“Anyway, so Cricket considered me her arch nemesis.”
“She really didn’t, Fin,” Jonah corrected her.
“I know when a girl doesn’t like me,” she said, tucking her hands in the front pockets of her jeans.
Jonah shook his head.
“I know Cricket pretty well,” I said, “and I seriously doubt she’s ever hated anyone ever.”
She nodded. “You’re right. ‘Hate’ is a strong word. Let’s just say, she wasn’t a fan,” she laughed.
We all looked over at Cricket and the group of girls. “Who are they?” I asked.
“Those are a couple girls from our class,” Finley answered.
“Those five girls were the biggest troublemakers in our high school,” Jonah said, shifting a foot onto the rock and resting his arm on his knee.
“Like how?” I asked, curious.
“Besides the random times they broke the law, they broke so many hearts in the halls of our school, I was surprised the walls didn’t melt.”
“That’s hilarious,” I said.
“Fin used to hang with them a lot too.”
“Sometimes,” she said.
“Come now, Fin, you’ve broken more than your fair share of hearts.”
“Not really,” she said, staring at Ethan.
Huh.
Finley brightened all of a sudden. “You guys going swimming later?” she asked.
“Swimming?” I asked, aghast. “In this weather?”
Jonah laughed. “There are a few hot springs nearby. We like to chill in there and throw back a few.”
“Wow, hadn’t expected that little bonus. The only shorts I brought are cargo shorts.”
“You’ll be fine,” Finley said. “Trust me.”
After dinner, everyone got their suits on and I put on my cargo shorts and we headed up to the springs with a cooler and a radio. I couldn’t believe how rad it was that they had hot springs in Montana. I joined everyone a little late, and most were already in the springs, which made it all the more embarrassing because when I came strolling up with my towel, all the girls came to the edge of the pool to say hello.
“Spencer! Over here!” Finley said, leaning over the edge a little and waving me over.
My eyes searched the pools for Cricket, but I couldn’t find her in the crowd of thirty or so. I walked over to where Finley was and set my stuff down on the rocky edge of the spring pool.
“These are some friends of mine,” she said, gesturing to the gaggle of girls lining the pool with her. “They’ve expressed a desire to meet you,” she said, winking and smiling.
I shook my head a little. “Nice to meet you all,” I said, waving.
“This is Sarah,” Finley began at the far left.
I bent down and shook Sarah’s hand.
“Ava, Grace, Faith, Clementine, and Eliza.”