by Jenny Han
Laughing, I say, “I’ve been sailing ever since I was old enough to turn the steering wheel on my own, for God’s sakes! I feel safer driving this thing than a car.”
“I said I’m not getting on that thing,” Lillia snaps. “Either we talk out here, or I leave.”
Under my breath, I mutter, “Diva,” unhook my floodlight, and then join them on the dock.
The three of us sit in a semicircle.
It hits me right then that I’ve already won. Because Rennie’s best friend is sitting here right now, pledging to help me take her down. And Alex is going to get his, too. I could give two shits about Reeve, but it’ll be nice to see him get what’s coming to him. It’s like a freaking three-for-one deal.
I stretch my legs out in front of me. “We’ve got to set some ground rules. First off, I think each of us has to participate in all three acts of revenge. That way, no one can back out or blame someone else.”
“Obviously,” Lillia says.
I shoot her a look, but keep going. “Secondly, we can’t be seen talking to each other in public. Ever. Not that we would . . .”
Mary nods. “Yeah. I guess that makes sense.”
I continue, “In fact, I even think texting each other is too risky. Lillia, what if Rennie picked up your phone and saw my number?”
Lillia looks down at her lap. “Not that Rennie’s like, snooping around on my phone, but yeah, I guess you have a point. We’re going to have to be careful.”
“We have to be more than careful,” I say. “No one can ever know what we’re up to. What we do together lives and dies with us.” Then I clear my throat, because this is the most important part. “And if we’re really going to do this, no one can bail halfway through. If you’re in, you need to be in until the very end. Until we all get what we want. If not, well . . . consider yourself fair game. It’ll be open season, and we’ll have a hell of a lot of ammo to use against you. If you can’t swear to that, we might as well just pretend like tonight never happened.”
Mary nods first, then Lillia. I smile, because, hot damn, we’re really doing this.
“All right then,” I say. “I think that’s it. Now, we just have to figure out what we’re going to do to Rennie, Alex, and Reeve.”
“Alex first,” Lillia corrects.
We look at one another. No one’s saying anything.
“So what are we going to do to him?” Lillia asks.
“Don’t expect me to do the heavy lifting,” I snarl. “I just came up with the rules!”
Lillia purses her lips. “Are you serious? I thought you’d be all over this. I figured you’d already have, like, a notebook with everybody you hate and lists of things you’ll do to get back at them.” She actually sounds disappointed, which gives me a weird sense of pride.
Off the top of my head, I start riffing. “Okay, well, Alex is obsessed with his car. We could spray paint it, mess with the engine—”
“Not big enough,” Lillia interrupts.
Mary asks, “Does he have a pet or something? We could kidnap it . . . and kill it!” Lillia and I exchange a horrified look as Mary giggles. “I’m just kidding about that last part. I love animals!”
I keep going. “We could hack into the school computer and mess with his grades. Make it so the only college that will take him is Jar Island CC. His dad will kill him if he doesn’t get into an Ivy.”
Lillia sighs and says, “I don’t know how to hack into anything, and I doubt you do, either, Kat. Do you, Mary?”
Mary shakes her head.
“I think I have a better idea.” I start to bristle, but then Lillia goes on. “I want to make it so no Jar Island girl will ever hook up with Alex Lind again. So . . . how do we make that happen?” There’s something about the way Lillia says it. Leaning forward in the dark, her eyes are wide open and calm now. She means business.
“Hell yeah!” I clap my hands. I can’t help myself.
© BRAD WALSH
Jenny Han has her master’s degree in creative writing for children from the New School. Her previous books include Shug and The Summer I Turned Pretty. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit Jenny at dearjennyhan.com.
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
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Also by Jenny Han
Shug
The Summer I Turned Pretty
It’s Not Summer Without You
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by Jenny Han All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
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Also available in a hardcover edition Book design by Lucy Ruth Cummins The text for this book is set in Bembo.
First paperback edition April 2012
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Han, Jenny.
We’ll always have summer : a summer novel / Jenny Han.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Sequel to: It’s not summer without you.
Summary: The summer after her first year of college, Isobel “Belly” Conklin is faced with a choice between Jeremiah and Conrad Fisher, brothers she has always loved, when Jeremiah proposes marriage and Conrad confesses that he still loves her.
ISBN 978-1-4169-9558-6 (hc)
[1. Love—Fiction. 2. Brothers—Fiction. 3. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 4. Beaches—Fiction. 5. Vacation homes—Fiction.] I. Title. II. Title: We will always have summer.
PZ7.H18944We 2011
[Fic]—dc22
2010046670
ISBN 978-1-4169-9559-3 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4169-9560-9 (eBook)