Flat-Out Love - Park Jessica - Страница 22

Huh. Julie had a date. She smiled and put her feet up on the table. Seth was probably going to want an explanation regarding Flat Finn, but he seemed nice, and she could picture him tolerating Celeste’s issues. Julie still wasn’t quite clear on the scope of Flat Finn’s purpose. Well, at least he was an attractive enough cardboard brother.

“We could come here and do homework together in the afternoons. It’s pretty quiet here,” Julie suggested.

“It is something to consider.” Celeste rose and examined the paperback books that sat on a shelf. “Do you think you will fall in love with Seth?”

“I have no idea. I’ve known him for twenty minutes. That’s not something you know immediately. At least I don’t think so.”

“You said that you didn’t want ordinary. How do you know that he is not ordinary? Maybe he will turn out to be dull and uninspiring. Or worse, maybe he will make you adore him and then suddenly disappear and break your heart.”

“Nice positive attitude you have,” Julie said frowning. “Those are all possibilities, but I think I’ll give him a chance anyway. It’s worth the risk.”

“I do not know about that.”

Julie sunk further into the cushy couch. “I’m no expert. What the hell do I understand about boyfriends and love anyway? The only way I’m going to learn is by trying.”

“I think that is valiant of you. Fearless.” Celeste took a book of short stories from the collection and sat back down to read. “I find it a good sign that they have reading material here. This  is an inviting atmosphere.”

Julie pulled out her phone and checked her mail. “Hey, Finn wrote to us. With pictures.”

Celeste leaned over excitedly and stared at the screen. “What did he say? Quick! Where is he now?”

“It seems he’s on the scuba-diving leg of his trip. Look.” Julie angled the screen so Celeste could see the photos of Finn dressed in a full wetsuit, snorkel, mask, and air tank. He was saluting the camera in one and falling off a boat in another. The third was taken underwater, and he was surrounded by a school of fish.

Dear Celeste and Julie-

In a rush right now, so you both get the same message. Deal with it! You can now refer to me as Scuba Man. My new name entitles me to superhero status, so I expect both of you to give me the appropriate respect. My skills include cutting myself on barnacles, swimming at an Olympic pace to evade sharks, and collecting sand in uncomfortable places in my wet suit. Don’t be jealous; not everyone can be as powerful as I am. Future powers to be determined.

-Finn

Celeste beamed. “Isn’t Finn funny? I love him.”

“Does he ever call the house so you can talk to him?” Julie asked.

“No. Absolutely not,” Celeste said sharply. “I asked him not to. It makes it easier for me. I would rather just wait to speak with him in person.”

“I can understand that. And at least you have all these messages and pictures, right?”

The door to the coffeehouse opened again, and more people came in. Celeste tightened her hold on the book in her hand. “I would like to go home now,” she said. “I need to go home. Right now. Right. Now.”

“Sure. If that’s what you want.” Julie stood up and went to lift Flat Finn.

“I will do it,” Celeste hissed. “I will do it.”

“A couple of contractions here and there wouldn’t kill you,” Julie muttered.

She took their drinks, while Celeste moved rigidly, picking up Flat Finn with her usual awkwardness. Julie walked ahead, past two teen boys seated with two girls at a table near the exit, calling out their orders to a friend in line. Her heart sank. They must be the reason for the sudden need to leave. Julie cringed as she held the door open and watched Celeste march stoically past them, careful not to look their way.  There was a small hope that the teens had conjured up a sane explanation for Flat Finn’s presence. The advantage of being in a major city was that there were weird things to see anywhere. For all she knew, there were cardboard boys riding the T and auditing classes at Harvard. But one of the boys looked at the cardboard Finn and tapped the girl on his left to show her. She turned her head and giggled, her eyes wide and mocking.

Celeste brushed past Julie, onto the sidewalk.

They go to school with Celeste. Julie could tell.

She turned toward Seth at the counter and waved. “Thanks for letting us borrow your display for our theater performance,” she said loudly. “We’ll return it in good condition!”

Seth looked quizzically at Julie and then nodded slowly. “Yeah. Sure thing. Don’t damage it, or you won’t get your deposit back.”

Julie shut the door and caught up with Celeste. “Do you know them? Those kids?”

Celeste shrugged.

“You know them, don’t you?” Julie unlocked the car and took Flat Finn from Celeste.

“Perhaps,” she answered sharply. Celeste got into the passenger seat and slammed the door.

Julie gently positioned Flat Finn and shut the trunk. She walked slowly to the front of the car, trying to figure out what to say.

Celeste clasped her hands together. “I have to start a history paper today, so we need to get home.”

“We’re going.” The engine rolled over noisily. God, did anyone take this car in for regular maintenance?

“I have yet to determine which topic I will be doing, so we need to get home right now.”

“Jesus, Celeste, we’re going!”

Celeste scowled and retrieved Julie’s iPod from her bag. She put the earphones in and turned away.

Julie smiled. Well, that was damned normal.

Chapter 12

Matthew Watkins My visit to the O.K. Corral was… well…

Finn is God I “Facebook like” you, but I’m not IN “Facebook like” with you.

Julie Seagle A typical espresso only has 1/3 the caffeine of a regular-size cup of coffee, so all you snobs can bite me. I can out-caffeine you any day. Of course, I can’t pretend to be a giant using a non-giant’s cup, but I’ll deal.

Julie checked the clock in Matt’s room. She still had half an hour to kill before Seth picked her up, and she’d been hanging out in Matt’s room, hoping to distract herself before her date. So far he hadn’t been very chatty, but at least he didn’t seem to mind that she was in here pestering him. Celeste was reading The Great Gatsby aloud to Flat Finn, Erin was having dinner with colleagues, and Roger had already left for his shrimp study trip. The family was used to his frequent traveling by now, and nobody had made a fuss about his departure. Julie, however, had slipped a, “Have a good trip!” card into his briefcase.

Just as he’d promised, Seth had called a few days after they’d met to get directions to the house. He was taking her to a restaurant downtown and then to a late showing at the Omni Theater, located in the Museum of Science.

She flopped back down on Matt’s bed and tried to pay attention to her copy of Voltaire’s Candide. It was hard to focus, knowing that Seth would be here soon. Julie had never gone out with someone on a formal date before. Not that they were actually going anywhere formal, obviously, but it felt a bit old-fashioned to have a scheduled day and time to be picked up by a boy. High school had been much more about just hanging out together. Everything then had felt so casual and relatively meaningless—based mostly on convenience. This date felt different. Seth had gone out of his way to ask her out, and Julie liked that.