Page 21 of All the Ways You Save Me
“Oh, yeah.” Jason’s brow furrows. “I mean, he’s a hard worker for sure. It’s just—a lot, you know? Being homeless and having to completely make it on your own.”
“Well, he’s not on his own. He has you.” I hesitate. “Right?”
Jason sits up straight. “Right. That’s what I’m saying.” Hewaves a hand like I’m misunderstanding him. “We’ve been, like, ride or die, you know? He really likes you, so I think it’s important that you get what he’s been through. That you’re, like, prepared to be supportive and all that.”
My shoulders relax. It sounds like Jason is telling me all this because he sees me as a part of Adam’s life, and he wants to make sure I’ll be good for his best friend. “That’s really sweet of you to look out for him.”
“Well, I get the feeling you’ll be around for a while. So,we’vegot to look out for him.”
I smile, for the first time feeling like maybe Jason and I have a true connection. When I first met him, he seemed like nothing but a frat-boy-in-training. But deep down, he’s a good friend who would clearly do anything to protect Adam. “Of course.” I look down at my hands, my cheeks flushing. “I really, really like Adam. And I’m in.” I lift my gaze to Jason. “You know, for looking out for him.”
“Okay, cool,” he says, holding out a fist for me to bump, transforming back into the frat boy, but I know better now.
I press my fist to his just as Adam returns with three sodas and a bag of chips.
Jason lunges off the couch. “Guess this is your seat.” He waves Adam onto the cushion next to me.
I cuddle up next to Adam, and the three of us have a good-natured argument over what movie to watch. Adam and Jason tease me about my romance movie picks, but in the end, they give in, and Jason presses play onNotting Hill.
“Is this our life now that we have a girl in the group?” Jason rolls his eyes as the opening credits pop up on the screen, but I can tell he’s joking. “Are we doomed to sappy romcoms forever?”
Adam grins, wrapping an arm around me. “I’m afraid so.” He doesn’t look the least bit sorry about it, and my heart tugs at Jason’s words and the press of Adam’s hand against my hip. Aweek ago, I didn’t know a soul at Maple Ridge High and worried my senior year would be a complete disaster. And now I’m part of a group, one with good guys who look out for each other. For the first time since my mom told me we were leaving Sandy Harbor and moving here, I’m not thinking about my old friends, feeling like I’m missing out. Maybe everything really does happen for a reason, and here with Adam and Jason is exactly where I’m supposed to be.
TWELVE
TEN YEARS AGO
Adam
When Jason gets home from swim practice, he walks into the basement through the garage, dumping his bag by the door and flopping on the couch beside me. His hair is still wet from the pool, and the scent of chlorine drifts over to me. It reminds me again that I really ought to learn to swim. I know Jason would teach me, but it’s embarrassing to basically be a grown man and need your best friend to help you float across a pool like a toddler. But if I’m ever going to learn, I should probably just suck it up.
“How was practice?” I toss aside the biology book I was pretending to read, grateful for the distraction. I’ve been trying to focus more on schoolwork, but mastering the concepts of cell division after skating by on the basics is proving to be about as hard as I expected. I could probably ask Jason for help with that, too, but then I’d feel like a complete loser.
“Eh, Coach is being kind of a dick.” Jason tugs open the drawer on the coffee table, revealing the remote control and a half-eaten bag of Skittles. “Where’s my weed?”
I hitch my chin toward the dresser where I keep my clothes. “I hid it under my socks. I didn’t want your parents finding it.”
Jason crosses the room to root around in my drawers. “Ew, dude. I don’t want my weed smelling like your dirty socks.”
“I do wash them before I put them away. They smell way better than that skunky shit you smoke.”
He pulls out his bag and rolling papers, and I get up to open a window.
We settle back on the couch, and Jason lights up his blunt. Once he’s inhaled and exhaled, he offers it in my direction. I shake my head.
“I’m kind of over swim team,” he says. “I’m thinking of quitting. I don’t really need it for college applications, so why bother?”
After struggling with that biology book all evening, I can’t help but feel a tinge of resentment. He has no idea what it’s like to have everything go easy for him. His dad went to Princeton and is now a generous donor, so Jason has a pretty good shot of getting in. And he has about a dozen different backup plans.
Jason takes another drag. I wave away the smoke and lean forward to light a candle on the coffee table. I wish he’d go outside with that shit.
“If I quit the swim team, I can get a job,” Jason continues.
My eyebrows raise. Jason has never had a job, and he’s never really needed one. His parents are pretty generous with his allowance, and college is fully funded. Maybe he wants to get some experience for when he starts applying for internships and jobs after college. I know he’s planning to go into business. I guess companies may not be impressed by his parents supporting him. Still, I’m a little skeptical that he’s going to work a typical high school job. He’s not really suited to serving demanding customers at a place like a coffee shop. And he loves to give me shit about my job at the autobody shop. But still, Isay, “Broadway Automotive is looking for another assistant. You want me to talk to my boss?”
I can tell the weed has started to hit him because this suggestion cracks him up. “Dude, thanks, but no thanks.”
I felt like I should make the offer, but I’m secretly relieved when he passes. I don’t think he would have lasted more than a couple of weeks, and if he quit, it would have reflected on me. I need that job. Jason’s parents won’t let me pay for rent or food, even though I’ve offered a dozen times. But my minimum wage income at Broadway Automotive covers all my spending money, and since I met Madeline, I’ve been trying to save more. She deserves someone who has more than ten bucks to his name.
