The New York Times bestselling he-said/she-said rock n’ roll romance that inspired the motion picture starring Michael Cera (Juno, Arrested Development) and Kat Dennings (Thor, TV’s 2 Broke Girls)!
"I know this is going to sound strange, but would you mind being my girlfriend for the next five minutes?"
Nick frequents New York's indie rock scene nursing a broken heart. Norah is questioning all of her assumptions about the world. They have nothing in common except for their taste in music, until a chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band's secret show and ends up becoming a first date that could change both their lives.
Co-written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, co-author of WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON with John Green (THE FAULT IN OUR STARS), NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST is a sexy, funny roller coaster of a story that reminds you how you can never be sure where the night will take you…
This movie tie-in edition also includes an 8-page photo insert from the film, as well as a map of Manhattan, detailing all of the sites Nick and Norah go to on their all-night date.
The New York Times bestselling he-said/she-said rock n’ roll romance that inspired the motion picture starring Michael Cera (Juno, Arrested Development) and Kat Dennings (Thor, TV’s 2 Broke Girls)!
"I know this is going to sound strange, but would you mind being my girlfriend for the next five minutes?"
Nick frequents New York's indie rock scene nursing a broken heart. Norah is questioning all of her assumptions about the world. They have nothing in common except for their taste in music, until a chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band's secret show and ends up becoming a first date that could change both their lives.
Co-written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, co-author of WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON with John Green (THE FAULT IN OUR STARS), NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST is a sexy, funny roller coaster of a story that reminds you how you can never be sure where the night will take you…
This movie tie-in edition also includes an 8-page photo insert from the film, as well as a map of Manhattan, detailing all of the sites Nick and Norah go to on their all-night date.
The New York Times bestselling he-said/she-said rock n’ roll romance that inspired the motion picture starring Michael Cera (Juno, Arrested Development) and Kat Dennings (Thor, TV’s 2 Broke Girls)!
"I know this is going to sound strange, but would you mind being my girlfriend for the next five minutes?"
Nick frequents New York's indie rock scene nursing a broken heart. Norah is questioning all of her assumptions about the world. They have nothing in common except for their taste in music, until a chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band's secret show and ends up becoming a first date that could change both their lives.
Co-written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, co-author of WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON with John Green (THE FAULT IN OUR STARS), NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST is a sexy, funny roller coaster of a story that reminds you how you can never be sure where the night will take you…
This movie tie-in edition also includes an 8-page photo insert from the film, as well as a map of Manhattan, detailing all of the sites Nick and Norah go to on their all-night date.
The New York Times bestselling he-said/she-said rock n’ roll romance that inspired the motion picture starring Michael Cera (Juno, Arrested Development) and Kat Dennings (Thor, TV’s 2 Broke Girls)!
"I know this is going to sound strange, but would you mind being my girlfriend for the next five minutes?"
Nick frequents New York's indie rock scene nursing a broken heart. Norah is questioning all of her assumptions about the world. They have nothing in common except for their taste in music, until a chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band's secret show and ends up becoming a first date that could change both their lives.
Co-written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, co-author of WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON with John Green (THE FAULT IN OUR STARS), NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST is a sexy, funny roller coaster of a story that reminds you how you can never be sure where the night will take you…
This movie tie-in edition also includes an 8-page photo insert from the film, as well as a map of Manhattan, detailing all of the sites Nick and Norah go to on their all-night date.
DAVID LEVITHAN Ember Cohn_9780375835339_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 3 05/29/2014 3 RACHEL COHN & DAVID LEVITHAN Ember Cohn_9780375835339_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 3 05/29/2014 1 . Ni ck The day begins in the middle of the night. I am not paying attention to anything but the bass in my hand, the noise in my ears. Dev is screaming, Thom is ailing, and I am the clock- work, I am the one who takes this thing called music and lines it up with this thing called time. I am the ticking, I am the pulsing, I am underneath every part of this moment. We dont have a drummer. Dev has thrown off his shirt and Thom is careening into feedback and I am behind them, I am the generator. I am listening and I am not listening because what Im playing isnt something Im thinking about, its something Im feeling all over. All eyes are on us. Or at least thats what I can imagine in my stageblindness. Its a small room and were a big noise and I am the nonqueer bassist in a queercore band who is lling the room with undertone as Dev sing-screams, Fuck the Man / Fuck the Man / I really want to / Fuck the Man. I am punctuating and I am puncturing and I am punching the air with my body as my ngers press hard into the chords. Sweat, malice, and hunger pour from me. This is release, or maybe its just a plea for release. Dev is wailing now and Thom is crashing and even though my feet dont move I am traveling hard. I look past the light and see people shaking, people jumping around, people watching as 1 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 1 05/29/2014 4 Dev takes the microphone into his mouth and keeps yelling the words. I throw the chords at them, I drench them in the soundwaves, I am making time so loud that they have to hear it. I am stronger than words and I am bigger than the box Im in, and then I see her in the crowd and I fall apart. I fucking told her not to come. While she was busy rip- ping me into pieces, that was the one fragment I begged to keep. Please dont come to the shows. I dont want to see you there. And she had said yes, and it hadnt been a lie then. But it turned into a lie at some point, because here she is, and my ngers are losing their place, and my buzz is losing its edge, and everything about me goes from crying out to just plain cryingall in the time it takes for me to see the shape of her lips. And then I seeoh fuck nothat shes not alone, that shes with some guy, and while shell say shes come to watch me, theres no doubt in my mind that shes come so I can watch her. Its over, shed said, and wasnt that the biggest lie of all? I am stumbling through the notes and Dev is onto the next verse and Thom is playing a little faster than he should, so I have to catch up as she leans into this guy and rocks her head like Im making this music for her, when if I could, I would take it all away and give her as much silence as shes given me pain. I try to keep up with Dev and Thom. Were called The Fuck Offs tonight, but thats a new name and itll probably only last three gigs before Dev comes up with an- other. Weve already been Porn Yesterday, The Black Hand - kerchiefs, The Vengeful Hairdressers, and None Of Your Business. I dont really use my vote, except to veto Devs 2 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 2 05/29/2014 5 Dev takes the microphone into his mouth and keeps yelling the words. I throw the chords at them, I drench them in the soundwaves, I am making time so loud that they have to hear it. I am stronger than words and I am bigger than the box Im in, and then I see her in the crowd and I fall apart. I fucking told her not to come. While she was busy rip- ping me into pieces, that was the one fragment I begged to keep. Please dont come to the shows. I dont want to see you there. And she had said yes, and it hadnt been a lie then. But it turned into a lie at some point, because here she is, and my ngers are losing their place, and my buzz is losing its edge, and everything about me goes from crying out to just plain cryingall in the time it takes for me to see the shape of her lips. And then I seeoh fuck nothat shes not alone, that shes with some guy, and while shell say shes come to watch me, theres no doubt in my mind that shes come so I can watch her. Its over, shed said, and wasnt that the biggest lie of all? I am stumbling through the notes and Dev is onto the next verse and Thom is playing a little faster than he should, so I have to catch up as she leans into this guy and rocks her head like Im making this music for her, when if I could, I would take it all away and give her as much silence as shes given me pain. I try to keep up with Dev and Thom. Were called The Fuck Offs tonight, but thats a new name and itll probably only last three gigs before Dev comes up with an- other. Weve already been Porn Yesterday, The Black Hand - kerchiefs, The Vengeful Hairdressers, and None Of Your Business. I dont really use my vote, except to veto Devs 2 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 2 05/29/2014 stupider ideas. (Dude, I had to tell him, nobody wants to see a band called Dickache.) Devs out to pierce the pierced, tattoo the tattooed, and have his way with the messy punk boys who come to our shows not knowing theyll end up wanting to mess around with the guy challenging How big is your cocker spaniel? into the mic. Devs from a town in Jersey called Lodi, and that makes perfect sense to me, since hes nothing if not an idol in reverse. Thoms from South Or- ange, and has only had an h in his rst name for the past two months. Im from Hoboken, as close to the city as you can get without actually being in the city. On nights like this, with a chance to play in front of more than just our friends, Id swim across the Hudson if I had to, in order to get to this cave of a club. At least until Tris shows up and I nd myself bleeding invisibly across the stage. Take the Power / Fuck the Man / Take the Power / and Fuck the Man. Dev is taking the song somewhere its never been before: a fourth minute. Im rutting now, waiting for the wind- down. Thom looks like hes on the verge of a solo, which is never a good place for Thom to be. I move my feet, turn away from her, try to pretend shes not there, which is the biggest fucking joke Ive ever not laughed at. I try to get Devs atten- tion from the periphery, but hes too busy wiping the sweat on his chest to notice. Finally, though, he gets a burst of en- ergy strong enough to end the thing on. So he throws out his arm and howls and I run us into the ground with a nal lurch. The crowd sends us a burst of their own noise. I try to hear her voice, try to separate that single pitch from the shouts and applause. But shes as lost to me as she was the 3 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 3 05/29/2014 6 night I cried and she didnt turn back to see if I was okay. Three weeks, two days, and twenty-three hours ago. And shes already with someone else. The next band is at the side of the stage. The owner of the club is motioning that our time is up. I am not so gone that Im not gratied by the calls for more, by that little sound of letdown when the lights go up to show the crowd a clearer path back to the bar. I am the equipment bitch for this gig, so while Dev jumps into the crowd to nd his most willing ad- mirer and Thom blushingly retreats to his understanding- but-emo boyfriend, I have to immediately detox so I can pack up our gear. I go from chords to cords, amped to amps. One of the guys from the next band is cool and helps me re- cover the cases from the back corner of the stage. But Im the only one who can touch the instruments, putting them care- fully to bed for the night. Then I offer to help the new band set up, and am glad when they say yes so I can be connecting them to the soundboard instead of spending all my energy resisting her. My eye is still used to searching for her in a crowd. My breath is still used to catching when I see her and the light is angled just right. My body is still used to hers moving next to mine. So the distanceanything short of contactis a con- stant rejection. We were together for six months, and in each of those months my desire found new ways to be fueled by her. Its over cant kill that. All of the songs I wrote in my head were for her, and now I cant stop them from playing. This null soundtrack. Im tired, shed said, and I told her that I was tired, too, and that I wanted to take some time for us, 4 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 4 05/29/2014 7 night I cried and she didnt turn back to see if I was okay. Three weeks, two days, and twenty-three hours ago. And shes already with someone else. The next band is at the side of the stage. The owner of the club is motioning that our time is up. I am not so gone that Im not gratied by the calls for more, by that little sound of letdown when the lights go up to show the crowd a clearer path back to the bar. I am the equipment bitch for this gig, so while Dev jumps into the crowd to nd his most willing ad- mirer and Thom blushingly retreats to his understanding- but-emo boyfriend, I have to immediately detox so I can pack up our gear. I go from chords to cords, amped to amps. One of the guys from the next band is cool and helps me re- cover the cases from the back corner of the stage. But Im the only one who can touch the instruments, putting them care- fully to bed for the night. Then I offer to help the new band set up, and am glad when they say yes so I can be connecting them to the soundboard instead of spending all my energy resisting her. My eye is still used to searching for her in a crowd. My breath is still used to catching when I see her and the light is angled just right. My body is still used to hers moving next to mine. So the distanceanything short of contactis a con- stant rejection. We were together for six months, and in each of those months my desire found new ways to be fueled by her. Its over cant kill that. All of the songs I wrote in my head were for her, and now I cant stop them from playing. This null soundtrack. Im tired, shed said, and I told her that I was tired, too, and that I wanted to take some time for us, 4 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 4 05/29/2014 too. And then shed said, No, Im tired of you, and I slipped into the surreal-but-true universe where we were over and I wasnt over it. She was no longer any kind of here that I could get to. I keep my back to the crowd as I store the equipment and instruments somewhere safe. Then comes the moment when I cant keep my back to it anymore, since theres only so long that you can stare at a wall before you feel like an idiot. I am saved by the next band, which cranks the volume even higher and soon engulfs us all in beautiful chaos. Theyre called Are You Randy? and the lead singer is actually singing instead of moaning and Ramoning. I dare a glance into the crowd and I dont see her anymore. I dont see very many hers at allits a sea of hims pressing and crashing against one another as the lead singer tells them the state of things, breaking into bits and pieces of I Want You to Want Me and Blue Moon and All Apologies as he dances through his own seven veils. I think Tris will like this band, and the fact that I know this stabs me again, because all the knowledge of what she likes is perfectly useless now. I wonder who the guy is. I won- der if the two of them knew each other three weeks and three days ago. Im glad I didnt really see him because then Id think of them naked. Now I just think of her naked, and its such a vivid touch memory that my ngers actually move to take it in. I turn my head, as if Ive been actually seeing her, and see Thom and his boyfriend Scot making out to the mu- sic in a corner-of-the-universe way. Dev, I gure, is still at the bar, still performing. Were underage, but that doesnt 5 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 5 05/29/2014 8 matter here. The crowd is mostly older than uscollege or should-be-in-collegeand Im aware of not really tting in. Some of the older guys in the crowd check me out, give me a nod. Its not like I wear a Badge of Straight or anything. I nod back sometimes, when I think its a musical acknowledg- ment and not an invitation. I always keep moving. I nd Dev at the bar, talking to a guy our age who looks familiar in that Type kind of way. When I get to where theyre standing, Im introduced as the bass god, Nick, and hes introduced as Hunter from Hunter. Dev thanks me for being equipment bitch, and from the way the conversation doesnt continue from there I know Im interrupting. If it was Thom, my agitation would probably be noticed. But Dev needs you to spell emotions out for him, and right now Im not in the mood. So I just tell him where I left the stuff and pretend Im going off to search for a clear spot on the bar to summon the bartender from. And once Im pretending thats the truth, I gure it might as well be the truth. I still cant see Tris, and theres a small part of me thats wondering if it was even her in the crowd. Maybe it was someone who looked like Tris, which would explain the guy who didnt look like any- body. Are You Randy? stop playing their instruments one by one, until the lead singer croons a nal, a cappella note. I wish for their sake I could say the club falls into silence at this, but in truth the air is one-half conversation. Still, thats better than average, and the band gets a lunge of applause and cheers. I clap, too, and notice that the girl next to me 6 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 6 05/29/2014 9 matter here. The crowd is mostly older than uscollege or should-be-in-collegeand Im aware of not really tting in. Some of the older guys in the crowd check me out, give me a nod. Its not like I wear a Badge of Straight or anything. I nod back sometimes, when I think its a musical acknowledg- ment and not an invitation. I always keep moving. I nd Dev at the bar, talking to a guy our age who looks familiar in that Type kind of way. When I get to where theyre standing, Im introduced as the bass god, Nick, and hes introduced as Hunter from Hunter. Dev thanks me for being equipment bitch, and from the way the conversation doesnt continue from there I know Im interrupting. If it was Thom, my agitation would probably be noticed. But Dev needs you to spell emotions out for him, and right now Im not in the mood. So I just tell him where I left the stuff and pretend Im going off to search for a clear spot on the bar to summon the bartender from. And once Im pretending thats the truth, I gure it might as well be the truth. I still cant see Tris, and theres a small part of me thats wondering if it was even her in the crowd. Maybe it was someone who looked like Tris, which would explain the guy who didnt look like any- body. Are You Randy? stop playing their instruments one by one, until the lead singer croons a nal, a cappella note. I wish for their sake I could say the club falls into silence at this, but in truth the air is one-half conversation. Still, thats better than average, and the band gets a lunge of applause and cheers. I clap, too, and notice that the girl next to me 6 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 6 05/29/2014 puts two ngers in her mouth to whistle old-fashioned style. The sound is clear and spirited, and makes me think of Little League. The girl is dressed in a annel shirt, and I cant tell whether thats because shes trying to bring back the only fashion style of the past fty years that hasnt been brought back or whether its because the shirt is as damn comfortable as it looks. She has very pale skin and a haircut that reads pri- vate school even though shes messed it up to try to hide it. The next band opened for Le Tigre on their last tour, and I gure this girls here to see them. If I was a different kind of guy, I might try to strike up a friendly conversation, just to be, I dunno, friends. But I feel that if I talk to someone else right now, all Ill be able to do is unload. Thom and Scot would probably be ready to go if I wanted them to, but Im pretty sure Dev hasnt gured out yet whether hes coming back with us or not, and Id be an asshole to put him on the spot and ask. So Im stuck and I know it, and thats when I look to my right and see Tris and her new guy approaching the beer-spilled bar to order an- other round of whatever Im not having. Its denitely her, and Im denitely fucked, because the between-band rush is pressing toward me now and if I try to leave, Ill have to push my way out, and if I have to push my way out, shell see me making an escape and shell know for sure that I cant take it, and even if thats the goddamn truth I dont want her to have actual proof. She is looking so hot and I am feeling so cold and the guy shes with has his hand on her arm in a way that a gay friend would never, ever think of, and I guess thats my 7 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 7 05/29/2014 10 own proof. I am the old model and this is the new model and I could crash out a years worth of time on my bass and noth- ing, absolutely nothing, would change. She sees me. She cant fake surprise at seeing me here, because of course she fucking knew Id be here. So she does a little smile thing and whispers something to the new model and I can tell just from her expression that after they get their now-being-poured drinks they are going to come over and say hello and good show andcould she be so stupid and cruel?how are you doing? And I cant stand the thought of it. I see it all unfolding and I know I have to do something anythingto stop it. So I, this random bassist in an average queercore band, turn to this girl in annel who I dont even know and say: I know this is going to sound strange, but would you mind being my girlfriend for the next ve minutes? 8 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 8 05/29/2014 11 own proof. I am the old model and this is the new model and I could crash out a years worth of time on my bass and noth- ing, absolutely nothing, would change. She sees me. She cant fake surprise at seeing me here, because of course she fucking knew Id be here. So she does a little smile thing and whispers something to the new model and I can tell just from her expression that after they get their now-being-poured drinks they are going to come over and say hello and good show andcould she be so stupid and cruel?how are you doing? And I cant stand the thought of it. I see it all unfolding and I know I have to do something anythingto stop it. So I, this random bassist in an average queercore band, turn to this girl in annel who I dont even know and say: I know this is going to sound strange, but would you mind being my girlfriend for the next ve minutes? 8 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 8 05/29/2014 2. Norah Randy from Are You Randy? insists the bassist from the queer- core band is a mo, but I told him No, the guy is straight. Whether or not hes responsible for his bands shit lyrics (Fuck the Man / Fuck the Manwhats that trite crap?), I have no idea, but hes no mo. Trust me. There are certain things a girl just knows, like that a fourth minute on a punk song is a bad, bad idea, or that no way does a Jersey-boy bassist with Astor Place hair who wears torn-up, bleach-stained black jeans and a faded black T-shirt with orange lettering that says When I say Jesus, you say Christ, swing down boy-boy alley; hes working the ironic punk boyJohnny Cash angle too hard to be a mo. Maybe hes a little emo, I told Randy, but just be- cause he doesnt look like a Whitesnake-relic-reject like all of your band, does not automatically mean the guys gay. The incidental fact of his straightness doesnt mean I want to be NoMos ve-minute girlfriend, like Im some 7-Eleven quick stop on his slut train. Only because I am the one loser here who hasnt lost all her senses to beer, dope, or hormones do I have the sense to hold back my original instinctto yell back FUCK, NO! in response to NoMos question. 9 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 9 05/29/2014 12 I have to think about Caroline. I always have to think about Caroline. I noticed NoMo loading equipment after his bands set while his bandmates abandoned him to score some action. I understand that scene. I am that scene, cleaning up everyone elses mess. NoMo dresses so badhe has to be from Jersey. And if Jersey Boy is equipment bitch, he has a van. The vans proba- bly a piece of scrap metal with a leaking carburetor that as likely as not will pop a tire or run out of gas in the middle of the Lincoln Tunnel, but its a risk I have to take. Somebodys got to get Caroline home. Shes too drunk to risk taking her on the bus. Shes also so drunk shell go home with Randy if Im not there to take her back to my house where she can sleep it off. Groupie bitch. If I didnt love her so much, Id kill her. Shes lucky my parents love her just as much; her dad and stepmonster are away for the weekend, they dont give a fuck what she does, so long as she doesnt get pregnant or date any boy from a non-six-gure-plus-income household. Jerk-offs. My parents, they adore Caroline, beautiful Caroline with the long caramel hair, the big cherry Tootsie Pop lips, the juve- nile delinquent arrest record. They wont care if she stum- bles from my room into the kitchen tomorrow afternoon all disheveled and hung over. Shes the one, not me, who meets their expectation of what the daughter of an Engle wood Cliffslivin, fat-cat record company CEO should be: wild. Carolines not a Big Disappointment like their Plain Jane, comfy-annel-shirt-wearing, tousled bowl-head-haircut- courtesy-of-a-$300-salon-visit-with-Mom-(Bergdorfs)-and- 10 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 10 05/29/2014 13 I have to think about Caroline. I always have to think about Caroline. I noticed NoMo loading equipment after his bands set while his bandmates abandoned him to score some action. I understand that scene. I am that scene, cleaning up everyone elses mess. NoMo dresses so badhe has to be from Jersey. And if Jersey Boy is equipment bitch, he has a van. The vans proba- bly a piece of scrap metal with a leaking carburetor that as likely as not will pop a tire or run out of gas in the middle of the Lincoln Tunnel, but its a risk I have to take. Somebodys got to get Caroline home. Shes too drunk to risk taking her on the bus. Shes also so drunk shell go home with Randy if Im not there to take her back to my house where she can sleep it off. Groupie bitch. If I didnt love her so much, Id kill her. Shes lucky my parents love her just as much; her dad and stepmonster are away for the weekend, they dont give a fuck what she does, so long as she doesnt get pregnant or date any boy from a non-six-gure-plus-income household. Jerk-offs. My parents, they adore Caroline, beautiful Caroline with the long caramel hair, the big cherry Tootsie Pop lips, the juve- nile delinquent arrest record. They wont care if she stum- bles from my room into the kitchen tomorrow afternoon all disheveled and hung over. Shes the one, not me, who meets their expectation of what the daughter of an Engle wood Cliffslivin, fat-cat record company CEO should be: wild. Carolines not a Big Disappointment like their Plain Jane, comfy-annel-shirt-wearing, tousled bowl-head-haircut- courtesy-of-a-$300-salon-visit-with-Mom-(Bergdorfs)-and- 10 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 10 05/29/2014 a-$5-can-of-blue- spray-paint (Rickys), straight-edge, respon- sible valedictorian bitch daughter. Ive chosen a gap year on a kibbutz in South Africa over Brown. WHY, Norah, WHY? I wrote my Brown admissions essay about all the music Dad appropriated from The Street then goddamned ruined to make prot for The Man. I am not a fuckin corporate hippie, Dad said, laughing, after he read the essay. Dad wont deny that hes responsible for giving Top 40 radio a disproportion- ate percentage of its suckiest hits, yet hes proud he indoctri- nated me from childhood in the sounds of every other kind of music out there so that now, at age eighteen, I can be a badass DJ when I want, but I am also an insufferable music snob. My parents have also done me the misfortune of being hap- pily married for a quarter century, which no doubt dooms my own prospects of ever experiencing true love. Gold is not struck twice. My parents would disown me if they knew I was in this club tonight. Hell, I could be scoring weed in Tompkins Square Park right now, on my way to a bondage bar on Ave - nue D, and my parents would only applaud. But this club, this is the one joint in all of Manhattan Im supposedly for- bidden from going to, owing to a long-simmering feud over a bad music deal between Dad and the club owner, Crazy Lou (who used to be my godfather, Uncle Lou, until all that busi- ness leading Lou to be rechristened Crazy). Lous such an old punk he was around when The Ramones were junkie hustlers rst and musicians second, when punk meant some- thing other than a mass-marketing concept designed to help the bridge-and-tunnel crowd feel cool. 11 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 11 05/29/2014 14 But Mom and Dad would move past disowning me and outright kill me if they thought I wasnt looking after their beloved Caroline. She inspires that kind of devotion in peo- ple. Its nauseating, except I am totally under Carolines spell, too, her lead minion, have been since nursery school. I look around the club as the between-set mass of people swarm past/through/into me like Im a ghost with the incon- venience of malleable esh getting in their way on the way to the beer. Damn, Ive lost Caroline again. She is big on Randy tonight, which is coolAre You Randy? dont completely suckbut Randy himself is big on E tonight, and I gotta make sure he doesnt get her alone in a corner. But Im only 5-foot-4 on tippy toes, and 6-foot NoMo is standing in front of me, blocking my view, waiting to nd out if I want to be his ve-minute girlfriend and looking like that lost animal who goes around asking Are you my mother? in that kid book. From behind him I dont see Caroline but I do see that stupid bitch, Tris, rhymes with bris, cuz thats what shell do to a guy, rip apart his piece. Shes doing her Tris strut with her big boobs sticking out in front of her, wiggling her ass in that way that gets the instant attention of every dumb schmo in her wake, even the gay boys, who seem to be highly repre- sented here tonight, NoMo notwithstanding. Shes coming right toward me. No No NOOOOOOOOOOO. How did she nd out Caroline and I would be here tonight? Does she have lookouts with text pagers set up every place Caroline and I go on a Saturday night, or what? Boyfriend to the rescue! I answer NoMos question by 12 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 12 05/29/2014 15 But Mom and Dad would move past disowning me and outright kill me if they thought I wasnt looking after their beloved Caroline. She inspires that kind of devotion in peo- ple. Its nauseating, except I am totally under Carolines spell, too, her lead minion, have been since nursery school. I look around the club as the between-set mass of people swarm past/through/into me like Im a ghost with the incon- venience of malleable esh getting in their way on the way to the beer. Damn, Ive lost Caroline again. She is big on Randy tonight, which is coolAre You Randy? dont completely suckbut Randy himself is big on E tonight, and I gotta make sure he doesnt get her alone in a corner. But Im only 5-foot-4 on tippy toes, and 6-foot NoMo is standing in front of me, blocking my view, waiting to nd out if I want to be his ve-minute girlfriend and looking like that lost animal who goes around asking Are you my mother? in that kid book. From behind him I dont see Caroline but I do see that stupid bitch, Tris, rhymes with bris, cuz thats what shell do to a guy, rip apart his piece. Shes doing her Tris strut with her big boobs sticking out in front of her, wiggling her ass in that way that gets the instant attention of every dumb schmo in her wake, even the gay boys, who seem to be highly repre- sented here tonight, NoMo notwithstanding. Shes coming right toward me. No No NOOOOOOOOOOO. How did she nd out Caroline and I would be here tonight? Does she have lookouts with text pagers set up every place Caroline and I go on a Saturday night, or what? Boyfriend to the rescue! I answer NoMos question by 12 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 12 05/29/2014 putting my hand around his neck and pulling his face down to mine. God, I would do anything to avoid Tris recognizing me and trying to talk to me. FUCK! I didnt expect NoMo to be such a good kisser. Asshole. See this, Randy? NO. MO. Conrmed. But I am not looking for chemistry here, just a ride home for my girl. I am also not looking for tongue, but NoMos wastes no time slid- ing its way into my mouth. My mouth revolts against my mind: Umm, feels good down here, steady girl, steaaaady! No matter how good he tastes, this ve-minute girlfriend still needs a few seconds to come up for air. I separate my mouth from his, hoping to catch my breath and hoping to catch Tris walking away from us without having noticed me after all. WOW. I feel like in this riot of people, I have been kicked in the stomach, but by the giddy police. Forget about the need for oxygen. My mouth wants to go back to the place it just left. Unfortunately, Tris is standing right in front of us, hang- ing on to her latest slobber victim, who is near enough now that I can posi tively ID him as one of Carolines recent re- jects; hes buddies with Hunter from Hunter, whose band, Hunter Does Hunter, is scheduled to play next (youre wel- come, Hunter, for the introduction to Lou). Tris clutches her arm tight around the guys waist, probably squeezing out whatever remaining life that soul-sucking skank hasnt yet gotten out of him in the three weeks or so since Caroline gave him the heave-ho. Tris says, Nick? Norah? How do you two, like, know each other? 13 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 13 05/29/2014 16 That bitch should not be in a club like this. As if her language is not enough indication, there is also the matter of her Hot Topic mallrat outt: short black leather skirt with buckles up the side, mass-produced vintage Ramones T-shirt, and piss-yellow leggings with some horrible pair of pink patent-leather shoes. She looks like a neon sign bumble- bee by way of early Debbie Harry rip-off. Im going to need another talk with Uncle Lou about standards vis--vis owning and operating a club. The guy can snag great new talentthe raw, hungry kind who are ready to bleed their intestines or other useful body parts onto Crazy Lous stage for the opportunity to perform on itbut he doesnt know shit about how to run this business. Look at the underage Jersey riffraff he lets in! He probably even comps the beers for the band members! LOU! Why do you think so many of these assholes are alcoholics and junkies? Theyve got the music right. They can play the core punk songs with convictionhard, fast, angrybut they havent wised up yet to the fact that the real punk goes down now with a straight edge: no alcohol, no drugs, no cigarettes, no skanks. The real punk now is the only punk left after all the madness: the mu- sic, the message. Well, dudes, drink up, because when I get back from South Africa next year and take over managing this club as Uncle Lou has promised instead of reapplying to Brown as I promised my parents, theres gonna be a new sheriff here on the Lower East Side, my friends. Have your lecherous, skanky fun now, because the clock is running out on you. I may reconsider the future make-out ban, however. The 14 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 14 05/29/2014 17 That bitch should not be in a club like this. As if her language is not enough indication, there is also the matter of her Hot Topic mallrat outt: short black leather skirt with buckles up the side, mass-produced vintage Ramones T-shirt, and piss-yellow leggings with some horrible pair of pink patent-leather shoes. She looks like a neon sign bumble- bee by way of early Debbie Harry rip-off. Im going to need another talk with Uncle Lou about standards vis--vis owning and operating a club. The guy can snag great new talentthe raw, hungry kind who are ready to bleed their intestines or other useful body parts onto Crazy Lous stage for the opportunity to perform on itbut he doesnt know shit about how to run this business. Look at the underage Jersey riffraff he lets in! He probably even comps the beers for the band members! LOU! Why do you think so many of these assholes are alcoholics and junkies? Theyve got the music right. They can play the core punk songs with convictionhard, fast, angrybut they havent wised up yet to the fact that the real punk goes down now with a straight edge: no alcohol, no drugs, no cigarettes, no skanks. The real punk now is the only punk left after all the madness: the mu- sic, the message. Well, dudes, drink up, because when I get back from South Africa next year and take over managing this club as Uncle Lou has promised instead of reapplying to Brown as I promised my parents, theres gonna be a new sheriff here on the Lower East Side, my friends. Have your lecherous, skanky fun now, because the clock is running out on you. I may reconsider the future make-out ban, however. The 14 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 14 05/29/2014 making-out part is nice, it has possibilities, with the right pair of lips. I dont know why, but I do that thing Caroline does to her male victims, where instead of taking the hand of NoMo, I place my hand at the back of his neck and scratch the nape softly, possessively, while Tris watches. My ngers scan the buzz cut of his hair back there, and I feel goose bumps rising on his neck. I likee. There is some satisfaction in seeing Triss bottom lip nearly fall to her chin in shock. Thats the thing about Tris: Shes never subtle. Whatever Im doing, it works. She storms away, speech- less. Phew. That was easier than I expected. I look at my watch. I believe my new boyfriend and I have about two minutes forty-ve before we break up. I close my eyes and do the slight head turn, angling for another visi- tation from his lips. Caroline says I am frigid. Sometimes I think shes teasing me to repeat the party line of my Evil Ex, so I clarify: You mean Im not easy? She claries: No, bitch, I mean you intimidate guys with a look or a comment before they can even decide if they want a chance with you. Youre so judgmental. Along with frigid. NoMo must know this about me, because he doesnt come back in for more mouth-to-mouth contact. He says, How the hell do you know Tris? Then I remember. Tris called him NICK. Noooooooooo. Thats him! NICK! The Hoboken boy! The guy who wrote all the songs and poems about her, the best goddamn boy - friend the rest of us at Sacred Heart never had, the band-boy stud Tris hooked up with after meeting him on the PATH 15 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 15 05/29/2014 18 train at the beginning of the school year and has lied to and cheated on ever since. Does NICK not think its weird that he dated her that long and never once met any girls from her school? IDIOT! But of course Tris wouldnt introduce him to us. She wouldnt be worried wed rat out her indiscretions to her boyfriendshed be afraid hed fall for Caroline. Tris can have Carolines rejects, but shed never offer up one of her own to Caroline. Tris is so Single White Female, we like to joke that Caroline should get a restraining order against her, except Tris provides us too much amusement to completely let her out of our reach. Its like a love-hate thing we have go- ing with her. We dont feel guilty about it because theres only a month of school left and I cant imagine well ever see her again after our have a great summer, good luck in col- lege phony sentiment yearbook nales. And karmically, I have repaid my mean-girl debt to Tris many times over. If she passed Chemistry and Calculus this year, its because of me. Fuck, if she graduates at all, its because of me. I dont bother answering Nicks question about how the hell I know Tris. Ive got to nd Caroline. I stand up on the barstool. Thats the only way Ill nd her with all these people and this loud music and this stink sweat and this beer energy and this never-ending day that feels like its only beginning in the middle of this night. I place my hand on Nicks head to steady my balance as I scan the crowd, and my hand cant help but rummage through his mess of hair, just a little. 16 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 16 05/29/2014 19 train at the beginning of the school year and has lied to and cheated on ever since. Does NICK not think its weird that he dated her that long and never once met any girls from her school? IDIOT! But of course Tris wouldnt introduce him to us. She wouldnt be worried wed rat out her indiscretions to her boyfriendshed be afraid hed fall for Caroline. Tris can have Carolines rejects, but shed never offer up one of her own to Caroline. Tris is so Single White Female, we like to joke that Caroline should get a restraining order against her, except Tris provides us too much amusement to completely let her out of our reach. Its like a love-hate thing we have go- ing with her. We dont feel guilty about it because theres only a month of school left and I cant imagine well ever see her again after our have a great summer, good luck in col- lege phony sentiment yearbook nales. And karmically, I have repaid my mean-girl debt to Tris many times over. If she passed Chemistry and Calculus this year, its because of me. Fuck, if she graduates at all, its because of me. I dont bother answering Nicks question about how the hell I know Tris. Ive got to nd Caroline. I stand up on the barstool. Thats the only way Ill nd her with all these people and this loud music and this stink sweat and this beer energy and this never-ending day that feels like its only beginning in the middle of this night. I place my hand on Nicks head to steady my balance as I scan the crowd, and my hand cant help but rummage through his mess of hair, just a little. 16 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 16 05/29/2014 There she is! I see Caroline huddling with Randy at a corner table by the brick wall just off the stage, to the right of Hunter from Hunter Does Hunter, who is now taking the mic. I dont know what song his band had prepared but the lyrics Hunter sings are clearly being made up on the spot and have nothing to do with the fast and furious guitar chords: Dev, go home with me, Dev Dev Dev, I want you to fuck this man. I jump down from the barstool and take off toward Caro- line, but Nicks hand clenches my wrist from behind me, pulling me back to him. Seriously, Nick says, how the hell do you know Tris? His grip pinches the watch on my wrist, and the ow of the pinch turns my eyes from looking for Caroline to looking straight at him. I notice how lost he looks, yet eager for me to stay with him, his eyes kind and angry at the same time, and the noticing makes me remember a lyric from some song he wrote for Tris that she passed around in Latin class because she thought it was so lame. The way youre singing in your sleep The way you look before you leap The strange illusions that you keep You dont know But Im noticing 17 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 17 05/29/2014 20 Fuck Tris. I would give body parts to have a guy write something like that for me. My kidney? Oh, both of them? Here, Nick, theyre yoursjust write more for me. Ill give you a start: boy in punk club asks strange girl to be his girl- friend for ve minutes, girl kisses boy, boy kisses back, boy then meets girlwhat did you notice about this girl? Nick, lets hear some lyrics. Please? Ready. Set. Go. I want to stomp my foot in frustrationfor him, and for me. Because I know that whatever Tris did or said to him, its whats given him that haunted puppy-dog look of pathetic despair. Shes the reason he will probably become an embit- tered old fuck before hes even of legal drinking age, distrust- ing women and writing rude songs about them, and basically from here into eternity thinking all chicks are lying cheating sluts because one of them broke his heart. Hes the type of guy that makes girls like me frigid. Im the girl who knows hes capable of poetry, because like I said, there are things I just know. Im the one who could give him that old-fashioned song title of a thing called Devotion and True Love (How- ever Complicated), if he ever gave a girl like me a second glance. Im the less-than-ve-minute girlfriend who for one too-brief kiss fantasized about ditching this joint with him, going all the way punk with him at a fucking jazz club in the Village or something. Maybe I would have treated him to borscht at Veselka at ve in the morning, maybe I would have walked along Battery Park with him at sunrise, holding his hand, knowing I would become the one who would believe in him. I would tell him, I heard you play, Ive read your poetry, not that crap your band just performed, but those love letters 18 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 18 05/29/2014 21 Fuck Tris. I would give body parts to have a guy write something like that for me. My kidney? Oh, both of them? Here, Nick, theyre yoursjust write more for me. Ill give you a start: boy in punk club asks strange girl to be his girl- friend for ve minutes, girl kisses boy, boy kisses back, boy then meets girlwhat did you notice about this girl? Nick, lets hear some lyrics. Please? Ready. Set. Go. I want to stomp my foot in frustrationfor him, and for me. Because I know that whatever Tris did or said to him, its whats given him that haunted puppy-dog look of pathetic despair. Shes the reason he will probably become an embit- tered old fuck before hes even of legal drinking age, distrust- ing women and writing rude songs about them, and basically from here into eternity thinking all chicks are lying cheating sluts because one of them broke his heart. Hes the type of guy that makes girls like me frigid. Im the girl who knows hes capable of poetry, because like I said, there are things I just know. Im the one who could give him that old-fashioned song title of a thing called Devotion and True Love (How- ever Complicated), if he ever gave a girl like me a second glance. Im the less-than-ve-minute girlfriend who for one too-brief kiss fantasized about ditching this joint with him, going all the way punk with him at a fucking jazz club in the Village or something. Maybe I would have treated him to borscht at Veselka at ve in the morning, maybe I would have walked along Battery Park with him at sunrise, holding his hand, knowing I would become the one who would believe in him. I would tell him, I heard you play, Ive read your poetry, not that crap your band just performed, but those love letters 18 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 18 05/29/2014 and songs you wrote to Tris. I know what youre capable of and its certainly more than being a bassist in an average queercore bandyoure better than that; and dude, having a drummer, its like key, you fucking need one. I would be equipment bitch for him every night, no complaints. But no, hes the type with a complex for the Tris type: the big tits, the dumb giggle, the blowhard. Literally. You wanted easywell, you got it, pal. I extract my wrist from his grip. But for some reason, in- stead of walking away, I pause for a moment and return my hand to his face, caressing his cheek, drawing light circles on his jaw with my index nger. I tell him, You poor schmuck. 19 Cohn_9780375835399_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 19 05/29/2014 FREE SAMPLE COPYNOT FOR SALE This is a work of ction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used ctitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Text copyright 2006 by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan Cover photograph copyright 2014 by Shutterstock All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ember, an imprint of Random House Childrens Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York. Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Childrens Books, New York, in 2006. Ember and the E colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC. Visit us on the Web! randomhouse.com/teens Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition of this work as follows: Cohn, Rachel. Nick and Norahs innite playlist / by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. p. cm. Summary: High school student Nick OLeary, member of a rock band, meets college-bound Norah Silverberg and asks her to be his girlfriend for ve minutes in order to avoid his ex-sweetheart. ISBN 978-0-375-83531-5 (trade) ISBN 978-0-375-93531-2 (lib. bdg.) ISBN 978-0-375-89076-5 (ebook) [1. Rock groupsFiction. 2. LoveFiction. 3. New York (N.Y.)Fiction.] I. Levithan, David. II. Title. PZ7.C6665Ni 2006 [Fic]dc22 2005012413 ISBN 978-0-375-83533-9 (tr. pbk.) Printed in the United States of America 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 Random House Childrens Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read. Cohn_9780375835339_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 4 05/29/2014 This is a work of ction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used ctitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Text copyright 2006 by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan Cover photograph copyright 2014 by Shutterstock All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ember, an imprint of Random House Childrens Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York. Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Childrens Books, New York, in 2006. Ember and the E colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC. Visit us on the Web! randomhouse.com/teens Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition of this work as follows: Cohn, Rachel. Nick and Norahs innite playlist / by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. p. cm. Summary: High school student Nick OLeary, member of a rock band, meets college-bound Norah Silverberg and asks her to be his girlfriend for ve minutes in order to avoid his ex-sweetheart. ISBN 978-0-375-83531-5 (trade) ISBN 978-0-375-93531-2 (lib. bdg.) ISBN 978-0-375-89076-5 (ebook) [1. Rock groupsFiction. 2. LoveFiction. 3. New York (N.Y.)Fiction.] I. Levithan, David. II. Title. PZ7.C6665Ni 2006 [Fic]dc22 2005012413 ISBN 978-0-375-83533-9 (tr. pbk.) Printed in the United States of America 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 Random House Childrens Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read. Cohn_9780375835339_1p_all_r1.pdf Page 4 05/29/2014 Order your copy of NICK & NORAHS INFINITE PLAYLIST By Rachel Cohn & David Levithan From one of the below retailers: For more online accounts, click here.