Flirting With Boys Review

Flirting With Boys By Hailey Abbott

Celeste Tippen lives in Palm Spring and goes to Longbrook High School. Her parents owns one of the most luxurious, exclusive resorts in Palm Springs - Pinyon Ranch, but it isn´t a enormous place. Her best friend is Devon Wright and her boyfriend for a year now is a senior Travis Helding, who is about to gratuate today. Celeste is kinf of sad because like every year she is working at the resort and Travis will be 2 hours away at a job teaching surfing an the when the summer ends Travis is going to college in Arizona. But she is lucky because Devon has gotten a job at Pinyon’s guest relations rep, so she isn´t going to be totally alone. Now her and Devon are at the graduation, but she can´t see Travis on stage, but suddenly a golf cart from her parents resort comes driving up on stage, with 5 guys in it and one of them is Travis. They are wearing monster head and bathrobs, whichs they take of and then they do a dance in only thongs. It is the senior prank, but the teachers are not happy, eventhough the audience is cheering. Then they ca hear police sirings and the guys takes the cart, but they crash and all but Travis gets out of there as the police comes and he gets arrested. Before the police officer takes Travis with him, Travis ask her to come to the station. She is very nervous and when se gets to the police station and into the room she sees 2 teachers and her mom and dad. Her dad has never really liked Travis and her dad doesn´t look happy. Then a police officer comes in and they talk and as the officer ask her dad if he wants to press charges, Celeste tells her dad they got to talk and outside the room she tells him to please not press charges. He says okay and they go back inside and her dad explains he wont press, but that Travis will be working at the resort the next 3 months to pay them back. Celeste is happy, but Travis doesn´t seem so happy when they walk out of there, but he tells her he just have to get use to it thats all. Later Travis drops her and devon of at the resort where Celeste lives and while Travis and Celeste kiss, Devon goes to her parents’ bungalow. When Celeste get there her parents are a sleep so they are carefull walking to her room where they colaps on the bed, and Celeste finds the usual note with instrutions for her and Devon, the next day Monday, June 20.

But under Celeste things there is preping for the Sanders family´s arrival, so she wakes up Devon. Devon ask her what is wrong and Celeste tells her the obnoxious Nick Saunders and his family who is here every year is coming. Nick´s family is from LA and his dad is like a big-time movie producer, and Nick always bugs Celeste about wanting that, and that, and that. Devon tells her she remembers, and ask if they didn´t have a fling last summer and Celeste admits that they have always been flirting, but that last year they hooked up a lot of times. She also admits that Travis doesn´t know, but that they agreed to hook up with other people the 3 months of summer last year, when they had just started dating. Devon ask if he was into her, but Celeste tells her Nick is just bored being here and then Celeste was there so. The next morning they are waken up by her mom at 9:45 and celeste goes to ahve breakfast with her parents while Devon goes out to her work. At breakfast her father tells her that the Saunders will arrive in a half hour and that he expects her to make them comfortable so they will come back, because they are their #1 costumer. Then at 10:30 she is standing at the lobby waiting for the Saunders and when she first see Nick coming out of the car she remembers how hot he is. The come in and greet each other like long lost friends and when Nick comes over beside his mom she ask him if Celeste isn´t lovely. He says yes and takes Celeste into a big hug and whispers in her ear that she is hot not lovely and just then Travis walks inside with a mad look on his face. Quickly Travis disappears and Nick ask her if it was her boyfriend, but she ignores him as she follows the Saunders down to there house where she on the way tal to Mr Saunders about school. Inside the house Nick parents disappear and he grabs her arm when she is about to leave and tells her he was thinking about them last summer just now, but Celeste tells him there will be no flirting because she has a boyfriend. Then he ask her to bring him a sandwich and when she tells him it is the roomservice´s job, he tells her the reason they keep coming here is for the personal attention and that he will just tell roomservice that she should bring it too him. She walks out and ask a guy named Dave, where Travis is and a little while later she is at the golf lanes and she tells Travis that nothing is going on between her and Nick. He then tells her he will kinap her for lunch and he carries her until they bumb into Dave, who tells them that there is a meeting for all qorkers tonight and that there is a specific roomservice request for Celeste. At the meeting that night the Saunders is there and her dad announces that Mr Saunders will be holding a film festival here this summer. When they are done she sees Nick making their way to her and she tries to get Travis and her away but to late. Of course Nick doesn´t even look at Travis when she introduces him, and Nick instantly starts flirting with Celeste and tells her he is happy she is here for the festival, because he want her to help her plan his screening party for the festival. Celeste ask him WTH he is talking about and he tells that he took a course at UCLA last winter and that the final project was to make a film all by yourself and that his father has told him he could throw the party at the fastival, but that he has to do the planning himself and that he need help - her help. Then he walk away and Travis lungs for him, but Celeste stops him and her and Travis goes to her secret spot: a pace where you go through a lot of bushes and then comes to a circle with sand surounded by palm trees and they kiss, but he also ask her if she is sure nothing has ever been going on between Nick and her and she tells him jo and that they problably wont see Nick all summer, because Devon is on a job where she should be the one planning with Nick.

Celeste is with Travis the next day taking a break when Rick tells her over the radio that a person in the Saunders house wants her to come with some few things and but luckily Travis doesn´t hear. Together they go to the pool and soon Nick starts calling her and Travis ask her why she doesn´t take it. Of course it is Nick calling her Baby and she pretends to talk to another customer. They get to the pool where Travis has to start weedwhack and Celeste grabs the things and heads for the Saunders house, but suddenly Travis is there so she has to hide until he goes away. She finds Nick in the Saunders personal pool and he instantly starts flirting and moving closer to her sudgesting Strip Scrabble and swimming without bathing suits. She walks out and Devon calls her and she yells at Devon, because she think she is Nick. Then Devon tells her that her dad is looking for Travis, who she knows is lying by a tree and sleeping. Celeste hurries and finds and wake up Travis, before her father shows up. She then walks with her father back to the main building and he tells her that he may have been a little hard on Travis this year, but that the summer aint over. She then hurries back to Travis and ask him to meet her at the pool tonight at midnight for some late swimming. That night when Celeste comes to the pool, Travis is in a crappy mood and after swimming for a while he tells her that the job where he was suppose to work as surf instructor are all meeting the biggest surfer on the West Coast, and that he is missing it because he is stuck here. She can´t get over that he has got to man up, because it was after all his own damn fault and she is here ao he should be glad.

A few days later Celeste is sitting at the main office doing some work alone, because the computer system has gone down so most people has some time of until they get it up and running. Then someone comes in and she is sure it is Travis so she puts her arms around him and say hi Baby, but when she turns around it is Nick and she spills coffee al over her work, but Nick takes of his shirt and uses it as a napkin. Then he sits down and tells her that he came here to do some work and Celeste tells him she will text Devon, so she text and SOS meesage and Devonsays she is on her way, but that Travis can´t come. Nick then ask her what her deal is, why she work here every summer and she tells him that her dad is into family work so she just do it. And she almost tells him about a writting program she wanted to go on this summer, but stops and then Devon comes, who can walk around in her own clothe at work and she can see Nick´s mouth hanging open and is thankfull that she has found someone that can entertain Nick. The next few weeks Celeste sees Nick and Devon everywhere laughing and planning and one day Celeste is by the pool dying of heat when Devon comes with a coke for her and she thanks Devon for keeping Nick bussy and she tells Celeste she can´t understand why her and Nick ain´t together when he is so hot and Celeste tells her that it was just a summer thing. They then make plans to go to the staff party the next night in the middle of the desert. the next night her, Devon and Travis drives to the party and suddenly Travis becomes mad because Nick is strooling toward the party. Celeste gets mad and walks to him, but before she can say anything Devon wraps her arms around Nick and Celeste finds out Devon ask him to come. Her and Travis sits down and Devon and Nick another place and drink beers until Devon comes over and grabs Celeste´s hand and drags her to one of the pool/spa things that is in the ground with hot water and Travis and Nick comes too and they have a chicken fight. After Travis takes her in his arms and runs to his car but he bumbs Celeste´s head into a car and drops her on a rock and celeste goes back to the fire. Travis apologize and then Nick and Devon comes over and sits down. Devon is trashed and whispers something in Nick´s ear and he first say no then yes and they disappear in the dark and suddenly Celeste doesn´t feel that good.

A couple of days later Celeste is by the pool arranging the towel station, when Nick comes and sit in a chair besides her and she ask about the party and he tells her that they don´t have a theme yet. Then when he ask her to give him a waterbottle he says what about a water theme and she says it is a good idea and comes up with some things. Soon Nick grabs her around the waist and dances around with her, but suddenly Travis is there and he hits Nick in the jaw. Then they start fighting and then Celeste´s dad shows up and the boys falls in the pool and all of the people by the pool are looking and her dad tells them he wants to see her and Travis at his office. Nick says goodbye to Celeste and walks out and Celeste becomes mad at Travis and tells him that they were talking about the party and not flirting and that he could trust her a little more. At the office her dad tells Travis that thaat was #2 and that he only has 3 before he is going to pay for the golf cart himself a cart that cost´s much more than what he would earn her this summer. When they walk out she takes him to the side and tells him that this is about keeping customers happy like her dad said and that he can´t go around hitting the most important customers and that it is her job to listen to Nick and that they both know he wasn´t defending her honor but pissing his territory, and that she can defend herself. he says sorry and tells her he will behave, but she has a feeling that the Travis-Nick saga is not over.

One of the days after Devon comes to her room early morning and tells her she has gotten a letter from Thistlebottom School Summer Thespian Program in Aberdeen, Scotland, where she was on the waiting list this summer and that she has just gotten #1 and that they want her there by thursday - today thursday. Devon then tells her she has booked a flight for tommorow morning. Celeste is sad that Devon is leaving, but she tells Devon not to feel guilty and Devon tells her that she will be in charge of Nick´s party planning now. After taking a shower she heads for Nick´s house to tell him about their deal and doesn´t notice anything until she goes into her dad, who tells her they have to talk at his office. At the office he tells her that she has got to take over Nick´s party and make it extra perfect, because of the whole Travis mess. And her dad tells her that big people will be coming like Miramax and Searchlight. And Celeste promis her dad that she will make the party the spotlight. She then goes to Nick and walks in without knocking and finds him in the kitchen in nothing but gym shorts and she tells him about Devon and he doesn´t seem concerned just changes the subject to if she wants breakfast in town because he has only been here all summer and then he disappears to take on a shirt. He then comes back and Nick is out the door to the car before he can tell him she need to check with her dad, eventhough she is not working until noon. She gets in the car and they drives to a diner Celeste knows and he isn´t flirting with her just being friendly. At the diner he tells her that he knows they got to take it seriously if he wants his movie to be picked and he tells that after his movie was due, he spent the rest of the year making it better. Celeste then blows out she likes to write eventhough she tries to ignore him asking, but at last she tells him she worked on a story in english all year and he ask to red it and she tells him no, because people has never read anything of hers. Then they start talking about the party and the theme is still water, and on the way home Nick tells her they can get inspiration for water in the desert theme by watching Lawrence of Arabia tonight. When she doesn´t answer Nick tells her it is totally business and she tells him she will be there 21:30.

That night she comes to Nick´s house and he doesn´t flirt again eighter. Then when they are an hour into the movie her phone rings and she goes to the bathroom to call back Travis, who tells her he is at the golf lane and she tells him that her and Devon are at a private concert with Paul Simon´s in Palm Spring and tells hi she has got to go. She then passes Nick´s room and sees a new laptop that she has been looking at too and Nick comes up behind her and tells her he actually worked in a store to get it. He then ask if she is hungry and they goes to the kitchen. He makes them sandwich and they go back to the movie and Celeste is beginning to think that this seems like a date.
A couple of days after Celeste is on the way to a concert with a band for Nick´s party. The band wouldn´t come to the resort for an audition so they have to come to one of their concerts. So her dad told her that Travis could take her in a truck and that on the way home Travis would pick some things up. Meanwhile Celeste would get a ride home with Nick after the concert only, because she didn´t want to explain the whole thing with her going with Nick, but as Travis whines in the car she is starting to think that it would have been a better idea to go with Nick up there too. Then she gets there and Nick is there already she makes a grand intrance because the door made a hugh sound and the band waits on her to sit down in the bar thing. Then when they start to sing, Nick whispers they are singing about her because the name Celeste comes up more than ones and she ask him how he knows her name. He tells her he doesn´t remember giving names, but that it is a sign that they should be the band anyway and they make their way to the stage. The band memebers is totally ignoring them and Nick shouts hey and the lead singer Sloan turns and Nick tells him that they were good and that he would like to book them, but Sloan tells him that they don´t do sweet 16´s. Celeste wants to get out of there, but Nick grabs her arm, drags her back to stage and tells Sloan that this is a film festival and a big deal and a lot of people is coming, more than the people coming in this bar. Celeste is suprised that Nick has such balls and at the same time is so polite, eventhough Sloan is a total jerk. When Nick tells him they will give them more money, Sloan agrees and when they walk outside Celeste gives Nick a hug and say he is awesome, before remembring what she is doing. She then tells him that they have a budget and he tells her that they get 150 here for playing so it is within the budget to give them 300. They get into the car and she ask him if he knows the way back because she doesn´t and he tells her he will just follow the way he came. But suddenly they are lost and the signs have shifted to spanish. They see a park with a lake and decide to stop for a break. They go to the water and takes off their shoes and go out in the water and soon Nick is caring her father out and suddenly Nick falls into the water when they are running. They lay down in the grass so Nick can dry and he then ask why her and Travis are together, because he doens´t think that Travis is that bright and he wouldn´t put the 2 of them together. Celeste gets mad and tells him that all he ever does is playing with girl, lying around and having his dad´s money. She tells him she wants to leave and when they get to the resort, Nick stops her and tells her sorry and that it was none of his business and she apologize too.

The next day she uses the day working with Travis outside some of the new guesthouse, long away from the main building. The sun is hot so eventhough they are not suppose to she says yes when Travis ask her to go inside on of the houses because there is aircondition. They kiss and cool off and Travis ask her if she wants to do something tonight but she tells him she has a meeting with Nick but that he can come. She also mention coming up to his college is the fall break and he seems weird when she mentions it. That night they go to meet Nick in the dining room but Nick doesn´t look happy when he sees that Travis is with her. There are a lot of tension between the boys and suddenly Travis announces he is going out to the desert where the pools are with some guys and Celeste tells him that it is only for workers here but he just tells her that it is a public place. Before he goes of he gives Celeste a big tongue kiss right in front of Nick and walks of. She ask Nick about his film and he seems embarreds when he tells her it is only a 20 minutes movie and she tells him that there is nothing wrong with that and not all movie has to be the hollywood type. She ask him about the film and he tells her he has it with her on his laptop eventhough he seem embarreds again. They see the movie and she really liked it and she tells him that. She is lost in words and Nick tells her that she problably didn´t expect him to make such a movie and she tells him that she hadn´t expeted it from an annoying, spoiled kid who keeps flirting with her and he tells her she just brings it up in him. They go to get something to eat chocolate suffle in the kitchen and she tastes it from Nick´s fingers and quickly says the got to get back to work. By 3 in the night they are totally tired. They walk side by side to the main building and stands in the moonlight for a while and it is like they have a moment, but Celeste quick tells him goodbye and goes to bed where she tries to get the felling away that she wanted to kiss him and that he wanted it too.

A few days before the guest for the festival is about to arrive she talks to Devon while she is suppervision at the pool where a tent is being set. Her father also comes over and she tells him that it is going to be perfect etc. And her father says he is proud of her.
At the day of the opening of the Palm Springs Film Festival, Celeste is way nervous and she talks to Nick on the phone as she gets dressed in a beautiful designer dress she found in a vintage store. Later she is in the lobby with her parents and the Saunders saying hallo to the guests, when she sees Travis and his 5 friends getting out on a car and Celeste gets mad because they were suppose to be on the beach. She goes out and drags Travis to the side and ask him WTH they are doing here and he tells her a little drunk as he is that he thought she needed a little protection from Nick and that they are going to hang out by the golf track and Celeste tells him they better not come near the festival. Then she goes back and announce it is time to move next door for the cocktail party. Everything is going great until her father takes her to the side and ask her what They are doing here: and as Celeste looks at the door Travis and his buddies are coming in, not sober. She tells her dad she will take care of it and goes over to Travis and tells him to take his friends´and get out, then she goes over to the bar and Nick comes up behind her and she tells him what is going on and he tells her he will try to go deal with it. Her mom then comes up and tells her to go tjeck something in the kitchen and suddenlyshe hears a noise from next door and goes inside and find Mila Rotterdam: an important producer, who is allergic to pepper - With a swollen-faced because of pepper in her food, Telling that it is a scandal and that she has never been so badly served before and that she did this as a favor to the Saunders but she will never be coming back. Celeste runs after Mila as she storms out and tries to stop her by telling her she will have a free stay. By then her car comes and Celeste pretends that her ring and finger is stuck in the door and she tell Mila that The Times said that her and her husband would never come here because it was a new and hip festival, because Mila and her husband is old school. She then tells her that is why they were so glad they were coming because they knew they weren’t dinosaurs Like The Times said and that they knew that her and her husband had the sight for a new festival. then slowly Mila comes out the car and goes inside and when Celeste is on the way back Travis and his friends comes out and she ask him if he did something with the pepper and he says no and then she tells them to get the hell out of here and then théy just says they are going to go to the golf lane. Later she is outside checking the stage, the pool, the tent and she sees Nick by the bar. He shows her everything, but she can´t stop thinking about him and they almost kiss, but then the guest comes and their parents comes over to them to say that it is really good and they had their doubts but now doesn´t have any, and then they go to mingle. Celeste takes Nick´s arm and is about to take him to get soem cake, when Travis is suddenly choking Nick and then they start a struggle and they attrack attention and rolls over to the screen and it falls ontop off them. Her father steps out and tells the crowd with a smil on his face that they arrange that as entertainment and the people go back to what they were doing. Celeste can see that her dad is mad and her father calls the 3 of them, her mom and Saunders and they go to the office. Her father tells Travis that he gave him a chance and that he screwed it up big time and that he can go now. Then he turns to Celeste and tells her that he trusted her when he made Travis an employer and that he didn´t fire him after the first fight. Her father almost tells her he holds her full resposible, when Nick speaks up and tells them that with a wicked grin on his face that he was the one who put pepper in Mila´s food, because she deserved it and was being fucking annoying and he then tells that the fight happened because he gave Travis and his friends some vodka but that they obviously couldn´t handle it. Celeste becomes mad at Nick for not giving a shit for the festival from the begginning and His dad tells him to go home and that the screening is cancelled. Celeste takes Travis and takes him to her house were he falls asleep on her bed and she goes to take a bath and thinks about how Nick has betrayed her.

The day after the festival’s closing party she wakes up and becomes ready to go to the airport to pick up Devon. But outside she bumb´s into Nick, who look like crap and hhe tells her his parents is sending him back to LA and she just says goo and he looks hurt and she goes away. Devon ask how the fatival went when she sits in the car and Celeste tells her what happened and tells Devon she was an idiot to think he cared about anything than himself. Devon is very quite and Celeste ask her what is going on and Devon tells her that she is suprise Nick would do it because he has been crushing on Celeste all summer and that all he ever talked about was Celeste. She ask Devon if she wants to go to a barbeque at Kevin´s, Travis friend and she says yes. At the party some of Travis friends comes by and they tell Devon that their summer has been borring, but that the party was cool and tells that it was weird that the Nick guy took the blame for the pepper thing. Celeste shoots up from her chair and faces Travis and id so mad, but then Devon takes her and drags her inside and Celeste can´t understand why Nick would take the blame. Devon tells her that Nick took it because he knew that her dad would blame it on her. Then Devon tells her she will help her go out and gives Travis a piece of their minds, but Celeste tells her she has to call Nick, but Devon tells her to go find him, but Celeste tells her she can´t drive to LA when it is 19 and that she has to go with Travis to his college tommorow. But then no she isn´t going with Travis tommorow and she tells Devon she is going to LA.

She then goes back to the resort and finds Nick´s adress and on her way out Travis is there and she gives him a piece of her mind and tells him they are over. She drives to LA and when she gets to Nick´s mansion she sees a car coming into the driveway and it is Nick so she hurries out her car and to the front door and tells Nick that she knows he didn´t do it and that she is sorry, for thinking he was just trying to get between her and Travis. He tells her that he couldn´t stand to see the jerk getting her into trouble and she tells him sorry for her idiotic Ex-Boyfriend. He is surprised and tells her they can go somewhere, but seeing it is late he tells her tommorow and he kisses her and she tells him she think he has gotten better and he tells her he has been practicing, waiting for her and they stand for a long time on the porch kissing.

This was a cute teen summer romance story and i really liked it and i really liked Nick and Celeste´d relationship. OMG what a stupid kid him Travis are, to me he was just a total slacker that doesn´t have a brain. I really liked Nick he was smart and he made the book funny with the things he did. He proves that you can do things and still be a rich kid and that you shouldn´t always blame the person, who made trouble before because a person can change and that is what Nick did. Then there is Celeste, is it just me or is she completly stupid?? You could see from the beginning what a idiot Travis was and that he obviously doesn´t care about her, and she just keeps being with him. Even at the big event when he is drunk and fair enough Nick takes the blame but she should have seen that it was Travis fault and that he was the idiot from the beginning. Like other books by this author i really liked the book.


Grade: 7-10