by J. Minter
“Actually …” Alex looked at Camille and winked. “I mean Xander.”
Camille turned beet red and started fiddling nervously with her hair.
“You and Xander got back together??” I squealed, looking at my friend, who was suddenly all nods and shyness.
That the best news I’d heard all day.
“So everything came together,” SBB said, clapping her hands. “Just exactly as I planned. I’m in high school for what, a week? And I’ve already perfected the social graces.”
We all laughed, and as the helicopter started to descend, I turned to SBB.
“I’m still a little jealous that you guys went to Fig & Olive without me,” I said. “But I guess I’m glad it resulted in this. Wait,” I said, finally taking in the fact that we were landing on SBB’s rooftop pad outside her palace in Long Island City. “What exactly is this?”
“Duh,” SBB said as we touched down. “Don’t you know about the only family tradition I have with Gloria?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“After every major blowout fight, we make up and have a lovefest,” SBB said, as if it were common knowledge. “Remember our brawl after she got the same tattoo as me—and then my subsequent Sweet Fifteen birthday party in Cairo?” She shrugged. “Make-up lovefest.”
Camille put her arm around my shoulder. “Consider this your we’re-sorry-Flan lovefest,” she explained. “SBB suggested we throw a party at her palace, and we all jumped to start planning.”
“And don’t worry,” said Alex, who’d been awfully quiet. He gestured at my jeans and black turtleneck sweater. “We thought ahead. The Jade Moodswing dresses are waiting for you inside.”
“Love that your boyfriend was the one to come up with that idea.” Camille laughed.
“Me too!” I said, thinking about how important it was to have a good time in my opal dress so I wouldn’t forever associate it with Friday night’s drama.
Alex hopped out of the helicopter and helped each of us down to the windy patch of concrete. My hair was blowing all over the place, and I was still a bit overwhelmed by the forgiveness backstory I’d just been fed, but it didn’t stop me from feeling like Cinderella being helped out of her carriage by the prince. It was definitely a moment deserving of a kiss.
“Someone pinch me,” I said to Alex. “I’m worried that this is all a dream—or that the helicopter is going to turn into a pumpkin any minute or—”
“I’ll give you a reality check.” SBB gestured behind her. “Since you last visited the palace, I had a whole row of landing pads installed. Now up to ten helicopters full of revelers can land at a time. And Cinderella won’t have to take the subway home—you can just stay a princess for good!”
Chapter 26
SNOWED OUT
Harper, Morgan, and Amory arrived on our heels in a second helicopter and twenty minutes later, my friends and I emerged from the ladies’ lounge. We were reoutfitted in our Jade Moodswing jewel-tone dresses and ready to party. SBB had brought over her team of stylists to get us glammed up in a jiffy, and we were all sporting her newest fragrance, Starlet.
The palace looked amazing, with white leather couches and deep purple and gold lighting. JR’s latest CD was blasting, and there were candles shaped like skyscrapers dotting the banquet tables and lining the catwalk.
Wow, I’d thought the Rainbow Room looked pretty swanky on Friday night, but this put our crepe paper, balloons, and matted photos to shame. The palace walls were even sporting some particularly notable décor from the Valentine’s Dance: five of the NYC prints I was most proud of from my photography class.
Camille put her arm through mine. “We all put so much work into making the dance decorations really amazing. It seemed like a waste to abandon them even after most of us abandoned the dance.” She shrugged. “So we asked SBB if we could use them here. It just seemed like the perfect match!” We stepped back to admire the black-and-white cityscapes hanging from the wall next to the real cityscape visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“Okay you two,” SBB said, grabbing our elbows and leading us over to the bar where Harper, Amory, and Morgan were waiting with flutes of champagne. “You can admire your own photographs later, Flan—”
“Hey!” I said.
“I’m kidding,” SBB said, hands on her hips all mock indignant. “I’ve been admiring them all day! But right now, it’s time for a toast.”
I looked around for Alex. Where was he?
Reading my mind, Camille said, “Don’t worry, he didn’t go far. The rest of the party’s about to arrive. Alex just went upstairs to let everyone in.”
“And before all the boys show up, I want to propose a toast,” SBB sang out.
We raised our glasses.
“To Flan,” she said, “whose intentions are always good, even when her matchmaking choices are spotty.”
There was a time when I would have taken this remark too seriously, but tonight, looking at all of my grinning, glamorous friends, I realized that I wasn’t the only one who’d been through a lot this week. Even after all the drama, we’d come out smiling and with more than a few funny stories to tell.
“And to you guys,” I said holding my glass out to clink. “For putting up with my obsessive match-making.”
“You know what they say,” Amory said. “Practice makes perfect. Even though Phil turned out to be a total frog, I can’t say I minded kissing him to find that out.”
Modest little Harper’s jaw dropped, and Camille slugged her playfully on the shoulder.
“Don’t act all prude, Miss Blueblood. You were totally pimping out your clavicles to Trevor just because he claimed to be an artiste!”
I busted out laughing and said, “Okay, okay, so Trevor and Phil and Saxton were lame. But look at Morgan and Bennett. My track record’s not all bad. In fact, if anyone wants to go out with a really cute Australian guy, I could set it up—”
“NO!” All my friends cried at once, but all of us were laughing.
“Point taken.” I shrugged. “Cheers.”
“I can see we’re right on time,” Alex’s voice called from the doorway. Bennett and Xander and JR were all next to him, along with a few guys I sort of recognized as Daltonites but didn’t really know.
“Is there enough champagne to go around?” Xander asked.
“At our palace,” SBB said proudly, snuggling up to JR, “there is always enough champagne.”
The guys filed in and everyone took a glass. The room was heating up with chatter and expensive formal wear.
“Omigod,” Amory whispered. “That’s Jason James. He’s JR’s costar from Demolition Dudes. Huge obsession. How’s my hair?”
“Flawless,” Harper assured her. “And isn’t that Rick Fare, the tennis player? I think he goes to my country club.”
Camille looked at me. “Our friends might not need your matchmaking anymore, but I must admit, the whole experience worked wonders to lift the boy boycott.”
Xander was at her elbow. “I nabbed you a lamb chop lollipop,” he said, looking proud of himself. “There were only a few left on the tray, and I know they’re your favorite.”
Camille grinned and snapped up the hors d’oeuvre. “Actually, there is something I like even more than lamb chops,” she said flirtily. “Wanna dance?”
Speaking of dancing … I spotted Alex sitting at a booth next to SBB and JR and sank down next to them.
“There you are.” He put his arm around me.
“You guys,” I said, “this party is amazing. And this place looks incredible. SBB, how did you do it so quickly?”
SBB shrugged. “Jade Moodswing’s personal assistants were desperate for work after she went back to Paris. I just made a call. She definitely trained them well: at the first mention of the party being in your honor, they got down to work like busy little worker bees. I’ll have to send Jade a thank-you gift,” she said, pulling out her BlackBerry to make a note.
Speaking of gifts, I was no
t going to wait any longer to give Alex his!
But just then, a waiter approached, bearing a giant red box tied with a white bow. “For Miss Flood,” he said. “Special delivery.”
I looked at Alex, but he just shrugged. In fact, he looked a little uncomfortable. Oh no, I really hoped this wasn’t another valentine from an unwanted admirer. But everyone’s eyes were on me—I had to open it.
Nervously, I broke the seal on the envelope, but when I opened the card and saw the familiar handwriting, I breathed a giant sigh of relief.
I hate to miss a Valentine’s Day with my favorite youngest daughter. Here’s a token to help you capture it until I can get the full report!
Love,
Dad
Inside the box was the new Nikon camera I’d been admiring for months. It probably wouldn’t have occurred to me that I needed a replacement for the battered old camera I’d been using, but now I was super psyched to trade up, thanks to Dad. And when I showed Alex the card, he looked even more relieved than I was.
“Well, I guess I can share you with your family,” he joked. “Now, I hope you won’t be too embarrassed, but I asked the DJ to play the salsa song we practiced to the other night. Do you still remember the moves?”
“You lead,” I said. “I’ll, uh, try to follow.”
After JR’s hip-hop song came to a smashing close, the familiar music came on and I could hear Paco’s shouts in my head. My heart started racing. I really didn’t want to be accused of having elephant feet again, especially not on an empty dance floor in front of all my friends!
But when Alex put his arm around my waist, all the moves came right back to me. Soon we were spinning around the parquet floor. I was grinning and a little dizzy, but then I reminded myself that Alex made me feel like that most of the time, even off the dance floor. Before I knew it, the music had ended and I looked around at all my applauding friends.
“Encore!” Camille shouted.
It was a little embarrassing, a lot exhausting, but mostly it was just a blast.
Alex and I slid into some open seats by the bar and ordered two large ice waters to catch our breaths.
“Breaking news,” JR said, coming up behind us with SBB. “The weather just got too wild to fly anyone home. Looks like we’re going to have to keep this party rocking till broad daylight.”
I looked out the windows and couldn’t believe my eyes. I’d been having so much fun I hadn’t even realized how hard the snow was coming down. I also couldn’t believe it was already midnight.
“Oh, these pilots claim they don’t want to fly until it calms down for so-called safety reasons.” SBB gestured over at her fleet of sexy dark-haired pilots. “Personally, I think they just don’t want the party to end,” she said. “You should see how much caviar they’ve eaten!”
“Either way,” Alex said, leading me over to the windows to watch the snow, “I can’t think of anyplace I’d rather wait out a storm.”
Chapter 27
FLYING HIGH
It was a good thing that most of the partygoers agreed with Alex, because the snow didn’t let up until almost sunrise.
We rocked the dance floor pretty hard until about three in the morning, but eventually exhaustion caught up with everyone. Well, almost everyone.
Bennett and Morgan were huddled near the bar, gazing into each other’s eyes and having a heart-to-heart. But Camille and Xander had passed out on the lounge next to window, and Amory, Harper, and their newfound crushes looked like sardines, sleeping in a row on the catwalk. SBB and JR were wearing matching sleep masks and had changed into matching gray Ralph Lauren pajamas. Even I, who had a hard enough time sleeping in the world’s most comfortable bed, found myself dozing on Alex’s shoulder.
By five-thirty, he was shaking me awake.
The helicopter pilot was standing over us.
“The storm’s letting up. You guys want to take the first flight back to the city? Best view in the world.”
Alex and I looked at each other and shrugged. How could we argue with that?
I went over to the sleeping SBB and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Thank you for everything,” I said. “Thank you for being SBB.”
“It’s Sally,” she murmured in her sleep. She was going to have to break the habit soon enough.
I laughed and took Alex’s hand as we walked out to the roof.
The city had never looked so beautiful. As the last few flakes fell around us, the gray glint of sky behind us started to glow a pinky yellow. Thick, powdery snow coated the treetops and cars below us. Even the East River looked shockingly pristine.
“It’s so quiet,” I whispered.
“It’s so perfect,” Alex said, taking my hand as we took off. “Look out there, near the Fifty-ninth Street tram. I think I see a raven’s nest—that’s amazing.”
“Wait,” I remembered. I was glad that I finally got to be the one to say, “There’s more.”
When I reached into my tote to reveal a gold-wrapped gift with a bow the size of the small box, Alex’s eyes lit up.
“I didn’t get to give this to you on Valentine’s Day,” I explained. “Or at the dance, or at the hot dog stand. I’m not going to let another minute go by.”
“You didn’t have to get me anything, Flan.”
“Yeah, right!” I said. “You have no idea how much I stressed over what to get for you—or what I bought initially and had to return when I came to my senses.” I shuddered, remembering the mocket, which seemed like years ago. “But when this idea came to me, I knew you were going to love it.”
Slowly, Alex unwrapped the box. As soon as he pulled out the compact pair of binoculars I’d special ordered from GRDN, a hipster nature store in Park Slope, a huge grin spread across his face.
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve been wanting these?” he said, holding up the binoculars to his eyes.
“Only about as long as that red-tailed hawk’s been in Manhattan,” I guessed. “Look,” I said, gesturing to the box. “There’s even more!”
Alex pulled out the Audubon Birds of America guidebook I’d bought him to go with the binoculars.
“I hope you won’t regret giving me this,” he joked. “I’m going to be dragging you back to the park all the time to go bird-watching now.”
“As long as there are hot dogs involved, I won’t mind at all.”
We were flying directly over the park then, and Alex held the binoculars to my eyes so I could look down. The view of the barely waking-up city was unbelievable—and the binoculars were pretty sweet too.
Soon the helicopter started dipping back down near the Hudson River piers. I couldn’t believe our spectacular sunrise flight was coming to an end.
“Before we land, there’s one more thing,” Alex said, reaching under his feet. “I didn’t get a chance to give you my gift yet either.”
He pulled out a long, thin shiny silver-wrapped box, which I promptly tore into.
“Oh my gosh,” I gasped, catching a glimpse of the corner. Even before I’d fully unwrapped it, I knew exactly what it was.
It was a framed print of the Spanish watercolor of the tidal wave that we’d been admiring at the Guggenheim last week. I’d always wanted to buy some of the artist’s work to hang in my room. This was even more special because now I could think of Alex every time I looked at it.
“Do you know what I think?” I asked Alex.
“What?” he said, taking my hand.
“I think these gifts are the perfect match.”
“Kind of like another duo I know,” he said. My perfect match leaned in to give me the perfect kiss. The helicopter had just touched back down on solid ground, but I was pretty sure I was still flying.
Also by J. Minter:
the insiders series
the insiders
pass it on
take it off
break every rule
hold on tight
girls we love
the inside girl series
>
inside girl
the sweetest thing
some kind of wonderful
all that glitters
DON’T MISS A MINUTE OF FLAN’S FABULOUS LIFE—
“I wish I’d known Flan Flood in high school—and not just because she has a hot older brother with hot older friends (although that totally helps). Don’t let the name fool you—this is one girl you must get to know, now.” —Lisi Harrison, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Clique
CHECK OUT ALL THE BOOKS IN THE INSIDE GIRL SERIES!
WWW.INSIDEGIRLBOOKS.COM
Find out how it all began in
the Insiders series, also by J. Minter
“The Insiders are the guys to watch. But if you fall
in love with them, get in line, right behind ME!”
—Zoey Dean, author of The A-List
For more info on the guys, visit
www.insidersbook.com
Copyright © 2009 by J. Minter
and 17th Street Productions, an Alloy company
Electronic edition published in October 2011
www.bloomsburyteens.com
All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages
Published by Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children’s Books
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Minter, J.
Perfect match: an inside girl novel / J. Minter. — 1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
Summary: As Valentine’s Day approaches and her friends have called a boycott on boys,
high-schooler Flan decides to dabble in matchmaking so all her friends can enjoy the
