,” Megan stated.
    Now I felt as if I’d been beamed into some bizarre alternate universe. The last time Megan took a proactive stance about anything was when she decided to keep cleaning houses for a summer job after Jade got fired for being naughty on the job. She’d kissed a tourist’s son…whatever. But right after that, both Jade and I had tried to coax Megan into working at a concession stand on the boardwalk. Her response? She’d said it would be “too distracting” to work near Jade and me. We still haven’t stopped calling her on how lame that decision was.
    But a pact…this was unexplored territory.
    “Go on,” Jade prodded.
    “The three