13
" The two strangers got to the waffle station at exactly the same time. (I swear I’m like an award-winning orchestra conductor sometimes.)
Cara poured a ladleful of regular batter onto her machine, while Sammy poured her own ladle and grabbed the container of chocolate chips.
Wait for it . . .
Wait for it . . .
“Shit!” Sammy stared at the mountain of chocolate now piled up on the batter. The cap of the container had come off completely and rolled along the floor right into Cara’s feet.
“Oh my god, let me help you!” Cara sprung to action, as I knew she would, grabbing a broom and dustpan that I’d placed nearby and cleaning up the chips on the floor.
“Oh, you don’t have to,” Sammy stammered. “I’m sorry—I don’t know how that happened.”
Cara swept the chips into the dustpan and surveyed Sammy’s half-cooked waffle, which was now completely coated in messy, gooey chocolate. “I mean, I love chocolate as much as the next girl, but even that’s a little much for me.”
Sammy laughed, then fiddled with the container in her hand. “I think some dick unscrewed the top so they’d all fall out.” She rolled her eyes. “College boys.” (Or metaphysical entities. Either one.)
“Wow, what an asshole,” Cara said. “People are such idiots. "
― Leah Konen , The Romantics
14
" So in case you were wondering, I had no idea her friend was you,” Gael said. “I wouldn’t have tried to rope you into babysitting, I promise.”
“I believe you,” Sammy said. “Don’t worry. We’re hardly even friends, really, I just met her yesterday—ooh, look,” she squealed, interrupting herself. “There’s a baby elephant!”
Gael laughed. “I wouldn’t have expected you to go ape-shit for baby animals.”
Sammy raised an eyebrow. “Name one person with a soul who doesn’t go apeshit for baby animals. They’re, like, animals who are tiny. Who are you, the devil?”
Gael shook his head. “I like them, too. Obviously. But your voice went about a million levels higher just then.”
Sammy crossed her arms. “Maybe you should question your ability to maintain an even tone of voice in the face of”—she smiled one of those weird upside-down smiles that little kids do when they’re excited—“BABY ELEPHANTS. "
― Leah Konen , The Romantics
16
" Every day since TUB (The Ultimate Betrayal) had been a disaster. He had English with Anika, who never failed to shoot him a forced smile. Then chemistry with Mason, where they were lab partners. Gael refused to talk to either of them. In the past week, he’d barely exchanged words with anyone.
Things were even awkward with Danny. Even though he was Gael’s best friend besides Mason, the dude was gaga for Jenna, and Jenna had long been Anika’s BFF. As such, this had become the unspoken rule among them: Jenna was Team Anika, Danny was Team Jenna, and by the transitive property, Danny couldn’t be on Gael’s side.
Gael hadn’t ever thought to make friends outside of their little group. He hadn’t hedged his bets, if you will.
He’d put all his eggs in one basket.
And those eggs had decided to hook up with each other behind his back. "
― Leah Konen , The Romantics
19
" So what’s your favorite horror movie?” she asked.
“Easy,” Gael said. “The Birds.” Not even its recent association with Anika could quell his love for the masterpiece.
“Umm, The Birds totally doesn’t count as horror.”
“Of course it does!” Gael ventured a sip of his hot chocolate, but it was still too hot. “What are you talking about?”
“No one even dies,” Sammy protested. “You can’t have a horror movie without at least one death.”
“The schoolteacher dies,” Gael said.
Sammy rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine. Favorite slasher film, then. You know, where there’s a killer, and the killer is not, like, a pigeon.”
It was actually mainly crows and seagulls in The Birds, but Gael let that one slide. "
― Leah Konen , The Romantics
