Страница 21 из 80
I walked slowly toward the girl’s house, trying to get my courage up. I had decided, back when I was getting ready, that I was going to go up and ring the bell. She’d left me a note, after all, and wasn’t that kind of like an invitation? But the closer I got, the more I began to question if I would actually be able to do this. Ring the bell of a mansion, and then when someone came to the door, ask for—who, exactly? The plan was seeming stupider and stupider the closer I got, but I made myself walk all the way up to the base of the driveway. The chalk message was gone, no doubt washed away in the thunderstorm that had woken me up at two a.m. I looked up the driveway for a moment longer, then lost whatever bit of courage had gotten me this far and turned to go.
“Hey!” I looked up and saw the girl leaning out of a second-story window. She smiled at me. “Hang on, okay?” I nodded, and her head disappeared inside.
I shifted from foot to foot, smoothing my shirt down, wondering why I felt so nervous. I was nervous around my friends at school, but that was more nervousness that I would say something stupid or find myself kicked out of the group. This was something else entirely.
“You came back!” I looked up and saw the girl was heading down the driveway, walking fast, then ru
“No damage?” I asked, as she flipped her head back up.
“None!” she said happily, pulling one end into her eyeline to examine it, then tucking it behind her ear. “I mean, as far as I know. Watch, it’ll all fall out next Tuesday.”
“Delayed reaction,” I said, nodding. “Or what if you’ve discovered some magical chemical compound that only is activated when you’ve left it on too long? And that’s why they tell you not to do it.”
“Love it,” she said. “The hair mask is my radioactive spider.” I laughed, and didn’t even really have time to worry that I was boring her or sounding stupid before she asked, “What’s your name?”
“Emily,” I said, and she smiled, like that was just the name she’d been hoping to hear.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” she said. “I’m Sloane.”
Run, Emily, Run!
Galveston
Glen Campbell
Any Way You Want It
Journey
Crash My Party
Luke Bryan
Heat of the Moment
Asia
True North
Jillette Johnson
Take On Me
A-Ha!
The Moment I Knew
Taylor Swift
Just Like Heaven
The Cure
It Goes Like This
Thomas Rhett
Mr. Blue Sky
ELO
All Kinds of Kinds
Miranda Lambert
Nightswimming
R.E.M.
What About Love
Heart
The Downeaster “Alexa”
Billy Joel
Short People
Randy Newman
Dancin’ Away with My Heart
Lady Antebellum
Take Me Home Tonight
Eddie Money
You Make My Dreams
Hall & Oates
Even If It Breaks Your Heart
Eli Young Band
Aw Naw
Chris Young
The Power of Love
Huey Lewis & The News
This
Darius Rucker
Fancy
Reba McEntire
Run
Matt Nathanson feat. Sugarland
A Lot to Learn About Livin’
Easton Corbin
Centerfold
J. Geils Band
Quittin’ You
The Band Perry
I was seriously out of ru
Ru
Sloane, on the other hand, had had more lessons than I’d even really known were options. She could ride horses and ballroom dance, in addition to ballet and tap. She could sail, play te
I turned up the volume on my iPod, as if this would give me a corresponding surge of energy. It didn’t, but I pushed myself to go faster, even as I was gasping for breath. I was listening to a new mix, complete with embarrassingly motivational name. The mix was filled with the kind of music I listened to but never admitted to—country and eighties pop. It had the same playlist repeating again after the end; my iPod’s loop function was broken, and when it got to the end of a playlist, it just froze. It had been acting wonky ever since I’d left it in the car and an unexpected rainstorm had come through the open roof and drenched it.
I was ru
I rounded a bend in the road and saw that there was someone ru
It didn’t look like he’d noticed me. He was back to looking straight ahead, white earbuds in his ears. I slowed even more—I was pretty much just walking with bounce now—and tried to figure out what to do. If I pushed myself, I could run past him, but then I’d have to keep going fast until I could make it home. Also, then Frank would be looking at the back of me unless I reallykept up my pace and disappeared from his view. And I had grabbed the first pair of shorts I’d seen in my drawer, and they had GO SH!printed across the back. This was supposed to mean Go Stanwich High,but apparently nobody had realized until we’d all prepaid for them that it looked like GOSH!was written across our butts. But ru
It seemed like the best solution was just to turn around and run back the way I’d come from. I could do a mile or two nearer to my house, and it wasn’t like this run had been going spectacularly anyway. Because while it had been really nice of Frank to help me with my car, it wasn’t like I wanted to keep struggling to make conversation with him, or for him to feel like he had to run with me when he didn’t want to. One interaction with Frank Porter per summer seemed like the right amount to me.
I turned around just as Frank stopped and knelt to tie his sneaker. He looked over and saw me, lifting his hand to cut the glare, then pulled his earphones out of his ears. “Emily?” he called.