Upstander by James Preller (free ereaders .TXT) 📕

Lexi?” Mrs. Brown instructed. It was also on wheels and had a long white handle. Mrs. Brown tilted her flawless head and let the sun smile down upon her like an old friend. “Every day at the beach is a good day,” she purred, slinging a large beach bag over her shoulder. “Let’s see: sunscreen, book, cooler, blankets, purse, phone. I think we’re good to go, girls. What do you say? Let’s beat the rush.”

There were lots of different types of mothers in the world, and their children were basically stuck with what they got. Which was perfectly fine. It’s not like Mary looked around and thought, I’d like to trade in mine for that one. Mrs. Brown was a classic Long Island sun worshipper. In other words, totally different from Mary’s mother, who sunburned easily and thus walked around with globs of zinc oxide on her nose—indoors!

Alexis sidled up to Mary and whispered, “Don’t worry, we’ll ditch my mother once we get there. She reads for a while, has a plastic glass of wine, then she lays out for serious tanning. We can hang out on the boardwalk and do whatever we want.”

13[boardwalk]

Once they arrived at Mrs. Brown’s usual spot, not far from the lifeguard stand, they stripped down to their bathing suits (even Mrs. Brown, who looked yoga-toned in a lime green bikini). Mary gazed toward the ocean. The waves rolled in shapely, tight curls. A little big, but not too scary. “Want to swim?” she asked.

“Maybe later,” Alexis said. “Do you have any money, Mom? We’re feeling snackish. And we might wanna play putt-putt.”

Mrs. Brown absently dug into her bag, snapped open a small purse, and handed her daughter fifty dollars. “I have sliced watermelon, grapes, drinks, and health bars in the cooler, so don’t buy too much junk.” Mary felt a warm flash of embarrassment rise to her cheeks.

“Sure, Mom,” Alexis said. In a flash, the girls were weaving through the beach blankets that covered the white sand, crowded with bodies of every shape and size. Hairy men with bursting bellies who looked like they’d swallowed basketballs, beefy frat boys with red plastic cups, young families who set up little pup tents to keep their toddlers safe in the shade. The three girls eagerly strode up to the boardwalk, which ran two miles from end to end and had concessions and freshwater pools alongside tennis and basketball courts. The sun sizzled and the place was packed. On a summer Sunday on Long Island, Jones Beach was a glorious place to be.

After purchasing soft drinks and a bountiful supply of candy—Nerds, Sour Patch Kids, shoelace licorice, and some rapidly melting taffy—the girls found an unoccupied bench that looked out over the famous white sand beach. Seagulls wheeled overhead, ready to scavenge fallen french fries and hot dogs and pizza crusts or whatever other litter they could devour.

The girls divided up the loot and chewed thoughtfully. “Did you really want to play putt-putt?” Mary asked. “I didn’t bring a lot of money, but I’m happy to watch.”

Chrissie waved a hand. “Oh, Alexis always says that to get more money. We never play.”

“But if my mom asks,” Alexis said, smiling, “you have to lie!”

“As long as I can say that I won,” Mary replied, and the three of them laughed. The beach, the sun, the lifeguards, and the sea. Three friends with the whole day in front of them. You couldn’t beat it. Like the T-shirts said, LIFE IS GOOD.

Chrissie gave Alexis a look. She turned to Mary, “So we heard you’ve been with Griffin Connelly.”

“With Griff?” Mary echoed. She was shocked. They had heard? “One time, we had ice cream together. How did you know?”

Chrissie grinned. “We know everyone, Mary. Small town, people talk. There are no secrets.”

“So?” Alexis said. “Tell us. What’s been going on with you two?”

“Nothing, jeez,” Mary said.

Chrissie laughed. “Now, now. We’re all friends here.” She made an X across her chest. “We won’t say anything.”

Mary felt a flush of embarrassment on her cheeks.

“We ran into each other, that’s all,” she said. Mary thought back about that night, how upset she had been about Jonny, and how Griffin had been so nice. It wasn’t something she wanted to share with Alexis or Chrissie or anyone. They were great friends, but not for sharing stuff like that. Besides, there was nothing, really, to share.

“No texting?” Chrissie prodded.

“A little,” Mary admitted.

“Flirty pictures?”

“Gross! No!” Mary squealed.

“Ooooh!” Alexis teased. “A little texting, huh? Mary O’Malley and Griffin Connelly, very interesting. I didn’t see that coming.”

“Come on, it’s not anything,” Mary countered, a little annoyed with their teasing. But it left Mary wondering if maybe she had missed something important. If maybe their meeting was bigger than she’d realized? Was it a date? What was a date anyway? “I borrowed his bike. So we had to coordinate.”

“Mm-hmmm,” Chrissie said.

“Uh-huh,” Alexis cooed.

“Strictly professional,” Mary said, slashing the air with a flat hand.

“Well, since we’re talking boys,” Alexis confided, “I’ve decided I’m interested in Hakeem.” She allowed her gaze to linger on Mary for an extra moment. It was as if she had pointed out a cute pair of shoes in a shop window. The next day, or soon after, you knew they’d be on her feet.

Hakeem. That is surprising, thought Mary. And in her mind, two dots connected. The trouble with Chantel. And now this. “Does he like you?” Mary asked.

Chrissie laughed. “Ha! I’m sure he does—Hakeem just doesn’t know it yet!” She acted as if this was hilarious, the funniest thing anyone could have possibly said.

“Stop,” Alexis said, but she was laughing, too.

Mary’s phone buzzed. A text from Chantel, explaining that she was going away to camp for two weeks. She wanted to say goodbye. Mary ignored it. Chantel would figure it out soon enough.

She’d been unfriended.

14[missing]

And so the last weeks of summer rolled along. Mary’s way of dealing with discord was to stay away from home as much as possible. She thought of the