The Summer I Went Wild Chapter 2 Part 4
The Summer I Went Wild
Chapter Two
Part Four
Of course, it was working.
“Nope.”
“So you won’t try to ease my worry? And Dad’s?”
“I said I’m fine.”
“Well, we don’t believe you,” Jessica yelled—which was odd. She never yelled.
“I don’t believe you either,” Maddy echoed, chewing her gum obnoxiously.
“I didn’t say I wasn’t going. I said let me think about it,” I muttered.
“Time is ticking,” Maddy warned.
“Yeah,” Jessica added. “Remember how we used to take those vacations every summer, and you’d be the happiest person in the group?”
“That was, what, seven years ago?” I scoffed. “And by the way, I’ve grown boobs and common sense since then.”
“That sounds boring,” Maddy yawned.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Jessica sighed, “but for the third time, I agree with Maddy.”
“So you really want me to join you on this vacation?” I asked, searching for the tiniest excuse to say no.
They both nodded.
“Even though Landon will be there?”
Jessica stiffened.
If anyone hated Landon more than I did, it was her. She was the one who had loved him fully and walked back home on Valentine’s Day with red-rimmed eyes.
But she surprised me.
“You matter to me so much more,” she said calmly. “He’s irrelevant now.”
“Wow.”
“That’s what I’ve been telling your stubborn sister,” Maddy said smugly.
“Yeah,” Jessica added. “We’re cool now. I have a boyfriend. He has a girlfriend.”
I raised my brows. “You have a boyfriend and didn’t tell me?”
After Landon, Jessica had sworn off love. We used to cope by swooning over celebrities and steamy romance novels.
“It’s new,” she said, blushing. “We’re keeping it quiet.”
“Not from me. Tell me everything.”
“Agree to the vacation, and I’ll tell you things I shouldn’t.”
I gasped. “Are you emotionally blackmailing me?”
“It’s a deal,” she smiled. “Because I care.”
“That’s unfair.”
“The world is unfair.”
“Come on, Jess. Give me something.”
She tilted her head—exactly forty-five degrees. A sure sign she had an idea.
“I’ll add more terms.”
“Which is?”
“I’ll tell you everything—and my boyfriend and I will join the vacation. But only if you go.”
I screamed.
The beach. The sun. Jessica smiling like that again.
“You like the sound of that?” Maddy asked.
I nodded.
“Me, you, and Charlotte,” Jessica began.
“The three musketeers,” Maddy finished.
“A force to reckon with,” I added.
Back then, we were chaos. Tom, Jerry, and Spike.
But we’d changed. Especially me.
“So,” Jessica asked softly, “is it a yes?”
“Yes.”
Maybe I could forget for a while. Forget Mom’s disappointment. Forget Harvard.
“Yes,” I repeated.
“Finally,” Maddy grinned.
“I always get my way,” Jessica bragged.
“When will you join us?” I asked.
“Next month. After my exams.”
“So a month before I see my sister?”
“I can’t wait,” she smiled.
“Until then,” Maddy said, “you’ll have fun with me.”
“Crazy, wild fun.”
“Crazy, wild, sexy fun.”
“Behave,” Jessica warned sarcastically.
We laughed.
For a while, everything felt easy again—like summer was finally beginning.