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alone with Bree in the changing room, and that he
    was really asking if she was okay.
    Before Lexie could say anything, a curly-haired woman in bright yellow
    culottes blew a whistle around her neck and made them all gather at the wall
    furthest away from the pool. Then she spent forty-five minutes explaining all the
    rules of the pool as well as how to play the game. She must have no “No running
    on the edge of the pool” five gazillion times. Lexie wasn’t sure how she was
    supposed to take anyone in bright yellow culottes seriously.
    Finally she called the team captains forward and read off their assigned
    teams. Lexie couldn’t believe her luck – she was on Jake’s team! As she headed
    over, he high-fived her and winked.
    “Did you make that happen?” she whispered.
    “Of course,” he said. “Cynthia likes me. She’s hoping I’ll work here as a
    lifeguard once tens camp is over.”
    Best of all, Bree had to be a team captain, too, and Sally wound up on a
    third team, so Lexie and Jake didn’t have to get too close to them for the rest of
    the day.
    There were six teams, so four teams would watch while the other two
    played each other, and then they’d switch around. As Cynthia explained it, they’d
    practice for a week, and then they’d have a tournament the next week to crown a
    winning team. Lexie realized that that meant she’d signed up for two weeks of
    pool volleyball. She wouldn’t get to switch to something else – like Frisbee – until
    the two weeks were up. Well, maybe Bree would be over Jake by then.
    To her surprise, volleyball was much more fun than she’d expected,
    although she kept getting water up her nose and a couple of the freshmen on her
    team were horrifyingly better than she was. She even managed to hit the ball in
    the right direction a couple of times, and each time she did, Jake yelled, “Yeah!”
    ad splashed her.
    Her turn to serve came up. She balanced the ball on one hand and tried to
    remember what she’d learned in regular volleyball in gym class.
    “Here,” Jake said, coming up beside her. “Hold this arm out straight.” He
    took her left arm under the water and straightened it out so it was pointing a little
    to her right. “Now keep that arm straight while you hit t with your other fist.” He
    reached around behind her and touched her right shoulder.
    The combination of his hands, her bare arms, and the water made her so
    nervous, she swung wildly and sent the ball up out of the pool, into the crows
    along the edge.
    “Don’t worry,” Jake said, squeezing her shoulder, “You’ll get it next time.”
    Not if you keep helping me like that, I won’t ! Lexie thought, but the truth
    was she’d rather be that close to Jake than hit a great volleyball serve any day,
    Finally, finally, the end of the day came. Lexie didn’t want to face Bree and
    Sally in the changing room again, so she toweled off her hair, pulled on her shorts
    over her bathing suit, and headed straight out to the bikes.
    A stranger was leaning against the rack, next to her bike. A guy about her
    age. She’d never seen him before, which probably meant he either was new or
    went to one of the private schools in town.
    “Hey,” he said with a lazy, crooked smile. He had amazingly straight white
    teeth. His hair was shaggy and dark, and his eyes were light brown.
    “Um, hi,” she said. “Sorry, that’s – um, that’s my bike.”
    “Oh, sorry,” he said, moving aside. She knelt to unlock it, hoping Jake would
    come out soon.
    “I’m Riley,” he said. “I’m just waiting for my brother. Do you go here?”
    “Summerlodge?” she said. “Yeah. I’m doing the tennis camp.”
    “Huh,” he said. His eyes had this faraway dreamy look, and she couldn’t tell
    if he was really listening to her until he turned and smiled at her again. His smile
    could really catch a girl’s attention, even if that girl had a pretend boyfriend she
    was secretly in love with.
    “Is it cool?” he