The Carrie Diaries (The Carrie Diaries 1)

We swim an exhausting eight-lap medley. Lali passes me on the sixth lap, and when I hit the wall, she’s standing above me, dripping water into my lane. “Nice way to freak out the competition,” she says as we high-five.

“Except it’s true,” I say, grabbing my towel and rubbing my head.

“What?”

“Last night. He came to my house. We went to a museum. Then we went to his house and made out.”

“Uh-huh.” She flexes her foot and pulls it up to her thigh.

“And he spent a summer living in Rome. And”—I look around to make sure no one is listening—“he bites his nails.”

“Right, Bradley.”

“Lali,” I whisper. “I’m serious.”

She stops stretching her leg and looks at me. For a second, I think she’s angry. Then she grins and blurts out, “Come on, Carrie. Why would Sebastian Kydd go out with you?”

For a moment, we’re both stunned into one of those terrible awkward moments when a friend has gone too far and you wonder if ugly words will be exchanged. You’ll say something nasty and defensive. She’ll say something hurtful and cruel. You wonder if you’ll ever speak again.

But maybe she didn’t mean it. So you give her another chance. “Why wouldn’t he?” I ask, trying to make light of it.

“It’s only because of Donna LaDonna,” she says, backtracking. “I mean, if he’s seeing her…you wouldn’t think he’d start seeing someone else, too.”

“Maybe he isn’t seeing her,” I say, my throat tight. I’d been looking forward to telling Lali everything about the date, turning over each little thing he said and did, but now I can’t.

What if he is seeing Donna LaDonna? I’ll look like a complete and utter fool.

“Bradshaw!” Coach Nipsie shouts. “What the hell is wrong with you today? You’re up on the planks.”

“Sorry,” I say to Lali, as if somehow it’s all my fault. I grab my towel and head to the diving boards.

“And I need you to nail the half gainer with a full twist for the meet on Thursday,” Coach Nipsie calls out.

Great.

I climb the rungs to the board and pause, trying to visualize my dive. But all I can see is Donna LaDonna and Sebastian together that night at The Emerald. Maybe Lali is right. Why would he bother chasing me if he’s still seeing Donna LaDonna? On the other hand, maybe he isn’t seeing her and Lali’s just trying to mess me up. But why would she do that?

“Bradshaw!” Coach Nipsie warns. “I don’t have all day.”

Right. I take four steps, come down hard on my left foot, and pop straight up. As soon as I’m in the air, I know the dive is going to be a disaster. My arms and legs flail to the side as I land on the back of my head.

“Come on, Bradshaw. You’re not even trying,” Coach Nipsie reprimands.

Usually, I’m pretty tough, but tears well up in my eyes. I can’t tell if it’s from the pain in my head or the humiliation to my ego, but either way, they both hurt. I glance toward Lali, hoping for sympathy, but she isn’t paying attention. She’s seated in the bleachers, and next to her, about a foot away, is Sebastian.

Why does he keep popping up unexpectedly? I’m not prepared for this.

I get back on the board. I don’t dare look at him, but I can feel him watching. My second attempt is a little better, and when I get out of the water, Lali and Sebastian have started talking. Lali looks up at me and raises her fist. “Go, Bradley!”

“Thanks.” I wave. Sebastian catches my eye and winks.

My third dive is actually pretty good, but Lali and Sebastian are too engaged in their animated conversation to notice.

“Hey,” I say, squeezing water out of my hair as I stride over.

“Oh, hi,” Lali says, as if she’s seeing me for the first time that day. Now that Sebastian is here, I figure she must be feeling pretty cheesy about what she said.

“Did it hurt?” Sebastian asks as I sit down next to him. He pats the top of my head and says sweetly, “Your noggin. It looked like it took some da