Lovestruck Summer by Melissa Walker (best management books of all time txt) 📕

“Sebastian is deejaying.”“Oh,”says Penny, looking defl ated. But she brightens up again in about half a second. “Wait! Who’s Sebastian?”“Quinn’s boyfriend,”Jade says at the same time that I say, “Just a guy.”Penny’s eyes widen excitedly. “Bring him over after!”“I think we’re probably gonna go some- where else,”I say, knowing that it would not be cool to bring Sebastian to a Greek party. He would hate it. “We can come back here,”says Jade. “Come on, Quinn. . . . It’ll be fun. Sebastian will love your cousin.”“Uhh . . . maybe,”I say, seeing no way out. “Closet time!”shouts Chrissy. In Penny’s room, Chrissy lays out a bunch of clothes in pastels with scalloped edges, and I have to draw the line. “We did the bathroom part,”I say. “Do we really need to go fully Makeover Story on me right now?”Chrissy and Penny nod simultaneously: Yes,

171 we do need to do that. But Jade is more reasonable. “Girls, she’s not ready,”says Jade. “But let’s at least fi nd your smallest band tee.”When we get to Dirty’s, the bar is packed. “Flannel Fades is playing later,”says Jade. “They’re huge here.”“Looks like some of the students are back too,”I say, seeing way more burnt-orange hats in the crowd than usual. We fi nd space to lean against a wall near the DJ booth and I wave at Sebastian. He smiles and holds up a CD, handing it over the edge of the booth. It’s the mix I asked for. I tuck it into my tattered canvas bag for later, and I resolve to replace Russ’s mix with this one, at least outside of the car. “I am so not bringing Sebastian back to Penny’s,”I say to Jade. And then I think I see her roll her eyes ever so slightly. “What?”I ask. “You think I should?”“I think you should ask Sebastian if he wants to go back to your cousin’s house,”she says. “Tell him it’s kind of a frat party, but that it

172 could be fun, even if it’s not his usual scene.”That actually sounds . . . wise. But still scary. Who can face that purple Tri-Pi decor without a little bit of a vurp? “You really think he’ll be cool with it?”I ask. “I really think you should let him decide,”she says. “At least give him a chance to meet these other people in your life.”“But they’re not, like, my friends,”I say. Jade looks at me skeptically. “Yes,”she says, “they are. And they’re cool in their own way.”Then she turns around and her back is to me. I let her words sink in. It’s not that I don’t like Penny and Chrissy and their friends. Well, maybe I didn’t like them at fi rst. But I do hang out with them a lot at the condo, because they’re there and I’m there and . . . I guess they kind of are my friends. They’re just . . . not who I thought my friends would be. When Sebastian fi nishes spinning, he joins us against the wall. We stay for Flannel Fades and I don’t mention Penny’s party until they fi nish their encore. Then Jade does it for me. “There’s a party at Quinn’s cousin’s condo tonight,”she says.

173 Sebastian looks up at me with interest. “It’s a Tri-Pi and Alpha-Alpha party,”I say quietly. “Wait,”he says, his grin widening. “A what?”“Quinn’s cousin is in a sorority,”says Jade. “She’s all insecure about it, but it’ll be fun.”Sebastian shrugs like he doesn’t really care. “Let’s go,”he says. We pile into the Festiva and I pop Russ’s tape out of the deck before I start the car. “Put on the mix I made you,”says Sebastian. Jade knocks me on the shoulder in approval and I smile at her in the rearview mirror. “I can’t,”I say, pointing to the tape player. He laughs. “Whoa,”he says. “I guess you should have specifi ed that you wanted a taped mix.”Then he grabs Russ’s cassette. “‘Indie plus country equals harmony,’”he reads. “Nice. I guess someone knew you had a tape player. Who made this?”“Quinn’s neighbor,”says Jade. “Yup,”I say, starting the car. “So mine wasn’t your fi rst Austin mix?”he asks.

174 “Second,”I say, concentrating on pulling out of the parking lot. “Well, that was nice of her to make this for you,”he says. Neither Jade nor I correct his pronoun.

175 Chapter 15 I can hear the party before we pull in to the condo parking lot. Mainly, I can hear hoots and hollers. Like, real hoots and hollers, as in “Yee- haw!”and “Wooooo-hooooo!”It’s like they’re staging a production of the musical Oklahoma!, with a keg. I’m nervous. Sebastian gets out of the car and pulls his seat-back up so Jade can exit too. We walk into the party, and I’m imagining that record-scratch moment, where the music stops and everyone stares because they know we’re not part of the Greek system, and maybe someone tries to beat up Sebastian because he’s pale and kinda skinny. And then Jade gets in a “bitch!”-calling fi ght because she’s tough and these sorority types like to make verbal digs at

176 girls who don’t look like they do. But none of that happens. When we open the door, Penny runs over to hug me and Jade, and then she introduces herself to Sebastian. He seems slightly over- whelmed by her glossy hair and blazing white teeth, but he still handles himself. I relax a little bit and move into the party, saying hi to Chrissy and grabbing a cup from the kitchen. “’Cilla!”I hear. I turn and see Russ working the keg, smil- ing right over the crowd of people swarming around him and looking straight at me. He’s waving the tap hose. “You know the keg guy?”asks Sebastian. “That’s a good thing, even if he did get your name wrong.”We go over together and Russ reaches out for my hand through the line of beer-seekers. Sebastian grabs on to my shirt and follows. “You look beautiful,”says Russ. And it’s this simple sentence