Lauren's Beach Crush Read Online Free Page A

he texted me back, and we’ve been e-mailing and texting ever since. So I think we’re actually boyfriend and girlfriend now!”
    â€œThat’s awesome,” breathed Lauren. Chrissy had with Justin exactly what Lauren planned to have with Charlie!
    â€œIt’s not like we’re going out exactly. I was really hoping I’d be able to see him this summer, that I could go back there with my parents, but they said it was too expensive to fly.” She sighed. “It’s not like I could tell them that I needed to see Justin, so I just had to accept it. I was so upset! Coming to your beach house was like the only good news I’ve had in ages.”
    Lauren wondered for a bit why Chrissy had kept Justin a secret from everyone at school. But then she realized that there were some things you just didn’t want to share with everyone.
    â€œGirls!” called Mrs. Silver. “We’re leaving! Chrissy has to say good-bye to her mom, and you guys have toget all your last-minute packing into the car!”
    The girls jumped up. Chrissy helped Lauren by grabbing one of her two small bags, and both raced down the stairs. Plans or no plans, the long anticipated vacation was about to be under way.

chapter 3
    THE TRIP WAS SUPPOSED TO TAKE TWO HOURS, but traffic was bad getting out of the city and it was closer to three by the time they finally pulled into the shaded, gravel driveway alongside the brown clapboard house. Chrissy’s eyes widened as she peered out at it from the back seat.
    â€œWow,” she breathed. “It’s so pretty here.”
    Again, Lauren felt relieved. She thought the house was pretty, but it wasn’t a very large house. And it wasn’t right on the beach. Still, Lauren loved it, and she had been a little nervous wondering what Chrissy would think of it. She felt the same amazing feeling she always felt, ever since her family had bought it as a major fixer-upper from an elderly lady when Lauren was only five. In the front yard stood a huge old tree with a knotted rope for climbing. On the side of the house, facing south, orangey-pinkclimbing roses grew up a trellis all the way to the roof. As they got out of the car, Lauren could smell the rose-scented, salty sea air.
    â€œWhy don’t you two bring your things up to Lauren’s room? Mom and I will unpack the rest while you give Chrissy a tour, all right?” suggested Mr. Silver.
    The girls pulled their suitcases from the mass of stuff in the back of the minivan, and Lauren led the way around to the back of the house, leaning to one side with the weight of her bag, her opposite arm high in the air for balance.
    â€œHere’s where we always keep the key,” she said, showing Chrissy a loose shingle that swiveled to the side, revealing a key on a hook. She fiddled with the key in the lock and then banged the door open with her hip.
    They stepped into the kitchen. It smelled faintly of polish, of the bacon that had been cooked for countless breakfasts over so many years, and ever so slightly musty and damp. Lauren loved this kitchen. The afternoon sunbeams, dancing with dust motes, played across the battered old table in the middle of the floor. They glinted off the gleaming old appliances. There was the old-fashioned mixer on the counter, with which she and her dad had createdcountless cakes and cookies. She led the way through the kitchen and into the hallway, then up the central staircase to the room at the top of the stairs and on the right.
    Lauren’s room was bright and sunny, with two twin beds separated by a battered table stacked with Lauren’s old books, and gauzy white curtains that billowed in the afternoon breeze. Faded, flowered wallpaper gave it an antique feel that Lauren loved. It had been the same way ever since Lauren could remember, but she always liked it. Lauren realized that no one had ever slept on the spare bed in her room, besides Grampy when he came to stay