When the notebook containing their deepest, darkest secrets is stolen, two former best friends must unite, despite crushing on the same heart-stopping boy.
*****
Best friends, Al...
So right now I'm laying out on the dock, soaking in the sun. I'm bummed you didn't come wakeboarding with us. Remember last summer when you tipped over in the inflatable tube? That was hilarious. I wish you were here. Sloane and Bri are fun and all, but no one quite gets me like you. I mean who else am I gonna sing Broadway songs with?? I tried to play Hamilton on the drive up here, but I was vetoed. How can they not comprehend the greatness that is Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)? -Georgie aka Alexx
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Three and half months earlier...
Alex Canterbury clutched her growling stomach as the smell of homemade pizza wafted through the air. She hadn't eaten yet. Not only had her alarm clock failed her yet again, but she had to clean the kitchen and vacuum the apartment before she was allowed to attend the Lorde's barbecue, which left little time for eating.
Stepping into the backyard, she slid the screen door shut and stopped next to the table piled with food, popping a cube of cheese into her mouth because cheese. Was there anything better?
Lifting a hand to shade her golden-brown eyes against the summer sun, she headed over to her best friend, who was wearing a yellow daffodil dress. She folded a leg under and lowered herself to the cushioned bench next to Alexx Lorde. Her last name was apt considering she sat like a queen, lording over the backyard as if it was her court and the people were her subjects. Alex glanced down at her own position and untucked her leg, smoothing out her shorts and lavender top.
"There he is," her best friend whispered. "Isn't he cute?"
She followed Alexx's gaze to a stocky boy with curly hair dribbling a ball on the makeshift basketball court. He was being guarded by Alexx's brother, Hugo, who was at least a foot taller and by far the hottest Lorde brother. There were three of them. Lance, the oldest who was away at university, Hugo, and then Seth, the baby of the family who was currently getting grass stains on his white shirt as he wrestled his friends to the ground.
She envied her best friend. She'd always wanted siblings, although three brothers sounded exhausting. She'd been over enough to know they were loud, told way too many fart jokes, and ate a TON of food. Even trying to get a slice of bread meant warfare.
"—just moved here from Colorado. He's a senior like Hugo."
Alex studied Owen McCallister. He was rather average looking with a thin face, small lips, and a broad forehead. She didn't know how he, of all people, caught Alexx's eye. She usually crushed on pretty boys, the ones that looked they belonged on covers of GQ, not Bland-R-Us.
"Why is he here?" Alexx groaned.
Arlo Del Torro strolled into the backyard like he owned the place. He, on the other hand, was as far from bland as a person could get and knew it too, which is probably why he and Alexx did not get along.
"He's Hugo's best friend," she replied. "Of course, he's going to come."
Alexx lifted her lip in a snarl. "Did I tell you what he said to me last week?"
