Free It's Not Summer without You by Jenny Han Page B

her plate down on the coffee table and leaned back against the couch cushions. She looked exhausted all of a sudden.
    “I will,” he said.
    “I think I’m going to bed now,” she said. “Jere, will you get all this cleaned up?”
    “Sure, Mom,” I said, helping her to her feet.
    She kissed us both on the cheek and went to her bedroom. We’d moved the study upstairs and put her bedroom downstairs so she didn’t have to go up and down the stairs.
    When she was gone, I said, sarcastically, “So you guys danced all night, huh?”
    “Just leave it,” Conrad said, leaning his head back against the couch.
    “Did you even go to the prom? Or did you lie to Mom about that, too?”
    He glared at me. “Yeah, I went.”
    “Well, somehow I doubt you guys danced all night,” I said. I felt like a jerk but I just couldn’t let it go.
    “Why do you have to be such a dick? What do you care about the prom?”
    I shrugged. “I just hope you didn’t ruin it for her. What are you even doing here, anyway?”
    I expected him to get pissed, in fact I think I hoped he would. But all he said was, “We can’t all be Mr. Prom King.” He started closing the takeout boxes. “Are you done eating?” he asked.
    “Yeah, I’m done,” I said.



chapter fourteen
    When we drove up to campus, there were people milling around outside on the lawn. Girls were laying out in shorts and bikini tops, and a group of boys were playing Ultimate Frisbee. We found parking right in front of Conrad’s dorm and then we slipped inside the building when a girl stepped out with a laundry basket full of clothes. I felt so incredibly young, and also lost—I’d never been there before. It was different than I’d pictured it. Louder. Busier.
    Jeremiah knew the way and I had to hurry to keep up. He took the stairs two at a time and at the third floor, we stopped. I followed him down a brightly lit hallway. On the wall by the elevator there was a bulletin board with a poster that read, Let’s talk about sex, baby . There were STD pamphlets and a breast exam how-to, and neon condoms were stapled around artfully. “Take one,” someone had written in highlighter. “Or three.”
    Conrad’s door had his name on it, and underneath it, the name “Eric Trusky.”
    His roommate was a stocky, muscular guy with reddish brown hair, and he opened the door wearing gym shorts and a T-shirt. “What’s up?” he asked us, his eyes falling on me. He reminded me of a wolf.
    Instead of feeling flattered by a college guy checking me out, I just felt grossed out. I wanted to hide behind Jeremiah the way I used to hide behind my mother’s skirt when I was five and really shy. I had to remind myself I was sixteen, almost seventeen. Too old to be nervous around a guy named Eric Trusky. Even if Conrad did tell me that Eric was always forwarding him freaky porno videos and stayed on his computer pretty much all day. Except for when he watched his soaps from two to four.
    Jeremiah cleared his throat. “I’m Conrad’s brother, and this is—our friend,” he said. “Do you know where he is?”
    Eric opened the door and let us in. “Dude, I have no idea. He just took off. Did Ari call you?”
    “Who’s Ari?” I asked Jeremiah.
    “The RA,” he said.
    “Ari the RA,” I repeated, and the corners of Jeremiah’s mouth turned up.
    “Who are you?” Eric asked me.
    “Belly.” I watched him, waiting for a glimmer of recognition, something that let me know that Conrad talked about me, had at least mentioned me. But of course there was nothing.
    “Belly, huh? That’s cute. I’m Eric,” he said, leaning against the wall.
    “Um, hi,” I said.
    “So—Conrad didn’t say anything to you before he left?” Jeremiah interjected.
    “He barely talks, period. He’s like an android.” Then he grinned at me. “Well, he talks to pretty girls.”
    I felt sick inside. What pretty girls? Jeremiah exhaled loudly and clasped his hands behind his head. Then he took out his