Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Well, it wasn’t like she could have seen this coming. She
could count on one hand the number of times a boy had
come up these stairs. Her parents were strict that way.
Lena was frozen on the floor. The footsteps were
close. If she leapt up to shut the door, they would see her.
If she stayed where she was, they would see her. If she
got up and grabbed her bathrobe . . .
“Lena?”
At the sound in her sister’s voice—excitement bordering
on hysteria—Lena jumped to her feet.
“Lena!”
There was Effie. There indeed was a boy. A tall, familiar,
and excessively good-looking one.
Effie had thrown her hand over her mouth at the sight
of what Lena was and wasn’t wearing.
The boy stood there looking captivated and amused.
He didn’t avert his eyes as fast as he should have.
Lena’s head was fuzzy. Her heart whizzed like a
Matchbox racer. Her throat swelled painfully with emotion.
She felt heat rising from every part of her body.
“Kostos,” she said faintly. Then she slammed the door
in his face.
The Second Summer of the Sisterhood
Available everywhere April 2003
Excerpt copyright © 2003 by 17th Street Productions, an Alloy, Inc., company,
and Ann Brashares. Published by Delacorte Press.