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"Chloe, are we here for a reason?" fourteen-year-old Riley Carlson asked her twin sister. "Or is this one of those unsolved mysteries?"
Chloe, Riley, and their friend Sierra Pomeroy were sitting at a table at a coffee bar called the Newsstand. Chloe only half heard her sister's question. She was busy watching Lennon Porter make coffee behind the counter. She was drawn to him -- but why? Was it his crooked smile? Or the way his curly dark hair fell over his eyes...?
"Earth to Chloe?" Sierra pinged her shoulder. "Come back, girl!"
Chloe tore her eyes away from Lennon. She wasn't ready to admit that she came to the Newsstand just to stare at him. She didn't like him at all -- she really didn't! He was such a know-it-all, but so cute .... So she tried to think of a non-Lennon reason for dragging Riley and Sierra to the café.
"Isn't this place cool?" she said lamely. "Look at all the magazines! They have lots of PCs and newspapers. And good scenery."
"Yeah, we're here for the scenery, all right," Riley said, turning toward the counter.
Lennon reached up and placed two glasses on a high shelf.
"Why don't you just admit it, Chloe?" Riley continued. "You like Lennon!"
"What are you talking about?" Chloe said. "I can't stand him." Chloe glanced over at him, then turned away. "Don't stare! You guys are so obvious!"
"Come on, Chloe. Come clean," Sierra said. "You're totally crushing on him."
"Crushing?" Chloe felt her cheeks heat up. "That is so not true. Lennon is an obnoxious jerk. He's so full of himself! How could you even think I like him?"
"Because it's true?" Riley asked with a grin.
Chloe rolled her eyes. She hated it when her sister was right. "Fine -- he's cute, okay? Look at the guy! No -- don't!"
Riley and Sierra had turned to glance at Lennon again. They jerked their heads back toward Chloe, giggling.
"You can't hide it, Chloe," Sierra teased. "You totally like him."
"That's impossible," Chloe protested. "He thinks he knows everything, and I hate people like that." The trouble was, Lennon really did seem to know everything. Or a lot, at least.
The waitress came by, and the three girls ordered coffee drinks.
Riley leaned toward Chloe, her shoulder-length blond hair brushing the tabletop. "Maybe Lennon will bus our table when we're done. That'!! give you a chance to talk to him."
Chloe sniffed. "I have nothing to say to the guy."
"That's a lie, and you know it," Sierra said. "You're dying to ask him out!"
"Talk to us, Chloe," Riley said. "We'll help you. I got Sierra and Larry together, and look how great that's turning out."
Sierra had started going out with Larry Slotnick, who was sweet but kind of goofy. Make that way goofy. But Sierra seemed to really like him. She thought he had a great sense of humor and that he wasn't afraid to be himself.
"Okay, you're right," Chloe admitted. "I've been trying to think of a way to ask out Lennon. But how? He's not like other guys. He's traveled all over the world and speaks twenty-five zillion languages."
"So?" Riley said. "There's nothing wrong with that."
"But he's so stuck up about it," Chloe went on. "He thinks he's perfect. And he can be so rude -- and stubborn!"
She'd met Lennon when they both volunteered at a senior citizens' center, and she had problems with him from the beginning. How could she even think of asking him out?
"You know what?" Chloe said. "This was a bad idea. Let's get out of here." She grabbed her bag.
"We can't. Alex and Larry are meeting us here," Riley reminded her. Alex Zimmer was Riley's boyfriend.
"And we already ordered frappes," Sierra added. "Stay and face your fears!" she whispered in a spooky voice.
"I'm not afraid of him," Chloe insisted. "I'm just not sure how I feel about him. I'm all confused." She plopped back down and watched Lennon carry a bin of dirty dishes into the kitchen. His apron was slung low over his hips. His hair was a little longer than most guys' and curled over his collar. Lennon had a style of his own.
He came out of the kitchen and hurried over to a Japanese couple who were leaving. "Domo arrigato!" Lennon said, bowing.
The Japanese man and woman bowed, too. Smiling, they chatted with Lennon in Japanese. And he schmoozed right back.
"What a show-off," Chloe said. "Do you see? That is why I can't go out with him."
"I think it's sweet," Sierra said.
Riley rolled her eyes. "Chloe's right. The guy's totally showing off."
The Japanese couple left, and Lennon returned to the counter. Chloe looked around for something to distract her from him. She reached for a copy of her favorite magazine, Teen Style. "Hey, there's a quiz in this month's issue!" She flipped to the table of contents. "Let's take it right now."
"I already had a pop quiz in Spanish today," Riley complained. "Isn't one enough?"
"This is a really good one," Chloe promised. "It's called 'The Love Factor: Is Your Boyfriend the Right Boy for You?"
"I'll take it," Sierra offered. "Though it might not work for me. I mean, we're talking about Larry."
"It's true." Riley nodded. "Larry is definitely in a category of his own."
[Chloe Larry used to be crazy about Riley -- before he fell for Sierra. But when I say crazy, I mean crazy' He bounced up to her bedroom window on a trampoline. He collected all her used yogurt containers and built sand castles for her. I guess you have to give him points for creativity.]
"The Love Factor quiz is foolproof!" Chloe read from the magazine.
Sierra shrugged. "Right, but is it Larry-proof?"
Chloe licked her lips. "We'll see about that. But I'll just have to keep score since I don't have a boyfriend. At least, not at the moment."
So Little Time #8: The Love Factor. Copyright © by Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.
Excerpted from The Love Factor by Ashley Olsen, Mary-Kate Olsen
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
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