Free Flat-Out Celeste by Jessica Park

,” he said pointedly.
    A guest? What guest?
    Her dad tipped his head toward the staircase and Celeste clopped across the wood floor, rushing as fast as she could in the impossibly high shoes. But just when she grabbed the railing, Erin’s voice raised another octave. “Celeste! Please come say hello.”
    “As you wish,” she barked back. “I would be happy to meet this guest of ours! What a goddamn smashing delight!” With a toss of her hair, she lifted her head high and walked confidently, if not steadily, past her still-stunned father and into the kitchen.
    “Language,” he warned in a whisper.
    “Good evening.” Celeste waited for the reaction.
    “Holy…. Ha ha!” Fantastic. Matt was here too. And not doing a smooth job of acting normally. “This is the best day ever.” He scooted his chair closer to the kitchen table and rested his chin in his hands, taking position to watch the scene unfold. “Hi, sister of mine. How was your day?”
    Celeste glared at him. The smile plastered on his face was entirely unamusing.
    Erin cleared her throat and swooped to Celeste’s side. If there was one thing Erin was good at, it was pretending nothing was amiss when everything was amiss. There was a slight shake in her words, but otherwise she sounded remarkably cheery. “Aren’t you colorful today?” Her fingers gripped Celeste’s arms just a little too tightly as she pivoted Celeste around to face the small love seat. “You have a visitor.”
    There in front of her was a boy.
    And she had seen him once before.
    In front of Border Café.
    Dear God, what was he doing in her kitchen? And on today of all days? She was finding it suddenly hard to breathe. Especially with his big blue eyes twinkling up at her, and his thick hair all messily pushed back from his face.
    “This is Justin Milano,” Erin said.
    She gathered whatever poise she could and extended her hand. “It is a pleasure to—Wait, what?” Celeste turned to her mother. “This is who?”

ONE AND THE SAME
    “JUSTIN MILANO. ALL the way from Barton College in San Diego. He’s home to spend Thanksgiving with his family.”
    “And so he came here?” Celeste whispered.
    Justin stood and shook her limp hand. “Hey, it’s really nice to meet you finally. You were on the school’s contact list, so I just gave a call earlier; but you weren’t here, so I talked to your mom for a while. I mentioned your fishy teacher, Mr. Gil and how he’d gone to Barton, and she said how awesome Mr. Gil is, and then she said that you were out, but that I should come on over anyway. Hope you don’t mind?” He then tucked his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and lifted up and down on his toes. “I told your mother about how much Barton was interested in your attending, and how we’d emailed a bunch, and your mom had lots of questions about the school.” Justin took a quick breath. “This is a great area you guys live in. I love Cambridge and used to walk up and down by the river and explore all the old houses on the side streets. Really charming houses with such style. Did Celeste tell you that I’m an architecture major? I guess I’ve always been interested in buildings. I love it all. Doors, eaves, porches, roofs. It’s the little things, not just the main structure of a house. The character, the feel.” He swayed side to side. “Oh, so, anyway, it’s nice to finally meet you. I said that already, didn’t I? Sorry.”
    “That’s perfectly all right. I’m going to open some sparkling water. Would you like some, Justin?” Erin asked.
    “That would be very nice, thank you.”
    “Celeste? For you also? Why don’t you sit down with Justin? Dinner should be ready soon, and then perhaps you can tell us about your day.”
    “Yes,” Matt piped in excitedly. “We’d love to hear about your day.”
    Celeste swallowed hard and then sat down next to Justin. Who was gorgeous. The weight of her family’s stares could not be ignored. Whether they came