“Hmm. Let me think. You spotted the shark that’s been swimming in the Sound close to the shore?” she asked.

As the blood drained from my face, my eyes widened. I’d just come from the gazebo at the end of our neighborhood that led to the Sound. “There’s a shark down there?!” I gasped, momentarily forgetting all about my new neighbors.

In all of my years—yep, all eight of them—I’d never seen a shark before. The thought of one being so close was frightening. Not that I’d admit that out loud though. I shuddered as I thought of the movie Jaws.

Mom had been pissed when she’d found out Dad let Jenna and me watch the scary shark movie when she’d been out of town. He’d claimed that it was to keep us alert in the water. Mom hadn’t bought it. But, in the end, Dad’s plan had worked, because I hadn’t stepped foot in the ocean in weeks. Jenna called me a scaredy-cat. “Better to be that than shark bait,” I’d said, but that didn’t mean she and Chris didn’t have a lot of fun teasing me about it. Whatever.

Mom laughed just as Dad walked into the kitchen, surveying the room. He wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned in close to give her a kiss on the lips. I wrinkled my nose, letting out the usual, “Eww!” which was followed by fake puking sounds. I always thought it was gross when my parents did that lovey-dovey stuff, but the truth was I kinda found it cool at the same time. A lot of kids at my school had parents who weren’t married anymore, and knowing that my mom and dad were still together made me happy. We were still a happy family. When I grew up, I hoped I could be happy like they were. But, for now, I was content pretending it was gross. Because it’d be a long darn time before I ever liked a girl that way.

At least, that’s what I’d thought before that day.

Dad laughed and gave Mom another smacking kiss. When he pulled back, he leaned across the counter and ruffled my already-mussed hair. “I could hear you all the way from the garage. What’s with all the excitement?” he asked as he loosened his tie and rolled his sleeves up before taking a dish from Mom and drying it.

They were both still watching me curiously while they worked in perfect unison. When I didn’t answer, Mom raised an eyebrow and looked at Dad.

“I have no idea, Jay. Jeremy was out playing then running in like a bat out of Hell.”

Dad’s smile grew as both of my parents watched me expectantly, waiting for me. But, before I could answer, Jenna came strolling in. Her grin reminded me of the Cheshire cat, that creepy purple one from Alice in Wonderland. She was about to rat me out, and I wasn’t quite quick enough to stop her.

“Jeremy and Sierra sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I—”

I slapped my hand over her mouth. She giggled then bit me so I’d let go. Freaking bit me!

I’m not even ashamed to admit that a girly yelp escaped my lips as I pulled my hand away and shook it to try to stop the pain from her stupid teeth. “Dammit, Jenna!” I complained then muttered another bad word under my breath. Wincing, I side-eyed Mom and Dad, who looked all too amused. “Sorry,” I told them, already knowing they’d take a percentage off my weekly allowance for that one.

I didn’t get it. It was just a word. What made it so much worse than any other one? Why was dang better than damn? Shoot better than shit? Or the F word that really riled Mom up? Why was that so much worse than freak? At the time, I thought grown-ups had just made it all up to punish us kids. Stupid rules.

“Sierra?” Mom asked, sounding all too interested.

I groaned when my sister nodded with enthusiasm. Mom’s interest had clearly been piqued.

“Yep. She’s—” Her voice was muffled as I slapped my hand over her mouth again, chancing another bite while I tried to shut her up. Sisters could be so annoying.

“Shut up, Jenna,” I pleaded through clenched teeth.

“Jeremy, let go of your sister. Jenna, let your brother tell us himself,” Mom said, her voice soft and soothing.

I dropped my hand as ordered even though I didn’t want to. Jenna opened her mouth to pipe up again, but my mom gave her an index finger, warning her to keep her trap shut. Thank goodness.

I ran a hand through my hair. “You know the new family that moved in next door? They have two daughters. One is our age, and she’s going to be in my class!”

Mom raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?” she asked.

I nodded, humming my answer. “Mmm hmm! And I’m the first friend she’s made in Navarre! She’s cool, too. She was wearing a Michelangelo shirt and everything. He’s her favorite, just like mine! Isn’t that so rad?”

“Wow,” Mom responded, smiling. “It is, indeed, rad. Sounds like you’re going to be good friends.”

My cheeks warmed up at the memory of us being best friends, but I wasn’t going tell Mom that. After all, she was going to be my first girl friend, and Mom was already amused by it. Instead, I changed the subject. Well, at least a little bit.

“Hey, Mom?” I asked.

She twisted to look at me. “Yeah, Jer?”

“What’s an R.O.U.S.?” I asked, frowning at the memory.

Before she could answer, Dad barked his laughter.

“Where’d that come from, Jer?” he asked, his eyes shining with amusement.

My brow wrinkled, and I frowned when Jenna giggled from the other side of the kitchen. “We were playing near the gazebo and Chris started chasing her little sister. Her name’s Lexi, by the way. Anyways, Sierra took one look at him and called him an R.O.U.S. before shoving him down into the sand.” I smiled at the way she had stood over him and told him to leave her sister alone. She was protective, and even though Chris had been joking around, it was nice to see she could stand up to the boys.

“It’s from a movie, Jeremy. It means rodents of unusual size,” Mom informed me, chuckling. “It’s called The Princess Bride. Maybe we’ll have to invite this Miss Sierra over for a movie night. In fact, why don’t we go over after dinner and introduce ourselves? I’ve been meaning to do that anyway.”

“Can we?” I asked, a little too excited at the thought even though I’d just seen her a few minutes ago.

“Well, Lydia,” Dad said, grinning. “It seems our boy here is smitten with the girl next door.” He gave me a wink.

My cheeks turned red with a hint of warmth. “Eww, no. She’s a girl, Dad. I’m not smitten,” I protested, practically choking on the word. I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant, but the last thing I wanted was my dad thinking I had a crush on the new girl next door. Jenna would go blabbing as soon as she could. Big mouth. “That’s the cool thing. Sierra isn’t girly or anything like that. She didn’t mind playing in the mud or the sand, and when we said we were going to play kickball tomorrow, she got excited. We’re just friends.”

What I didn’t tell my parents was that Sierra was the prettiest girl I’d ever seen. Or that her big, blue eyes were the color of the sky over the ocean. Her smile was as white as the sand, and so friendly, too. Something about it warmed me right up, so much more than the sun ever had.

“Just friends?” Dad teased with an eyebrow raised and a half-cocked smile.

“Yep. And I think she’s going to be my new best friend.” I didn’t tell them we’d spit on it. Mom might have scolded me for that one.

“Well, then,” Mom said, smiling at me. “We better get on over there. I need to meet this girl who you already know is going to be your new best friend after just one afternoon.”

I was antsy all through dinner, eating quickly and silently wishing for Jenna to do the same. She spent the meal telling my parents about playing with Lexi, Sierra’s younger sister. Even though we’re twins, I was secretly glad Jenna had Lexi to play with. I didn’t want Sierra playing with her instead of me.

By the time we finally went next door, I could barely contain my excitement. I rocked back and forth on my heels, only stilling when the door swung open wide as tall man answered our knock. My parents made their introductions, and I peered around the house once we had been invited inside, waiting for a glimpse of her. Her dad called for the family, and another round of introductions happened as her mom, Lexi, and Sierra came in.