The Me I Meant to Be

  Contents

  * * *

  Title Page

  Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Girl Code #1

  Girl Code #2

  Girl Code #3

  Girl Code #4

  Girl Code #5

  Girl Code #6

  Girl Code #7

  Girl Code #8

  Girl Code #9

  Girl Code #10

  Girl Code #11

  Girl Code #12

  Girl Code #13

  Girl Code #14

  Girl Code #15

  Girl Code #16

  Girl Code #17

  Girl Code #18

  Girl Code #19

  Girl Code #20

  Girl Code #21

  Girl Code #22

  Girl Code #23

  Girl Code #24

  Girl Code #25

  Girl Code #26

  Girl Code #27

  Girl Code #28

  Girl Code #29

  Girl Code #30

  Girl Code #31

  Girl Code #32

  Girl Code #33

  Acknowledgments

  More Books from HMH Teen

  About the Author

  Connect with HMH on Social Media

  Copyright © 2019 by Sharie Kohler

  Cover art copyright © 2019 by Mia Nolting

  All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to [email protected] or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

  hmhbooks.com

  Cover design by Opal Roengchai

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Names: Jordan, Sophie, author.

  Title: The me I meant to be / by Sophie Jordan.

  Description: Boston ; New York : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt , [2019] | Summary: Told from separate viewpoints, best friends Willa and Flor are tempted by love that would violate the Girl Code when Willa's long-term crush, Zach, breaks up with Flor, who is fighting her own crush on her math tutor.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018007164 | ISBN 9781328977069 (hardback)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Best friends—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Dating (Social customs)—Fiction. | Love—Fiction. | Family problems—Fiction. | High schools—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.J76845 Me 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018007164

  eISBN 978-1-328-53492-7

  v1.1218

  For all the girls out there:

  May your journey be full of highs and lows (but mostly highs), and may there be good friends, first kisses, and plenty of chocolate to sustain you along the way.

  GIRL CODE #1:

  Never date a friend’s ex or a guy your friend is really into.

  Willa

  “WHAT ever happened to girl code?” Jenna asked, sitting cross-legged in the center of my bed, nodding grimly as her teeth savagely tore at a Twizzler.

  “Yeah, well, Ava isn’t a believer,” Flor muttered as she crouched in front of my window, peering between the open blinds like this was some kind of stakeout.

  Sadly, it was not an unfamiliar scenario. Girls had been looking out my blinds to the house next door for years.

  I lived next door to my best friend’s infatuation. In fact, he was most girls’ infatuation, but at the moment I only had Flor to contend with. Trust me, she was more than enough.

  For ten plus years, I’d had a bird’s-eye view into Zach Tucker’s life—​a fact that made me the envy of every girl at Madison High. It also made me the supreme authority on all things Zach Tucker. It wasn’t a designation I wanted, but it was mine nonetheless. Perhaps the thing I was best known for. Yeah. Not something to be proud of.

  Complete strangers—​girls, naturally—​would approach me in the halls just to ask if I really lived next door to Zach Tucker.

  I needed to move.

  “Remember when Ava moved here in seventh grade and I invited her to sit with us at lunch? Our fathers golf together.” Flor looked back at me, outrage brimming in her eyes. “I gave her a ride all last year so she didn’t have to take the bus.”

  “No loyalty,” Jenna agreed, not helping. I sent her a look. She shrugged and took another vicious bite from the long rope of red.

  I was all about not fanning the flames of Flor’s indignation, but Jenna didn’t seem to get that.

  Flor looked back out the blinds with a frustrated sigh, bending at the waist and propping her hands on shapely hips. Hours of soccer per week gave her a body I could only dream about. In fact, that was what most guys did—​dream about Flor Hidalgo’s body. Except Zach Tucker.

  Unfathomable as it seemed, he had held that dream in the palm of his hand and he didn’t want it anymore. But then he was Zach Tucker. A dream in his own right. He could have any girl he wanted.

  I opened my mouth to defend Ava, but then I didn’t know if I should . . . or could. I didn’t exactly know what was right here. I only knew that I would never make a play for Zach.

  Even if I thought I had a chance.

  Even if I hadn’t been friend-zoned since we were eight and riding our bikes around the neighborhood.

  Flor had had him first. Always and forever. He was her ex-boyfriend. Bottom line. I knew that. Ava should have known it too.

  Flor faced me again. “Have you seen him today?” Her dark eyes searched mine. “Is he even home?” Hair in a ponytail, makeup long sweated off from running up and down a soccer field, she was still prettier than any girl had a right to be.

  Jenna stared at me too, waiting and sucking on her Twizzler until it resembled a disgusting red antenna.

  Spinning around in my swivel chair, I looked at Zach’s window directly across from mine and felt the familiar ache in my chest.

  Ivy draped the entire side of his house. Only his window was spared the tangle of green. The devouring mass of vines and leaves had mesmerized me over the years, growing and expanding before my very gaze—​just like my infatuation with Zach Tucker.

  Once a year, Mrs. Tucker hired someone to trim back the ivy and keep it from swallowing his window. As a little kid, I would always breathe a little easier then. As though Zach were saved from being consumed.

  Motioning in the general direction of Zach’s driveway, I pointed out, “His car’s here.”

  Flor looked back at me, sinking her perfect white teeth deep into her bottom lip. “But he could have gone somewhere with his mom or a friend or something. Did you see someone pick him up?”

  “No, but I haven’t been watching his house all afternoon.”

  “You know, you could just text him,” Jenna suggested, dropping flat on her back on my bed, her hair fanning out around her head in a golden pool.

  I glanced back at my laptop. Mr. Martinez had posted practice questions for tomorrow’s test. We were supposed to be studying, but I should have known we weren’t going to get any work done. An hour in and we hadn’t even made it through two problems. And I still needed to practice my cello. Ms. Rivela had assigned a new arrangement, and I was really struggling with it.

  Flor shot Jenna a quick glare. “I have texted him. He hasn’t replied yet.”

  “Maybe he’s too busy with Ava.”

  I shot Jenna a death look. Did she really have to go there? Speculation was already ripe at school ever since Ava had sat with Zach at lunch this afternoon and not us like she did every day. It was a bold move. The kind of move someone only made when they had a sudden change in relationship status. Everyone gawked as she plopped herself down beside him. Laughing, flirting. Touching his arm every chance she g
ot.

  Jenna shrugged back at me.

  “You think he’s with her now?” Flor demanded, her velvety eyes wide with alarm. And that was strange. Flor Hidalgo was many things, but never insecure. If this was what happened when a guy dumped you, no thanks. Single sounded just right to me.

  Zach had broken up with her nine days ago. Nine endless days ago. They had been together for three months. The longest three months of my life. A month ago I’d sensed that Zach wanted out.

  There were all the little signs. Easy to catch if you knew him. His eyes strayed from Flor’s face when she was talking. When they touched or kissed, he pulled away first. He missed a couple of her soccer games even when I knew he didn’t have anywhere else to be. And then there was the night when Flor got stupid drunk. Something went down between them that night, because he broke it off the next day.

  It was like watching a car crash about to happen. Everything dragged to slow motion. I knew it was coming, but I wasn’t able to do anything except brace for the impact.

  Still, I didn’t think he would hook up with another girl so soon. But this was high school, and hot, popular guys didn’t stay alone for long. I knew that. I had just hoped Flor would be over him before then. Or it would be summer and I’d be busy working and able to escape the ensuing drama.

  Flor sank down on the foot of my bed, her face screwed tight with emotion. Clearly, she was far from over him. She pulled her knees up to her chest. She was still wearing her shin guards and socks, dirty and grass-stained from practice. “Friends don’t do this to friends.”

  I glanced back at my laptop, tapping my fingers nervously on my desk. The guilt was there, even though I didn’t act on it.

  “Willa?” Flor stared at me in an expectant way. “Can you believe Ava is doing this to me?”

  “Yeah. It’s . . . wrong.”

  “Wrong?” Her beautiful eyes blinked. “It’s more than wrong. It goes against girl code. We might not be best friends, but we’re tight.”

  “There should be an official girl-code manual given out the first day of freshman year,” Jenna declared. “It would make girls think twice before they betray their friends. At least there wouldn’t be any confusion.” She stabbed a finger in the air. “You break girl code and everyone knows you’re a traitor.”

  “For real.” Flor fell back on the bed beside Jenna and took a Twizzler from the bag Jenna held out to her. A moment of silence fell.

  I turned back to my laptop, looking at the long-neglected math problem but failing to see it.

  The Twizzler bag crinkled as they continued to eat.

  The numbers blurred and danced. I side-eyed the window of Zach’s room. There were no blinds. Just curtains, and they were drawn, revealing a neat sliver of his navy blue bedspread. His mom always made his bed for him. She doted on him—​even though he valiantly resisted her efforts.

  Somewhere inside my house my sister’s child started crying.

  “Chloe!” Mom’s voice rang out from downstairs.

  I squeezed the bridge of my nose. My sister didn’t answer, but I didn’t expect she would. She was conveniently in the shower. She’d been in the bathroom for two hours. Ever since my brother-in-law dumped Chloe for another woman and she moved back home, she’d been spending a lot of time in the shower. I think she thought no one could hear her crying over the running water. The water bill was getting out of hand, if the increase of ramen on the menu was any indication.

  “That’s it,” Flor suddenly announced. She sat up, waving a floppy Twizzler, her face alight with inspiration. “We need to write it.”

  “Write what?” I asked.

  She waved her hand in a little circle. “An official girl-code manual. We’ll write one and distribute it. Just like Jenna said.” A militant gleam entered her eyes. “All the Avas of the world will know their betrayals aren’t okay, and everyone will see them for the backstabbers they really are.”

  “Yeah.” Jenna propped herself up on her elbows. “Right on.”

  I stared at them both, my stomach twisting into knots. They were serious.

  “Quick.” Flor motioned to my laptop. “Start a file in Google Docs. That way we can edit and add to it as we go.”

  Stifling a sigh, I opened up a document and titled it: The Official Guide to Girl Code. Staring at those words on the screen, I felt a strange sense of foreboding sweep over me, and those knots just twisted tighter.

  Flor leaned over my shoulder. “Nice. All right. I think we can all agree on the first rule.” For a moment I didn’t move, simply gazed at the blank screen, my fingers poised over the keyboard. The toddler was full-on wailing now, and I knew I should get up and go hold her. Mom was too tense. It was like Mia could sense that and cried harder.

  “Come on, Willa,” Jenna pressured. “Type.”

  Nodding, I started typing.

  Flor cast a heavy shadow over me as she read my words aloud. “‘Girl Code Number One: Never date a friend’s ex or a guy your friend is really into.’”

  GIRL CODE #2:

  If your dog hates him, you should rethink whether the guy needs to be in your house.

  Flor

  A beat-up Honda was parked out front when I got home. A shadow sat behind the wheel, and I remembered with a jolt that I was supposed to be here at seven.

  “Great.” I sighed and bumped the steering wheel with my fist. I’d been so distracted with everything else that I’d forgotten my tutoring session. Not good. I’d practically had to beg the guy to give me even an hour of his time. Without Mr. Martinez’s encouragement, he wouldn’t have agreed at all.

  For whatever reason, Grayson O’Malley, National Merit Scholar, this year’s likely valedictorian, president of the robotics club, didn’t want to tutor me. It didn’t even matter that he charged thirty an hour and I could pay him. Apparently he was very in demand and had his pick of clients, and he didn’t want to make room for me. It had taken considerable begging.

  And I’d kept him waiting.

  I guess it was a lucky thing he was still even here.

  Guilt gnawed at me as I parked in the driveway and stepped out of my car. The evening air was dense and sat on my skin like a fine vapor. I inhaled a thick breath.

  When I turned around, he’d already emerged from his vehicle. His long legs carried him up the driveway.

  “Hey,” I greeted him, pasting a smile on my face, hoping that would encourage the flat, unbending line of his mouth to curve upward. “Sorry.”

  He glanced at his phone. “You’re eighteen minutes late.” Still no smile.

  I clung to mine, using that hundred-watt grin that usually got me most anything. I wasn’t sure what else to say. I’d already apologized.

  He looked notably unimpressed, staring down at me through his black-framed glasses. Like I wasn’t anyone special. Like I wasn’t . . . anyone. “I get paid by the hour. I started charging you eighteen minutes ago.”

  “Of course you did.” I dropped the smile. It had been failing me lately anyway. First Tucker. Now Tutor Guy. Maybe I needed to buy some teeth whitener or something. Or just accept I wasn’t as cute as I thought I was. Clearly, I was infinitely resistible. Actually, the first person to prove this fact had been my mother. Otherwise she would never have left.

  “I have to leave at eight. I have another client.”

  Client. He was such a nerd.

  “C’mon.” I led him through the wrought-iron patio gate. He caught it, stopping it from clanging loudly behind him. Most of my friends didn’t bother to catch it and just let it crash shut.

  The pool waterfall gurgled as I stopped in front of the back door. Inside, Rowdy was barking, his nails scratching madly on the wood floor. When I glanced back at Grayson, he was surveying the backyard. My gaze swept over it all: the pool with the rock waterfall, the outdoor kitchen, the colossal rock fireplace surrounded by plush couches. It was like something out of a home-and-outdoor magazine.

  I looked at it all from his eyes. A boy who drove a beat
-up car and tutored struggling kids like me for thirty bucks an hour. It was impressive. Decadent, even. He glanced at me and I read his expression clearly. He thought I was a spoiled brat, and I guess I was. I was the picture of privilege. I’d done nothing to earn any of this, but I had it nonetheless.

  After unlocking the door, I went inside, telling myself that it didn’t matter what he thought of me and it shouldn’t bug me.

  Rowdy charged out, burying his nose directly in Grayson’s crotch. I grinned as he hopped and danced on his feet, shoving at Rowdy’s nose.

  Grabbing Rowdy’s collar, I dragged him off the guy. “C’mon, boy.” I shoved him out onto the back porch. Moving an overweight Labrador wasn’t an easy feat. I blew out a breath as I shut the door behind him.

  “Thanks.” Grayson shook a leg as though needing to adjust his jeans after Rowdy’s vigorous greeting.

  “We can sit here.” I motioned to the kitchen table. It was big, with eight chairs surrounding it. A waste considering Dad and I never even sat down together for a meal anymore. Even when Mom had been here it was just the three of us.

  “Want a drink? I’m thirsty.” I dropped my backpack on the table. His eyes flicked to his phone, clearly checking the time. “I know, I know. I’m on the clock.”

  He shrugged. “It’s your hour. Get your drink. I’m fine.”

  I moved into the kitchen and poured a glass of juice, looking up when I heard the back door open. I watched as Grayson let the dog back inside.

  When I returned, he was already sitting in his chair with Rowdy panting dotingly between his feet, getting his ears scratched.

  “I let him in,” he unnecessarily explained. “He was whining.”

  My opinion of him adjusted slightly. If he was a dog person, he couldn’t be all that bad.

  I took the seat beside him and opened my laptop to the online practice problems.

  “The test is tomorrow . . .” I started to say.

  “So you thought you’d start reviewing tonight?” His eyes were gleaming dark and full of derision behind the lenses of his glasses. Derision. See. There was an SAT word. I wasn’t terrible at every subject.