Page 87 of Absorbed

Mark took a joint from his pocket and showed it to Tiffany, lifting his eyebrows.

“Okay, but everyone be chill about it,” she said, looking over at the house to make sure her parents weren’t watching.

Another one? Isn’t he already stoned?

Mark lit the joint, took a deep breath, and held it. He offered it to Chad who took a hit before handing it to Desiree. By the end everyone had taken a turn, except Stacey.

“You sure? It’ll be totally different than when you were drunk. One or two hits and you’ll just feel chill,” Chad told her.

Stacey wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “I’m still recovering from last week.”

The other guards passed the joint around one more time, and as Jessie exhaled the smoke from his lungs, he stared into the swirling water. “Did you ever want to be an Olympian? Or a pro-athlete?” he asked no one in particular.

“I did,” Tiffany said. “I always thought I wasthatgood of a swimmer. That I could be a gold medalist.” She paused. “Turns out I couldn’t even get a scholarship for swimming.”

“But Cal State has a team, right?” Melissa asked. “You can still swim when you’re there even if you don’t have a scholarship.”

“Yeah. Sure,” Tiffany said. “I might try to play water polo, too. It’s just different, you know? I thought I was exceptional. But I turned out to be mediocre.”

Tiffany looked so disappointed, Stacey tried to reassure her. “There’s no way you’re mediocre, Tiffany. You were varsity captain.”

Tiffany lifted her eyebrows and bit her lip, staring into the water. “Captains are chosen for attitude, not skill. I rarely came in first place my senior year.”

Melissa put her arm around Tiffany and rested her head on her shoulder.

“When I was little, I wanted to be a figure skater.” Desiree was talking quickly, and even more high-pitched than usual. “I loved the pretty costumes and thought they were the most talented, beautiful people in the world. I asked for a sparkly, skirted leotard for my fifth birthday, and begged my parents to let me take lessons. I wore that leotard all the time, twirling around my living room, until I outgrew it.”

“If you’d been a competitive figure skater, we never would have met,” Chad said, pulling Desiree closer to him. “I don’t want to imagine my life without you.”

“Well, get used to it. When school starts, I’ll be in LA and you’ll be at CSUSB.” Desiree turned her face away when Chad tried to kiss her. “Anyway… It was a pipe dream. Figure skaters are tiny; I’m too top heavy. I never even got skates or took one lesson. Plus, the nearest rink is an hour each way, up the mountain. I would have to have had a nanny who drove me or something. And a private coach. Do homeschool. I don’t get how families do that when both parents work.”

The other guards nodded andumm-hummedtheir agreement.

“Did you guys hear about the X Games last year?” Jessie asked, still watching the water. The crew shook their heads, but said nothing, and he went on. “It was on the east coast somewhere. It’s like the Olympics of misfit sports: skateboarding, bungee jumping, dirt bikes...”

Jessie was smiling at the swirling bubbles like he was seeing something there no one else could see. His blue eyes reflected the green of the water. He wasn’t wearing his puka shell necklace anymore. The words “puka-shell-poser” rung in her head, and Stacey’s stomach dropped. She wanted more than ever to apologize for how she had hurt him.

“You know,” Jessie continued, a hint of bitterness in his voice, “it’s a competition for those of us who don’t have parents who will pay for uniforms, or take us to any sort of practice.”

The crew sat still, silent, eyeing Jessie.

“They’re going to have winter X Games this year,” Jessie said. “With snowboarding on a half-pipe and everything. I think it’s gonna be in the mountains around here somewhere.”

“That’s cool,” Chad said. “I tried snowboarding once. It’s fun, but tough. Totally different than skiing. Do you get up to the slopes much?”

“Not really. I always have to catch a ride from someone. Season passes are crazy expensive. I was thinking of getting a job up there this winter. Then I could board whenever I wasn’t working. Now that it’s getting popular, maybe I could give lessons or something.”

“That sounds awesome, man,” Chad said.

“I don’t know. We’ll see,” Jessie continued. “I’m just saying, the X Games are the kind of thing I’d want to compete in. Way more than those stuffy sporting events like they have for rich kids in the Olympics.”

“I was supposed to have a full ride,” Mark said, barely audible. He was laying on the deck beside Jessie, staring up at the sky.

“Where?” Tiffany asked.

“Texas A & M.” Mark pulled himself upright and propped his arms behind him. “Football. But I blew out my ACL beginning of my senior year. Ruined me for basketball, too.”

Mark was three years ahead of Stacey; he wasn’t on her radar when she was a freshman. She’d never realized he had been a talented athlete. “Why couldn’t you have surgery?” Stacey asked.

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