“Now remember, Ally. If you need anything—anything at all—you can call me anytime,” my mother said as Gray drove his silver Land Rover up Orchard Avenue toward Jump, Java, and Wail! She kept turning around in the front seat, her sunglasses pushed back atop her head, holding her hair away from her face. Quinn sat next to me, some musical soundtrack turned up to an ungodly volume on her iPod. The entire car was filled with the sickly sweet scent of her watermelon gum. The back was crammed with canvas Lands’ End bags, filled to the brim with everything from sunscreen to beach towels to exercise equipment. Apparently when Gray packed up his shore house at the end of each summer, he left nothing behind for the next.“I know, Mom. Thanks,” I said.Gray slowed down and hit his blinker to make the left onto Grove Lane. Jump was right on the corner, and already a few girls from school were hanging outside in their short shorts, sipping iced lattes. Suddenly Quinn pulled out her earbuds and the sound of a wailing voice filled the car, backed up by, like, a hundred trumpets.“Did you guys know that Bye Bye Birdie is actually a spoof?” she asked, her blue eyes bright. Quinn had not stopped talking about Bye Bye Birdie for the last month. She was going to be playing the lead in the show at some big local theater down the shore. Which was supposedly why Gray had taken the entire summer off to stay down there. Usually he only did weekends. As much as I knew he loved Quinn, I had a feeling he was actually taking an entire summer off so he could shack up with my mom. “They were spoofing what happened when Elvis Presley went to war. Did you know that Elvis Presley was drafted?”My mom and Gray exchanged an amused look, like Isn’t our daughter oh so precious? It made my stomach turn. Because last time I checked, Quinn was not my mother’s daughter. Staying in Orchard Hill for the summer was the best choice I’d ever made. Because I couldn’t watch that every day for the next ten weeks.“Yes, I believe I read that somewhere,” Gray joked, his long blond bangs flopping over the tops of his Ray-Bans.The traffic opened up and he made the turn, pulling into one of the fifteen-minute parking spaces alongside the store. I jumped out, tugging my gargantuan duffel bag with me.“Thanks, Gray!” I shouted as my mom got out of the car.He lifted a hand. “Have fun!”My mother took my hands, kissed my cheek, and gave me this half-pout, half-smile. “You sure you’re okay with this?”“Yes, Mom. I’m sure,” I said patiently.“Okay, then.” She gave me a bear hug. “Be safe! And call me tonight.”“Wait,” I said, my heart falling. “You’re not coming in with me?”She glanced toward the coffee shop warily. “Ally—”“What if dad wants to talk to you about . . . I don’t know . . . rules or something?” I said.She laughed. “You’re not exactly high-maintenance.”“But, Mom,” I said, feeling desperate. This was my one and only chance to get my parents back in the same room together for the rest of the summer. “Just for a minute?” I glanced at the side window of Jump, willing him to come out.“Ally, I told you,” she said, stepping closer to me and lowering her voice. “I’m not ready to talk to your father yet.”“Well, when will you be ready?” I asked, irritated. After you’ve eloped with Gray?“I don’t know,” she said seriously. Then she blew out a breath. “Enough of this. I’ll talk to you later. Be good, okay?”“Just wait one second,” I said, taking a couple of steps toward the door. “I’m sure he’ll—”And that’s when I spotted them.Jake Graydon was standing with my father at the back of the shop, and they were chatting like old friends. They hadn’t noticed me yet, probably because my dad was too busy belly laughing at something Jake had just said into his ear. My father, the guy who kept so many secrets from me I couldn’t even count them, and Jake, the guy who’d kept the biggest secret of all.What. The hell. Was this?Jake was supposed to be out of my life, not hanging out in it when I wasn’t even around. It was just so wrong. Like my feelings didn’t matter at all. Like he still thought he belonged, no matter what I said. And talking to my dad like best buds? I’d barely even talked to my dad in two years.What were they saying about me?Wait a minute, Ally. Calm down. It’s not all about you.Except what else could they possibly be talking about?Just then, my dad looked through the window, saw me, and waved. He started out the front door, sidestepping a mother and daughter who were hovering by the fixings area. Jake followed after him.My mother sighed, oblivious. “Ally, we have to go—”“Wait,” I said, my voice shrill. My mind was reeling and suddenly I didn’t even care if she spoke to my dad. I just didn’t want her to leave me alone to deal with . . . this.“Ally! Hey!”My dad walked over and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. Jake hovered there, hands in the pockets of his shorts, a doofy smile on his face.“Hello, Melanie,” my father said.She shot me a half-fed-up, half-sad look. “Hello, Chris.”Dad looked through the car window and lifted a hand at Gray, like they were all long-lost friends having a roadside chat. Everyone was very civil, all of a sudden. I glanced at Jake, feeling nervous and awkward and confused and annoyed. What the hell was he doing here?And why did he have to be so freaking gorgeous? His spiky brown hair was gelled up a little in front, and the bright sky peeking through the canopy of tree branches overhead made his light blue eyes practically glow. He was wearing a short-sleeved button down shirt and khaki shorts with leather sandals. Kind of dressed up for a random summer day, but it worked on him. Who was I kidding? Everything worked on him.“Hey . . . are you okay?” he asked as my dad started peppering my mom with questions about the shore—how long were they staying, did they have any big plans, etc., etc. Jake put his hands on his hips as he looked at me with concern. He had really long arms. Long and tan. The kind you just want to sink into. I tore my gaze off them and looked him in the eye.“Not really,” I snapped sarcastically.Jake glanced at my parents and tucked his chin. “Did I do something? What’s wrong?”“What’s wrong is that I can’t take people talking about me behind my back anymore,” I blurted. I was surprised, and pleased, by how in control I sounded. Because the voice in my head was growing panicky. I was so sick of feeling stupid. Feeling like the only one who had no idea what was going on.He blinked and touched my arm, nudging me slightly away from the car. My dad was still talking to my mom, but she was staring over his shoulder with her jaw clenched, like she was concentrating very hard on not punching him in the face. “You mean, me and your dad? We weren’t talking about you.”I laughed. “Yeah, right.”“We weren’t!” he protested. “I was just applying for a job.”Pfffttt. That was the incredulous sound my lips made at that announcement.“I was!” he said, his eyes wide at my unbelievable unfairness.“Sure. You’re getting a job,” I said dubiously. “Why would you be getting a job?”“I know, I know. But I have to,” he said. “My mom grounded me for the summer and she’s making me jump through all these hoops. I gotta get a tutor and take a class and—” He started ticking things off on his fingers and I sort of couldn’t believe it. How could he think it was okay to launch into a casual conversation? He was just like my father, trying to act like everything could be how it was before, without so much as an apology—without so much as an acknowledgement that he’d done anything wrong. Did he think all was forgiven? Because it definitely was not.“You know what?” I interrupted. “You’re mistaking me for somebody who cares.”His jaw dropped. Okay. That was maybe a little bit harsh. But what did he expect me to do? Play along and act all flirty and interested, as if he’d done nothing wrong? As if he hadn’t broken my heart? I had just spent an entire year taking crap from everyone around me and I wasn’t going to do it anymore.I turned around and dragged my bag back toward the car.“Did Ally tell you I’m going to retake my Series Seven this summer?” my father was saying. “I should be trading again by the end of August.”“No, she didn’t tell me that, Chris. How nice for you,” my mother said facetiously. “I really hope you’re not going to become one of those fathers who uses their daughter as a go-between instead of dealing with things himself.”“Well, when you refuse to answer my calls . . . ,” my dad said with a chuckle.Much to Quinn’s surprise, I opened the side door again, threw my bag inside, and got in.“Come on, Mom. Let’s go,” I said out the window.“What? Ally . . . I thought you were staying with me,” my father said.“I changed my mind,” I told him.My mom barely bit back a grin. “She changed her mind,” she said with a shrug. Then she got in the car as well and slammed her door. “Gray,” she said as she buckled her seat belt. “Let’s go.”“But I . . . shouldn’t we talk about this?” my father said.I felt bad for bailing on him like this, but I couldn’t stay there a moment longer with the two of them—the two guys who’d broken my heart. Just seeing them standing there together made me want to cry or shout or throw things.“I’ll call you later,” I told my dad.Then Gray pulled out into traffic and we were gone.“Are you okay?” my mother asked. “What did Jake say?”“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said. I put my sunglasses on and hunkered down for the long drive.“Oh, but look at him. He looks so sad,” Quinn lamented, gazing out the back window at Jake. I shot her a look that, in a perfect world, would have killed her dead. She popped the bubble that hung from her mouth, wisely averted her eyes, and put her earbuds back in.Suddenly, I couldn’t get away from Orchard Hill fast enough. I needed something. Something to help me stop feeling this way. Like there was some kind of roiling, hot poison in my chest, just waiting for the perfect moment to spew forth. Maybe what I needed was a change of scenery. Something new.My phone beeped and I leaned forward to slip it from my pocket. It was a text. From Faith.R U coming down??? We can go 4 manicures!!!I turned the phone off and curled my knees toward the door. Unfortunately, all that was waiting for me at LBI was more of the same old same old.