Page 146 of Finding Us

“I’m sure there’s a deli around here somewhere.”

She reaches over and puts her hand on my mine. “Are we celebrating that you made the team?”

“No. I just wanted to eat lunch at the park.”

“But you made the team, right? I mean, obviously you did. You were the best swimmer at Moorhurst until you got hurt.”

I don’t want to explain this in the car, so I pretend to put all my attention on the road. I spot a strip mall that has a sandwich shop and pull into the parking lot. “Let’s try this one.”

We get our sandwiches and some chips and soda and go to a park that’s attached to the public beach.

While we’re eating lunch, Harper calls Jade and they talk for a good 10 minutes. The two of them talk constantly, almost as much as when we were neighbors.

Jade says goodbye to Harper and sets her phone down. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to talk for so long.”

“It’s okay. I was just checking out the views.” I say it just as two girls in bikinis walk by. And yes, they’re hot.

Jade hits my arm. “Garret!”

“What? I was talking about the ocean.”

She rolls her eyes at me.

I toss out our trash, then come back and sit on top of the picnic table. It’s time to tell Jade what’s going on with me. I don’t want to wait any longer.

“Jade, I need to tell you something.”

CHAPTERTHIRTY-NINE

JADE

That’s one of the worst things you can say to a person. That you need to tell them something. Because why do you need to announce it like that? Why not just say what you need to say? The announcement implies it’s going to be bad. Really bad. So bad you need to prepare yourself. Get ready, because here it comes. Granted, I’ve used this phrase many times myself, but I still don’t like it. And I only use it for bad news.

“You sure you want to tell me here? At the park?”

Garret seems confused. “Yeah. Why? What’s wrong with the park?”

“If it’s that bad, I think I want to be home for this.”

“It’s not bad, but if you want to go home, we’ll go.”

“Forget it. Just tell me.”

He turns toward me with a really serious look on his face. This can’t be good.

I jump off the picnic table. “Okay, let’s go. I don’t want to do this here.”

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

“Then just spit it out. I can’t take this long delay.”

He waits for me to sit next to him again, then says, “Remember when I hurt my shoulder last year?”

“You mean when I got you shot and thought you were going to die? Yeah, I remember it. Every detail.”

“You didn’t get me shot, Jade. I got myself shot.”

“No, it was my fault. If I hadn’t been digging for info about my past and—”

---