by Pamela Wells
“The one in the front,” Kelly answered, still staring. “The one with the biceps.”
“Holy crap,” Raven said as the group of guys made their way toward the lower-level dining area. “He’s hot!”
“I know.” Kelly raked her teeth over her bottom lip. “You should see him in one of those Under Armour shirts.”
Sydney rolled her eyes and picked her menu back up. “He’s probably a muscle moron.”
Kelly shook her head. “He wasn’t a moron. He knew every muscle in the human body. Muscles I had never heard of.”
Alexia appraised the guy Kelly couldn’t stop drooling over. The sleeves of his navy blue T-shirt hugged the dip between his deltoid and bicep. The rest of the T-shirt wasn’t formfitting enough to show definition so it was left to Alexia’s imagination.
Alexia wasn’t a huge fan of guys with muscles, but coupled with a smoldering scowl, strong cheekbone structure, and striking green eyes, Kelly’s mystery man had Alexia’s attention.
Seems he had the attention of every other girl in Bershetti’s, too. Well…except for Sydney’s.
When he and his friends passed the table, Kelly’s kickboxing instructor stopped and shot a white smile at Kelly.
“Hey! How are you feeling?”
Kelly’s mouth hung slightly agape. She stared at the guy for several long seconds before Raven kicked her beneath the table.
“Sore,” Kelly said. “A little bit sore.”
“That happens on the first day. It’ll take a day or so and you’ll feel fine.”
“Yeah.” Kelly nodded and kept nodding as if she was stuck in that gesture.
“Hi,” Raven said, offering her hand. “I’m Raven. A friend of Kelly’s.”
“I’m Adam.” He reached across the table to shake. “Kelly did kickboxing with me today.” He looked over at her, smiling quietly as if kickboxing was their little secret, as if Kelly had done him a huge favor by working out with him.
Kelly blushed and looked away.
Alexia didn’t blame her friend. She’d only witnessed that smile as a bystander and she wanted to melt.
“Well, I better go before my friends start harassing me. It was nice to meet you all. Nice to see you, Kelly. You should come back next week with your brother.”
“Yeah, okay.” She nodded as he walked away.
“Wow, he was hot,” Raven said. “How have I not seen him before?”
“He’s new,” Kelly said. “He’s a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania but came here for the summer to work at Family Center. His uncle owns the place.”
“UPenn?” Sydney arched an eyebrow, clearly impressed with his school yet unwilling to admit it.
“So that makes him…what, like nineteen?” Raven said.
Kelly nodded.
“You should ask him out,” Raven went on. She tugged on the necklace, hanging near her collarbone, that Horace had given her.
“What! No!” Kelly shook her head. “Did you see him, Ray? He’s like so out of my league!”
Raven sipped from a glass of water. “No one is out of your league, Kel. No one.”
Kelly’s mouth hitched up into a subtle smile. “Thanks.” The expression fell and she shook her head again, her strawberry blond hair sliding in front of her face, hiding her expression. “Even if he would go out with me, I don’t know how to ask him out. I’d be so lost. Will was the one who did the asking when we got together. No way could I be the pursuer.”
Alexia sat forward, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. “A crush code,” she said just as suddenly as the idea had struck her.
Sydney set her menu down. “A what?”
“To help Kelly get that guy or whatever guy she wants. We could create a crush code for her to follow just like the Breakup Code.”
“No way,” Kelly said. “Come on, you guys. I don’t need another code to follow and I would never in a million years get Adam!”
“We could all use it,” Alexia said, “as a way to keep our own relationships strong.”
“I’m in,” Raven said. “I could use it while Horace is gone to not fall for a crush.”
“Yeah,” Sydney said. “And I could use it to put the spark back in my relationship with Drew.”
“Let’s start now. Here.” Raven handed Alexia her napkin.
“No.” Kelly shook her head for emphasis. “No-no-no-no.”
Sydney pulled a pen out of her bag. “The Breakup Code worked for all of us. A crush code might work, too.”
Kelly sat back against her chair, grumbling to herself. This would be good for her, Alexia thought. She just had to give it a shot.
Alexia grabbed the pen and began to write.
Excerpt copyright © 2008 by Pamela Wells.
Acknowledgments
A special thank-you to Abby McAden for letting me into
the enchanted gates of publishing. I would like to thank Jen
for getting this book into Abby’s hands.
I would also like to thank Amber Silverstein
for her contribution to this book.
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 by Pamela Wells
All rights reserved. Published by Point, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, POINT, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
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FIRST EDITION, December 2007
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E-ISBN 978-0-545-23206-7
