Page 69 of The Summer of Everything

They didn’t. They were only talking.

“And you disappeared,” Kyra points out.

Yeah, so Wes could walk Nico home. They held hands, but only to balance Nico. That’s it. No kiss goodnight. Only a long, silent hug before Nico stumbled inside.

“We’re just friends,” Wes says, his voice as deflated as it was in his head that night.

“Hear me out.” Cooper clasps his hands together. “I think I have the perfect ship name. Nesley.”

“Like the chocolate company?” Lucas asks, suddenly right next to Wes.

“Almost. The first letter of Nico’s name and then the end of Wes’s name. N-E-S-L-E-Y.”

“I like it,” Lucas says, way too into this very unfunny game.

“I liked Weco,” Kyra huffs.

“It sounds like a gas station,” Cooper argues gently. He pivots toward Wes. “How do you feel about it?”

Wes feels the same way he feels about Oasis’s music—absolutely nothing. A knot forms behind his skull. His right eye twitches. His fingers curl inward, squeezing to manage the shaking spreading from his shoulders to his forearms. He’s only blocked from releasing his wrath upon Cooper by a raised voice escaping one of the aisles.

“Just tell me what book you want? Pick one. Any of them.”

It’s a man with a blond beard and thinning hair wrecked by his large hands. He’s a giant compared to the young girl beside him, whose face is splotchy with wet, round cheeks. She’s biting the black polish off her thumbnail while he paces. They have the same pair of downturned brown eyes; his are rimmed red while hers are glassy.

The rest of the store quiets under the weight of their tug-of-war.

“Cassie.” He rubs his forehead. “It’s not that hard. Grab any book you want.”

“I don’t know which one I want!” She hiccups. The threat of more tears is imminent.

“Just…” He waves a hand around. “There are so many. Grab whatever you want. We’re going to be late for lunch.”

Cassie sighs wetly at the ceiling. “I’ve read most of them.”

“I know,” he grumbles.

“Why are you rushing me?”

“I have—”

“You just don’t want to miss golf with Mr. Leeson,” she snaps.

“Cassie, sweetheart, he’s a very important client,” the man says through his white-strips-bright teeth.

“They’re all important,” whispers Cassie, dejectedly. She sniffs hard.

A thick vein throbs along the man’s forehead. He sucks in his cheeks, looking ready to unleash another complaint, but someone in the doorway cuts him off.

“Hey!” Ella yanks off a pair of big, dark sunglasses. Hair knotted into one long braid she flicks off her shoulder, she strolls into the bookstore. She stops in front of Cassie. The man, whom Wes presumes is her dad, glares at Ella. Cassie looks at her Doc Martens, then scans Ella. Her eyes bulge when she realizes Ella’s wearing the same boots.

“Excuse me, miss, but—”

Without looking, Ella holds up a finger to cut off Cassie’s dad. “Sorry, Pops, but it sounds like this badass future rock star needs my assistance.” She smirks at Cassie.

Cassie’s mouth twitches up nervously before blooming into a full smile.

“I’m Ella,” Ella says, up-nodding.

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