The Trouble With Flirting by Rachel Morgan Read Free Book Online Page A

up!

    Allegra: Are you STILL sleeping?

    Allegra: What’s your address again, cos I’m gonna be there in an hour. We’re going to … THE BEACH!

    “Whaaaaat?”
    “What?” Adam asks, looking alarmed.
    “Oh my foot. Allegra’s coming here. HERE!”
    “So?”
    “So? I have to, you know, make a good impression. I can’t lose the group of friends I have now. Everyone’s already formed their cliques, so if Allegra and Charlotte reject me, there’ll be no one left for me to be friends with.”
    Adam rolls his eyes. “I highly doubt that’s true.”
    “And I have to paint my toenails and shave my legs and wash my hair and … ugh!” I grab my cereal bowl from the coffee table, knocking my shin into the edge of the couch at the same time. “Flipping ouch!” I grasp my chin and hop for several seconds while Adam does a terrible job of holding back his laughter. I glare at him. “Okay, so, if you’re still here when she’s here, just … be cool.”
    Adam spreads his arms out. “I’m always cool.”
    “Uh huh.”
    Back in my bedroom, I assess the scene for signs of nerdiness. My Marauder’s Map cushion will need to be hidden. Or will it? Harry Potter is pretty much universally loved, so maybe I can risk Allegra seeing it. She can’t hate me for loving Harry Potter, can she? Maybe she’s read the books too! My violin and music stand have to go, though. There are too many ‘orchestra geek’ taunts fresh in my memory to risk that one. I slide them both under my bed, then remove my Star Trek DVDs from the DVD collection on the bookshelf and hide them in my cupboard.
    Right. Shower time.

    ***

    Allegra sends a message when she reaches our gate. I grab my beach bag—towel, sunscreen, sarong, water bottle, no book, and the sunglasses I recently borrowed from Charlotte—and rush out of the house. I meet Allegra on the front stairs. “Hey!” I give her a hug. “Cool, let’s get going.”
    “Wait, I want to see your house.”
    “Oh, don’t bother.” I conceal my panicked expression with a bored one. “It’s nothing exciting.”
    “Well, yeah, I get that.” She lowers her voice and winks. “I want to see the guys you live with.” She jumps up the stairs and lets herself in. I follow her, silently praying nothing goes wrong. “Awesome,” she says, poking her head into the lounge. “This place is totally vintage cool.”
    “Thanks,” I say with a laugh that hopefully doesn’t sound too strangled.
    “And where’s your room? Down here?” She heads off down the passage before I can answer. Before she gets there, though, Adam appears in his doorway. Fortunately, he’s had a shower since our ‘Guess the composer’ game, so we’re spared seeing him in his sleep shorts—although something tells me Allegra wouldn’t have minded that. “Oh, hey,” Allegra says. She tucks her hair behind one ear, and I’m willing to bet she’s giving Adam her shy smile.
    “Um, hi.” He leans in his doorway, probably trying to look cool as per my instructions. He ends up looking kind of awkward, though. “You’re Allegra, right?” he says. “I’m Adam.”
    “Hi, Adam. It’s great to meet you. Livi hasn’t told me nearly enough about you.” She looks over her shoulder and winks at me while I try to figure out who I’m more embarrassed to be in front of right now.
    The sound of a door opening makes me turn around. Luke walks out of his bedroom, looking surprised—and a little terrified—to find us all standing in the passage.
    “Luke, this is my friend Allegra,” I say quickly. “She just stopped by to pick me up. We’re on our way to the beach.” I grab Allegra’s arm and steer her past Luke and back towards the front door.
    I’ve barely closed the door behind us when Allegra squeals. “Livi! You did not tell me he was that hot!”
    “Shh.” I drag her away from the house towards her car.
    “And the other one wasn’t bad either. I don’t know what it is about glasses, but they always