Page 8 of Gracefully Yours

She slumped back against my pillows, her blonde hair spilling across the dark gray pillowcase. “You know I haven’t had a boyfriend. Why isthisso surprising? Of course I haven’t kissed anyone. Besides, I spend all my time with you, dummy.” She threw a marshmallow at me.

I stammered. I didn’t really have a reason that I couldn’t believe it, but also… I knew I didn’twanther to kiss anyone else. Was that crazy? She was my best friend. But… I couldn’t help but stare at her glossy pink lips, covered in her favorite lip gloss she always wore.

What would it taste like? What wouldshetaste like?

“I always wanted it to be with someone special,” she whispered, looking shyer than I’d ever seen her. “And I didn’t want to waste it on someone who wasn’t.”

And maybe I hadn’t, but I understood that.

“How many girls haveyoukissed, anyway?” Charlotte asked, looking up at me as her blonde hair fanned out across my comforter.

“Um.” I blinked. “A few, I guess.”

Freshman year, in my newfound freedom, there had been more than a few. But now? I couldn’t imagine kissing anyone else. She wasn’t mine, and I wasn’t hers, but it still felt like a betrayal to even think about having my lips against someone else’s.

“What’s it like?”

“What?” I blinked away my distraction, catching Charlotte staring at me.

“Kissing. What’s it like?”

“Well…”Was I sweating?The room suddenly felt like it was a million degrees inside. I tugged at my collar. “I guess it’s nice, with the right person.”

“And have you found the right person?” Charlotte asked, dancing her fingers across my bed like she danced across the stage.

I shook my head. “No. That’s why I’m not kissing them right now.”

She sat up and pushed at me playfully.

We fell back into silence as Charlotte popped another marshmallow back into her mouth. Both sat there, looking at the opposite wall.

“Daniel?” she asked.

“Hmm?”

“What if…” Charlotte’s cheeks turned pink, and she turned to face me. “What ifyoukiss me?”

“What?” I asked, astonished. She was asking me to kiss her? “But… you’re my best friend.”

“I know. That’s why it’s perfect. It’syou,and I feel safe with you.”

She feels safe with me.I wanted to wrap my arms around her and bury my face in her hair, inhaling the strawberry smell of her shampoo.

She wanted it to be with someone special. Me?Iwas someone special? Her dorky best friend who spent all his time studying in the library? The shy engineer who was quiet and barely even went to parties? Who she probably never would have looked twice at if it wasn’t for my sister living across the hall from her?

“I thought…” I bit my lip.

She blinked, moving to get off my bed. “Never mind, forget about it. It was a bad idea. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Charlotte,” I said, not a question, but a statement, my voice thick with command.

She turned her head back to look at me.

“Come here.”

I tugged her in closer to me.

“O-okay.”

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