Lovestruck Summer (15 page)

236 out of my head. But I’m having trouble voicing the specifi cs, so I just say, “I’m ready.”Russ tilts his head and looks at me funny. “Ready for what?”“Ready to go out with you,”I say. And he starts to laugh. At fi rst, it’s a quiet chuckle, but it grows into a giant hooting sound, and it’s infuriating. I kick the dust at our feet, and a cloud rises up to interrupt his guffaw-fest. “What is so funny?”I ask. He’s holding his stomach, but he gets him- self under control for a second. “The fact that you think it would be that easy,”he says. “You had your shot, Miss Priscilla. This bird has fl own.”I cross my arms across my chest. “Then why did you leave this replacement mix in my car?”I ask. “Why did you want me to have it so badly that you’d record it again?”“I can’t have you going back to Carolina uneducated,”he says. “You need that music, honey. And you need to open your mind. More

237 than anyone I’ve ever met.”He turns then, and walks back to his truck. He gets in and drives up next to where I’m lean- ing on the Festiva, a little dumbstruck. “So your car’s running fi ne?”he asks. I nod, frowning and refusing to look at his face. “See you around then, ’Cilla,”he says, driv- ing off in a big roar and a mini-cyclone of dust. I get back into the Festiva and stew for a minute before starting up the engine to turn and go home. Who the eff does he think he is? I have a date with Sebastian tomorrow night, and I might as well keep it. I guess any kind of fl ing is better than none. I feel a little bit empty as I drive home, though, and I don’t let myself pop in Russ’s mix until I’m about halfway there and can’t resist any longer.

238 Chapter 22 The next evening, I hear a honk outside—Se- bastian’s signature call. He can’t even walk up to the door, I think. I step outside and climb on the back of his Vespa, snapping my helmet in place. As we zoom away, I turn back, and I see Russ stand- ing in front of his condo with an arm leaning on the door frame. He watches us go, and I give him a tiny wave. I’m not even sure he notices it, let alone the feeling behind it. I wish . . . but I try to block that thought out of my mind. We go to this place called the San José. It’s a hotel, but there’s an outdoor patio where you can sit next to a small swimming pool and order food. The trees provide a pretty, dappled shade, and the people here all look really stylish.

239 “This is nice,”I say, feeling a little under- dressed in my T-shirt and jean shorts, not to mention underage, next to all the sundresses and high heels nearby. There’s even a girl from Project Runway, I notice, at the table behind us. Not that I watch that show. Very often. “It’s like LA here,”says Sebastian. “Oh,”I say, “have you been to LA?”“No,”he says. I laugh, but he doesn’t. I guess Sebastian thinks he can seriously know LA without having been there. I see Jade walking through the patio. I asked her to come hang out with us. She puts on a good face about the Rick thing, but I know she’s been lonely lately. “Hey, guys,”she says, sliding into a seat next to us and fl agging down a waiter. Sebastian orders a fruit-and-cheese plate, which feels fancy and very adult-like. He talks about his latest gig, and Jade and I tell him about the August music festival, which is going to be awesome. “We’ll go to that together,”says Sebastian, more telling me than asking me. But I guess I

240 don’t mind. And just when I’m thinking that we’re having a nice (if slightly boring) time here, I spot him. Rick strolls in with some older lady on his arm. Okay, maybe she’s like twenty-fi ve, but still. Yuck. I glance over at Jade to see if she’s seen them. She hasn’t yet—she’s reaching for the last plump red grape. But then she looks up and her eyes widen. I put my hand on her arm, but I can already see the beginning of major anger working its way across her face. Sebastian doesn’t notice. He’s still talking about his upcoming shows and the new samples he’s thinking of mixing into his set. “Just ignore them,”I say quietly to Jade, who’s watching Rick’s and the lady’s every move as they sit down at a table across the patio from us. I don’t think he’s seen us yet. “Quinn,”says Sebastian. “Are you paying attention to me at all?”“Sorry—Rick just walked in,”I say to him. “Oh, let’s go say hi,”says Sebastian.

241 “No!”Jade and I shout simultaneously. “He and Jade kind of had a . . . falling out,”I explain. Sebastian doesn’t know anything about the hookup—no one does. Jade and Rick have been okay around each other in the offi ce, but I know seeing him with some woman makes her cat-scratch mad. The look on her face is evi- dence of that. “Whoa,”says Sebastian, catching Jade’s expression. “Must’ve been a big falling out.”“We hooked up,”says Jade. “But it didn’t mean anything. To him.”“Rough,”says Sebastian. He looks over at Rick and the lady. “You can’t blame him though. She’s pretty hot.”I glare at Sebastian then, harder than I’ve glared in a while. “What?”He shrugs. “Let’s move,”says Jade. “I can’t watch them all night, but I’m not going to let them chase us out of here either.”The trouble is, the San Josépatio area is pretty small. We head over by the tiny pool and sit on a couple of deck chairs. There’s an old man swim- ming incredibly short laps in the blue water.

242 But our movement must draw attention to us, because soon Rick is coming our way. “Hey there, you guys,”he says, like we’re a gang of kids he knows or something. “Hey, man,”says Sebastian, standing up to fi st-bump Rick. Jade and I stand too, because it’s weird to be down low in a patio chair when Rick’s so tall above us. “Hi,”I say. But Jade doesn’t say anything. And when I look over at her, prompting her to just say hello, she has this wicked grin on her face. Before I can stop her, she shoots both arms out, full force, and pushes Rick right into the pool, clothes and all. He misses the lap swim- mer by a few inches and the old man gives him a dirty look. Rick is dumbstruck as he drags his wet head—and shirt and jeans and shoes—out of the pool. He’s completely soaked. Have you ever noticed that if you get mad while you’re wet, you just look cartoonish? Rick is fuming, which makes him look even sillier. Jade and I both crack up. I can’t help

243 myself—he looks like a sorry, wet dog, which, if you think about it, isn’t a bad metaphor. “Not cool,”says Rick, shaking a dripping fi nger at Jade as he walks back to his lady- in-waiting. I wish they’d stay so I could hear what’s sure to be a disgruntled intern explanation, but the lady’s already gathering her purse and staring back at us like we’re punk kids. “I think we’ve offi cially ditched the grown- up vibe of this place,”I say. Jade laughs some more. Sebastian, however, is frowning. “Not cool,”he says, echoing Rick. I look at his brow, furrowed and serious. That lovely mouth that talks only about music and his upcoming sets. Those deep green eyes that drew me in the fi rst time I saw him, but that never seem to really see me. That fl oppy dark hair that probably takes a while to style, even though it’s meant to look unkempt and casual. And before I know it, my arms spring out too. Sebastian, with his tight jeans, his olive-green glasses, and his soft DJ hands, is in the pool. Jade screams in delight and we both start up again, cackling our heads off. That’s when a

244 hotel manager comes over and asks us to leave—all of us. Outside on the street, Sebastian seems much smaller in his soaking-wet T-shirt, water drip- ping off his skinny jeans. But it’s his angry face that makes me fi nally see it: He doesn’t look like the guy for me at all. He storms off and hops on his Vespa, not even glancing back at me. I know it’s truly over now. And I think I don’t care. “There’s a great country bar right across the street,”says Jade. “Let’s go,”I say. And we link arms—dry arms—as we leave our all-wet summer fl ings behind. The bar across the street is covered in old wood, and there’s a small stage where a really old band is playing classic country tunes. There are mid- dle-aged people twirling around on the dance floor in high-heeled boots and high-waisted jeans (but not the trendy kind). It’s amazing. “I love this,”I say, settling onto a wooden stool beside Jade. I realize that if I had come

245 here at the beginning of summer, I would have dismissed the music and the setting. But things are different now. I sigh out loud, and Jade looks at me sym- pathetically. “I’m sure Sebastian will get over it,”she says. “He was just mad that he has to go home and restyle his hair.”We both laugh. “It’s not Sebastian,”I say. And I look at the couples dancing, thinking back to the night Russ and I spun around to “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”Why have I been so stupid? “Russ the cowboy,”says Jade, following my eyes. I smile sheepishly at her. “Remember how you described your dream guy to me at the beginning of the summer?”asks Jade. “Sort of,”I say. “I know Russ doesn’t fi t that description.”“Actually, I was thinking he does,”she says. “You wanted someone who could introduce you to new music, make you playlists, and fi nd songs that you’ll always remember from this summer.”

246 “You’re right,”I say. “He’s done all that.”“So what’s the issue?”she asks. “Go get your man.”“I tried,”I say. “He said no and left me in the dust—literally.”“Really?”asks Jade. “You told him you loved him?”“Well, not exactly,”I say. “I told him I was ready.”She gives me a skeptical look. “Ready for what?”she asks. “That’s what he asked,”I say. “And I said I was ready to date him.”Jade rolls her eyes. “Gee, Quinn,”she says. “You’re a regular poet. I can’t imagine why a guy wouldn’t be swept off his feet when you say those two magical words: ‘I’m ready.’”“Well, he knew what I meant!”I say, frowning. I slump over on the bar and stare at the carvings in the old wood. JW + ND, DON LOVES TAY, CLEM AND NELL 4-EVER. I pick my head up again. Everywhere I look, people are in love. “Let me borrow your phone,”says Jade. I reach into my jeans pocket and hand it to

247 her. No one wants to hear me whine, I guess. I look back up at the band onstage as they fi nish their set and take a break. “Penny?”I hear Jade on the phone. “Yeah, Quinn needs you. We’re at the Continental Club on South Congress,”she says. “Bring Chrissy.”“. . . No, nothing life or death,”says Jade. “More like a heart intervention.”Through the phone, I hear my cousin’s high- pitched scream, which indicates some sort of over-the-top feeling—rage? Excitement? Who can tell? I haven’t quite decoded the sorority- shriek sound chart yet. Jade hangs up and hands my cell back to me. “Why did you call my cousin?”I ask. “Reinforcements,”she says. “You need a plan to get Russ, and who better to ask for help than two longtime friends of his?”I smile as Jade tosses her long red hair over one shoulder. “You have to be willing to do whatever we come up with,”says Jade, narrowing her eyes at me. “Even if it’s embarrassing.”I nod my head. I’ve screwed things up

248 enough on my own—it’ll be nice to have a team of love advisors. “Thanks,”I say. Twenty minutes later, two sorority screams echo in the chill retro bar, and all eyes turn to Chrissy and Penny, who is carrying Miss Tiara in a small brown-and-covered-with- logos purse. Penny races across the dance fl oor, weaving in between the befuddled couples to get to us. Chrissy is close behind. “What did that awful Sebastian do?!”my cousin snaps. “I am going to wring his scrawny little neck when I get ahold of him!”“It’s not Sebastian,”I say. “Yeah,”says Jade. “He’s kind of . . . um . . . out of the picture now. Right, Quinn?”I smile as I conjure up the image of the sopping-wet DJ. “Right,”I say. “What’s the deal then?”asks Chrissy. She looks like she might still be mad at me about the Russ stuff. “Well, obviously you know that Russ com- pletely rejected me the other day,”I say.

249 “Quinn, Russ isn’t really a talker,”she says. “No, I didn’t know. But since Penny told me you were going out with Sebastian tonight, I fi gured your conversation with him didn’t go well.”“I told you what happened, right?”I look at Penny. I’m sure I communicated my angst after Russ left me on the road. “You mean when you came home yesterday and grunted at me before you put your head- phones on for the rest of the night?”asks Penny. Hmm . . . guess I’m not a huge communica- tor either. “Okay—so what is the deal?!”asks Penny, waving her hands at me to hurry up and spill it. I hesitate a minute too long, and Jade is off like a shot. As she recounts the story I told her about me saying “I’m ready,”I suddenly realize how dumb and conceited that sounds. “I’m really smooth,”I say sarcastically when Penny and Chrissy smile in pity at my misstep. “We can fi x this,”says Penny, going into action mode and taking a purple Sharpie pen out of her bag. Miss Tiara barks in affi rmation and

250 the bartender raises an eyebrow. Chrissy fl ashes a smile (and pushes out her boobs), which makes him back off. Good thing too, because Penny is taking out her Tri-Pi notebook, spreading out across the bar, and starting to write. WIN HIS HEART: THE RUSS PLAN, she writes. “What’s this?”I ask. “Just wait,”she says. “Now comes the brain- storming. You didn’t know your old cousin was a boy genius.”“You’re a hyper-smart eleven-year-old boy?”asks Jade. “I mean a genius with guys,”says Penny, waving off Jade’s joke. “Now let’s get going.”Penny makes us write down romantic ideas—poetry, fl owers, music, dancing—and under each column, we have to come up with specifi cs that Russ likes. So Chrissy chimes in and tells us that he used to have a thing for Edgar Allan Poe, while I note that he mentioned bluebonnets once and that we’ve danced to “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”“But his favorite song is that ‘Waltz Across Texas’one,”says Chrissy. “He hums it con- stantly.”

251 I grin. Then Penny adds “Sports”because she says that—to guys—that is romantic. And Chrissy suggests that I wear a UT cheerleading uniform while I carry out the activities (that’s the third part of the brainstorming session). Jade nixes that part so I don’t have to. Phew. By the time we fi nish, fi ve pages of the note- book are covered with doodles and dreams of romance, and I have a plan. “Are you ready?”asks Jade. “Have I not made it clear by now that I am?”I joke. “Took you long enough!”says Chrissy, smiling. Penny, Chrissy, and Jade reach in for a group hug, and suddenly I’m feeling like, no matter what Russ says, this is the Best. Summer. Ever.

252 Chapter 23 After calling about ten florists, I realize that bluebonnets are hard to come by in July. As one lady put it, “That’s a spring flower, hon. How about a nice boo-kay of Knock Out roses?”So that’s what I got, and it turns out that Knock Out is their official name—they’re hearty, which seems suiting for Russ. They’re also pink, but hey, that made Penny happy. So I tie those up with a bow and include a little card that says, YOUR NEXT CLUE IS AT THE BADDEST-ASS FLAG EVER. He’ll fi nd my second message stuck into the corner of the case by the “Come and Take It”fl ag in the Four Seasons hotel lobby. That note says, SUPPER’S ON ME—THE BEST BBQ IN TOWN, OR SO YOU SAY. He’ll take off for Iron Works, where I have