Take It Off (25 page)

“Good night, friends,” I said sort of jokily, and waved.

“Good night,” everyone said.

Suki walked me back over to the stairs. “Patch just introduced Greta and me to his little sister,” she said. This felt weird, but I was trying to go with it. “She's really a catch; we both thought so … Hey, Jonathan? I had some fun with you on our little trip. I even had fun kissing you, but we
don't have to tell anybody that part, right? Because the thing is … I knew, when you told me about Flan, in the hostel in Mallorca, that you really, really liked her. And I think you guys make a good couple. Now go tell her you missed her, you jerk!” Then she ran back over to Arno, and I waved at my friends one last time and walked down the stairs to Flan's room.

There was no one in the hall now, and I knocked lightly. After a few minutes I hadn't heard anything, so I knocked again. I waited, trying to breathe steadily, to the point where I was going to have to barge in or give up. But then I heard the soft, sweet voice of Flan Flood, close to the other side of the door. She was saying, “If that's Jonathan, you can't come in.”

I put my forehead against the door. “Hey, Flan. I know I said some stupid shit … but I traveled on boats, and slow trains, and shitty cramped airplanes, all the way across the ocean, to see you. And I missed you really, really bad, and …”

The door opened, and there was Flan, with her golden hair undone and wearing nothing but an XL Guns N' Roses shirt that looked like it used to be black. She shook her head and said, “God you're hokey.”

But she was smiling, too, in this sweet, mysterious way that was hard to decipher. I took her hand and slipped my watch onto her wrist. It made her wrist look tiny, but it also made her look tough, and older. “You have no idea how hard it was to bring that back here to you,” I said, even though I didn't really have any idea, either.

“Thank you,” she mouthed, twisting it around her wrist. Then she put her hands around my neck, and kept giving me that smile. I wasn't sure what it meant, but I was sure I wanted to find out.

Don't miss the next Insiders book—
Break Every Rule
!

It's spring in New York and things are heating up:

Jonathan's torn between his demanding girlfriend and his guys.

Mickey gets into photography—the naked kind!

Arno is named Hottest Private School Boy … but can he handle the title?

Patch is suddenly desperate to reconnect with a girl from his past—if he can find her!

And David falls for the ultimate anti-It Girl. Could it be love?

While you wait, check out what's new with the guys at
www.insidersbook.com
.

Copyright © 2005 by J. Minter and Alloy Entertainment

All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Published by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers

Electronic edition published in June 2012
www.bloomsburyteens.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Minter, J.

Take it off : an insiders novel / by J. Minter.—1st U.S. ed.

p. cm.

Summary: Four wealthy Manhattan teenagers find love and adventure in the Mediterranean when they join an Ocean Term cruise.

[1. Cruise ships—Fiction. 2. Mediterranean Sea—Fiction.] I. Title

PZ7.M67334Tak 2005       [Fic]—dc22      2005040532

First U.S. Edition 2005

Bloomsbury Publishing, Children's Books, U.S.A.

175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010

ISBN: 978-1-61963-079-6 (e-book)