Page 44 of The Facade

The look that said that on a scale from one to ten, Ben thought that I was a level twenty-five crazy.

And when I’d run out of the room without saying anything, he hadn’t even tried to follow.

He was probably happy to see me go.

But maybe all hope wasn’t lost quite yet. I might be able to salvage this.

Sure, Ben was likely to run the other way if he saw me coming toward him. But he wouldn’t run from someone he didn’t recognize. He wouldn’t run from a faerie queen he’d never seen before, would he?

And if I could somehow kiss him as Kelana—and do a much better job of it tomorrow night—I could then reveal my true identity and say, “Ta-da, it’s me, Cambrielle. I didn’t mess it up this time, right?”

And then he would know that what happened tonight was just a really unfortunate mistake and he could give me another chance.

It would work, right?

If he really had liked me for a while like he’d said, he’d be open to giving me another shot, wouldn’t he?

My chest lightened, and I started to feel a little better as I thought about how I might save everything tomorrow night…until I remember that I had, like, zero experience kissing guys.

How was I supposed to convince him that things were all better when I didn’t know what the heck I was doing?

Mack’s phone buzzed in his pocket, bringing me back to the present. And while he was looking at the message that had come through, the craziest idea popped into my head.

“Carter just texted to see if you’re okay,” Mack said, swiping up on his phone to unlock it. “I’ll tell him we’re on our way back.”

“Wait, stop.” I grabbed his wrist before he could respond to Carter’s text.

“Why?” Mack frowned, a line forming between his dark eyebrows.

“I need you to help me with something first.”

“You do?” The confused look on his face deepened.

Before I could talk myself out of asking him, I said, “So you know how you said you’d make things up to me after I took you home from the four-wheeler ride and missed out on time with Ben?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I think I figured out what you can do.”

A look of intrigue filled his expression. “I’m listening.”

I glanced around the dimly lit park to make sure no one was around and said, “Just come over to the gazebo with me first.”

I wanted a little more privacy from the cars driving past for what I was about to ask him to do.

Then I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the wood gazebo that could use a new paint job.

“What’s going on?” he asked as I pulled him behind me.

“Just a minute,” I said. “I’ll tell you when we get there.”

We walked up the small, grassy hill that the gazebo was built on, and then once we stepped onto the wooden planked floor, I let go of his hand and turned to face him. In a voice that was slightly out of breath, I said, “I need you to kiss me.”

“What?” He took a step back, obviously not expecting me to say that.

So I drew in a deep breath and said, “I was just thinking about everything, and I want to try to make a re-do happen with Ben tomorrow at the Halloween dance like you suggested.”

“I didn’t say anything about the Hallo—”

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