“I think it’s time to call your mom,” said Hideki when Logan walked in the door. “My mom and dad will be home tomorrow and it’s not like you can hide what happened.”

“I will, just give me a minute.” Heart still thumping a mile a minute, Logan made his way to his bedroom in the office to lie down. He needed to process all of this.

If someone had told him twenty-four hours ago that he’d be showing up in Cassie Hart’s messenger inbox, he would never have believed them. Not only that, he was going to see her again, soon, and multiple times.

He closed his eyes, taking the deep slow breaths he had taught himself to use before heading into a test or math club competition. Usually it worked really well.

Today, however, all the breathing in the world wasn’t going to do anything. Hideki had followed him in and was now sitting on the office chair, swiveling back and forth and talking loudly.

“So did you talk to her? I saw you sitting out there in the car. She doesn’t seem all that bad, for a cheerleader.”

Logan opened one eye and looked at his cousin’s eager face. He was the easiest person on the planet to read, which had made lying about all the shenanigans they’d gotten into as kids all the more remarkable. One look at his face and Aunt Caroline knew if he was lying.

Logan was a little better at it, thankfully.

“We were just talking, no big deal.”

He wasn’t sure why he wanted to keep this whole Columbia thing a secret, other than he didn’t want to rub it in Hideki’s face. They’d always talked as if they’d both go to Missoula together. Hideki had insisted he was happy when Logan told him about Columbia, but his face hadn’t been able to hide his disappointment. They’d barely talked about school, focusing all their attention on the BSE list.

“At least you got a real sling now.” Hideki was still talking and swiveling. “What did the doctor say?”

Logan bit his lip.

“No driving or biking for 4 weeks. No heavy lifting.”

“Are you serious? So you’ll need rides to work and everything?” He stopped swiveling in the chair and worry lines appeared on his forehead. “I don’t know if our schedules will line up. Can you even clean or wait tables? Do you want to see if you can do something at the boat house instead?”

Hideki was working at one of the lake’s many boat rental places during the day and the pizza place at night. For his house cleaning job, Logan usually biked to the first house and someone gave him a ride to the others. It was pretty physical but he hoped there were still things he could do. He really needed both jobs to make enough for the next year. He wasn’t even sure why his cousin was also working two jobs, since his parents were actually able to chip in for college stuff.

Logan didn’t say any of that, however.

“Let’s just see how I do tomorrow. Maybe it won’t be so bad.”

Hideki let out a long sigh.

“Fine, but call your mom, okay? Getting in serious trouble with the parental units is not on the list, man.”

“Oka-ay, Auntie C,” Logan teased.

Hideki threw a pillow at him and stalked out.

Logan debated taking a nap first—he hadn’t slept that well with a throbbing shoulder—but decided to just get it over with. His mom insisted on calling instead of texting, which normally he didn’t mind, but it was always easier to give her bad news via writing.

His heart was pounding as he found her number in his phone. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he pressed the green call button.

“So I got into a little accident with my bike,” he said, without bothering to say hello.

“What happened?” His mom sounded panicked. “Do I need to come up?”

A lump formed in the back of his throat. She had finally found a new job the week before and was working extra hours. He knew she couldn’t afford to take any time off.

“No, it’s fine. Just my shoulder is a little sore, that’s all.”

“A little sore?” Her tone had switched to incredulous. “Like how your leg was a little sore last summer when you and your cousin dared each other to jump over a bonfire?”

Logan held back a laugh. That had been pretty awesome, until Aunt Caroline had come down to the beach early to pick them up and had gone ballistic. And then had told his mom about the whole thing.

“I went to the doctor and got some meds. I’ll be fine.”

His mom sucked in a breath.

“Did you have to use your emergency credit card? Let me know, so I can pay it off as soon as it comes in. I don’t want you going off to school with debt.”

He’d actually purposely buried the credit card in the bottom of his sock drawer, so he wouldn’t be tempted to use it this summer. Four years of hard work during high school could be ruined in a few days of reckless spending.

“No it’s fine, Cassie spotted me the money.” Logan knew his aunt and uncle probably would have taken care of it had they been home, but his mom hated asking them for help beyond what they already did.

“Cassie?” There was an undercurrent of hope in his mom’s voice. There had been no time for Logan to have girlfriends in high school. Study partners were as close as he’d gotten, and his mom had always made that as awkward as possible. He loved her, but part of the reason New York was so attractive would be the distance from his mother once he finally entered the dating pool for real.

“Just a girl from school. Cassie Hart.”

There was complete and total silence on the other end.

“Mom?” Logan looked down at his phone to make sure he hadn’t accidentally hung up.

“Hart as in Jason Hart?” his mom said finally, her voice an odd, flat tone.

Logan suddenly made the connection.

“Oh right. Is that the place you worked last summer? Hart and Preston or whatever?”

“Yes.” His mom’s voice was tight. Logan tried to remember how long she’d been at the job. It had only been a few months. Ever since she’d been laid off from her long-time hospital administration job right before Logan started middle school, she’d only managed to get temp jobs. It was hard to keep track of all the places she’d worked over the years.

“So is Cassie a friend? You’ll be seeing her a lot this summer?” This time his mom didn’t sound that hopeful about a new girl in his life. She sounded…angry almost.

“Um, not really. I mean, she’s going to Columbia, and her dad is an alum, so there’s some match program that I’m in. We’re supposed to meet up this summer, but he’s busy so Cassie might do it instead.”

“What do you have to do exactly?” The anger was still simmering in her voice. Logan frowned.

“I don’t do anything. She’s just supposed to like, tell me about New York and what to expect at school and everything.”

His mom sighed.

“Does it have to be the Harts?”

Logan’s frown deepened. What was happening? Most things about Columbia had his mom even more excited than him.

‘There was supposed to be a letter or something from the school. Did anything come for me?”

“No, I don’t see anything, but I’ve just been leaving things for you on your bed. Maybe I can bring everything when I come up for the Fourth of July.”

“You’ll be able to come?” Now he was the one sounding hopeful.

“I think so.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “Things should be settled by then.”

“Settled?”

“I mean settled down,” she said quickly.

Logan started to ask something else, but his phone beeped, and he pulled it away from his ear to see the messenger icon appear on the side of his screen.

Cassie was already getting in touch?

“Mom, I have to go,” he said, burning with curiosity about what the message said. “I’ll call you soon, okay?”

After the obligatory ‘I love you’ from both sides, he ended the call and quickly swiped open Cassie’s message, his chest suddenly tight. It had barely been an hour since she’d dropped him off. Had something changed? He looked around his room. He hadn’t left something embarrassing in her car, had he?

Just checking to make sure you were able to get the meds.

His chest deflated a bit. She was going to be worse than Aunt Caroline and his mom combined, apparently.

I’ll be okay. It’s just around the corner. I can walk.

The blinking dots appeared, and hit bit his thumbnail as he waited for her to finish typing her reply.

I can come over to drive you, I don’t mind.

He rolled his eyes.

Don’t you have a party or something to go to?

Her reply was rapid-fire.

It’s 4 in the afternoon. Everyone knows the good ones don’t start till at least 9. So you need a ride or not?

What, are you that bored?

The second he hit send, he regretted it. He had been more than a little rude to her already, and she’d done nothing to deserve it except be nice to him. It wasn’t her fault she’d been too popular to pay attention to him in high school. Panic flooded through him. He had to remember Columbia. Even if his mom apparently wasn’t a fan of the Harts, they were the first of all the important connections he would make while there. He couldn’t afford to mess it up. His phone buzzed, and he took a breath before looking at her reply to his unintentional teasing.

You have no idea. ;-)

Logan blinked, staring at the phone, a million replies racing though his head. Unsure of which one would be better, he hesitated to send a reply.

So he didn’t send anything. He just set down his phone on the desk and went to find Hideki.

Their game of Call of Duty had been interrupted this morning, and they still had to finish. He wasn’t about to let Cassie interrupt too much of his life.