Fireworks (Underlined) - Softcover

Lin, Alice

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593565355 ISBN 13: 9780593565353

Verlag: Random House Children's Books, 2022

Inhaltsangabe

Fame and friendship can get complicated, especially when there are more than platonic feelings at play in this rom com perfect for fans of Netflix's XO, Kitty!

Seventeen-year-old Lulu Li has her last summer before college all planned out. But her plans go awry when she learns that Kite Xu, her old next-door neighbor and childhood friend, will be returning home from South Korea.
 
Lulu hasn’t seen Kite since eighth grade, after he left the country to pursue a career in K-pop, eventually debuting in the boy group Karnival. When Karnival announces that Kite will be taking a break from K-pop activities for mysterious reasons, the opportunity to rekindle their friendship arises.
 
Star-struck and nostalgic, Lulu tries to reconnect with Kite. As they continue to bond and reminisce over the past, Kite’s sister, Connie, warns Lulu not to get too close to her brother. The harder Lulu tries to deny her feelings, the stronger they get. But how could a K-pop star ever fall for a nobody from home? And even if he did, is there any way for their relationship to end but badly?

Underlined is a line of totally addictive romance, thriller, and horror paperback original titles coming to you fast and furious each month. Enjoy everything you want to read the way you want to read it.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Alice Lin is an avid reader who first started dreaming up stories in sixth grade and who loves to get lost in other people’s imaginations. She holds a master’s degree in library and information science from Rutgers University and has a working background in public libraries. Fireworks is her debut novel. Follow her online at www.alice-lin.com and @miss_bopeeps on Twitter!
 

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Oh. My. Sweet. Tea. Someone ring the proverbial gong. Karnival might host their first world tour this summer! Everyone’s talking about it on the fancafé (big thanks to JennyKPops for translating), but there hasn’t been an official announcement. Does anyone know if this is legit? DM me if you have insider knowledge. In the meantime, I’m refreshing the fancafé every three seconds and selling my kidney so I can afford a ticket.

#karnival #fireworks #kiteismybias #xiaomingislove #karnivalstan #someonepinchme #suddenlyanorgandonor #willkillfortickets

1

There’s nothing more satisfying than stretching your arms out after a three-­hour exam, confident you nailed the last question.

I roll my shoulders and look around at my classmates as they crack their knuckles and massage the kinks out of their hands, each and every one of us eager to abandon the little folding desk chairs we’ve been confined to all morning. Our proctor organizes our exam booklets into one neat pile on his desk before glancing at his watch.

“You’re dismissed,” he says without making eye contact.

All at once, every occupied chair in the room screeches back against the floor. Footsteps shuffle toward the door, trailed by a cacophony of ringtones and alarms. I make a small victory fist as I exit the library and head over to the language wing to retrieve my things for next period.

Something unusual, though not entirely unfamiliar, is in the air. It’s not dust or mold, or the potheads and vapers who sneak off to the bathroom during study hall.

It’s the smell of freedom.

I am done. No more late-­night study sessions hunched over a six-­hundred-­page book! No more cramps in my hand as my writing devolves into chicken scratch with every tick of the clock! No more AP exams! All that’s left is finals, but no amount of free bubble tea can make me care—­not when I’ll be kissing high school goodbye next month.

Summer vacation can’t come too soon. I can’t wait to unwind at the beach, get my sun-­kissed glow on with my toes in the sand and a bowl of shaved ice in my hand.

Of course, Stephanie will be joining me. It’s her duty as my best friend to help me fulfill my summer itinerary. Who else is going to rub me down with sunscreen in those hard-­to-­reach places? Definitely not some opportunistic creep ogling me from behind his aviators.

Up ahead I see Stephanie waiting at my locker.

“You have that dreamy look in your eyes again,” she says. “It’s terrifying.”

“Hello to you, too.” I brush her aside, twist my lock open, and check my reflection in the little mirror mounted on the locker door. I dab my face with an oil-­absorbing sheet and click my teeth at how greasy my hair is. I kept touching it during the exam, after someone pointed out the powdery residue of my dry shampoo—­one of the disadvantages of having black hair.

Stephanie also just got out of an exam. Unlike me, she took the time to curl her hair and dress as if she’s ready for a lunch date, with her denim dress and lacy off-­white blouse; whereas I’m in a sweatshirt and leggings, the epitome of cozy.

“How was world history?” I ask while searching for my red lip tint, lost in my backpack.

Compared to the calculus and biology exams Stephanie took earlier this week, world history must’ve been nothing more than a brain teaser.

“Like taking an afternoon coffee break,” Stephanie says, pantomiming a yawn. “How was comparative gov?”

“It was a race against the clock, but I know I scored at least a four.” All that last-­minute cramming paid off. “You could’ve taken it blindfolded with time to spare.”

Counting today’s, Stephanie has taken a grand total of five AP exams, three more than me. The last two weeks would’ve been hell for anyone else, but for her, standardized tests are like drugs. She derives a masochistic pleasure from tricky multiple-­choice questions and convoluted word problems that leave other people scratching their head.

Stephanie leans against an adjacent locker with a cheeky grin on her face.

“Oh boy, what is it?” I prep myself for what’s to come.

“Lawrence wants to take you to prom,” she says.

“Isn’t he dating Ariel?” I ask.

Prom is next week, and I have no intention of going, regardless of who wants me as their date. I love formfitting dresses and high heels that make me taller than five foot two, but I’m not about to shell out hundreds of dollars to look like a superstar. And dancing? Not my thing.

Besides, I already turned down Kellie Blair, and that was emotionally draining.

Beauty and brains aside, Kellie is ambitious and compassionate. Not only did she serve as student council president all four years, but she founded the Children’s Hospital Volunteer Club and revived the Environmental Club, which had fallen by the wayside after continuous harassment from climate-­change skeptics. While I know a lot about her accomplishments, we only had an occasional class together and collaborated on a handful of student council events.

So when she asked me to meet her on the football field the other day and gave me a box of cookies that spelled be my girl & go to prom with me? I was as flabbergasted as I was flattered.

I almost said yes, but I just . . . didn’t feel it.

“According to the juicy grapevine, Ariel broke up with Lawrence to date Mia, and now he’s frantic for a date,” Stephanie explains as I give up on the lip tint, grab my notebooks, and slam my locker shut.

“Hurray! I’m his backup!” I give myself a round of applause.

Slowly we make our way to honors English at the opposite end of the school.

“More important, did your mom finish altering your dress?” I ask.

“She’ll have it done by tomorrow. Cross your fingers it fits.”

Stephanie has been dreaming of prom ever since we became best friends in eighth grade, going so far as to design her own dress. Her ideal dress has changed more times than I can count with my fingers and toes. After an unreasonably long phone call, where I had to talk and pee at the same time because she wouldn’t let me hang up, Stephanie finally decided on an off-­shoulder emerald gown that flares out at the knees. Her mom, who runs a tailoring service, made Stephanie’s dream dress a reality and is currently putting the finishing touches on it.

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” I assure her.

We reach Room 284 ten minutes after the bell, and Ms. Greene is too nose-­deep in her book to notice. She can disguise the book with a fake Toni Morrison cover, but everyone knows she’s reading another steamy bodice ripper with sexy fallen angels warring against bloodthirsty demons.

The end of the year is almost upon us, and Ms. Greene has made it abundantly clear that she doesn’t want to teach anymore. For the last couple of days, her classes have turned into study halls. At least she’s honest and doesn’t bore us to tears with documentaries as Dr. Campbell does. The guy takes himself too seriously because he has a PhD.

As Stephanie and I settle into the back row, Ester, who should be in art right now, slips in after us. Ms. Greene doesn’t bat an eye as Ester clomps over in her combat boots and claims the desk in front of me, her legs spread wider than necessary as she straddles the chair backward.

“Someone here paid a visit to the...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Random House Children's Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593565355
• ISBN 13: 9780593565353
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 320
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Anja's; service@anja-karge.de; ; Von-Gumppenberg-Str. 94; Pöttmes; 86554; Deutschland