Meet Me at the Boardwalk by Erin Haft

Miles.”
    “When did you find out?” I cleared my throat.
    “Tonight. A few hours ago.”
    “He’s going to tear down the boardwalk to build a dock?”
    She let out a long sigh. “Yes, Miles. I can tell you a fourth time, if you’d like.”
    “But I just don’t…I mean don’t you understand what this means? If Arnold Roth tears down the boardwalk andbuilds a dock, jutting right out of Main Street, it’ll completely ruin the surfing. It’ll split the tide from where the waves break. Surfing will be over in this town, seriously. Seashell Point will be just some lame beach town. I mean, isn’t that part of the draw for the tourists? The surfing? Your mom knows that. If that dock goes up, it’ll be too dangerous, unless we want to pull what they did in Dogtown and Z-boys, surfing under the piers—”
    “What do you care so much about surfing anymore, anyway?” Megan demanded.
    Ouch. I scowled at the phone for a second.
    Megan was acting totally un-Megan-like. It wasn’t just the hour—the latest she’d ever called in the past was at midnight, tops, right after The Colbert Report . But the surfing jab was plain cruel. It was even too cruel for Jade, who pushed the cruelty envelope much harder than Megan ever had.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, after I’d collected myself.
    “You seem fine with skateboarding,” she said. “So did the kids in that documentary. A documentary you wouldn’t have seen if it weren’t for me, by the way.”
    I scratched my wet, sandy scalp, desperately trying to get a grip on the conversation. “I never said I wouldn’t…Megan, why are you pissed at me right now?” Other than the fact that I broke the pact right in front of you .
    “I’m not pissed at you. I’m pissed at the stupid Roth family.”
    “Okay, okay.” I lowered my voice, just in case my parents woke up.
    “I mean, come on, Miles. My mom comes home, marches into the kitchen, and tells me that there’s this crazy plan to tear down the boardwalk and build a dock that leads to a big ‘floating casino.’ ” She let out a bitter little laugh. “The best part? They’re gonna make the announcement at Clam-Fest. You should hear the name of the ship, too. It’s perfect.”
    I held my breath. She kept quiet.
    “Megan?”
    “ The Royal We ,” she said.
    I started cracking up. I couldn’t help it. “Are you serious?”
    “That’s why we’re on the phone at two A.M. , isn’t it?”
    My laughter stopped. “All right, I’m gonna say it now. You’re pissed because you saw me making out with Lily-Ann at the pact party, right? Well, I’m sorry, but honestly, it was just one of those things that kind of happened, like when you made out with Sean Edwards. I mean Turquoise came in, and said the pact was over, anyway. And, see, I get that Lily-Ann is the daughter of the guy who hires you to clean his house, and now he’s—”
    “You don’t get anything.”
    “What?”
    “He’s not that guy anymore,” Megan said.
    I knit my brow. I could hear her soft breathing on the other end. It sounded as if she were about to cry.
    “He’s not the guy who hires me to clean his house. He fired me.”
    “What? Why?”
    “Because I’m not the only one who made out with Sean Edwards. It seems Jade made out with Sean Edwards, too. Only, she poached my keys from my skirt—”
    “MILES!”
    My mom threw my door open, baggy-eyed, wearing a ridiculous pajama combo.
    “Hi, Mom,” I whispered.
    “Stop talking on your cell phone or we’re confiscating it,” she said.
    “Okay.”
    Luckily, Megan overheard this fascinating bit of conversation. I knew she had, because she hung up before we could talk any further.
    I was actually relieved.
    All I needed was sleep and to pretend that this night had never happened.

Jade
    I ’d successfully spent Sunday in bed, pretending that I was so damaged from Lily-Ann Roth’s punch that I couldn’t possibly move (or help clean up).
    Turquoise didn’t utter a