Page 124 of With a Little Luck

“Well … this is a disappointing situation,” says my dad, speaking to the crowd. “Unfortunately, it seems that the records we received are damaged.” He looks momentarily stupefied, not sure what to do. He looks at me. Not disappointed, exactly. But concerned. He sighs and forces a smile. “We’ll of course refund anyone’s money who would like to return their record.”

There are disappointed grumbles. People who were in line are turning away.314

Dad claps me on the back and says quietly, “It was a really nice thought, Jude.”

Then he returns to the turntable and removes Ari’s record.

My jaw clenches so tight it aches, and I swear, somewhere, the Curse of Lundyn Toune is laughing.

315

Chapter Forty

Suffice to say, Record Store Day is a disappointment.

I mean—it isn’t all bad. Ari performs throughout the day, and she sounds amazing. Her duet with Penny was a highlight, for sure. And sales-wise, it’s probably still our biggest day of the year. But it’s not what we were hoping it would be.

My parents don’t say as much, but I can see it in their faces. The deepening wrinkles around my dad’s eyes. The tightness of my mom’s lips. The looks they exchange with each other when they think we aren’t paying attention.

Why oh whydidn’t I think to buy scratch ticketsbeforethe luck turned on me? That’s what any normal person would have done, right? Or given my parents a random string of numbers and told them to go buy a lotto ticket? What sort of loser is gifted infallible good fortune and decides to waste it on magazine art submissions and concert tickets to a singer he doesn’t even like?

Those are the questions plaguing me when I get home. Pru is upstairs getting ready for prom, and I know I should go talk to her, tell her to have a good time and all that, but I’ve been in a bad mood ever since the skip was discovered in Ari’s records, and my mood has not improved with time. So I head to my room and slump into my desk chair and proceed to stare dejectedly at my unopened sketch book.

At least I didn’t screw things up with Ari, despite all my chances. Because if I had succeeded in telling her how I feel, I guarantee it would316have been disastrous, just like everything else. It’s pretty clear that I cannot be in love with a girl without turning into an awkward buffoon. At least this way I haven’t ruined our friendship.

That’s good.

Great, actually.

And if I could just convince myself of that, maybe I would stop feeling this overwhelming sense of hopelessness. Maybe I would stop feeling like I screwed everything up.

I’m quite enjoying my wallowing—thinking I might just hang out in this swamp of self-pity until it gives me gangrene—when there’s a knock on my bedroom door.

“Come in,” I mutter half-heartedly.

“Jude!”

I look up, startled to see Pru jogging down the steps in a knee-length turquoise dress. Tucked under one arm is her beloved day planner, and part of me wonders if she intends to take it with her to the dance.

“We need to think about damage control,” she says, sitting on the edge of my bed and opening the planner.

“You look good, Sis. Aren’t you leaving soon?”

“Quint’s on his way. Don’t get distracted. Record Store Day was a bust, profit-wise, but on the plus side, we did get some great media attention. If we can hit our upcoming promotions really hard as we move into tourist season, we might stand a chance.”

I try to smile at her, but it’s flimsy at best. I don’t have the heart to tell her that I’m the last person she wants help from. I’ll just ruin everything I touch.

“Pru, can we talk about this tomorrow? I’m tired, and you have a dance to go to.”

She glares at me. “No.We need to get something put up on Ari’s channels immediately. The record was such a great idea, and I know people are disappointed about the skip, but I think we can still spin this in our favor.”

My mouth quirks, just a little. “Spin. Good one.”317

She gives me a look, and I realize she wasn’t trying to make a pun. Then she shakes her head, annoyed. “We’ll explain that there was a mistake in the production process and we’re getting it fixed. We can start taking orders for the next batch. I figure Ari can still be teamed up with Ventures—selling through the store’s website, so we can share—”

“Pru.”

She looks up from her notes.

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