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looking celebrities ( Jake lusted after Jessica Alba and
Cordelia nearly fainted when she said Josh Duhamel s
name). When it got dark, Cordelia crashed in the back-
seat while Jake snoozed in the front. Before they went to
bed, Cordelia prayed that she d wake up to some sort of
miracle.
But all she d gotten were lousy kinks in her neck and
everywhere else in her body. She was so stiff from being
cramped in a ball for seven hours that she could barely
get out of the car. She felt pretty grubby, too. All that
sweat from yesterday and she was nowhere near a
shower. This was definitely not the work of angels.
Cordelia stood up and stretched, but was startled a
bit when she spotted Jake working under the open hood
of the car.
What are you doing? she asked.
He offered a rueful grin. I don t know. I keep think-
ing that if I just look at the engine long enough, some-
thing will happen.
Cordelia ambled up beside him and peered under
the hood. She pointed to a dangling loose wire.
What s that?
I don t know. Maybe it s a cable line.
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Hailey Abbott
It looks like it should be connected to something,
she remarked.
How about the battery? he asked. Right over there.
She reached in and grabbed the wire.
Watch out, your hands are going to get dirty, Jake
said. And you might be out of Purell.
Cordelia smirked. I never run out. She moved her
hands around the battery and felt something like a hole.
Keeping one hand on that, she pulled the loose wire
toward it. There was a click as it caught onto something,
and then the wire became taut. She and Jake looked at
each other.
Without a word, Jake hopped into the driver s seat. A
second later, the engine was noisily throbbing. Cordelia
slammed down the hood and got in the car.
I have absolutely no idea what I just did! she
exclaimed.
Neither do I, Jake replied. But who cares? We re
moving!
Cowabunga! she shouted, and pumped her fist in
the air.
Now take your clothes off, he said jokingly.
Cordelia recoiled the instant he made that comment.
She wrapped her arms around herself and shifted awk-
wardly in her seat.
Jesus, Cordy. I was kidding. Jake shook his head
and chuckled. Your clothes can stay on if you want.
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I know, I m just chilly from the sudden blast of
AC, she lied.
He grimaced. Right.
Cordelia dug into her bag and got out her snoozing
Treo. She shook it a little bit, hoping that there was a tiny
speck of juice left in it. Nope, nothing. There wasn t an
outlet in sight either. She needed to call Paul, and fast,
before he sent out a search party of park rangers to look
for her.
Did you sleep okay? Jake asked. He was flooring
the Charger now, but it still only went about sixty miles
per hour.
I guess, Cordelia said, grabbing the back of her
neck, which was still extremely tight. My neck kind of
hurts.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I ve crashed back
there many times and woken up feeling like total shit.
Then Jake took his right hand off the wheel of the car
and put it on Cordelia s left shoulder. He began rubbing
slowly at first, then worked his way to the back of her
neck. She was shivering, and she knew it had absolutely
nothing to do with the air-conditioning. His hand
massaged her more intensely now, each circle he made
with the palm of his hand felt so good. She closed her
eyes and concentrated on how every cell in her body
was releasing all of this built-up tension. Her lips began
to moisten as Jake pressed harder on her skin. Her
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Hailey Abbott
cheeks felt flushed, and she was clenching the muscles
in her thighs.
All better, Cordelia stammered, grabbing his hand.
You sure? My hands can go on forever, he said.
She swallowed hard. Really, I m okay. Thanks.
Suit yourself. Jake placed his hand back on the
steering wheel. Your sister always loved my back rubs.
Cordelia felt this burning sensation rise up in her
chest. She couldn t believe this. Was she actually jealous
of her sister& and Jacob Stein? She imagined herself
pushing an eject button beneath her seat and soaring
back home to San Diego.
Well, I m sure it wasn t agony for you, she snapped
back. Molly s so beautiful.
Jake said nothing for a minute, his eyes glued to the
road. She was always supremely sexy, he said finally.
And something else; I don t know how to describe it.
Being with her was like& being at a party.
Cordelia nodded in affirmation. Yes, Molly loves to
party.
No, that s not what I meant. Molly is a party. All by
herself. And when I was with her, I felt like I d been
invited to Cirque du Soleil or something. She was
always sparkling, you know? There was no darkness, no
worry. All the bad stuff in the world, all the problems,
they didn t touch her. It was like she was above and
beyond all that. Nothing bothered her.
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So, if you were with Molly& nothing would bother
you either.
Jake grinned. Well, that s what you hoped for. Like
maybe it was contagious. That she d kind of rub off on
you.
Another burning pang of jealousy stabbed at
Cordelia s rib cage. So, did she rub off on you? Did
you forget all your problems?
No. I tried, though. I guess I m still trying. It s prob-
ably why I act so
Weird? Cordelia said.
Jake sneered a little. Um, I was going to say stress-free.
Gotcha.
You see, I did have problems. I still do, Jake
continued.
Everyone has problems, she said, but he didn t
seem to hear her.
And Molly didn t like that, especially if I talked
about them. Even if I was just worrying about them
silently, she could tell. She wanted me to be happy all
the time. She d tell me to cheer up, let it go, loosen up.
Live in the moment.
Like Paul. Cordelia didn t realize she d spoken out
loud till she heard Jake go, Huh?
He s all about meditation, you know? He thinks we
should all experience the here and now very deeply. He
believes everyone should be one with the world.
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Hailey Abbott
Interesting, Jake said.
What?
I don t mean to sound like a dick, but from what
you said, it seems that he expects everyone to do things
his way. That s kind of self-indulgent and arrogant,
don t you think?
Cordelia sat there, unresponsive. She knew she
should have jumped to Paul s defense, but she felt like
there was some truth to Jake s observation, even though
she wasn t entirely sure.
Anyway, I tried to be what she wanted me to be.
Only I couldn t. So she& His voice trailed off.
That s sad, she murmured.
I m over it, Jake said unconvincingly.
I mean, I think it s sad when people can t be loved
for who they are. She tried to put it in concrete terms.
Like, two people fall in love, okay? Then one of them
tries to change the other one, to make him or her into
someone else. Not the person that the person was to
begin with. So why did they fall in love in the first
place? Am I making any sense at all?
Jake glanced at her. I think I get what you re saying.
What was the basis for the original attraction between
two people? And why can t that be enough?
Yes! If you love someone, why would you want that
person to change?
Jake took his eyes off the road just long enough for
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Getting Lost with Boys
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