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sadness behind his eyes, something that I can relate to.
    Landon’s phone is in his cup holder when it rings on our way to the beach. Lily’s name comes up on the screen.
    “Why is your old girlfriend calling you, Landon?”
    He glances at the phone but doesn’t answer it. “Beats me.”
    “You never told me you still talked to her.”
    “We catch up every now and then. It’s no big deal.”
    I wonder why he’d want to catch up with his ex-girlfriend when he always complains about her. I want to ask more questions about how often he talks to Lily and what they talk about, but he drives up to the entrance to the beach and hops out of the car before I can ask him to elaborate.
    I thought Landon and I would find a nice quiet place to sit and talk in front of the bonfire, but he leaves me to hang with some of the guys. I could join him, but I’m getting a weird vibe from him tonight and decide to give him some space. I don’t want to smother him like Lily did.
    Jet has a six-pack in his hand as he stands by Victor’s car with a bunch of other guys. The second Jet sees me, he waves me over.
    “Hey, Captain,” he says as he wraps me in a bear hug.
    “Cut it out, Jet.”
    “You know you love me, Ash.”
    “No, I don’t. Most of the time I don’t even like you,” I joke. “Get your paws off me and leave them for the poor, unsuspecting girls who buy your bullshit.” I dig an elbow into his ribs. “Landon’s right over there. Don’t piss him off.”
    Jet laughs. “Why would I want to piss off our star QB, our pride and joy, the prince, the single most important person on our team, the only quarterback who can take us to State with one hand tied behind his back?”
    “Lay off, Thacker,” Vic chimes in, shutting Jet up for the moment.
    After we lost in the playoffs, the local paper printed a quote from Landon bashing Jet about not catching his last two passes. Landon said they misquoted him, but Jet still took it personally. Ever since then, the two have been trading barbs and I’ve had to defuse a lot of it to keep the peace.
    Jet points to a girl by the water’s edge wearing a skimpy thong bikini. “What are the chances I get lucky with her tonight?”
    “Better than most,” I tell him. “Should I warn her that you just want a one-night stand so she shouldn’t expect a call from you in the future?”
    That gets an amused grin out of Vic.
    “Hell, no.” Jet doesn’t have girlfriends. He likes to “spread the love” and hook up with as many hot girls as he can. Which also means he’s pissed off more than a good share of the high school female population in Fremont and the surrounding communities.
    A few times Jet has needed my help being rescued from clingy girls desperate to have a real relationship. I’ve reluctantly acted as his fake girlfriend too many times to count. I told him that one day he’ll fall hard for a girl who’ll break his heart, but he laughs it off. He thinks love is complete bullshit.
    I walk to the bonfire where Monika is sitting and think about the conversation Derek and I had in the kitchen. And the fight my dad and Brandi had. And Derek’s stupid abs he flaunted today. And the guilt I have for Landon not being voted captain. I want my brain to stop thinking. It’s on overload.
    “I can’t believe my best friend didn’t tell me she was votedcaptain,” Monika says as she snuggles against her boyfriend, Trey, our star running back. “Congrats, girl!”
    “Thanks.”
    Trey and Monika have been dating since junior high. They’re completely in love and aren’t afraid of PDA or talking about their future as if it’s a given that they’ll be together forever.
    After my parents split, I gave up on finding true love—something manufactured in movies and books to make people believe in the impossible. Trey and Monika renewed my faith. He looks at Monika as if she’s the only girl in the world. It’s as if she’s his life-line and he’d be lost without her. Monika