Read Online A Field Guide for Heartbreakers by Kristen Tracy - Free Book Online

answered.“We’re coming,” she said. I could hear Mrs. Knox’s voice droning from the receiver.“Fine.” Veronica slammed the phone into the cradle. “I guess we scope later.”As I pulled our bedroom door closed, I noticed several hot-pink sticky notes fastened to it.“They’re from our suitemates,” I said.Veronica groaned. “Does this mean we have to leave them sticky notes?”“Come on. We have to read them.”“Wow. Our sense of obligation is triggered by very different things,” Veronica said.I pulled the first note off the door. “This one is from Brenda Temple. It says that she’s an early riser and from Maine and that she’s staying in room C. She’s already showered and we can eat some of her granola if we want. It’s in the cupboard.” “All that fit on a sticky note?” Veronica asked.“She writes small,” I said.“Is there anything else that’s actually worth reading?”“This one is from Annie Earl. She’s from Florida and she’s also in room C. She knits and she sleeps late. She welcomes us. And she says she brought extra blankets if we get cold.”“So we’re living with old women?”“Just because somebody knits and brings extra blankets doesn’t mean that they’re old. A young person can have poor circulation too. Okay. Here’s the last note. It’s from Corky.”“Corky?”“Yeah. She says that Annie Earl and Brenda made her write this note because they want everybody to get along. But she’s a loner. And we might not ever see her. Except in workshop. She wants to experience the counter- culture of the city. She’ll only be showering twice a week. Rock on.”“Did you say ‘rock on’ or did she?”“She said it,” I said.“Nobody says ‘rock on’ and only showers twice a week except for people who use hard drugs. Let’s avoid these wack jobs.” Had I been by myself, I would have written responses to Brenda, Annie Earl, and Corky. But considering Veronica’s current emotional state, I let her pull me out of the suite. A moment later we arrived at the double doors of the conference room on the ground floor.“After I open this door, the mystery is over. We will see clearly who is here and available. Their level of hotness will be quantified. No more daydreams. No more pipe dreams.”Veronica opened the door, and a flood of chatter tumbled into the hallway. “Oh my god!” She leaned her head into the room, and I leaned my head into the room, and we both took it all in.Dozens of college kids sat around tables eating pastries. And there appeared to be more guys than girls. Everybody looked young and athletic and happy. “There are a ton of brunettes,” I said. All my life I’d had a soft spot for guys with dark hair.“I probably should have worn tighter jeans,” Veronica said. I glanced at her. She was staring into the room, nervously chewing on her bottom lip. “You look great,” I said.Veronica squinted and then sucked in a big breath. “I know.”I turned my attention back to the room. I spotted Mrs. Knox sitting at a table.“There’s your mom!” I said.“Shh,” Veronica said, bumping me. “Why are you looking for my mom? Look for guys, Dessy.”She was right. Why was I looking for Mrs. Knox when the room was crawling with cute guys?“Hot-dude. Hot-dude. Hot-dude,” Veronica said, pointing. “Look, even that grandpa-dude is sort of hot.” I saw the grandpa-dude, but I did not find him hot.“This exceeds every expectation I had,” Veronica said. She walked into the conference room beaming like the sun. “This will be the best month of our lives. Follow my lead.”

Chapter Seven
I did exactly what Veronica did. I grabbed an unglazed pastry, stood against the wall, and applied some lip gloss. Mrs. Knox sat at the head of a table. A big placard in front of her listed her name and her genre. TABITHA KNOX: SHORT FICTION An older woman and an attractive college student were sitting with her, but Veronica held back. “We stay on the