He leads you to a Jet Ski with a white and silver bottom and a red top. There’s a black lightning bolt down the side. He flips up the seat, and there are two life jackets underneath. He hands you one.
“We just have to be as streamlined as possible,” he says, as he slips his life jacket on and zips it up. “Stay seated, keep your arms tight around me, and make sure your head is lower than mine.”
“That should be easy,” you say, looking up at him. He’s at least five inches taller than you.
Tasha and James are at the Jet Ski next to Will’s. It’s hot green, yellow, and white. Not your favorite color combination. Tasha looks over at you as she’s zipping herself into a hot green life jacket and gives you a thumbs-up. You give her one back.
“Ready?” James calls over.
“Ready!” Will calls back.
He helps you onto the back of the Jet Ski and then climbs on and unties the rope holding it to the dock. He clips a cord attached to his key to a hook on his life jacket and slides onto the seat in front of you.
“To the buoy and back?” he yells to James. “Like usual?”
“Like usual!” James yells back. “On my count.”
Will inserts the key into the Jet Ski and waits.
“One,” James yells.
Will turns the key in the ignition.
“Two!” James’s voice is harder to hear over the engine.
Will puts his hands on the handlebars.
“Three!” James shouts.
Will squeezes the levers behind the handlebars and you’re off.
The wind is whipping through your hair, and you hold on tighter to Will, feeling his muscles flex under your fingers.
“Woohoo!” he whoops as you speed forward and pass James and Tasha.
“Go, Will, go!” you shout.
He squeezes the levers harder, and you shoot forward again.
“We’re so going to win!” you yell, as your hair whips you in the face and the smell of fish and ocean and boy fills your nostrils.
And just then you decide it doesn’t matter if you win. It doesn’t even matter if you see Will again after this Jet Ski race. But this, this wind-in-your-hair, anything-can-happen, exhilarating feeling is what it’s all about. You get to live only once, and you decide then and there that you’re going to make every moment of your life as exciting as possible.
CONGRATULATIONS!
YOU’VE FOUND YOUR HAPPY ENDING!
Click here to go back to eating a lobster roll with Tasha.
- - - - -
Click here to go back to the beginning and start over.
YOU take Jade’s phone and look at her picture again. She really does look better than both of the actresses.
“Let’s stay,” you say to Tasha. “And Jade, if you’re serious, I’d love a makeover!”
“Wait, for real?” Jade asks, sitting up straighter in her lounge chair.
You nod.
“Can I do anything?” she asks.
“Ja-a-ade,” Tasha says, pulling her name out into a three-syllable warning.
“I mean, I won’t, like, dye her hair purple or anything!”
“You can do anything within reason,” you tell her. “Anything as long as it won’t make my parents flip.”
Jade gives you a once-over, as if you’re an antique dresser she might purchase for her dorm room. “How strict are your parents?” she asks.
“Medium strict,” you say.
“Like mine,” Tasha adds. “No purple hair, no eyebrow piercings, no tattoos, that sort of thing.”
Jade nods. “Okay,” she says, standing up. “We’re done out here. Follow me to the locker room.”
You walk downstairs into the locker room, which really resembles a plush relaxation room in a spa more than it does a locker room in a gym. There’s a steam room, a hot tub that women are lounging in, and a sauna, plus glass pitchers filled with a mixture of water, ice, and cucumber slices.
“Okay, you take a shower,” Jade tells you. “I’m going to ask the women in the spa for a few things. They know me.”
Of course they know her! Jade has spent the last decade of summers at this country club. And you suspect a lot of that time was in the spa.
You go into one of the showers, and when you turn it on, there’s water coming at you from four different showerheads, one on each side. There’s also a little bench in there, but you’re not sure why someone would need to sit in the middle of showering. You use the fancy shampoo and conditioner in dispensers on the wall, and when you’re all soaped up and rinsed off, you use the plush towel and bathrobe you grabbed from a credenza in the bathroom.
When you poke your head into the changing area, Jade and Tasha are waiting for you.
“Oh good! You’re ready!” Jade says, a huge smile on her face. “I cleared some things with the spa people and enlisted the help of some of the girls I know there. They’re only a year or two older than Tash and me. Anyway, first I’m going to cut your hair, and then Lia’s going to highlight it. After that Gabriela’s going to dye your eyelashes. Then I’ll do your makeup and we’ll figure out clothes and stuff. I have some old dresses that I leave here for just in case, like if I’ve spent the day at the pool and Dex wants to go out afterward. I have a feeling there’s something in that collection that’ll be perfect for you!”
“You’re cutting my hair?” you ask. “And high-lighting it? And I’ve never heard of dyeing eyelashes.”
“Just trust me,” Jade says. “I swear you’re going to look like you, but just enhanced. And I’ve been dyeing my eyelashes since I was fourteen.”
Jade bats her eyelashes, and you notice that they do look pretty good.
“I did it at the end of last summer,” Tasha tells you. “It’s not a big deal at all.”
Jade takes you into the hair salon area of the spa and turns you away from the mirror so you can’t see what she’s doing. She cuts and snips, but it doesn’t seem too drastic. Then she looks at you critically.
“Short bangs?” she asks Tasha. But before Tasha can respond, Jade shakes her head. “Nah, I don’t think you have the right face for it.”
You’re not sure what that means, but you’re a little grateful for your face shape, because you’re not so into bangs.
Instead of a fringe, Jade cuts a few short pieces around your face. “To frame it,” she tells you, “and to bring people’s attention to your eyes.”
“Okay,” you say, nodding. There’s something kind of exciting about getting all of this done without knowing how it’s going to look. It’s like you’re on a reality TV show or something.
Then a girl with purple streaks in her hair comes over and puts her hand out. “I’m Lia,” she says. “Jade asked me to give you some highlights.”
“Nothing too dramatic,” Jade tells you and Lia together. “I just want it to look like she’s spent the last month on the beach.”
“Got it,” Lia says, running her fingers through her own purple hair. “I know exactly what you mean.”
She goes off to mix something together, and you wonder if you should maybe call your parents and make sure it’s okay to get your hair highlighted. But then you decide it’s better to do it and ask for forgiveness later than to ask for permission and have them say no. Besides, you’re sixteen! That’s certainly old enough to make decisions about your own hair. You can practically drive!
Lia brushes some goop into your hair, but you’re still facing away from the mirror, so you can’t tell what’s going on.
“I think you’re going to love this,” she says. “It’ll be really subtle; you’ll look sun-kissed. Perfect for summer.”
“Thanks,” you say to her. “That sounds great.”
When Lia’s done, Jade has you follow her into a treatment room, where Gabriela is waiting to dye your eyelashes a dar
k black.
“This is the best invention,” Jade tells you. “Like, even if you go out without makeup on, you’re basically still wearing mascara. It’s so good for, like, the gym and the summer when you want to go swimming or if you get sweaty. You won’t end up with raccoon eyes.”
That, of course, immediately makes you wonder if you’ve had raccoon eyes all day and nobody’s told you. But then you figure Tasha would’ve told you for sure. She’d never let you walk around with makeup smudged on your face.
Gabriela puts wet cotton balls underneath your eyes and then tells you to close them. She paints something on your lashes and then tells you to relax for a few minutes while the dye is working.
“If it stings, just give a holler,” she says.
You don’t think she means it about the hollering, and you really hope it won’t sting. But maybe that’s the price of beauty?
A few minutes—and no stinging—later, Gabriela is back and wiping the excess dye off your lashes. Then Jade appears and whisks you back to the hair salon, where Lia takes out the foil your highlights were wrapped in. “How do you want it blown?” she asks.
“I’ll do that part,” Jade says. “I just need a round brush and a dryer.”
Lia raises her eyebrows. “Okay,” she says, “if that’s what you want.”
“It is,” Jade confirms.
You close your eyes while Jade pulls and blows and brushes you. The heat from the blow-dryer is intense, but Jade never holds it to your scalp for longer than you can handle. The blow-out feels pretty professional, in fact.
After Jade turns the dryer off, you look up at Tasha, and she’s smiling. “Oh, you’re so going to love this,” she says.
“Close your eyes!” Jade commands, and you do.
Then she turns your chair around so you’re facing the mirror and says, “Open!”
When you open your eyes, it looks like the very best version of yourself is staring back at you in the mirror. Your hair has body and bounce to it, but it looks totally natural, not styled at all. And Lia was right, the highlights are really subtle—it does look like you spent a month on the beach and the sun kissed your hair. And your eyes! They’re framed by thick, dark lashes.
“Wow!” you say. “You seriously are good at this, Jade.”
“We’re not done yet!” she says.
She takes you down to a different part of the salon and sweeps creams and powders on your face and, before she lets you look, heads to her locker, which is really more like a small closet, and gives you a drapey green silk dress. “I think this will look perfect on you, and it never really looked quite right on me anyway.”
You put it on, and then Jade pulls a bracelet and necklace out of a pouch in her locker. “These are on loan,” she says. “And keep your earrings on. Studs are in.”
You slip on her jewelry.
“Okay,” she says. “Now you can look.”
You walk over to a mirror with Jade and Tasha trailing you. And you stare. And stare. In this dress, with that makeup and that hair, you look as if you could be in Tasha’s magazine. You look like a movie star.
“Oh my gosh,” you say. “I can’t believe it’s me! Thank you so much, Jade!”
“It wasn’t just me. You gave me great material to work with.”
You can feel yourself blush, but you’re not sure if anyone can see it through your makeup.
“So,” Tasha says, “now that you’re all dressed, should we head out and see about flirting with some boys?”
You look at your new self in the mirror again.
“Actually,” you say, “can we see what Lia and Gabriela are doing tonight? How about we all get dressed and have a girls’ night on the town? We don’t need to dress up for boys, we can just dress up for us.”
Jade puts her fist out and you bump it. “I like how you’re thinking,” she says. “I’ll talk to Lia and Gabriela. Girls’ night out. And no worries about boys to ruin it!”
“Awesome,” you say. There’s always time to think about boys, if you want to. Tonight, you’re just going to think about how fantastic it is to have great girlfriends with fabulous fashion skills and a beautiful summer night to spend with them.
CONGRATULATIONS!
YOU’VE FOUND YOUR HAPPY ENDING!
Click here to go back to putting outfits together with Jade and Tasha.
- - - - -
Click here to go back to the beginning and start over.
THERE’S something very intriguing about Mitch. He’s got dark hair cropped close to his head and surprisingly light blue eyes. So light they look almost silver. And he’s clearly interested in you.
You look back at Dex. He’s pretty awesome, too. You suppress a tiny laugh thinking about all these handsome tennis-playing boys. When you came out for the weekend, you had no idea this would happen!
You decide that if Dex steps in and refuses to switch partners, you’ll stay with him, but if not, you’ll switch sides and see what the story is with Mitch.
“So what do you think?” Mila asks. “A partner swap?”
Dex rolls his eyes at her. “I’m cool with whatever. I just want to play.”
“Hey!” you say, slightly bummed. “Clearly I’m not wanted on this side. I’ll come play with you, Mitch.”
“I didn’t mean that!” Dex says.
“Your loss, man.” Mitch smiles. “Welcome to the sunny side of the court,” he says once you walk around the net and switch places with Mila.
You start playing again, and you realize that this pairing is actually much better. Mitch is a stronger player than his sister, but Dex makes up for Mila’s shortcomings on the court. It also seems as if Dex has slowed down his serve slightly, because you’re able to return most of them.
You give it your all and play pretty well. Your high school tennis coach would be proud. More than proud, she might actually be impressed. Dex and Mila win the first set. You and Mitch win the second. And now it’s the third set, match point, and you’re serving.
“Forty–fifteen!” you say.
You toss the ball, stretch your racket just like Dex did, and slam the ball with the perfect combination of power and spin. It whips right by Mila.
“Game, set, match!” Mitch cheers, running over to you. Before you realize what’s happening, he lifts you up in the air and spins you around. “So, any chance I can persuade you to stay all summer?” he asks. “It’s rare we can find someone who can beat Dex.”
“If she stays, she’s mine!” Dex says. “I wasn’t giving away my partner for good.”
You put your hands on your hips. “Oh, I see how it is. You didn’t care before, but now that I can beat you, you don’t want me playing with Mitch!” You’re not actually angry with him, but maybe a little miffed. Especially because of the giving-my-partner-away line, as if you were something he owned and could loan out.
“Oooh, you got her mad now! She’s mine for sure.” Mitch holds his hand out to you. “May I interest you in a lemonade before our next match?” The players on court five haven’t finished their match yet, so the four of you have some time to kill before playing again.
“Forget lemonade, how about a virgin piña colada at the bar?” Dex asks. “I didn’t mean to . . . mean to . . .”
“Make her mad?” Mila offers.
“Exactly!” Dex grins at you, kind of flirty, kind of chagrined.
If you go with Dex, Click here.
- - - - -
If you go with Mitch, Click here.
- - - - -
If you’d rather sit and watch your competition, Click here.
Click here to go back to playing tennis with Dex and his friends.
- - - - -
Click here to go back to the beginning and start over.
BEFORE you can say anything, Dex speaks up. “No way,” he says. “Y
ou dance with the girl you came with; it’s the gentlemanly thing to do, guys. Besides”—now he’s looking right at you—“I came with a pretty spectacular girl. Why would I want someone else to dance with her?”
You can feel yourself blushing, and you look down at your tennis shoes, hoping Dex won’t be able to see how pink your cheeks have turned.
“What if she doesn’t want to stay partnered with you, man?” Mitch asks, twirling his racket in his hands.
You look up, and then look over at Dex. He’s clearly waiting for you to answer. “You dance with the guy you came with,” you tell Mitch. “It’s the ladylike thing to do. Besides, I came with a pretty spectacular guy. Why would I want someone else to dance with him?”
Dex laughs at your echo of his words. “So are we playing?” he asks.
“Fine,” Mila says, “but it’s no fun when you know you’re going to lose.”
“You never know what’s going to happen in tennis,” Dex says, bouncing the ball with his racket. “Ready?”
“Ready,” the twins both say.
You try not to play too aggressively, because Mila is right about games being no fun when one team can really outplay the other, and you can tell Dex is holding back, too. But even with that, you beat them pretty quickly and pretty solidly.
You and Dex head to the net to shake hands with Mitch and Mila.
“I need lemonade,” Mila announces, and heads off the court.
“Ditto,” Mitch says, following his sister.
“Do you want lemonade, too?” Dex asks.
Lemonade actually does sound pretty great—but before you can answer, Dex says, “Wait! I have a better idea. Virgin piña coladas from the bar!”
You smile. That does sound like a better idea. “Deal,” you say. “We should celebrate our win before we have to play the next match.”
“You got it,” Dex says. He takes your racket and leans it up against the fence on court four with his, and then leads you upstairs.
Summer Love Page 9