The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert

Author:Brandy Colbert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2020-07-06T16:00:00+00:00

ALEC AND I HAD BEEN FRIENDS FOR A LITTLE over six months when he asked me to come up to his grandparents’ house.

It was late June, a couple of weeks after school had let out. We were at his house, eating a snack that Deena, the Buckmans’ housekeeper, had made. He stood up to get us drinks.

“Hey, uh, do you want to go up to my grandparents’ for the Fourth?” He was burning a path from the kitchen island to the professional-grade fridge, tossing the words over his shoulder.

He seemed nervous. And I wasn’t sure I’d seen that before, but it was kind of cute. He was normally a ball of confidence wrapped up in disarming good looks, so it was kind of refreshing to see him flustered.

“Your grandparents?”

“Yeah, they live on a ranch north of here, and we go up every Fourth. I usually bring a friend, and this year I want it to be you.”

I sat up straight on my stool, resting my hands on the cool marble countertop of the island. “Really?”

I don’t know why I was so surprised. By then, Alec and I were spending a lot of time together. So much that people were starting to look at us strangely, as if they thought there was something more. I had to admit, once I’d gotten to know Alec, it had been easy to see why everyone couldn’t stop talking about him. And I’d never needed much convincing on the attractive part.

But I really enjoyed his friendship. I loved talking to him in more detail about the causes we both followed online. He was passionate about lots of the same stuff I cared about: working toward a single-payer healthcare system, making sure immigrants are treated with empathy and humanity, putting an end to school shootings. Our conversations were so full of fire and good energy that I always left Alec feeling like I could change the world.

I knew Alec’s parents by then, and they’d always been cool to me. But I have to say, I was a little skeptical about spending so much time with his grandparents—and on their turf. I’d encountered more than my fair share of my classmates’ grandparents in vintage Chanel and Louis Vuitton who would smile in my face and question what I was doing at a place like Salinas Prep behind my back. Then there were the people who practically bragged about how racist their relatives were, nervous-laughing about how contentious holidays got when they brought up their differing politics.

Basically, I wasn’t too excited about meeting the family of anyone who went to Salinas Prep, even Alec’s. But I couldn’t say that, because he was sweet to invite me. And he’d chosen me out of all his friends.

“Yes, really,” he said, smiling. “Why not?”

“I don’t know.…I mean, you have so many friends, I just didn’t think…”

“Yeah, and you’re one of my best,” he said, walking over to stand in front of me. “Come to the ranch. You’ll love it.”

I stared into

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