Excerpt

Rafe caught up to me as I vaulted down the stairs and landed on the lawn. He jumped after me and his momentum sent him slamming into me and we both sprawled onto the grass. I rolled onto my back and stared at the sky. The stupid blue sky.

"Sorry." He propped himself up on his elbow and peered down at me. "I didn't mean to tackle you. You okay?"

"Fine. It's my weekend for being tackled by guys, apparently." I suddenly realized his face was right over mine. Like, his lips were inches from my face. All he had to do was lean over a little and... I squeezed my eyes shut and sighed. "Go away."

"What audition?"

"NorthEast Seminary secondary school program." I peeked out of my left eye, and he was still leaning over me. So close I could smell his cologne or aftershave or whatever it was. It didn't matter what it was. It simply smelled amazing. So I closed my eyes again and started breathing through my mouth.

"Are you kidding? You got an audition for NESM? That's awesome."

A bubble of pride popped up at his genuine admiration, but I immediately popped it. "No, because I'm going to fail at it and embarrass your aunt and my family. So I'm not going."

I felt a tap on my forehead. I opened my eyes. "What?"

His hair had flopped over his forehead and he looked totally cute. "You're really not going?"

"Really." I waited for him to tell me I was throwing my future away. To tell me what an idiot I was. To tell me that refusing to try was the worst kind of failure.

But all he did was flop on his back, his shoulder resting against mine. "Cool."

This time I propped myself up on my elbow and peered down at him. "Cool? How?"

His green eyes flicked toward me. "Cool that you're doing your own thing. If you're not ready, then it's good not to do it."

I frowned. "Really? You mean that?"

"Sure."

"Oh." I laid back down on my back, no longer touching him. I mean, I wanted to, but I wasn't exactly going to scoot across the grass so I could.

Instead, he shifted until his head was resting against mine. "You're wrong, you know."

Here it comes. "For not doing the audition?"

"No, for thinking you don't have passion. You do when you play the JamieX song."

I sighed and tried not to think about the fact that his head was resting against mine. "But I can't create it."

"Don't try. Just have fun."

I frowned. "Music isn't about fun."

He immediately leaned over me. This time he was wicked close, so close I could smell his toothpaste. Mint. "What did you just say?"

Um, good question. I was having a little trouble thinking with his mouth so close to mine. What if Rafe was my first kiss? That would be so amazing.

"You think music's not about fun?"

Oh, right. I had said something about that. "It's work. It's a career. It's not fun."

He shook his head and made a face. "You are so wrong, babe."

Babe ? I was his babe? Oh. My. God.

"You and me. Tuesday night. We have a date."

I blinked. "A date?"

Something flashed over his face. "Well, not a date , date."

"Because you have a girlfriend." Stupid girlfriend.

"And you have a boyfriend."

The words hung in the air, and for a moment, with him still staring down at me, I wanted to tell him the truth. To see if he'd care. To see if it would change anything.

Stephie's Behind The Scenes of TBT

Here are some Behind-the-Scenes tidbits for THE BOYFRIEND TRICK, available only on this website!

	The original title to this book was ALL THE RIGHT NOTES, but my editors decided it wasn't catchy enough and it didn't really fit the tone and energy of the book. So, after the book was finished, it got retitled THE BOYFRIEND TRICK, and then I had to go back into the book and add a line about the title in the book. Who can find the line in the book that relates to the title?
	This book was originally going to be about a girl who rode horses, but then it got switched to a girl who did photography, and then finally it got switched to a girl who played the piano and the keyboard in a band with a cute drummer. I mean, let's face it, what's hotter? A guy who's a drummer, or a guy who takes pictures? The drummer, all day long!
	I was inspired to name the piano teacher Old Crusty after my own piano teacher when I was Lily's age... just kidding! I did play the piano for a few years, but I don't remember my teacher. I don't think she smelled like mothballs, but she should have. I mean, it just seems like smelling like mothballs should be part of the job of a piano teacher... though later on the book we see a very non-mothball side of Crusty. I'm curious about what you think about Crusty. Do you think Crusty might actually be cool in her other life?
	My worst piano moment: when I was in elementary school, I was supposed to do a piano recital at my music school, and I didn't want to. My mom made me go anyway (how annoying is it when moms force their will on you?), so I walked into the music school, ran past the open doors of the room where the recital was going on, marched up the nearby stairs, plunked myself down on the top step and proceeded to SCREAM at the top of my lungs for the next two hours until the recital was over. It wasn't too long after that that my parents let me quit the piano. **Stephie blinks innocently**
	I named the guy in this book “Rafe” because I think it's a very hot name. I mean, any guy named Rafe just has to be cute, don't you think? I've never known anyone named Rafe in real life. Have you?
	This book was originally set at the end of the summer, right as school is starting up again after summer vacation, with an “end of the summer” pool party in early September. But then my editor wanted me to switch the book so it took place in early spring right after spring break. I was cool with that... until I realized that we now had a pool party in early April in Boston ! People don't even fill their pools until the end of May or even June, because it's too cold! But I had to keep the pool party scene because it was so critical to the book. So we had to come up with a strategy to make the pool party fly in April. You think it worked?
	In THE BOYFRIEND TRICK, Rafe drives a very cool Jeep without a top on it. I am proud to admit that I am the inspiration for that cool car. Yep, you guessed it. I had a very cool Jeep when I was in high school. I took the top off in June and never put it back on until fall. Which meant if it poured rain, I got soaked, and I loved every drenched minute in that car. I used to drive down the highway in the pouring rain without the top on my Jeep. I'd have my raincoat on, my hood tied tightly under my chin to keep my wet hair from whipping in my face, and I'd give the thumbs up to everyone who gawked at me as they drove past. For the record, when big trucks drive by and spray up a ton of water, you get WET! I didn't have many good hair days that summer, but I was so cool that it didn't matter.

Visual scenes from the book

Can't see the picture in your head? Check out these cool pictures to give you a better idea of The Boyfriend Trick.