Lovestruck Summer (16 page)

253 an order in for a plate of barbecue and a big pickle, along with slaw and hush puppies on the side, of course. On his tray, the owner promised to deliver note number three. That one’s the scariest. It’ll direct Russ to the Continental Club, where Chrissy and Penny managed to convince the band that was playing on our night of plotting to do a very, very big favor for us. All in the name of summer love. I’m standing in the corner of the Continental, staring at the clock. It’s getting close to eight P.M., which is the ETA for Russ. The plan was that he got the Knock Out roses at around six P.M., when Chrissy would pretend she heard the doorbell and they’d be lying on the welcome mat outside as Russ went to check it. She texted me a little after six, and the text just said, Russter is on the move. So he must’ve gotten to the Four Seasons by six-thirty or so, where Jade was waiting in dark glasses and a hat, lingering near the fl ag to be sure Russ found clue number two. Her text, sent at 6:42 said, The rooster has picked up his hen. Funny how this clue game is making everyone

254 into weird code-talkers. That one made me laugh. Iron Works Barbecue is nearby, and Penny would be there, pretending to bump into Russ. Even though I hadn’t gotten a text from her by seven, I headed to the bar to wait. But now it’s close to eight, and she still hasn’t—beepbeepbeep Penny: He’s on his way. Phew. And no code talk. But then a second text comes in. Penny: He says it’s all or nothing. I have no idea what that means, but I can feel my heart beating in my throat as I wave at Tom the bartender. “Ready?”he asks. “Ten minutes,”I say. And I try to sound confi dent, but my voice shakes a little. Tom signals to the band, making a “10”with both hands. The lead singer, an older man with a white beard and a rough but perfect voice whom Tom calls “Pick-up Pete,”nods as they fi nish up their song. I lean back on the bar, glad I had my friends make sure Russ took each step of the bait. I also

255 wanted them to supervise the earlier parts of this plan because I don’t want them at Location Four—here. I made them promise that they’d let Russ come alone. This is a one-time humiliation for a good cause. My heart. But I don’t want too many witnesses. Especially not a family member who can tell the story for ages. Pick-up Pete fi nishes one more song, and then announces that the band will take a quick break. He steps down off the stage, walking over to me. “You the singing girl?”he asks. “Yeah,”I say, still not sounding very solid. “And you know the words to this song,”he says, looking me up and down like he’s not so sure that a blue-haired girl wearing a Walters T-shirt and Converse sneaks can pull off the country classic we have lined up. “I do,”I say. It’s all I’ve listened to for the past three days as Penny and Chrissy and Jade helped me get the clues ready and this fi nal moment set up. “Well, then, where’s the fella?”asks Pick-up Pete. As if on cue, Russ walks in. Followed by Chrissy, Jade, and Penny.

256 I glance down at my phone and reread the second text from my cousin. That’s what she meant by “all or nothing”—he wouldn’t come without them. Russ is getting his way again by bringing everyone here! And I start to fume, but then I look up at them, and I catch Russ’s eye. His smile grows a few inches, and I see he’s holding the fl owers. “I’m ready,”I say to Pick-up Pete. Then I take his arm and let him walk me up the steps to the stage. I shake hands with the band members, who eye me with kindness. Or is it pity? I don’t have time to think too much, because Pick-up Pete is already at the mike. “Ladies and Gents, we have a special treat tonight,”he says. “We’re going to perform an Ernest Tubbs classic with a very special song- bird.”He winks at me and I smile. I try to look out in the audience, but there are stage lights in my eyes, so I can’t see where Russ is. “Miss Quinn Parker would like to—”he starts. I tap him on the shoulder, interrupting, and

257 I whisper in his ear. “Excuse me,”he continues. “Miss Priscilla Quinn Parker would like to dedicate this song to one Mr. Russ Jay Barnes, who is the most amazing effi ng frat boy she’s ever met.”I hear laughter and a few hoots from the audience then, and the encouraging sounds buoy me to the mike. The band strikes up a slow beat, and I come in right on cue. “When we dance together, my world’s in disguise . . . “It’s a fairyland tale that’s come true . . .”My voice isn’t entirely melodic. Okay, it’s pretty awful. I’m not even on key. But I keep going, warbling about the stars in his eyes, how he takes away my heartaches and troubles. This is a song that I hadn’t even heard until Russ made it the closing song on his mix, but I am completely taken with it. Maybe it’s that feeling that’s car- rying me through this paltry vocal performance. When I end with “I could waltz across Texas with you . . .”I feel a tear run down my cheek. I hear the bar patrons clapping politely, probably not sure what to make of the subpar

258 “songbird,”as Pick-up Pete called me. But then I hear the applause growing. It’s getting louder and louder and I hold my hand out in front of my face to block the spotlights so I can see what’s going on. Just then, I feel the wind under me as Russ lifts me up in his arms, twirling me around once and then setting me down, back on the stage. I don’t even care that there are two dozen people watching—including my cousin. I lean in to meet Russ’s amazing lips. And we have the best freaking kiss this stage has ever seen. When my eyes and ears refocus as we part, I hear more cheers and hoots, and I suddenly remember to be a little embarrassed. I give a shy wave as Russ leads me down the stage stairs. I don’t even say good-bye to Penny or Jade or Chrissy as he pulls my hand and we dash outside. “Leave your car,”he says. My cheeks fl ush again as I hop into his truck, more lovestruck than I ever knew I could be.

259 Epilogue I ’ve had three weeks with Russ by my side. As I wake up next to him in his double bed, where I’ve been sleeping pretty regularly, I realize that this is the second half of the last weekend of the last week of our summer. I fly home tomorrow. I’ll see Raina and my parents, and I’ll make trips to Target to buy things like a laundry basket and storage bins and folding bookshelves for my college dorm room. I leave in just two more weeks for Vermont. I look at Russ, sleeping, and my heart starts to sink a little. But then he opens his eyes. “Good morning, sunshine,”he says, wrap- ping me up in his arms for five more minutes in bed. I look up at the ceiling, where a poster of some

260 famous UT quarterback is taped above the bed. The walls are covered in party photos—mostly from frat keggers—and there are wooden Alpha- Alpha letters hanging on back of the door. If I’d had a crystal ball three months ago, just before I came to Austin, and I’d been able to see where I’d end up hanging out—in this room, with this guy—I would have been morti- fi ed. Because back then, I had all these ideas about who I was, and who my friends were sup- posed to be, and who I didn’t want to know. I lean over and kiss Russ on the cheek. With the help of Penny and Chrissy—and Jade, too—I have so much more now. The Amalgam festival went amazingly well—after Rick dried off he was able to laugh at the getting-thrown-in-pool incident. He even gave both me and Jade small stipends for our summer work, which will help with college stuff next year. He also gave Jade something more impor- tant—the full-on “I’m a dick”apology. It even sounded sincere. Jade’s response was awesome. “That was so three weeks ago,”she said. “I’m over it.”I half expected Sebastian to call me or stop

261 by Amalgam after the San Josépool incident, but he stayed away that whole next week. I was busy with Russ, mostly, but I felt like I had to say something to him, so I stopped by Dirty’s the next Friday night when he was deejaying. I walked in and saw that he was taking a break, in a booth, with his arm around some other girl, who looked way more indie than I do. Black hair, cat’s eye glasses, patchwork dress. She was straight outta Hipster-land. My jeal- ous instinct didn’t kick in even a little bit, and I went over and talked to him like nothing had happened. He acted the same way. And when I left, I smiled and waved one last time, happy that he found someone he wanted, too. Or at least the possibility of someone. I muss Russ’s hair and climb out of bed. I go downstairs and walk out the back door, head- ing to Penny’s kitchen to grab an apple. She’s sitting at the island bar with Miss Tiara in her robe. That is, both of them are in robes. “Morning,”I say. “Hola, Juliet,”she says. “Last night with Romeo tonight?”

262 “Yeah,”I say, not wanting to think of it that way. “What are you guys doing?”she asks. And it seems like maybe she’s wondering if we’re going to hole up in Russ’s room and not hang out. Which is so not our style. “Something with you,”I say. That night, Miss Tiara, Penny, Chrissy, Jade, Russ, and I stake out a spot on the lawn of the Four Seasons Hotel around six P.M. We spread a big blanket over the grass and order frothy root beers, looking toward the sky and hoping we’ll see something special. Namely, bats. “I’m telling you, they’re fl ying tonight,”says Russ. “I can feel it.”“I read on some website that they fl y on warm, calm evenings—sometimes even before sunset,”says Jade. The six of us talk about plans for next year. Penny, Chrissy, and Russ will all be UT seniors; Jade is starting college in Dallas. And I’ll be in Vermont, which I’m sure will feel

263 worlds away from here. I look down at the blanket for a minute, get- ting sad. Russ picks up my chin. “Take a quick walk with me?”he asks, grabbing the backpack he brought and reaching out for my hand. “Sure,”I say. “We’ll be right back, guys.”“Take your tiiiime,”says Chrissy while Penny makes a kissy face. Sorority girls, man. We walk down to the edge of the river, head- ing away from the bridge a little bit so we’re out of the Tri-Pi-Jade sight range. Russ unzips his bag and hands me a bou- quet of tiny, blue, star-shaped fl owers. “They’re forget-me-nots,”he says. And I can see him blushing. “Subtle, Russ.”I laugh and he reaches down to pick me up and spin me around, which is my new favorite move ever. I don’t think anyone else will ever do it as well as he does. “So are we gonna have the breakup talk now?”I ask. “Because I don’t really want to voice it, you know? Can’t we just say good-bye and not know what it means?”

264 “I’m not giving up,”says Russ. “I’ve got too much to lose.”I smile at him indulgently. I know college will be a whole new world, just like this summer. I can’t promise him anything. “Priscilla,”he starts, using his Elvis voice so things don’t get too mushy. “I’m a practical guy. And I have a practical plan.”“Oh, really?”I ask. “What’s that?”He reaches back into his bag and hands me a card. On the front are two crudely drawn shapes—one in blue that is small and long, one in orange that’s rounder and much bigger. There’s a green X in between them. “Hieroglyphics?”I ask. “States!”he says, pointing at the smaller, longer one. “That’s North Carolina.”“Um . . . okay,”I say. “And this one is . . .”“Texas!”“Aha,”I say. “So this is you and me . . .”“Right,”he says. “South by Southwest.”I open the card and read the inside: Meet me in Austin, by the Walters stage. Love, Russ

Lovestruck Summer

265 “I don’t get it,”I say, wishing I did. “The music festival next spring!”he shouts. “I know what South by Southwest is!”I say, getting annoyed. He can still frustrate me faster than any guy I’ve ever met. But I’m smiling too. “What does it mean?”I ask. “No obligations,”he says. “But if you can’t get me out of your mind, and if I can’t get you out of mine, here’s where and when our next date will happen.”I look down at the card again, and it starts to make sense. In a completely impractical way, but also in a romantic one. “I’ll be there,”I say, not knowing whether I’ll be able to keep my word, but knowing that I mean it in this moment, and that’s all that matters. And then, we hear a collective “Ooooohhh”rising from the lawn. I look up and see a stream of black bats flowing out from under the Congress Avenue Bridge. Their fast-beating wings make a sound like a rhythm section, and they’re so close together that it looks like the golden-pink horizon is being covered in black velvet. Russ grabs my hand and we run back to join Penny,

266 Jade, and Chrissy. The fi ve of us stand together, Penny holding Miss Tiara, as the bats blanket the sky, covering Austin with the magic of an unexpected journey.

Thanks to my grandparents, Don and Priscilla “Tay”Day, who taught me to love “old”music and danced like a dream. And to my blog readers on www.melissacwalker.com, who thought of the Best. Band. Names. Ever. You guys rock. Acknowledgments

Credits Typography by Andrea Vandergrift Cover art ©2009 by Sasha Illingworth Cover design by Andrea Vandergrift

Copyright LOVESTRUCK SUMMER. Copyright ©2009 by Melissa Walker. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader April 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-185886-4 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Table of Contents

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4