Emily Franklin - Principles Of Love 06 - Labor Of Love by Emily Franklin Read Free Book Online

conveys the unlikelihood of what I think Charlie means.

    "So . . . the first thing you should know is that, despite the fact that I'm always getting blame for whatever crap Parker pulls, he's incredibly competitive with me."

    I nod, still enjoying the feel of Charlie's arms around me, but going cross-eyed from talking and looking at him so close. I push back a little but lace my fingers with his."It was embarrassing--I showed up at your cottage. . . . I mean, your parents' cottage, and thought he was you. . . ." Charlie clearly doesn't like that I mixed up my boyfriend with his ultracompetitive brother. "But of course, you're far better looking and intelligent. . . ." I counter Charlie's frown with some humor and it works.

    "And the beer? Just the inevitably bad Parker influ ence? It's so typical--he's that guy--like his persona at Hadley--the one who's so laid-back you forget he has an agenda. . . ."

    "He's not evil, is he?"

    "No--it's not that bad. It's more like, he's magnetic, you know? Everyone loves him--friends, girls, guys; even my

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    stoic parents crumble around him.You don't know what it's like with siblings. . . ."

    I push farther away this time, reclaiming my limbs."Ac tually, I don't. But I will. Probably . . ."

    Charlie's mouth drops open."You mean your dad's hav ing another kid?"

    I make a face. "No! I mean, I guess he could although I never thought of that--and I'm not sure I could handle any other big news at this point. . . ."

    "Why, what other big, exciting things are happening?" Charlie looks at me and waits. "Are you really going to Harvard?"

    I shake my head. "You know you just sounded totally like your parents, right? You ask me this wide-open ques tion and then answer it in your own way--"

    "Oh, man. Just put me out of my misery now. . . ." Char lie starts up the truck, and has to turn the key twice to make the engine turn over.

    "You'd think with a house like that, your parents might opt to fix the work truck. . . ."

    Charlie shakes his head, the sunlight catching the ends of his hair through the open window. He has a standard prep school guy cut--short on the back and sides, longer on the top, but it's grown out now, not to the point of being shaggy, but long enough to convey images of summer fishing, of

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    relaxing in a way I realize he won't be for long. "They'd never put money into this heap." He pats the seat. "That's the whole thing, isn't?"

    I nod, understanding what he means. "Yeah--money into a car is so new money, right?" He nods and turns the large wheel so we're back on the road."Your whole family-- and I hope this doesn't sound too overgeneralized, but it will--is the embodiment of WASP upper-class prepster." I think back to the scene by the pool. "There's no actual ill will toward me, only a gentle not-so-subtle digging into my background."

    "Yeah, well, to them--sameness is good, you know? It's like you went to Hadley and didn't interview, which over laps with their good son, Parker, and then Harvard, which is still the golden ticket. . . ."

    I sigh and look out the window at the greenery--summer is reaching its peak, with all the blooms and dark leaves, the high grass and thick air. It feels like a roller coaster, and I know when we reach Illumination Night it will feel like I've hit the apex, and the quick ride to the bottom will carry me faster than ever to fall."I hate that I caved like that."

    "Like what?" Charlie takes a right on the road that will lead us straight to Edgartown center and looks at me as he turns.

    "In the course of a few minutes I went from being me--

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    to being this girl who overemphasizes Hadley or plucks Har vard out of the heap of colleges just because . . ." I pause.

    "Because you thought it was an in. I get it.We all do it."

    "But I don't," I say and look at him seriously. "I'm not that person. Or don't want to be. I mean, really, did you no tice me because I was just like everyone else?