Текст книги "Forbidden Boy"
Автор книги: Hailey Abbott
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FORBIDDEN
BOY
! ! !
Hailey
ABBOT
Contents
Chapter One
Julianne dragged her feet across the ground, the soles of…
1
Chapter Two
Julianne felt the sun streaming in her bedroom window and…
22
Chapter Three
Julianne felt like she was being baked alive. The three…
33
Chapter Four
Several hours later, Julianne was still in shock. Every part…
57
Chapter Five
Julianne’s curly hair spilled out of her bike helmet and…
65
Chapter Six
Julianne felt like there wasn’t a single part of her…
72
Chapter Seven
Julianne was exhausted beyond belief when she got home half… 80
Chapter Eight
Julianne spent the next three weeks at work in an…
91
Chapter Nine
Julianne crept around the corner, trying to stay crouched down… 99
Chapter Ten
Julianne was close to discovering the perfect color of blue.
109
Chapter Eleven
“Yo, Jules! Toss me those blueprints!” Beau called up to…
117
Chapter Twelve
Julianne climbed the stairs and walked directly past her
bedroom,…
127
Chapter Thirteen
Julianne excitedly pushed her small cart over the bright purple… 133
Chapter Fourteen
Julianne snapped awake when the weight of a hand touched…
142
Chapter Fifteen
Julianne popped her head around the corner, checking to see… 147
Chapter Sixteen
Julianne tiptoed toward the front door. Even though it was…
152
Chapter Seventeen
Julianne couldn’t believe she was finally putting the Finishing
touches…
164
Chapter Eighteen
The music at the Fishtail was pumping at earsplitting volume… 170
Chapter Nineteen
When the footsteps were directly behind her, Julianne tossed a… 178
Chapter Twenty
“Aw yeah!” Randy called as Julianne and Remi walked toward… 184
Chapter Twenty-One
For the next few days, Julianne walked around like a…
192
Chapter Twenty-Two
Julianne smoothed the fringe around the edge of the pillow…
199
Chapter Twenty-Three
Julianne was running down the beach at full speed, the…
212
Chapter Twenty-Four
The next day, Julianne and Chloe were sitting in the…
222
Chapter Twenty-Five
Julianne shuffled downstairs in her pajamas, stretching.
It had been…
230
About the Author
Other Books by Hailey Abbott
Credits
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
Chapter One
!
Julianne dragged her feet across the ground, the soles of her worn-in red ballet flats leaving sand trails on the cement behind her. Twenty yards ahead on the beach, Chloe was waiting for her, tapping one platform espadrille impatiently. “Jules, move it or lose it! This party waits for no man!” Julianne squinted to see her sister through the ten o’clock moonlight and shivered as a burst of early-June breeze broke through the warm night and crept up her spine. Around her, the sky was blue-black, and the only things she could make out clearly were the reflection of the water and the shape of the dunes.
Although Chloe’s tone was light, Julianne rolled her eyes in her sister’s direction and let out an exasperated 1
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sigh. She hunched her shoulders, shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her faded Citizens, and grumbled. “It doesn’t matter. I’m sure by the time we get there someone will have snatched up the beach rights and we’ll have to head back home anyway. I mean, it isn’t about who’s been here the longest. If some arrogant jerks with buckets of money decide to, oh, I don’t know, build a massive addition onto their huge glass house, they can just take over the beach to do that any time they want—
right?”
“Oh, Jules . . .” Chloe sighed, lacing her fingers through the belt loops of her denim miniskirt. Julianne noticed that her sister’s tangerine manicure matched her braided ribbon belt perfectly. Chloe was obviously trying her best to ignore the recent developments threatening their home. Even though their artist mother had purchased the family’s ocean-side property and its cozy 1960s cottage-style house, full of quirky nooks and little balconies nearly thirty years ago, changes in the neighborhood were now threatening to force the family out of their beachside house.
Over the past few years, wealthy families, enchanted by the beauty of the beach, had begun moving into the neighborhood en masse. It seemed that a new mansion was springing up around them practically every month.
With each new mansion came a new lawyer knocking on the door trying to cajole, guilt-trip, or bully the family 2
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into selling their land so that the new neighbors could build some “really amazing” hot tub, cabana, or heliport on the beach.
“We’ll be okay,” Chloe continued, turning toward the ocean. “It’s been our house for thirty years; no one can take it from us. Mom and Dad had their first date on our beachfront, they got married in the house, we have both lived our entire lives there, and Mom . . . well, you know.”
Neither girl wanted to finish Chloe’s sentence.
Although their mother had been dead for several years, the house was still full of her creativity and warmth.
“I don’t know,” Julianne protested. “The Moores really mean business. They’re way more intense than any of the other families have been.” The Moore family had only moved in a few weeks earlier, but they were incredibly vocal about their plans to build a huge addition onto their already massive mansion. “I mean, it’s totally insane. They move in, level a whole chunk of the beach, and build this huge glass castle looking out onto the ocean. Okay, whatever, they’re not the first. But now they want to build a gigantic addition, too? For what?
Servants’ quarters? A horse stable? What else could they possibly need?”
“I know. I don’t trust them either,” Chloe conceded.
“But we can’t do anything about it tonight, so we might as well enjoy ourselves.” They had stopped moving 3
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toward the party, and Julianne shivered slightly as a whisper of cool ocean breeze broke through the warmth of the night. Fearing that Jules might turn around and head home, Chloe switched tactics. “Listen, Little Mary Sunshine, we’re going to this party and we’re going to have a good time—whether you like it or not. It’s non-negotiable. So you can enjoy yourself or you can pretend to enjoy yourself, but those are your only options.”
“Ooh, don’t I get to look behind door number three before I decide?”
“Nope, that’s it. You can learn to love it or you can learn to fake it,” Chloe chirped, enumerating Julianne’s options with her fingers. She looked like a very determined camp counselor trying to wheedle some bratty child into drinking the bug juice. Julianne felt her shoulders relax and couldn’t help but let out a short laugh.
Laughing felt like gulping huge mouthfuls of air after being underwater for a very long time.
“Okay, then,” Julianne conceded. “Sounds like a plan. I can do fun. I love fun. Fun is my middle name.”
“Um, Jules?” Chloe swept her hair back off her shoulders and arched one well-maintained eyebrow toward her younger sister. “You don’t have a middle name.” Julianne shrugged her shoulders and giggled, noticing Chloe’s triumphant expression. “You got me there, Captain Literal. Whose party is this, anyway?”
“Okay. So, do you remember Jess and Molly? From 4
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Kappa Delta?” Chloe had rushed the sorority her first semester at UCLA and already had more friends than Julianne could keep track of. Julianne pursed her lips together, trying to match faces to names. “Anyway,” Chloe continued, “it’s their old roommate, Kristen.
She’s great.”
“Did she go to high school with you? I don’t remember her,” Julianne cut in. Chloe always knew everyone, everywhere, and it was generally difficult to keep track of which friends were from which school, job, or club. In the summer in the Pacific Palisades, though, Julianne felt like everyone was friends. Surrounded by sand and sunshine, it was almost impossible not to have fun.
“Nope. I think she went to private school somewhere.
I met her during rush. Anyway, she has a bonfire permit, kegs, the whole nine. I’m sure we’ll probably know at least half the people there. And . . .” Chloe’s voice trailed off as she twisted a strand of coffee-colored hair around her finger.
“And?” Julianne prodded.
Julianne’s eyes met Chloe’s, both flashing in recognition at the same time. “Oh no,” Jules sputtered. “Oh no no no no no.”
Chloe shifted her weight and looked at her sister, still twisting her hair. “J, c’mon. You need a distraction from the stress with Dad and the house. You’re going to give yourself an ulcer. You’re going to give me an ulcer.” 5
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Julianne threw up her hands in mock indignation, hoping that Chloe would catch the gesture even on the darkened beach. “Me? I’m going to give you an ulcer?” she mock-whined. “You just took, like, ninety-seven classes; you’re working at the children’s hospital this summer; you do the expert sudoku for fun; and you just scheduled a bikini wax for Wednesday”—Julianne took an exaggerated breath before finishing her rant—“and I’m the thing that’s eating away at your stomach lining?”
“Okay, let me rephrase. My ulcer aside, we both know that things have been a little high-intensity on the home front recently.” Chloe glanced at her sister for confirmation. “And you know what’s a great stress-reliever? Making out.”
“So have you already picked someone out to relieve my stress, or do I draw straws when we get there?” Julianne asked grudgingly.
Chloe clapped her hands and reached out to put an arm around her younger sister. “Oh, Jules, he’s totally hot. And super smart. You’re going to love him.” In the distance, Julianne could hear the thumping bass line of a Common song. She could smell the bonfire smoke and hear the waves chasing the shoreline.
Chloe did have a point. Was there anything better than a start-of-summer beach party? She laughed as she let her sister drag her down the beach, over the dunes, and toward the party.
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As soon as Chloe and Julianne hit the mass of people weaving around the bonfire, a group of shouting and laughing girls bum-rushed Chloe and pulled her off in pursuit of a keg. Alone in the hive of UCLA Greeks, Santa Monica rugby guys who’d somehow caught a ride over, and assorted skaters, surfers, friends from school, and townies, Julianne felt like she was floating in the middle of a cyclone of activity. She looked out over the firelit field of sun-streaked blond heads and laughed. It was a complete Palisades mélange. To her right, Julianne saw her co-editor of the Cliffview—the Palisades High art magazine—snuggled into the lap of the adorable college guy who waited tables over at the Fishtail. On the other side of the bonfire, she could just make out her third-grade science partner (who was now earning a reputation as a pretty decent longboarder). Enthusiastic girls in tiny cutoff sweats and bikini tops were tossing a Frisbee with a group of cute boys in lifeguard sweatshirts, their Billabong surf shorts hanging easily off of their hips.
Julianne bopped her head to the beat as the music tran-sitioned into last summer’s Rihanna song. Humming
“Umbrella, ella . . . ella . . .” to herself, she continued her inaugural party lap.
“Jules!” A chorus of male voices bellowed her name from a distance and, squinting, Julianne could just make out Mitch and Hunter, two of her cross-country teammates, and a few of their friends, up ahead.
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“Hey there!” She sidled up to her teammates, arms thrown wide open to receive their bear hugs. “How’s summer treating you so far?”
The guys shrugged their muscular shoulders before answering. “Oh, you know. Some surfing, some running, just trying to chill a little before work starts,” Mitch replied in his laid-back surfer drawl.
Hunter nodded in agreement, his sandy curls bobbing. “And you, J-money? Big summer plans? Are you still working with Bill?”
Julianne nodded. “Yes, indeedy.”
“Rock on. Me too.” Mitch smiled, his huge dimples on display. “And Hunt might be popping by for a few jobs. The pay is sweet.”
Julianne grinned, delighted that she’d be spending a summer in the sun with some of her favorite boys.
“Awesome. It’s a cool project, too. I think we’re going to have a blast. In, you know, that manual-labor type of way.”
“Works for me!” the guys chimed at the same time.
“Hey,” Hunter started hopefully. “Jules, have you heard from Kat lately?”
Kat Tse, Julianne’s best friend, had briefly dated Hunter over the spring and they were still friends.
“Nope, not in a few days,” Julianne replied, shaking her head. “I think she’s still settling into her dorm in Madrid. Her Spanish classes don’t start until next week.” 8
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“Cool. When you talk to her, tell her I said hey,” Hunter said easily. Julianne admired his comfort level with Kat. Although she was still friendly with most of her exes, she definitely didn’t count them among her nearest and dearest.
“Will do.” Julianne grinned and nodded.
“We should head out,” Mitch said. “I’ve got to be up early tomorrow. Fishing with my dad. And these losers”—he gestured to the other guys—“all need rides home.”
“Have a good night,” Julianne said, doling out a parting round of hugs. “See you at work.”
“Totally.” Hunter grinned. As the guys headed away down the beach, he turned around and called over his shoulder, “Oh, Jules, Lucy is looking for you. She has your negatives or something. You left them at the Mean Bean.”
“Awesome. Thanks. Later, guys.” Julianne waved at her friends, filled her lungs with delicious salty air, and headed off in search of her favorite self-proclaimed
“coffee-shop wench.”
After fifteen minutes of searching for Lucy and the envelope of negatives she’d left at the Mean Bean the day before, Julianne was still empty-handed. She had, however, taken a few mini-breaks to admire the surfers peeling off their T-shirts to go night-swimming, and to say hello to a few more friends from school. She was having a fabulous time, but she was just plain thirsty.
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“’Scuse me.” Julianne edged past a blond couple dancing so close they could have been sharing a kidney, en route to the first cooler she could find. Scooting past hordes of tanned bodies bumping up against each other, she unconsciously tugged down the hem of her soft gray T-shirt. Julianne smiled, looking down at the fabric. She had forgotten how smeared and spotted with black ink it was. All of the stains were like birthmarks, giving the shirt uniqueness and character. She loved this shirt, even though Chloe rolled her eyes and pouted whenever she came down the stairs wearing it. It was Julianne’s shirt for getting things done, for creating new things, for making life happen. And, as worn as it was, it was still her favorite party shirt. She scooped her long dark curls off of her neck and into a messy bun atop her head in preparation for a dive toward the cooler. Moments later, she was walking away with a can of PBR—the official beer of the perpetually broke and self-consciously hip—in her hand, and a trail of cooler water down the front of her favorite shirt. She was congratulating herself on a job well done when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Julianne wheeled around.
“Thank God—I thought I’d completely lost you.” Chloe’s face was flushed from the bonfire, her green hoodie unzipped to reveal a dusty pink tank top trimmed with funky antique lace. “Are you having fun yet?”
“Totally,” Julianne conceded.
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“Fantastic!” Chloe bubbled, linking her arm through Jules’s and pulling her along. “It’s about to get even better.” Chloe swept Julianne through the crowd, back past the bonfire, in between two lines of coolers, and around what appeared to be two dueling sororities engaged in a full-on dance war, before stopping at the kegs.
Julianne motioned to her nearly full can of PBR. “I’m all set.” Chloe nudged her and tilted her head toward a keg about fifteen feet away. A guy, probably Chloe’s age, was dangling above it, upside down, supported by his friends.
“That’s Michael,” Chloe announced, like she was showing off a prize pig at a state fair. Julianne followed Chloe’s meaningful stare in the direction of the airborne hottie without making any sort of connection.
“Who’s Michael?” Chloe widened her eyes and arched her eyebrows as though Julianne had just asked her where babies came from. “Oh, right.” The pieces snapped together in Julianne’s mind. “The stress-reliever.
Gotcha.”
Michael flipped down off the keg and charged toward Chloe and Julianne, one arm outstretched, calling out,
“Chloe! My favorite lab partner!” as he approached.
Michael was tall and tan. His chest muscles were clearly outlined under the two coordinating J.Crew polo shirts he had layered one atop the other—both collars standing pertly at attention. His blond hair was messy, sticking up 11
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in post-keg-stand chaos, and his brown eyes were like dishes of melting chocolate. Well-worn khaki cargo pants hung off of his massive quadriceps. He looked just like all the rest of Chloe’s frat friends—definitely hot, but a little too aware of his hotness to be Julianne’s type.
“Michael, this is my sister, Julianne.” Chloe beamed once he was standing at her side. “Jules, this is Michael.
He was in my physics section last semester. I never would have made it through without him.” Michael grinned and rolled his eyes. “Your sister is full of it. She practically wrote the textbook. She put the rest of us premed dorks to shame.” Chloe flipped her hand at him dismissively. Julianne knew that Chloe could run circles around anyone in a math or science class. Or graph circles around them. Whatever it was that physicists actually did.
“Her modesty is only part of her charm.” Julianne laughed, teasing her sister. “Nice to meet you.” She extended her hand toward Michael for a handshake and was surprised when he pulled her into a hug. “Chloe’s told me a lot about that class,” Jules said, recovering her compo-sure.
“Really?” Michael asked incredulously.
“Nope. Actually, not at all. Unless—wait . . . did the TA have a faux-hawk and a fantastic butt?”
“I’m more of a bowl-cut guy myself, so I didn’t really notice. Sorry ’bout that.” He chuckled at his own joke.
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While he spoke, Julianne glanced behind him. A pack of identical frat boys, all clad in the same polo shirts, khaki pants, and rumpled hairstyles as Michael, were approaching quickly from the bonfire.
“Dude, where’d you go?” One of the guys clapped a beefy hand onto Michael’s back.
“Yeah, dude, you disappeared,” another one echoed, punching him in the shoulder. Julianne caught Chloe’s eye, and the sisters stifled a giggle.
Michael gestured toward Julianne and Chloe. “Guys, this is Chloe, my lab partner from last semester, and this is her sister, Julianne.”
Julianne said hello and smiled, but walked away as quickly as her round-toed slip-ons would allow in the sand.
“What’s wrong?” Chloe asked, following her. “Didn’t you like Michael? He’s such a sweet guy. And check out his arms.”
“No, he was fine,” Julianne answered, taking a lap around the kegs. “He was cute—just like every single guy you know is cute—but he wasn’t really my type. Besides, I want to try to catch up with some more people from school before they start leaving. You know, try to make plans before we all start working. But he was really cute.
And I think he may have been interested in talking about more than lab with you.”
Chloe’s eyes sparkled. “Really? You think? But I was 13
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really hoping that you guys might, you know, hit it off tonight.”
Julianne, detecting the sparkle of interest in Chloe’s voice, grinned at her sister. “Go for it. You should definitely go for it,” she encouraged. “Besides, you always tell me that you have excellent taste . . .” Chloe giggled but didn’t have a chance to answer. As she opened her mouth to speak, a skinny brown-haired guy came hurtling across the beach—propelled by the force of someone’s sloppy keg-stand dismount—and tumbled directly into her, knocking her down with him.
The brown-haired guy panted, “Good to know that gravity’s still working.” He turned to Chloe. “Are you okay?” Chloe nodded, clearly a little dazed, and dusted the sand off of her denim skirt. He shifted his gaze to Julianne and smiled. “How about you? I didn’t take you out, too, did I?”
“Nope. Still standing. Are you okay?” She smiled at him, pulled her hair out of its bun, and let the curls spill down her back.
The reflection from the bonfire lit his face and his dark eyes shimmered. Julianne felt a flash of jealousy.
There was a part of her that really wished that this skinny, possibly-concussed stranger had managed to land right smack on top of her instead of her sister.
The brown-haired guy’s mouth was pasted into a perfect half smile. She felt like she was in the middle of 14
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every single musical where the dancing stops and the star is suddenly backlit by one huge glowing spotlight.
“Yeah, fine. Who knows? Maybe this is the start of a promising career in roller derby?” He had one of those wry, almost winking, smiles. He was tall, skinny without being gawky, but definitely a little bit awkward in a really endearing way. Julianne wanted to tousle his hair or make sure he drank enough milk. His eyes were huge—
dark and fluid.
“Hey, Crash,” she joked. “Do you have a name?” He blushed. “Oh, God. I’m sorry. First I plow over your friend, then I’m flat-out rude. I’m Remi.”
“Remi, huh? Cool name.” Julianne held her hand out to him. “Julianne. And you just met my sister, Chloe. She looks different upright, though.” She gestured to Chloe, who was fixing her hair and talking to unfortunate-keg-stand guy and Michael, who had rushed over to make sure she was okay. Remi saluted in Chloe’s direction.
“Way to make an entrance!” Chloe called back in their direction.
Remi looked sheepishly at Julianne and smiled. She felt time start slipping into cinematic slow motion again and grasped for some sort of normal human social question to ask next. “Do you, um, live around here?” she stammered.
“Seattle, actually.” Over his shoulder, the waves were crashing against the beach.
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“Oh.” Julianne felt her throat closing. She’d known this guy for maybe thirty seconds, but the thought of him not being in LA this summer made her queasy.
“Yeah, I’m in school up there. But I’m around for the summer. My parents just moved here.” Julianne felt herself relax instantly. “Are you from the area?” he asked.
Julianne thought she detected hopefulness in his voice.
“Unfortunately.” Julianne laughed and rolled her eyes in the direction of a group of girls, each doing a variation on the same Malibu Barbie impression, struggling to form a human pyramid a few feet away. “No, actually I love it here. Just don’t judge all of us by the Pussycat Dolls over there.”
“Maybe you could show me around sometime? Save me the effort of having to get to know the place better all by myself before I get the wrong idea?” Remi paused.
“I mean, if you don’t have too much going on this summer.”
“Sure. I can do the tour with my eyes closed. No human pyramid, though.” They laughed, and Julianne felt her entire body filling with warmth. She knew she was beaming like an idiot. At least she wasn’t the only one. She’d never felt this comfortable talking to someone before, and yet so awkward at the same time.
Somehow, talking to Remi was like breathing. She wasn’t sure she would know how to stop. She was pretty sure that she didn’t want to. Remi and Julianne made eye 16
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contact again, grinning at each other like fools. Faces illuminated by the moonlight and the distant bonfire, they stared at each other until it felt like time had completely stopped.
Suddenly, Julianne felt a hand on her back and whipped around. “Sorry to break up the party,” Chloe said, rubbing her temples, “but I have a headache and need to go home. Jules, can you drive?”
“Oh God, was it—” Remi started, but Chloe cut him off.
“No worries,” she assured him. “I’ve taken worse falls than that. Besides, Michael’s buying me dinner tomorrow to make up for it. These frat guys have loyalty down to a science, huh?” Chloe grinned. “Anyway, it was good running into you. Get it? Running into you? Oh God, I actually said that out loud. I need to go home.” Chloe started off down the beach toward the car.
“Okay, well, see you around.” Julianne looked down at the ground. She could barely breathe.
“Okay. Well, I guess I’ll see you.” Remi’s voice was barely audible, his shoulders sloping downward.
Jules felt like her heart was being ripped out of her chest, but she tossed her shoulders back, laced her fingers through her belt loops, and straightened her back as she started to walk away. Fifty yards down the beach she heard Remi’s voice.
“Hey, Julianne!” Remi was suddenly right beside her 17
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again, breathing heavily after his sprint. “You forgot this.” He tucked a scrap of paper into her hand. “My phone number.” Not smooth—definitely not smooth—
but very cute. “You know, in case your sister needs it for health insurance or whatever. And so you can give me that tour. It’s hard work getting jaded on your own, you know.” He grinned.
“Definitely.” She smiled back. “I wouldn’t want to leave you hanging.”
Remi’s face softened as he stared right into Julianne’s eyes. She felt like he could actually see inside her head—
that somehow, effortlessly, they already understood each other. Softly, he put his hand on the side of her face and Julianne felt like the spot was on fire. Her heart started to race with a mix of giddiness and panic. She had just met this guy, and she was already feeling totally swept away. Was she completely crazy? Swimming inside the feeling, Julianne shut her eyes. She felt their bodies move closer to each other, and then his lips touched hers. Julianne felt like she was floating above the beach—watching the moonlight reflecting off the water, the huge expanse of perfectly flat sand, the couple on the ground kissing. It was as if fireworks were exploding everywhere. She felt like the entire beach had been electrified by their kiss.
“I’m sorry—I’m really, really sorry,” Julianne murmured, breaking out of Remi’s arms. “I have to go. I don’t 18
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know where Chloe went, and I don’t know if she’s okay. I need to find her.” Julianne’s throat was dry. It was like the very worst part of every fairy tale. Suddenly she was Cinderella at midnight. “I’ll call you, I promise.” She flashed the scrap of paper with a triumphant smile before taking off down the beach in search of her sister.
Julianne drifted toward the small parking lot where they’d left the car a few hours earlier, calling Chloe’s name over and over. She couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss. It had just felt so meant to be somehow. A guy she had never seen before had literally fallen right into her lap—okay, well, her sister’s lap, but close enough—at the start of the summer, on the beach she loved.
And he wasn’t just any guy. Julianne couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something special about Remi. As she scanned the tiny parking lot, she made a mental note to give Chloe some “I told you so” points for dragging her out to this party.
Out of the corner of her eye, Julianne saw Chloe sitting on the ground, leaning against the bumper of their car, her head resting next to a faded “Imagine Whirled Peas” bumper sticker that their dad had stuck on.
Julianne crept over and put her hand on Chloe’s shoulder. “Chloe,” she said softly, kneeling next to her sister.
“Sorry I disappeared, I was just . . . saying goodbye to someone. C’mon, let’s go.”
Chloe opened her eyes, and turned to face Julianne.
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“Not so fast, Missy. You were so not just giving out casual goodbyes. Look at you—you’re glowing! I can even see it in the dark with major head trauma! Tell me everything.” Julianne smiled. She couldn’t stop beaming. “I think this will tell you everything you need to know,” she intoned dramatically as she dug her hand into her right pocket to show Remi’s phone number to Chloe. But all she felt was the fabric. She could have sworn it was in there. She reached into her left pocket and came up empty-handed again. Horrified, she thought back to saying goodbye to Remi. Suddenly, she realized that she’d never put the paper in her pocket. She had been holding it when she dashed off. Now, clearly, she wasn’t clutching the little scrap of paper anymore. She must have dropped it on the beach. Julianne felt her heart drop to the sand as she helped Chloe into the passenger seat of the Toyota hybrid they were sharing this summer. She thought she was going to be sick.
How could she be so upset—she’d just met the guy—
at a beach party of all places. Maybe she’d been taken in by the bonfire, the PBR, and the view from the beach.
But even as she tried to rationalize, Julianne knew there was more to it. She knew that if she didn’t find some way to see Remi again, she would be losing out on something really wonderful.
“I wouldn’t worry too much, Jules,” Chloe murmured sleepily. “If he’s your Prince Charming, he’ll find 20
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his way back. He has to, actually. I think it’s in the job description.” But Julianne barely heard her.
The sisters drove home in silence. Chloe napped with her head pressed against the cool car window. And Julianne tried to fight back her growing disappointment.
She had just met an amazing guy who she would probably never see again.
This did not bode well for her summer.
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Chapter Two
!
Julianne felt the sun streaming in her bedroom window and rolled over, burying her head in a smooshy pillow. She had been having such completely bliss-ful, vivid dreams that she didn’t want to nudge herself back into reality, no matter how glorious the California morning was. She glanced at her alarm clock—it was almost noon. She’d meant to be up at 9:30, but she just hadn’t been able to tear herself out of dream world. She rolled over again, pressing her face directly into the folds of her pillow and breathing in the last lingering remnants of the lavender linen spray that Chloe always spritzed around on laundry days. The new Regina Spektor album was drifting out of her stereo alarm clock, and Julianne allowed herself to drift along with 22
