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"Tell me it isn't true, Lennon," fourteen-year-old Chloe Carlson said into the phone. She was lying on her bed, talking to her boyfriend, Lennon Porter. "Tell me you don't have to work the entire winter break."
"I don't know," Lennon replied, "but I have to work today. In fact, I'm supposed to be there right now. I'll e-mail you later, okay?"
"Okay." Chloe sighed as she hung up the phone. Lennon worked at the Newsstand, a cool coffee bar and Internet café with computer terminals all over the place.
Sure. E-mail me. Like that's going to do any good! Chloe thought. just a few minutes ago she'd been reading through her old e-mails from Lennon. They were all the same. She'd write, Want to go to a movie? and he'd write back, Can't. Gotta work tonight .
There were ten just like that. Eleven, if you counted the e-mail he wrote from work. It said, Chloe. Wish I were anywhere but here - with you. It was signed, Lennon the Latte-Meister .
Why am I complaining? she wondered.
After all, Lennon was by far the smartest and most interesting guy she'd ever dated. He was cute and honest and funny, too. But lately he was winning in the "Best Boyfriend Who's Never Around for a Date" category.
If he works all week, this vacation is going to be the worst, she thought. With another sigh, she hopped off the bed, brushed her long blond hair out of her face, and went downstairs to see what her twin sister, Riley, was doing.
Riley was sitting in the living room with their mother, Macy. The two of them were hunched over a magazine.
"What's up?" Chloe asked, joining them.
"Mom's going nuts about some movie star," Riley answered. "Are you sure he's famous, Mom? I've never heard of him."
Macy Carlson's mouth dropped open. "Are you kidding? He's a major star! I can't believe you've never heard of Jacques D'Oisseau! Are you sure you're my daughter?"
Riley glanced at Chloe and faked a gasp. "Oh, no! Maybe we were switched at birth!"
"Very funny," Macy said, smirking.
Chloe reached for the magazine and stared at a photo of a French actor. He had dark eyes, a classic tan, and wavy silver hair. "What's the big deal about this Jacques guy?"
"He rented the house right down the beach from us," Macy replied. "I saw him move in yesterday."
"Oh." Chloe tossed the magazine back to her mom.
"I can't believe you aren't more excited!" Macy said.
Chloe shrugged. "Sorry, Mom, but we don't speak much French yet. We've only been taking it a few months in school."
"Besides," Riley chimed in, "he's almost as old as Manuelo."
"I heard that!" Manuelo announced from the kitchen in his Spanish accent. Manuelo Del Valle was a full-time housekeeper and cook for the Carlsons. He had been with them forever - from even before Chloe and Riley's parents had separated. He carried a tray of bagels and juice into the living room and set it down.
"You hear everything ," Chloe teased him. "You must have the biggest ears in the house."
"Believe it," Manuelo joked, pretending to be proud of them. "And by the way, my little lemonade, how dare you say that I'm as old as Jacques D'Oisseau? He is at least five years older. Maybe ten!"
Manuelo snatched the magazine from Macy and stared at the photo. "I can only hope I look that good when I am his age," he declared.
[ Chloe . Yawn. Sorry, but I can't get worked up about some old French guy. Even if he IS a movie star I'm just wondering what I'm going to do now that winter break is here. So fair it looks like it's going to be boring, boring, boring. Now if you told me that some YOUNG, hot actor moved into the house next to ours, THAT might be worth getting pumped about.]
"Did you know that he's shooting a commercial here in Malibu?" Manuelo went on.
[ Chloe : A commercial? Okay, maybe THAT'S worth getting pumped about.]
"Where?" Chloe asked, perking up.
"At your favorite hang-in," Manuelo said.
"Hangout," Chloe corrected him. "You mean the Newsstand?"
"That's the place," Manuelo said.
Chloe was suddenly interested. "What kind of commercial?"
"It's some kind of coffee thing for the Superbowl," Manuelo said. "I read about it in the newspaper. Jacques is getting too old for leading man roles, so he's going to focus on directing instead. including this major commercial."
"Cool! Maybe I can watch them filming!" Chloe announced.
"I wouldn't mind watching them shoot it, either," Riley said. "I mean, we don't have anything better to do this week."
"Sorry, my little lemonades." Manuelo shook his head. "The set will probably be closed."
"Maybe Lennon can get us in?" Riley suggested.
"It's worth a try," Manuelo said.
"Yeah," Chloe agreed. "Why not? We've got to do something to kick off this winter break."
Riley made a quick phone call to her friend Sierra Pomeroy and arranged to meet her at the Newsstand.
Twenty minutes later she and Chloe pushed open the glass doors to the coffee house. A bunch of little tables and chairs filled the center of the room. Along one wall was a rack of international newspapers. Another wall was lined with computers. And at the back was a small stage for performers.
"Sierra!" Riley called, seeing her friend head into the rest room. Riley hurried to catch up with her. "Wow," she said, checking out the plaid skirt and boring white blouse Sierra was wearing. "Your mom makes you dress like that even for break?"
(Continues...)
Excerpted from So Little Time #11: Boy Crazy by Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen Copyright © 2003 by Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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