Galgorithm by Aaron Karo

Author:Aaron Karo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Pulse

26

IF THE GALGORITHM HAS A birthplace, it may very well be Crescent Park. It was here that Voldemort broke up with me, sending me into a tailspin.

The park is in the center of town, about ten minutes from my house. It’s nothing special. Just a basketball court, a little playground, and a couple of benches. What I like about it—check that, what I used to like about it—is that since the park is nestled in a residential area, it never really gets completely dark. It’s surrounded by nearby porch lights and streetlamps, so even at night you can still see about twenty feet in any direction. It’s like permanent dusk.

Voldemort and I used to come here, sit on a blanket, talk, and make out. I was in awe of her. Older, wiser, a bit of a baby face but with perfect dimples, soft hands, and that red hair. She used to wear these flannel shirts I could never unbutton. She would do it for me and then we would roll around on the blanket together. I wished we could roll around on that blanket forever. Until she told me that she wanted to see other people. And that those other people did not include me.

The light plays tricks on you in this park. Tonight I’m here sitting on a blanket with Tristen, but every once in a while a shadow will fall on her face and I have to remind myself she’s not Voldemort.

Me and Tristen planned this outing well before the keg party. It was her idea to have a picnic, and she had never heard of Crescent Park, but I suggested it. I figured it had been more than three years since I’d been here. Those demons must have been exorcised by now, right?

“I know I’ve been a little cagey since the party,” I say.

“‘Cagey ’? Is that the politically correct term for shady? Every time I bring it up, you change the subject,” Tristen says.

“I know.”

“You left with Jak, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” I say. “But it wasn’t what you think. She was throwing up.”

“Oh no! Poor thing.”

“It happens.”

“So that’s it?”

Well, that and the fact that I’ve been examining every moment of the past seventeen and a half years of my life to try to figure out what my true feelings for Jak really are.

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“I think it’s sweet,” Tristen says.

“You do?”

“Yeah. You took care of your best friend. You’re loyal. That’s one of the things I like the most about you. Most guys are jerks.”

She kisses me on the lips and lingers there for maximum effect.

My brain is scrambled. Like lightning hit a satellite dish and ruined the reception in my head.

“So you’re not mad?”

“No, I’m not mad,” she says. “I mean, I wish you would have just told me the truth. After you left, I talked to that kid Adam for a while. He’s really weird. He said that the beer was too cold. How can beer be too cold?”

The strange thing is, the more Tristen reveals herself as patient and kind and just totally chill, the more conflicted about her I become.

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