The Island of Dragons (Rockpools Book 4) by Gregg Dunnett (best books for 7th graders .txt) 📕

“They’re not always like that. I don’t know what was wrong with them.”

“So what are they normally like? Just ordinary stuck-up rich assholes, instead of rich assholes intent on being as rude as fucking possible?”

“No… I…” We’re still standing outside the restaurant, but there’s no more cabs. “Do you want to call an Uber?”

“No Billy. I don’t want to call an Uber. I don’t have any money left.”

I don’t have any money left either, so instead we start walking, but Amber doesn’t let up.

“I mean, what was she like? That one in the white sweater, the miserable one. What was her name?”

“Lily.”

“Lily – what sort of a name is that?”

I don’t answer.

“I’m studying Law. It’s important.” Amber imitates Lily’s voice, but in a mocking way.

“They’re not always like that.” I suddenly interrupt her. “They’re really not. Something must have happened.”

Amber turns to look at me now. “You know I’m actually still hungry?”

I frown.

“I can’t believe I’ve paid two hundred dollars for dinner, and I’m still not full. And let’s not even talk about that wine.” Amber screws up her nose. At least Lily insisted on picking up the tab for that, otherwise our bill would have been much higher. “Do you want to go somewhere? Somewhere normal?”

So we walk back towards her house, and after a while we come to another restaurant, which I think is Malaysian, so not exactly normal, but Amber tells me I should try it, so we do. We go inside, and eat noodles, and they’re good, and the whole thing feels normal – like it used to feel with Amber. She tells me more about how her life is going here in Boston, and what’s happening at her work, and how she’s dating a guy called Sean, who’s Irish and works in a gym – none of which I had any idea about. She had a tough time a while back did Amber, when her boyfriend was killed, so I’m glad to hear she’s seeing someone again. I tell her a bit about my housemates, and how they’re OK, but a bit dumb, and I then try to explain why it is I like Lily, and even her friends normally. And we talk about my course, and why that’s a bit annoying because it’s too basic, and Amber tells me it’ll get better, I just have to stick with it.

And then my phone rings, and it’s Eric.

“Hello,” I say. I don’t go away from Amber, because it’s not too loud in the noodle place.

“Billy.” Eric replies, but he doesn’t say anything else.

“Are you OK?”

“I am.” He sighs. “But I’ve just spent an hour with Lily crying her eyes out on my shoulder. And I just thought I should let you know.”

He sounds weary, and I’m kind of shocked – or just somehow reluctant to be pulled back to thinking about where we’ve just been, and what happened earlier. I was feeling good, enjoying it being just me and Amber again.

“Know what?”

“To know why you had to sit through the most excruciating night in the history of the world,” Eric replies.

“Oh,” I say. “Why?”

But then he doesn’t answer right away.

“Look, I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you this, Lily didn’t… Well I couldn’t get a straight answer out of her. But I thought…”

“Just tell me.”

“Alright, alright” Eric sounds put out. “Don’t you go getting all dominant on me. I don’t think I can take any more major upheavals in my life.”

“Please just tell me Eric,” I soften my voice.

“OK. Well the reason tonight was so awkward is that James broke up with Lily this evening. Literally just before they arrived at the restaurant.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

I don’t see Lily, or Amber, or Eric, or any of them, for a long time after that. And to be honest, I’m not sure I want to. My course still isn’t difficult, but there is a lot of work to do, and right now I’ve got a whole bunch of essays that I have to write, so for a while I’m able to lose myself in researching them. I actually got my grades back for my first essays, and while they were OK, I did get one B, and I don’t want that to happen again. So I go to all my classes and I actually pay attention for a change, and I spend most of my spare time in the library, reading up on all the books and journals I was supposed to read earlier. A lot of the time they’re books I’ve read before, but it’s nice to lose myself in that world again.

On top of that I still have my law class over at Harvard University. I’ve figured out a new route now, which means I’m not in such a rush when I have to come back. But when I am there, I find myself keeping a look out for Lily. I don’t really mean to, it’s more like this automatic thing that I can’t control, it just happens. But it doesn’t matter anyway, since I don’t see her. I guess I’m a bit disappointed about that. But every now and then I think about her. I wonder if I should call, or send her a message and ask if she’s OK, and tell her I’m sorry about her and James – though obviously I’m not sorry, because I think he’s an asshole – but I don’t know if any of that is the right thing to do. So I don’t. And then I start to think that maybe that’s it, maybe I won’t ever see her again, or any of them.

And that’s when she sends me the text.

Can you do sailing?

I’m in the library when it comes in, writing an essay on plankton ecology and food-web interactions, which between you and me isn’t as interesting as it might sound. So I don’t know what to make of the text, and I even wonder if she might have sent it to