Jace and I have plans to meet at the lake. I expect him to be late because he always is, but after twenty minutes I head back to the commons.
I run into Koob, Maya, Sam, and Nick. "Hey guys, whatcha up to?"
"Nothing much," Sam replies. "You?"
I shrug. "Nothing right now."
I walk with them towards the door when Evan comes up from outside and opens the door for them. They start talking about how they're mad and Evan's sorry but I'm looking at my phone, seeing if Jace has texted me yet.
"Oh, it is on," Maya says in a singsong voice. I look up and see Jace and Sofi walking towards us, talking and laughing. Like Jace and I would be if he had shown up at the lake. But now I see why he didn't show.
Jace and Sofi get to the door and slow down. I lock eyes with Jace and cross my arms, an expressionless look on my face. I can see the gears click in his head as he remembers our plans.
He looks down at his feet as he and Sofi walk through the door that Evan's still holding open. Sofi goes to keep walking with Jace as the others walk out, but Jace stops in front of me.
"Um hey," Jace says.
I shake my head. "I don't care about any excuses. I don't wanna hear anything about how sorry you are. You can just continue on with your new girlfriend, okay?"
"Eve, it's not like that," Jace says, reaching his hand out towards me and then rethinking and pulling it back.
"I don't care how it is. The point is, we had plans and you blew them to hang with Sofi. It's not my problem anyway," I start walking towards the door. I turn back to Jace. "And stop calling me Eve. That was my nickname as a kid. And I don't know if you noticed, but I'm not a kid anymore. My name's Evelyn."
I walk through the door and let him walk away with Sofi. I can't be jealous. We're just friends. But that doesn't change the fact he blew off plans we had without telling me. That's not something a friend would do.
A knock sounds on the apartment door. Guess what, I'm back in the apartment again. It's seriously depressing to have only one friend at the camp and then be mad at them. Like there's literally nothing else to do.
I get off the couch and open the door.
"Jace," I say, leaning against the doorframe. Seems to be a common theme this summer, him showing up here when I'm mad at him.
"Look, Evelyn, I'm sorry about forgetting our plans. That was a stupid thing to do. And I promise, I didn't blow you off for Sofi. I seriously just forgot and thought my morning was free. But I'm really sorry," Jace says. I don't respond. He sighs. "The other reason I came is to tell you that the Ducks are going on a field trip somewhere. Alex won't say where. But she said you could come along and I figured you would rather come along while being mad at me then sit here at your apartment by yourself all day. But you don't have to if you don't want to."
I sigh. "You're right, I would rather come along. But this doesn't mean I forgive you. I mean, maybe a little, but not completely."
Jace smiles. "Alright, well if you want to come, we gotta go now. We're leaving in like five minutes."
I step inside the kitchen and leave Mom and Greg a note. I grab my phone and old Polaroid camera off the coffee table. I've always liked taking pictures of things, to keep the memories. I step into the hallway with Jace, locking the apartment door behind us.
"You're still my best friend, Evelyn," Jace says as we walk down the hallway.
"And you're still mine. I just think friends should try a little harder to remember their plans," I say.
Jace and I arrive as the others are loading up.
"Hey, you made it!" Coach Alex says, smiling.
"Uh, yeah. Are you sure it's okay if I go along?" I ask.
"Yeah, it's no big deal."
"Alright."
Jace and I get into the camper as Marni comes around the trail corner.
I'm the first one to see it when we pull into the parking lot.
"Kids," Alex says, making the rest of them turn in their seats. "I present to you, Honda Center."
We all pile out of the camper. Alex starts talking about the Anaheim Ducks and something about Gordon Bombay. I walk on one side of Jace and Sofi walks on the other. I try not to think about her.
"You okay?" Sofi asks Jace as he slows.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," he says. I know he's not. This is where last year's summer showcase was. This is where he gained the glitch in his shot.
They all start running up the steps and Sofi joins them while Jace and I hang back.
"It'll be alright," I tell him.
"Yeah, sure."
"Seriously Jace. I know this is hard for you. But really, did you think you could avoid this place for the rest of your life?"
"No," Jace says, smiling a little. "Just thought I would be a bit more ready for it."
"You are ready."
He looks at me and smiles. I smile back.
A bunch of craziness happens when we get to the rink, but I understand one thing. This field trip is not going to turn out the way Coach Alex wants it to.
