Page 8 of Lucy Loves Him Not
One day into summer break and Adam Stevens had already flipped my summer plans upside down. He stole the only semblance of family legacy we had in this town.
Three
Me
Come over stat. I have an Adam update for you.
Gracie
OOOOH YAY
Me
not a good update ?
Gracie
booo
on my way now
“No! I cannot believe this is the Amazing Adam from Love Local,” Gracie whined as we sat around mine and Olivia’s living room. “I’m so disappointed. I was already stalking his Instagram. He seemed like your perfect match.”
I fought the urge to open my phone and stalk him, too. “No, he’s definitelynotAmazing Adam. He’s more like Annoying Adam.”
“Can I be controversial?” Olivia said from her spot curled up on our soft, white couch. Our apartment’s color palette wasall the colors. Bright green curtains. An antique pink coffee table. Books and records cluttering the shelves. Old paintings I’d found in flea markets lining the walls. Mix and match throw pillows on the sofa. Tall, vintage lamps on almost every surface.
“No,” I said warily, stroking Stevie as she purred in my lap.
“He has a point,” Olivia continued anyway. “He was saying similar things we were saying the other night. Like how you’re not a professional and youneed helpplanning such a big event.
“You’re one person, Luce. This town has gotten bigger since Grandma started it, plus she always had lots of help. You always want to do things like a one-woman show. Maybe it’s the teacher in you. But this Adam guy will have his staff on it!”
“Yeah, his staff and no Lucy.” I threw my head back onto the armchair morosely. “He kicked me out.”
“Didn’t he say you could still volunteer?” Gracie offered hopefully from her spot lounging on the rug.
“I can’t work with him. He was kind of rude. We were arguing back and forth. He was telling me we didn’t ‘own’ the festival, whichisn’twhat I was implying. He also had bad phone manners,” I listed off each reason, burrowing deeper into the armchair cushion.
“This is coming from you? You have questionable phone etiquette, yourself.” Olivia pulled a pillow into her lap. “You’ll answer a call right in the middle of a loud dinner or while watching a show. Sometimes I can barely hear you. Do you remember the time you answered the phone at a concert!”
“I have fine phone etiquette. A solid B minus,” I defended myself. “Mainly, I feel like I’d be embarrassed to work with him after everything. I feel like he was only offering me a volunteer spot to pacify me. He doesn’t want me involved.” And why wouldhe? I’d been running the festival into the ground, which wasn’t exactly a glowing endorsement for my work.
“It just doesn’t match the image I had of him from his profile,” Gracie said disappointedly. “He had such good vibes.”
“Guys, I feel like you both could be more supportive of me after this guy basically fired me and then said I ruined the festival the last few years,” I said, swallowing a lump in my throat that appeared every time I thought about the last fact. “I feel like you’re not really on my side.”
“I’m totally on your side!” Gracie jolted up.
“We’re always on your side,” Olivia said. “I guess I’m trying to find the silver lining or make sense of this big mess. I know that probably doesn’t feel helpful. I’m sorry, Luce, I really am.”
“Can we all agree that this Adam guy is a jerk?” I asked, watching Stevie leap from my lap and saunter toward Olivia.
“Oh, definitely!” Gracie said enthusiastically.
“Totally, like you said, he’s Annoying Adam from here on out,” Olivia said, scooping Stevie into her lap.
I tucked into the armchair, pulling a blanket over me even though it was a warm Texas summer night. My sisters mused about how Annoying Adam might change the festival, but I was at war between the grief I felt losing this summer festival, a little piece of my grandma, and regret with how I handled my conversation with Adam.
