Page 13 of Hot Summer Nights

“One of our houses burned down,” I tell him.

“Probably from a candle that they lit or something electrical, so either way, not your fault.”

“We never won anything,” I list off. “Not on lottery tickets or at the casino or even things at school.”

“So? Lots of people never win stuff. I would argue most don’t and most certainly never win the lottery.”

“We lost houses and apartments. Been in car accidents.”

I’m listing off more and more things, desperate for him to see my point, and I don’t even know why. He wasn’t there for all of those things. He doesn’t know how much it hurt all of us.

“None of that was because of you or a curse,” he says, and I shake my head.

He pulls into Madelyn’s driveway and I hurry to unbuckle and get out.

“Hey,” he says, his hand resting on my arm. “You didn’t cause any of that. They did. They didn’t work hard, they slacked off, or they lied and got caught. Your family, they’re just blaming you for everything. None of those things were your fault or a curse’s fault.”

I open my mouth to argue with him, but his jaw is set and I know that he’s never going to believe me.

“It’s just bad luck or the consequences of their own actions, Record,” he says softly and I feel tears sting the back of my eyes.

“I have to go,” I choke out. “But you should stay away from me. For your own good.”

I climb out of the Jeep and run up the front porch steps and inside.

I lean back against the door, tears slipping free from my eyes, and wait for him to leave. It takes a few minutes, but finally his headlights reverse and head back down the street.

SIX

Record

I didn’t thinkthat Gavin would really stay away from me. Maybe I just didn’t want him to, but either way, what I wasn’t expecting was for him to be knocking on the front door bright and early the next day.

“What are you doing here?” I ask him, and he grins at me.

“I’m going to prove to you that you’re not cursed.”

I blink at him, wondering if I’m still dreaming or something but nope. Gavin is standing on Madelyn’s front porch in a pair of swim trunks and a dark blue T-shirt.

“No,” I say, trying to close the door, but he catches it before I can.

“What do you have to lose? Let me take you out. Either you prove that you’re right or I do.”

“And when I’m right? Will you stay away from me?”

“Yeah, sure,” he says, but I can tell that he’s not happy about it.

“Fine.”

“Good. Now get dressed. You’re going to need a swimsuit and comfortable shoes.”

I open the door and let him inside before I head up the stairs. I need to get away from him so that I can think this through and calm my racing heart.

I should tell him that I can’t go, maybe make up some excuse or some fake plans. I’m betting that he would just call Lyla, Sutton, or Iris though to confirm my plans and find out that I was lying.

Looks like this is happening.

I’ll just try to make sure that nothing bad happens to him. I’ll keep my distance and everything will be fine.

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