Free How to Meet Boys by Catherine Clark Page B

mine.” Fortunately it was my time to serve, so I got to do something besides say embarrassing things. We really got into the game after that, playing for a good half hour before stopping for a break after winning the first match 15 to 9.
    I snagged my water bottle from my bike and walked back toward the group, taking a few swigs. “I can’t believe how hot it got,” I said.
    “You’re good. Really good,” said Henry. “You weren’t making that up!”
    “Why would I make something up?” I asked.
    “Jackson, you totally lucked out,” Henry said. “Having her on your team.”
    “No doubt,” the guy who I’d only known as Near-Car-Crash Guy until now said, reaching over to tug the end of my ponytail. His name is Jackson? It was like my ears suddenly went on full alert. Did Henry really just say Jackson ?
    I gulped, choking on the water I was about to swallow. “You okay?” he asked, patting me on the back and startling me.
    Jackson was a common name. Besides, he’d be at work right now with Lucy, wouldn’t he? This couldn’t be her Jackson.
    I tried to put the pieces together in my mind. What did her Jackson look like, anyway? Did I even know? She’d never showed me a picture and I hadn’t—
    A volleyball from the next court over sailed out of bounds. “Heads up, Mik—”
    The ball hit me smack in the face. On the nose, to be more precise. “Ow!” I cried.
    “Yikes. You okay?” Jackson asked.
    “Oh, I’m fine!” I said, gently pressing my nose. When my hand came away there wasn’t any blood, but it did feel like it was beginning to swell a little. Plus, I needed time to recover from learning Jackson’s name. “I’m going to go get some ice—be right back!” I called, rushing toward the Club’s kitchen building. But as much as my nose stung, I was more worried about whether the guy I’d been falling for was the same one Lucy worked with—the one she’d been cursing ever since eighth grade.
    While I was inside, I was going to make an important call.
    I didn’t want to know, but I had to find out if this Jackson was the same as Lucy’s Jackson. The odds were against it. Sure, he was going to be a senior in high school, like us. But so were half the people I’d met so far. Anyway, there were at least three guys I knew back home named Jackson. I’d just call Lucy and put my mind at ease.
    I found a quiet nook in the hallway outside the restroom and dialed Lucy’s cell number. She didn’t answer, so I looked up the Apple Store and called that number. It was obnoxious, but I had to do it, even if she was really busy.
    Please let a guy answer , I thought. Please. A guy with a nice, deep voice, a guy with a high, awkward voice—just not an old voice belonging to her grandfather, because that wouldn’t solve anything.
    “The Apple Store, this is Lucy, how may I help you?”
    “Hey,” I said nervously, wishing Jackson had picked up instead. “How’s it going?”
    “You won’t believe this, but an entire family reunion from Montana was just here.”
    “Why would I not believe that?” I asked.
    “It was like thirty or forty people!” she laughed. “And who has a family reunion in Bridgeport? Especially when they don’t live anywhere near here?”
    “Are you sure it wasn’t a wedding?” I asked.
    “Unless the bride and groom were sixty-five? Then no.”
    “Could be,” I said. “I mean, it could take me that long,” I joked.
    “Your voice sounds funny,” Lucy commented. “Are you coming down with a cold or something?”
    “No, I got hit by a volleyball. In the nose,” I admitted.
    “You? Prep star of the week?” Lucy asked.
    “Totally embarrassing, I know.”
    “But wait, aren’t you off work today?”
    “Yeah, but I came down here to the beach and ran into some friends,” I said. “So how are things with . . . you know. Mr. Awkward?” I asked.
    “Who, Jackson? He’s not here today. It’s just me and my nana.”
    I felt my legs go kind of wobbly. “Oh,