Page 24 of The Sandover Beach Billionaire

Jenna shook her head, but smiled. This girl!

“Thanks again for the charger. You can get back to your selfies and social media now.”

The girl’s head snapped up and Jenna smirked. She obviously hadn’t expected a smart remark back.

Instead of looking mad, the girl narrowed her eyes for a moment and then nodded like Jenna had made it into some kind of club. Jenna felt an odd sort of pleasure that she had crossed over this invisible barrier to approval. It shouldn’t matter if some random pre-teen thought she was cool. But it did. She glanced down at the girl’s phone. It was open to some kind of video-editing app.

“What are you working on?” The question popped out before she could think about whether or not it was a good idea. It probably wasn’t.

But the girl narrowed her eyes and then said, “I create mini-documentaries.”

“Wow. Like, all on your phone? The video, editing, all that?”

“Surprising fact: phones aren’t just for calling people. Yeah, everything’s on here that I need. I can film clips, then splice them together, put music over it, effects. This is a paid app, but still was pretty powerful for the price.”

“Where can I watch them? I mean, are they published on YouTube or something?”

“You want to watch them?”

Jenna shrugged. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mini-documentary. It sounds interesting. And, no offense, but you’re young. I’d like to see what you can do. I have a feeling I’d be impressed.”

Before the girl could answer, Rachel called out her name. “Jenna!” Rachel waved from near the exit. She had a cart full of paper grocery sacks.

“Well, better go. Thanks again and best of luck with the videos,” Jenna said to the girl, who had already gotten back to her project. Turning to Rachel, she eyed the cart. “That’s a lot of salad. What else have you got in there?”

Just before Jenna reached Rachel, Jackson appeared. Jenna stopped in place, a few feet away. Rachel smiled up at him like they were old friends. He put his arm around her and gave a quick squeeze. So casual, so easy. Why could Rachel do that, while Jenna made everything awkward or terrible?

Should she thank him for the gift bag? Tell him how much the note meant to her? Jenna’s heart felt wild and erratic and she knew her cheeks were flushed. If she said anything now, that would mean explaining to Rachel. Which she definitely didn’t want to do.

Jenna forced herself to close the distance between them. “Hey, there. I see you caught up with the Bohn’s Employee of the Month.”

The moment the words left her mouth, she wanted to take them back. Rachel turned, giving her a shocked look. Jenna flinched. She didn’t want to look at Jackson, but finally did. He wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“Good to see you again, Rachel.” His voice was clipped. He brushed past them both.

Jenna had an urge to chase after him, but of course she didn’t. She stood there, feeling small and mean. Rachel smacked her on the arm. “What is wrong with you?” Jenna shrugged and Rachel made a sound of disgust. “I didn’t get to finish telling you on the phone the other day. He apologized to me last year. I really think he’s changed. You can stop defending my honor, if that’s even what this is about.”

“What else would it be about?”

“I have no idea, honestly. Jealousy comes to mind.”

“Jealousy? Of what? Of whom?”

Rachel sighed. “I don’t know. I kind of got the impression after Steve that maybe you liked Jackson. Even though he was a jerk back then. I sort of thought part of the reason you were so mad about the rumors about me and Jackson was because you liked him. By the way, you know he didn’t start the rumors, right?”

Jenna was too shocked to even touch the rest of Rachel’s words, so she zeroed in on that one thing. “He didn’t? Who did?”

“Steve, of all people. How have we not talked about this? I swear I told you this.”

“You most definitely did not tell me any of this.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “You had to know that. Remember the big fight they got in and Steve came to school with a black eye?”

“That was about you?”

“Yep. So maybe you should go apologize to Jackson for what you just said. He’s still right there.”

If only Rachel knew how much Jenna had to apologize for and how many times she had been rude to him that week. Jenna glanced over and realized that he was talking to the sassy girl in the café. He had his hands in his pockets while the girl was still messing with her phone. Something dawned on Jenna, but slowly. The thought made her stomach drop.

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