scribbled another. Are you a drummer?
He waited an evil six minutes to reply, in which time he volunteered to put an answer on the board. When the reply finally came back it said Yes. She made a face. She started to write something about playing guitar. But then she crumpled the paper up, stuck it back in her bag, and started again.
Congratulations.P.S. I suggest you hold your elbow closer to your rib cage during class hours. They’ve done studies and realized that holding elbows at odd angles for prolonged periods of time can be a pre-cursor to strokes. She passed it. He shook his head, but did get his next response back more quickly. Nice try. Have fun doing your Spanish homework for the first time tonight.
She held out her middle finger and tapped it on the desk. Before he could turn around and see, the bell rang and class ended. Just like that, he was up and out of his seat in a flash. There was not much time to think about it, however, because two periods later, it happened.
The Return of Alex Deal.
7
She was in the library, her back to the door, observing a set of twins. They were freshman and wearing the same polo shirt in different colors. Their hairstyles were even the same: straightened and parted in the middle. She was thinking a recommendation of Elliott Smith and The Helio Sequence would be a nice start. Perhaps a little PJ Harvey too. But which twin would she slip the list to? Both? As she pondered these questions, she heard it. Alex Deal’s voice.
She turned. He was standing in front of Mr. Cole, pointedly avoiding making eye contact with her. He had on a TV On the Radio T-shirt. Casey pounded a fist against her thigh.
“Where are the books on World War II?” he asked.
Do something, she commanded herself. Mr. Cole pointed Alex Deal towards the far side of the library. He walked away. She let out a stressed exhale.
Mr. Cole turned and gave her a strange look. “What’s eatin’ you?”
She grabbed her bag and prayed she had not thrown it out. A moment later she breathed a sigh of relief. It was there, under her math workbook and the note she exchanged with Ben earlier in the day.
It was stained from coffee and crumpled from having been at the bottom of her backpack, but the playlist she came up with for Alex Deal the night before was still intact. On the other side of the library he took a book down from a shelf, walked to a table, and opened it. One of the twins approached the counter and asked Casey where the books on art history were. She motioned towards Mr. Cole with her head.
She spread the list on the counter and realized it needed to be copied over. She grabbed a pen and paper.
1. Song 1…Alex Deal did not need a pop song to lure him in. He did not need to be told that song #1 was a pop song. Alex Deal was in a different class of music listener than the skinny blonde in the bad sweater or the twins.
1. Song 1 - “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” by United Rhythms of Brazil. United Rhythms of Brazil did an entire album of Guns ‘n Roses covers bossa nova style, of which “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” was the standout. Casey prayed he had not already heard it.
2. Song 2 - “Brothers On a Hotel Bed” by Death Cab for Cutie. She had gone back and forth between two Death Cab for Cutie songs for the number two slot. “Title and Registration” was the other choice. It was transcendent pop, smart and fast. “Brothers On a Hotel Bed” was slower and more emotional. Yet the more she thought about it, the more weight she gave to the following reasoning: transcendent pop would do what it does, i.e. make Alex Deal feel good and continue his day at its typical pace. It might even quicken his pace. But a slower, more emotional song would get him thinking about love and who his next girlfriend was going to be. She glanced up. He placed his book on the shelf and took another one down.
3. Song 3 - “God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters” by Moby. When she first heard this song she listened to it seven times in a row until Yull threatened violence. And so what if she wasn’t sure if she believed in