25
" Usually when her mom gave her warnings like this, Elena would just give her a thumbs up. Like, No prob, Bob.
Because it really wasn’t a problem. Avoid men? Done! This had literally never been an issue for her. When other girls complained about how to deal with unwanted male attention, Elena wouldn’t feel jealous exactly, but she would feel curious—how does one go about attracting such attention? And is it impossible to attract just some of it? Just a small, manageable amount? Or was attention from boys all or nothing, like a tap that, once you’d found it, you could never turn off? "
― Rainbow Rowell , Kindred Spirits
28
" Excuse me,” someone said, interrupting a lively discussion about whom they’d each buy a drink for in the cantina.
The whole line looked up. There were two women standing on the sidewalk with bakery boxes. One of them cleared her throat. “We heard that people were camping out for Star Wars . . .”
“That’s us!” Troy said, only slightly less enthusiastically than he’d said it yesterday.
“Where’s everybody else?” she asked. “Are they around the back? Do you do this in shifts?”
“It’s just us,” Elena said.
“We’re the Cupcake Gals,” the other woman said. “We thought we’d bring Star Wars cupcakes? For the line?”
“Great!” Troy said.
The Cupcake Gals held on tight to their boxes.
“It’s just . . .” the first woman said, “we were going to take a photo of the whole line, and post it on Instagram . . .”
“I can help you there!” Elena said. Those cupcakes were not going to just walk away. Not on Elena’s watch.
Elena took a selfie of their line, the Cupcake Gals and a theater employee all holding Star Wars cupcakes—it looked like a snapshot from a crowd— and promised to post it across all her channels. The lighting was perfect. Magic hour, no filter necessary. #CupcakeGals #TheForceACAKEns #SalaciousCrumbs
The Gals were completely satisfied and left both boxes of cupcakes.
“This is the first time I’ve been happy that there were only three of us,” Elena said, helping herself to a second cupcake. It was frosted to look like Chewbacca.
“You saved these cupcakes,” Gabe said. “Those women were going to walk away with them.”
“I know,” Elena said. “I could see it in their eyes. I would’ve stopped at nothing to change their minds.”
“Thank God they were satisfied by a selfie then,” Gabe said. His cupcake looked like Darth Vader, and his tongue was black.
“I’m really good at selfies,” Elena said. “Especially for someone with short arms.”
“Great job,” Troy said. “You’ll make someone a great provider someday.”
“That day is today,” Elena said, leaning back against the theater wall. “You’re both welcome.”
“Errrggh,” Troy said, kicking his feet out. “Cupcake coma.”
“How many did you eat?” Gabe asked.
“Four,” Troy said. “I took down the Jedi Council. Time for a little midday siesta—the Force asleepens. "
― Rainbow Rowell , Kindred Spirits
37
" I’m guessing this is your first line,” Troy said. “How can you tell?” she asked. “I can tell,” he said, chuckling. “I can always tell. It’s Gabe’s first line, too.” “We were eight when the last Star Wars movie came out,” Gabe said, not looking up from his book. “Revenge of the Sith!” Troy said. “That wasn’t much of a line anyway. It was no Empire.” “Nothing is,” Elena said. Troy’s face got somber. “Hear, hear, Elena. Hear, hear.” All "
― Rainbow Rowell , Kindred Spirits
