Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park Read Free Book Online Page B

and lowered the price, hoping someone normal will call. I bet the last applicant was a wealthy but deranged middle-aged clown who tried to juggle the roommates.”
    Julie raised an eyebrow. “Or it was an unhinged MIT nerd who wanted to take over the apartment with his techie gear, leaving little room for necessary things like furniture.”
    Matt tapped the side of his head. “Now you’re thinking.”
    There were a few ads that looked like possibilities, so Julie stored the numbers on her phone. Matt had to get home to get the car and pick up Celeste from school, so they grabbed sandwich wraps to go from a place on Mt. Auburn Street, and then Julie set her sights on locating her coveted coffee beverage as quickly as possible. “I need a Coolatta, Matt. Please tell me we can get one here? I may accidentally reenact the escalator scene if I don’t find one soon.” Julie tripped on the cobbled sidewalk. “See? I’m already beginning to derail.”
    “Yes. Right away.”
    Matt led them across the square to a quieter side street, then back down Mass Ave., then down a shorter one-way street, occasionally glancing at Julie.
    Julie followed him obediently, wondering why he’d passed three Dunkin’ Donuts without heading into any of them. She stopped him and dropped her head to the side. “Oh, you poor thing. You don’t know what a Coolatta is, do you?”
    Matt actually appeared to squirm a bit. “Well, no. I don’t.”
    “Hold on, I have to mark this event.” Julie whipped out her phone and updated her Facebook status, which she read aloud to Matt.
    Julie Seagle
Have discovered noticeable gap in know-it-all’s knowledge base. Will celebrate enchanting news with Coolatta
.
    She was unable to stifle a grin.
    Matt put his hands on his hips. “Hysterical. I never said that I knew everything. I’m just confident that I’m well-informed on many subjects.”
    “Apparently not important subjects.” Julie marched ahead. “And, by the way, there’s a difference between
confident
and
cocky
. Look, there’s a Dunkin’ at the top of this street. Do you know how far I have to drive at home to find one? And here you are, surrounded by one on every street corner! This is obviously the best city in the world. And the reason you’ve never heard of my favorite drink is because you’re probably an uptight coffeehouse, double-espresso, no-sugar kind of guy?”
    “I’m miserably transparent, huh?”
    “No. I’m a coffee psychic. You have that bitter double-espresso look about you. But today you’re joining up with the masses and getting a Coolatta.”
    A few minutes later, Julie was happily inhaling her large frozen coffee drink while they headed out of the square.
    Matt looked less than thrilled and made an exaggerated disgusted face after his first taste.
    “This is a very popular drink, you know,” Julie informed him. “There’s no reason to be making such an expression.”
    “This must be why I’m not a social icon. You’ve finally pinpointed it. I don’t blindly follow popular culture’s love for overly sweet, pseudo-coffee, ice-crystal concoctions. It’s a relief to finally understand why my social status is on a downward course.”
    “It’s either that or the shirts,” Julie muttered. “Hey, can we walk home by the river?” Julie could just glimpse the blue water and was aching to stroll back to the house along the picturesque path that ran through the grass.
    Matt brushed his shaggy hair from his face. “Unfortunately, we don’t really have time right now. It’s faster to cut directly through the square, and I have to get Celeste.”
    “Sure. No problem.” Julie took another sip of her drink. “Thank you for helping me out today. I’m sure this was a huge drag, but I really appreciate it. This was incredibly nice of you, and I’m sorry if I’ve been grouchy. I didn’t expect to start off my freshman year in such flux. You’ve become a social icon to me,” she teased.
    “Yeah, right. You