Saturday, May 14th

Leo and I are in the hammock in the backyard of my house, lyingat opposite ends so we’re facing each other. There’s a gentle breeze, and the shade from the giant trees makes the heat bearable.

I had a long talk with my parents last night. Mom was really upset when she found out we tricked her with the phone. And a little embarrassed that she couldn’t tell she was texting Wes and Charlie instead of me. I mean, Sophie she understood, but that the boys fooled her was more than she could handle.

It was a long night. Once the interrogation was over, I went upstairs and finished the stupid questionnaire. Even though the school won’t be looking for it, Nonna texted that I still owe her a copy for her box. And I gave myself permission to write Undecided for as many of the answers as I wanted.

I felt really good.

“What’s the plan for today?” Leo asks.

I stretch my arms out wide. “Absolutely nothing! Isn’t it glorious?”

He squeezes my ankle. “Works for me.”

We swing back and forth, slowly. I don’t know what this thing is between us and for once I’m not trying to figure it out. He’s staying for the graduation ceremony and then he’ll head home the next day.

“Do you regret not walking in your graduation?” I ask him. His school held their ceremony this past Thursday, but he missed it for the tournament.

He shakes his head. “No. Like you said the other night, my friends were on the course with me. Most of them missed their graduations, too.” He shifts slightly, propping himself up on my legs. “And I made some new friends this week.”

My grin is ridiculous. It’s all teeth. I should be embarrassed but I’m not.

I tug on the blue baseball cap. “So what’s the story with this hat, and are you okay that I’m never giving it back?”

He pulls me a little closer and I let out a squeal. “First time I played golf after I moved to St. Francisville, I was wearing that hat. It was brand-new. Mom bought it since it was in the colors of my new school. A guy whose dad is friends with mine invited me to go play. And I fell in love with the game. And did surprisingly well for a beginner. From that point on, whenever I played, I wore that hat.”

I go to pull it off and hand it back to him. “I can’t keep it. Not when it means…”

He stops me, covering my hand with his as we both slide it back on my head. “I told you. I like knowing where it is.”

I’m saved from saying something cheesy when my phone rings. I lean to the side to pluck it off the ground and almost tip us over in the process.

I’m laughing when I answer. “Hello?”

“Miss Perkins?”

I recognize that voice. Mr. Spencer.

“Yes, sir?” And now I’m struggling to sit up, which is hard to do in a hammock. I’m squirming around and Leo is trying to help me without really understanding what I’m trying to do.

“I received your e-mail this morning and I’m a little confused. Are you turning down the salutatorian honors? You’ve asked me to find a replacement for you to give the welcome speech.”

“Um, well, I figured if I wasn’t graduating, I couldn’t give the speech.”

I had e-mailed Mr. Spencer late last night after the long conversation with my parents, telling him that since I would not be salutatorian, he’d need to give the next person in line notice so they could start working on what they would say.

“I mean, I didn’t get the off-campus PE form signed and you said there was nothing you could do if he didn’t sign it, so…”

“I got your form yesterday afternoon,” he says.

This stops me cold.

“Yesterday afternoon?”

“Coach Cantu dropped it off at my house. Highly unusual. I told him he just should have scanned it and e-mailed it to me.”

This is a man who rarely carries a phone. There’s no way he has a scanner.

“I’m graduating?” I ask, and Leo tries to sit up a little too quickly and we’re wobbling again. He finally stretches across the entire hammock sideways with his hands on the ground on one side and his feet on the ground on the other side. He’s turning and looking at me with wide eyes.

“Well, yes. And you’re still the salutatorian.”

I squeal so loud that Mr. Spencer lets out a string of curses I know he wishes he could take back.

“Practice is Monday morning. You’ll need to be there a little early so we can run through the opening.”

“Yes, sir!” I say, ending the call after we say our good-byes.

I throw myself at Leo and as he flips over to catch me, we pitch completely off the hammock and land in the thick green grass.

“Did I hear what I think I did?” he says.

I’m nodding and laughing and crying. He holds me close and I bury my face in his neck. His hands run through my hair and he’s telling me how proud of me he is and it’s more than I can take.

Pulling away from each other slightly, we’re face-to-face for about five seconds and then we’re kissing. His hands wrap around me, tugging me in closer, and mine latch on to him like I’ll never let him go.

When I remember we are in full view of the back windows of my house, I break the kiss and bury my face once again in the crook of his neck.

“You know what this means,” Leo says.

A million things run through my head as I wonder where he’s going with this.

“We both lost out on first-place finishes.”

And we’re laughing. And it feels so good.

“Why do you think he signed it?” I ask.

He shrugs. “Want to go ask him?”

I’m up before he’s finished his question. “Yes, I do. After all that, I want to know. Will you ride with me?”

He gets up, pulling my hand into his. “Of course.”

I drive us to the club without bothering to call. There’s no way to know if Coach Cantu’s even going to be there, but I can’t wait.

The guy at the guard station waves me through before I come to a complete stop, and it doesn’t take long to find Coach Cantu. He’s sitting at one of the round metal tables on the patio of the clubhouse, a notebook and calendar spread out in front of him.

“Coach Cantu?” I say, and he looks up at me when he hears his name.

He gives me a smile and says, “Olivia, how are you?” And then he notices Leo behind me. His face lights up. “And congratulations on your finish yesterday, Leo. I wasn’t sure you were going to pull it off with your rough start.”

Okay, that’s like salt in the wound.

“Just had to get my head back on right,” Leo says.

Coach’s eyes bounce between Leo and me a few times. “What can I do for you this morning?”

“I wanted to thank you. For signing my form,” I say. I’m nervous but I don’t know why. “After the text you sent, I thought for sure you wouldn’t, since I didn’t finish my hours.” Maybe I’m half expecting him to chew me out for almost wrecking the tournament for Leo.

He gives me a tight smile. “I wasn’t sure what this week would be like when you showed up here. When I sent you that text, the officials had not informed me as to what happened and I thought you were a no-show. And I’ll admit, I was furious. But when I found out what happened, I realized you had finally understood the most essential part of golf. Integrity. All players are required to keep their own score and call penalties on themselves. It’s the most important principle. Without it, the rest doesn’t matter. When I heard what you did, what you admitted to, even though you didn’t have to and at some peril to yourself, I thought, She finally gets it!”

I can’t look at him. I know I’m blushing, I can feel it.

“So I signed the form and turned it in for you. Mr. Spencer said he’d let you know, but I should have called you myself.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “I’m so sorry I blew your class off. If there’s one thing I regret, it’s that.”

He smiles. “Thank you. And good luck with everything.” Then he leans forward to look at Leo. “I’ll be watching out for you! You’re going to do great things!”

And now Leo is blushing. We’re pretty adorable, I must say.

We say our good-byes and walk hand in hand back to the parking lot.

“I guess you need to let your family know,” he says once we’re back in my car. “That’ll take the rest of the day.”

I laugh. “Watch this.”

Pulling my phone out, I open up a new text to Nonna.

ME:Great news! Coach Cantu signed my form! I get to graduate!

I show Leo the screen and hit SEND. He seems a little confused.

“Just wait.”

It only takes about sixty seconds for the texts to start rolling in.

MOM:You got it signed??? Call me!!

AUNT EILEEN:So glad I didn’t have to hunt that coach down and give him a piece of my mind! Love you!

UNCLE MARCUS:Happy for you

And on and on it goes. God, I love my family.