The Next To Last Mistake by Amalie Jahn

Author:Amalie Jahn [Jahn, Amalie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: racism;prejudice;friendship;diversity;moving;military families;teen romance;angie thomas;sarah design;emery lord;julie buxbaum;morgan mason;stephanie perkins;military bases;north carolina;south;southern fiction
Publisher: Light Messages Publishing
Published: 2018-11-16T05:00:00+00:00

chapter 16

Hindsight

Friday, February 15

Leonetta and I circle the block three times before resigning ourselves to a parking spot almost a quarter mile away from Calvin Watkins’ house. We pass Summer’s car along the way, confirming she and Alice are already inside.

As we walk together down the sidewalk—the music of the party increasing in volume with every step—I’m reminded of all the parties I attended back in Iowa. All the backyard birthday parties with bobbing for apples and pin the tail on the donkey. All the middle school bowling parties when going to Sidetracks was all the rage. All the bonfires where couples paired off beneath the stars with stolen Budweisers from their parents’ refrigerators. Zander accompanied me to all of them. He was my anti-wingman, the reason I never partnered off with anyone else. Even when he had a girlfriend, he never ventured far from my side, a buffer for Lacey’s rude remarks, a shield from would-be suitors.

Am I expecting Leonetta to fill his role tonight as my new security blanket?

“Wonder if Alice has accosted Calvin yet?” she asks, breaking me from my thoughts as we climb the steps to the front door.

“I guess we’re about to find out,” I say. For a moment, I hesitate at the door, wondering whether it’s appropriate to knock or just walk in. But Leonetta doesn’t falter, nudging past me to swing it wide open, revealing the chaos within. Two guys stumble past us out into the night, and we hurry inside.

Music is blaring and people are everywhere, packed into every corner of the house and spilling into the backyard. I catch a glimpse of three members of the basketball team, Lashanda from lit circle, and a couple kids from history class. But instead of venturing off to say hello, I stay close to Leonetta, my constant navigator, as she maneuvers us past the couples making out, past the girls dancing on the dining room table, and past the keg and beer pong into the kitchen where we stumble across Alice and Summer. They’re leaning against the wall beside the refrigerator, talking with two guys, neither of whom I recognize from school. But then again, school is a very big place.

“It’s about frickin’ time!” Summer cries, noticing us across the room. There’s a Solo cup in her hand and from the ridiculously high octave of her voice, I can safely assume it’s not filled with pop. She’s nuzzled against someone who looks nothing like her boyfriend, Private First-Class Travis. This guy is tall and lean but clearly not military given the generous beard he’s sporting. Seeing her with someone else doesn’t surprise me, though, especially after hearing about Travis’s most recent indiscretions. What surprises me instead is finding Alice deep in conversation with a bespectacled coed.

I nudge Leonetta with my elbow, and she leans down.

“That’s not Calvin, is it?”

She shakes her head. “It’s Marcus Robinson. He graduated last year.”

I point to my face. “He’s wearing glasses,” I say.

To this, Leonetta only shrugs.

“Come say hello,” Summer calls across the kitchen, waving us over.

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