The-Lucky-List-Rachael-Lippincott

the cat dragged in.”
“Nice to see you, too.” I crane my neck, looking past him, my eyes scanning the deck. “Matt here?”
“Uh, yeah.”
I go to slide around Jake, but he stops me. “Pool fee?”
I put my hands on my hips, giving him a look. “Jake. You can’t be serious.”
He doesn’t say anything but keeps his hand outstretched. I let out a frustrated sigh and dig into the
pocket of my jeans for the tip money I just made, peeling off five ones and handing them to him.
He slips it into a black leather bank bag, nodding toward the rusty vending machines outside the
bathrooms. “He’s over there.”
I follow his nod to see Matt peering through the glass in a pair of red swim trunks, debating
between salty and sweet, just like he always does. My heart begins to hammer noisily in my chest.
“By the way,” Jake says as he leans back in his chair again, pointing at my le cheek with a smirk.
“You’ve got flour on your face.”
“Better than rotten apples,” I mutter, rubbing away at the flour as I move past him. I walk right up
to Matt without even a second thought, like I’m running straight toward the edge of a cliff.
“Hi,” I say, jumping off.
He looks over at me, surprised, a strand of his brown hair falling onto his forehead. “Hi,” he says,
brushing it away. For a second he smiles, like a reflex, but then he clears his throat, plastering on a
serious glower. “What are you doing here?”
My stomach drops, and I feel my breathing hitch. I open my mouth to say something, and wait and
wait until I realize… this isn’t like cliff jumping at all.
I would’ve hit the water by now, but instead I’m still falling, my arms flailing wildly around, a belly
flop damn near inevitable.
“I just wanted to say…,” I manage to get out. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”
His eyebrows fall into full brooding mode. He doesn’t say anything. He just crosses his arms and
glances to the side at the lifeguard table, where a sea of eyes peer at us intently. Cassie Evans, an
upcoming junior who’s had a crush on Matt for the past two summers, looks like she’s trying to murder
me using just the power of her mind.
But that doesn’t come close to the look on Matt’s face. I’ve never seen him this upset before.
“Matt,” I say, leaning forward. “I want to make this right. Tell me how to make this right.”
“I’m honestly surprised you want to, considering you haven’t even tried to talk to me in weeks.
Never even bothering to give me an explanation.” Matt shakes his head in disgust and turns back to the
vending machine. I watch as he plugs in a few numbers, opting for salty, and a bag of chips falls to the
bottom. He pushes the door in and grabs them, letting out a long exhale before facing me again.
“Matt—” My voice cracks, and I see him pause, see the tiniest hitch in his breathing.
He reaches for my hand, just like he used to. At my locker, or before his football games. But he
stops short, and I see his fingers fold into his palm, his hand balling into a fist, his arm recoiling as he
turns and walks away.
I don’t understand.
I thought the words would just come, but they didn’t. Still, all I’ve got is that I want to fix it.
Nothing more than that.