Free Emily Calls It (The Emily Series) by Laura Albright.

practically resting on his arm and looked where he was pointing. Then I saw it. The water wasn’t splashing up on the pillar; it was hundreds of tiny little fish. It was so dark you could barely see them, but sure enough, they were everywhere on the surface.
    “What are they? What are they doing?” I asked in a whisper, enthralled by what I saw .
    “No idea,” he whispered back still standing with his arm out and my head hovering above it. “But I come watch em’ this time of year.”
    “It’s mesmerizing,” I said moving even closer to him so he could hear me.
    “Yeah,” he agreed . We watched those fish for I don’t know how long. Then from the fatigue of holding it up, I’m sure, he dropped his arm, shaking me out of my trance. The fish continued their jumping routine, not at all disturbed by us.
    “Cool , huh?” Joel asked turning to look at me.
    “Uh huh.” I pulled back and looked up at him thinking, how cool indeed .
    “It’s pretty chilly. Ya cold? Want to head back?” He asked looking around under the pier.
    “I guess, sure.” We turned back toward the party. I paused for a second watching the sparks fly off the bonfire and listening to the girls’ laughing shrieks . “Actually, how would you feel about staying down here?” I asked. It wasn’t a romantic move on my part, just a desire to stay away from the party hysteria. I was so calmed by the fish that I really didn’t feel the party bug anymore.
    Joel seemed happy to stay by the water. As we sat down, I briefly crossed my arms and gave them a warming rub. I wasn’t really cold but the breeze was starting to pick up and little goose bumps appeared on my upper arms. Without saying a word, he unzipped his sweatshirt and draped it over my shoulders. We sat there, me hugging my knees to my chest, and he with his arms behind him and legs out straight, feet in the sand.
    I hadn’t spent much time with Joel. There’d been the relatively uncomfortable dinner when I introduced Graham to my mom. Joel was there with my brother, and although there were moments when I could have strangled my brother for making embarrassing comments, Joel never jumped on that band wagon. As we talked, I thought back to that day as well as the day I ran into him at the library and he asked me if I wanted to partner - run with him. I remembered how Graham put the kibosh on that. And how I let him. Joel had been nothing but nice to me, and I only pushed him away. It seemed ridiculous now. There was nothing sinister about him; he was genuine and I had been stupid. I couldn’t believe how I had moved away from everything that was good for me and toward someone who obviously wasn’t. I was really disappointed in myself, which confirmed that I needed to concentrate on making better decisions from now on. I managed this inner dialog during quite a nice conversation with Joel.
    I learned that he came from a big family in Louisiana , loved to cook, and turned down a football scholarship to LSU for an academic one at CWU. Why I was surprised, I don’t know, but I was. I guess maybe because he seemed so different from Ethan. But Ethan was a genuine person and I could see Joel was too.
    “You know I really miss home,” he said. “In Louisiana there’s history. Everything here is brand spankin’ new.”
    “Yeah, I noticed that too. And I’m from California .” He looked at me then, a long look. And I noticed something I hadn’t before. He was soulful. The way he talked and the meaning behind each sentence. We heard something behind us at the same time and turned to see two figures approaching.
    “There you are, Emily.” Allison said. Not alarmed or worried, but playful.
    “Have you two been down here the whole time? I was a little concerned, Emily.” Ethan, never really taking a night off from being my protective brother.
    “Sorry, I shoul d’ve brought her back. We just… well we got to talkin’.” Joel looked directly at my brother.
    “No problem dude,