“But . . .” Julianne snapped open her mouth in protest. “He’s . . .”
“I know, I know.” Chloe cut her off decisively. “He’s smart, he’s hot, he’s funny, blah blah blah. So are lots of other guys. But you know what he’s got that other guys don’t? Parents who are trying to bulldoze our beach. I wouldn’t mess with that, Jules. Crazy runs in families.”
“Not everything runs in families, Chloe. Dad has green eyes, and neither of us do. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything, right? Besides, if you’d seen him this afternoon . . . oh my God. He completely got everything I was saying about painting. And his surfing lesson was pretty much the hottest thing ever. And—”
“Okay, points duly noted.” Chloe was all business.
“So you’ll have some awesome memories. But you can’t 59
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keep seeing him. There’s no way it can go anywhere good.”
“But why not?” Julianne pressed.
“Because he’s one of them, Jules. He’s a McMansion Moore. His parents are terrors. They are the living embodiment of bad news.” Chloe was on a roll. “And that house! Can you honestly imagine someone living in that glass house who isn’t a complete and total jerk?”
“He’s not a jerk,” Julianne said quietly, feeling both absolutely certain of it and utterly confused.
“Maybe not yet. And maybe he won’t turn out to be as complete a jerk as his parents, but still, nothing good can possibly come of dating him. The Moores are nothing but trouble.”
“Can we please change the subject?” Julianne pleaded, her head swimming.
“Yeah, of course.” Chloe’s tone was bright again and Julianne felt herself relax instantly. “But promise me you’ll think about it, okay?”
“Sure. Of course. Seriously, don’t worry about it,” Julianne assured both her sister and herself. “We have the entire summer to meet guys who don’t completely suck. Forget guys, even. I have an awesome job working for Bill’s crew. You’re going to be over at the children’s hospital—surrounded by hot med students, might I add—
and it’s going to be perfect beach weather for the next three months.”
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“That’s more like it, except for the forgetting-guys part.
Summer is totally a time of infinite possibilities. We’ll work hard; then we’ll beach harder. There is no room in that schedule for wasting time on two-faced boys who are tacky enough to hit on us after we’ve sustained minor head trauma.” Chloe’s voice was resolute. “So, what exactly are you doing for Bill this summer anyway?” Julianne scrunched up her nose, thinking. “You know, I’m not entirely sure. He’s going to give me a whole orientation on my first day. It’s this cutting-edge house, though. I think I’m going to be doing some of the more creative touches. I know Mitch and Hunter work for Bill, but I think I’m going to be the only girl on the crew.”
“That’s the kind of detail I was looking for! That’s what we should be focusing on! Forget construction.
You’re doing your art stuff, and that’s cool, but it’s the abundance of guys that’s key in this scenario,” Chloe cut in excitedly. She smirked. “I mean, of course, I don’t care if you’re working with truckloads of guys with serious manual-labor muscles,” she intoned in mock-seriousness. “It’ll just be nice to have some contacts if, you know, we need a handyman or two.” She grinned mischievously and cast her eyes down toward the carpet.
Julianne smiled and shook her head. “Enough about my summer plans. Speaking of too much to do this summer, where does your final tally stand at the moment?” 61
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Julianne watched her sister count off her obligations silently before answering. “Okay. I’m working at the children’s hospital. Then I’m tutoring two afternoons a week and giving surf lessons on Saturdays. And I still haven’t decided if I’m going to jump in for pickup volleyball. I want to have some time just to read and hang out on the beach.”
Julianne smiled at her sister. Chloe was such an over-achiever, yet she always found time to have fun in the midst of all her other commitments.
“I can’t wait to go out with my camera and spend an entire day just hanging out by the ocean,” Julianne gushed, visions of sunshine and brand-new surfer boys with guitars and dreadlocks already elbowing their way into her thoughts.
“And you know,” Julianne added, “any poor decisions we make while on the beach can totally be blamed on our surroundings. I mean, if, for example, I happened to go for le petit joyride in the Moores’ shiny yellow backhoe and their tacky glass house happened to get a little bit broken, clearly I could not be held accountable. It’s that tricky beach terrain. No traction whatsoever.” A devious grin spread slowly across Julianne’s face. She twisted one long brown curl around her finger, relishing her own half-serious troublemaking.
“Ugh, there you go talking about backhoes,” Chloe grumbled. “Don’t get all Ty Pennington on me. If you’re 62
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going to talk construction, can we at least talk about what you’re wearing for your first day of work? The outfit is key, you know.” Chloe leapt off the bed and bounded toward her walk-in closet.
Julianne looked at her sister. Chloe’s warm face was frozen in determination. “You’re totally right. A girl’s gotta have her priorities straight. And clearly my fashion sense isn’t focused at the moment. Style me. I am turning myself wholly over to your vision for my first day of work.”
“Pinky swear?” Chloe’s almond-shaped eyes looked even larger than usual.
Chloe extended the pinky finger of her right hand to her younger sister, who entwined it with her own. They both leaned in and shook on it.
“Pinky swear.” Julianne shook a second time for emphasis. “But nothing white. And no blazers. Blazers are your thing. And also, if we could keep the UCLA paraphernalia to a minimum . . .” Chloe and Julianne both looked at each other and stifled a giggle. Chloe stepped into her closet and tossed out a dozen items for her sister to try on. Pastel colors and scoop necks were flying fast and furious, and Jules had to cover her head to avoid being beaned by the better part of the Marc by Marc Jacobs summer collection.
“Try those. All of those. Then we’ll reconvene for a final decision tomorrow night. Now that that’s taken care of . . .” Chloe trailed off.
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“On to the next matter of business,” Julianne finished.
“Popcorn?” Chloe was halfway out the door and darting in the direction of the kitchen.
“Popcorn,” Julianne concurred.
“Chick flick?” Chloe called behind her.
“Chick flick,” Julianne called back. “Just give me one second!” She ran over to her computer and typed out a quick email to Kat.
K—
Do you think summer love is too good to be true? Ran into the guy from the party last night on the beach today and he’s beyond amazing. We had an awesome conversation about painting and everything just felt so right. He gave me some surfing pointers.
Maybe I’ll be able to hold my own with you in the waves by the time you get home. One
*major* catch, though—I think he lives next door. You know, in the monster house! What do you think that means? I’m so confused! Help!
In other news, work starts tomorrow. I’m excited. How are your classes? Any cute Madrid boys? Send me pictures already!