Page 9 of The Summers of Us

The boy from the family in front of us smiled. He lay down on the green, which allowed him to swipe his putter far enough to fish the ball out. He plopped it into my hand, dripping in fake blue water.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, then walked back to his family.

“That was very nice of that boy,” Blair said when he was farther away.

“Yeah,” I said, wiping the icky feeling of the water on my shorts.

We finished the course around fake zebras, rhinoceroses grazing in tall grass, and an elephant standing between us and the final hole. We didn’t even bother with the score, just put our putters away and headed to the car, happy to have played. I managed a couple steps in the parking lot until I froze with the reality of what I’d done. I couldn’t go another step without righting my wrong.

Blair turned around when she heard my sandals scuff against the pavement. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I just forgot something. I’ll be right back.”

I ran back into the building and took a few deep breaths before I pulled the cute miniature pencil out of my pocket. I knew what I was doing when I’d put it there, knew I was stealing it, but I didn’t have time to think about my actions. Reality only set in when the excitement died down, so I dropped it back into the cute cup with the rest.

“Forgot this. Sorry.” I smiled innocently at the safari boy and turned around before he could identify me in a police lineup.

On the way back to the car, I walked past the family from earlier on the way to theirs. Somehow, I found enough courage in me to yell, “Thanks again for getting my ball!”

The boy and girl turned around. Their parents kept walking to their car, leaving the three of us in the middle of the parking lot just about where I caught myself red-handed.

“No problem,” the boy said, then looked down at his flip-flops.

“I like your shirt.” The girl smiled. “Yellow is my favorite color. I got a yellow ball. Is your favorite color blue?”

I looked at my yellow tank top, the beachiest shirt I could find for my first day of summer. She was observant enough to have remembered the color of my ball. “Cotton candy blue is my favorite color.”

“Cotton candy blue is pretty good.” She brushed black hair behind her ear. “I’m Haven Rivera-Sanchez. This is my twin brother, Holden.”

Holden looked up from his flip-flops to say, “I’m Holden.” He cut his eyes at Haven, dropping hissmile. “Mytwin sisternever lets me speak for myself.”

Haven rolled her eyes. “Nunca quieres hablar por ti mismo.”

“Lo haría si no lo hicieras.” Holden shook his head, then looked at me. “What’s your name?”

I didn’t understand their conversation, but even if they hadn’t told me they were twins, I would have figured it out by now. From their tone of voice, I could tell they were poking fun at each other like Mom and Blair did. Plus, they were leaves floating off the same branch: tan skin, thick eyebrows, and dark eyes mirroring each other as much as fraternal faces can.

“I’m Quinn Kessler,” I said, laughing at their exchange.

“Do you live here?” Haven asked.

“I’m here for the summer.” I pointed to Blair and Hadley waiting at the sidewalk. “That’s my aunt Blair and my cousin Hadley.”

Haven waved at them. “Hadley’s so cute.”

“Holden! Haven!” their mom called, leaning against their red van with a phone pressed to her ear. “¡Es hora de irnos!”

“We have to go but we should play sometime.” I let out a sharp gasp when Haven pulled one of the pencils from her pocket. She took their scorecard from Holden and scribbled on the back. “Here’s our mom’s number.”

They waved at me with big smiles and turned on their heels.

I waved to their backs, watched Haven slip the pencil back into her pocket. Haven Rivera-Sanchezkeptthe cute miniature pencil. The sign inside clearly said to return them and even said please, but she made it all the way to her car without regretting it.

The Rivera-Sanchezes were so cool.

Cool was exactly what I needed.

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