The Meet-Cute Project by Rhiannon Richardson

Author:Rhiannon Richardson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 2021-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

During the weekdays that I spend not going to the garden after school, Gavin manages to redo the irrigation system inside the greenhouse and set up a few wooden troughs with fresh soil. And on Friday, when Gloria runs up to my mom and says Gavin “needs” me to help him with painting the rest of the wooden beams on the inside, I’m thankful that he won’t let Gloria have me work on something else. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to report back to him about the Halloween party and get his advice about tomorrow night.

“So, everything went well?” he says when I finish a rant-like recap of the night. He reaches down for the can of paint.

He decided that the inside of the greenhouse will be green, to blend in with the plants. I’m in charge of staining the troughs, so whenever he has to move to a new spot, I have to stop and hand all of his supplies to him on the ladder.

“Everything went great, and we’ve been texting for the past week,” I say, handing him the cloth that fell out of his pocket. “I mean, someone who likes Star Wars and listens to Rainbow Kitten Surprise… That’s, like, impossible to find.”

He shoves the cloth back into his pocket so that half of it is hanging out, for when he gets paint on his fingers. Then he leans against the ladder. He looks down at me, smiling.

“Not impossible because you like both those things. Plus, don’t get me wrong, I don’t get the hype about Star Wars, but I can vibe with some RKS.”

“What?” I gush. “No way. How have we not talked about this? They’re one of my favorite bands.” Finding other people my age who like RKS has proven nearly as difficult as finding a leprechaun.

“Because you never asked,” he says, using a mock accusatory tone.

“You didn’t ask either,” I remind him, laughing.

“Touché,” Gavin says, shrugging and dripping some paint from his brush onto the ground. “But you still don’t know who he is?” he asks, though a smile creeps across his face, and I can tell he’s finding this amusing.

“I know, it’s crazy,” I admit, kneeling down next to my half-finished trough. “But this might be—” I stop myself from saying my one chance, because I don’t want to start putting all my eggs in one basket.

“It’s not that crazy,” he says. In the dead air between us, I can hear the sound of his brushstrokes against the old beams. He didn’t want to sand them down because he likes how it ages the inside, keeps some character in the place.

“Then, what is it?” I ask, noting the leading tone in his voice.

“Honestly, it’s a little romantic.”

I turn around, expecting him to be looking down at me, ready to laugh. But his back is turned and he’s focused, serious.

“Like a masquerade,” he says absentmindedly, his hand trailing high above his head. I watch the way he moves slowly, allowing the paint to make contact so that there aren’t rushed streaks.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.