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

that you think will mean nothing, because maybe your mom has said it to you a thousand times, or your

177 best friend says it when you’re having an inse- cure moment about your outfi t. But it’s not like that—it’s completely different when a guy says it. I didn’t know that until this moment, because it’s the fi rst time a guy has ever said it to me. Three words just gave me goose bumps, and I feel like a girly girl for a second. “Your eyes . . . what’s different?”asks Russ. “Oh, I don’t know,”I say, tugging at the back of my hair self-consciously. “My friend Jade just helped me do my makeup.”“She did a good job,”Russ says, grinning so his dimples deepen. Sebastian noses up to the keg alongside me, pushing a little. “Hey, how about you pour the beer, man?”he says to Russ, impatiently. “What’s up, DJ?”asks Russ, his lips tight- ening as he takes my cup fi rst and fi lls it. “My name’s Sebastian,”says Sebastian. “Of course it is,”says Russ, narrowing his eyes and pouring a lot of foam into Sebastian’s cup. Maybe this is going to turn into the scene I

178 imagined when we walked in. But Sebastian doesn’t seem to notice Russ’s intensity. He just raises his cup in thanks before we walk out to the deck together. It’s hot outside, but not unbearable. Tonight is kind of nice, actually. I lean back on the deck rail- ing and look up at the sky, which seems so huge here, like the earth opens up wider over Texas. “So these are the people you hang out with?”asks Sebastian. “Huh?”I ask, breaking away from my star- gazing. Penny comes outside and I can see her sizing up Sebastian behind his back. She gives me the thumbs-up, which means she thinks he’s cute even though he’s probably not her type. I appreciate that. “So, Sebastian,”she says. “Are you from Austin?”He turns around to face her and smirks a little. “I’m originally from San Antonio,”he says. “I came for the music.”“Cool,”says Penny. “I love the Austin music scene too. And that’s what got Quinn down here, after all.”

179 The music changes and Rihanna is replaced by one of the songs on the mix Russ made me—it’s actually a Wholaheys’song that’s been rerecorded by a country artist, and it’s not half bad. Sebastian turns his back on my cousin. “So you wanna fi nish these and get out of here?”he asks me. “Uh . . .”I stutter, watching Penny’s face fall for a second before she heads over to talk to a group of guys on the other side of the deck. She was just trying to be social, but Sebastian was pretty rude. “The beers,”says Sebastian, pointing to his cup like I’m being too slow for him. “We should fi nish them and then go somewhere else. I mean, frat parties suuuck.”“Yeah,”I say, automatically affi rming what I’ve always thought I believed. But the second after I say it, I realize I don’t want to leave. I stare through the glass doors and see Jade talking to Chrissy and two other Tri-Pi girls, throwing her head back and laughing at some- thing someone’s saying. Then I look back at Sebastian, who is so obviously uncomfortable and anxious to go.

180 And in that moment I hear Russ’s big booming laugh through the walls of the condo. I gaze in the kitchen window and I see him, smile blaz- ing, bumping fi sts with everyone at the keg and laughing like the life of the party. “I want to stay,”I say to Sebastian. “Come on, Quinn,”he says. And his voice sounds whinier than I remember it being. “This isn’t your scene.”I look at him evenly. “I live here,”I say. “And these people are my friends.”“That guy is your friend?”Sebastian points to a frat brother of Russ’s who’s wearing one of those beer hats with the straw that leads straight to his mouth. His T-shirt says, C’S GET DEGREES. “Okay, maybe not him specifi cally,”I say. “But yeah, some of these people have kind of been here for me this summer.”I glance over at Russ, just for a second. Sebastian sighs in frustration. “Look, I know that Penny ditz is your cousin but—”I feel my mouth draw closed into an angry line. “Did you just call my cousin a ditz?”I ask. “Don’t get all protective, Quinn,”he says. “You told me that you think she’s a complete

181 airhead princess.”“I never said that!”I say. “You did,”says Sebastian. “Well, I didn’t mean it,”I say, fl ustered. Have I really been going around talking about Penny that way? I feel a rush of guilt. And besides—she’s my family, so I can talk about her. But he can’t. “You’re not the same girl I met earlier this summer,”says Sebastian. And the weird thing is, I think he’s trying to hurt me by saying that I’ve changed. He’s probably insinuating that I’m not as cool as I once was, that I’ve lost some sort of imaginary edge. But I don’t care what he thinks, I realize. Sure, Sebastian’s hot and he knows a lot about indie music and he makes for a good photo on my Facebook page. He looks like the kind of guy a girl like me would hang out with, go to shows with, be seen with. But somehow, we don’t fi t. “You should probably go,”I say. “Since it’s not really your scene.”He stares at me for a long moment before turning around, walking back through the slid- ing glass doors, and disappearing.

182 Not fi ve seconds later, Penny’s at my side. “What was that about?”she asks, swirling the ice in her drink around with a tiny straw. “He was being a jerk,”I say. “I’m glad you noticed,”she says. “I thought you might be completely blinded by his metro- sexual haircut.”I laugh. “Touché,”I say. Then I pause and think about how to say what I want to say next. “He really