Would you like some butter on your popcorn, my dude?
“You need to learn how to be a team player, Ever. That’s your exercise for this trip. Finding pleasure with a total stranger. No consequences. No relationship. Just a hookup in a foreign country.”
Positive the person on the other side of the aisle has heard enough about my sex life （or lack of）， I turn to Pippa with a death glare.
“I’m not having sex with a stranger.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Then I’ll just have to bug you to get a tattoo with me.”
Tired with her antics, I groan. “Whatever. I’ll use one. Go find us some snacks. I need to make a call.”
“If it’s Barbie you’re calling for emotional support, don’t bother. She’ll side with me, and you know it.” Pippa flutters away like a fairy, leaving stardust of giggles in her wake.
I produce my phone from my backpack and wait for the reception bars to appear.
I call Mom. She picks up on the first ring, even though it’s gazillion o’clock or whatever in California.
“Ever!” she coos. “How’s Barcelona?”
“Been here for a little less than an hour, and Pippa has already tried to pick a fight with a local, bought condoms, and tried to convince me to get a tattoo.”
“And I’m guessing you’re horrified by the entire thing?” There’s a smile in Mom’s voice.
“Gee, Mom, it’s like we know each other.”
“Well, then. All is normal in the land of Pipper.” Pippa and Ever. I love that she gave us a shipping name. Barbie Lawson is a supremely cool mom.
“I already miss you.” I dig my teeth into my lower lip.
“Actually.” She chuckles. “The reason I’m awake is because I’m going through old photo albums of yours. I can’t believe my baby is across the ocean, in Europe, on a girls’ trip.”
Ugh. I’m not going to cry in the Sexy Time aisle. I’m not.
“Yeah, neither can I. Gotta go now, Mom. I love you.”
“Same, to the moon and back.”
I end the call and am about to tuck my phone back into my back pocket.
A shadow looms over my frame, blocking the entrance to the passageway. I glance up. It’s Smoker Dude from the street. Pippa is right. He is kind of hot. In a nonobvious way. He seems tailored to my taste. Drawn in sharp strokes of coal, like a manga character. He is tall, more than conventionally attractive, and lean. His posture mimics that of a wilted sunflower. Head tilted down, like he is struggling to hear normal-height people. He has dark-blue eyes and a square jaw and a nose that is a little too long and pointy. The averageness of his nose gives his otherwise-flawless features more room to shine. It’s nature’s final stroke of genius, making him both attractive and relatable.
“Water balloons,” he deadpans, in an American accent.
“Um, what?”
He jerks his head toward the condom shelf. Right. Pippa’s insane demand that I use at least one condom.
“Fill it up, smash it over her head.”
“That’s mean,” I say.
“Mean? No. Fair? Yes.”
“Can’t do water balloons.” I untuck my septum ring from my nose. “That’s cheating.”
I want him to see the ring. I’m not sure why I want him to see it. Maybe because he is wearing a faded pair of Levi’s folded at the ankles and worn-out Chucks. Or maybe because his tousled dark hair and Anti Social Social Club: Applicant Need Not Apply tee call to me, the way a stranger reading your favorite book on the train calls to you.
“I didn’t realize we were playing on high moral ground here.” His face breaks into a haywire smile. Something inside me melts. It’s warm and gooey and settles in my stomach. Jesus. No wonder Pippa is obsessed with guys. This feels like getting on a Six Flags roller coaster after stuffing your face with a superburrito.
I’m suddenly extremely aware of my arms. Were they always this long? This heavy? This clumsy?
“Were you eavesdropping?” I ask, trying to see myself through his eyes. With my kilt and ruthlessly orange hair. The color rivals that of a perfectly baked autumn leaf. But since redheads make up less than 2 percent of the entire world population, I don’t have it in me to dye it.
He raises his arm, gesturing to a little pack in his hand. “I came to buy this.”
“Lip pencil?” I cock an eyebrow. “To go with your fake lashes?”
There’s a dark edge behind his smile, and it calls to me to come closer, peer in.