Page 54 of The Wrong Prom Date

I bent my head over his body, placing it against his chest in despair.

“Cue final petal dropping. Cue lighting and smoke,” Miss Appleby called out.

We didn’t have props yet, but this was where the beastly boy in front of me was supposed to transform into his handsome self from under the cover of wafting smoke.

I stood and stepped away, shielding my eyes from the transformation that was supposed to be happening.

“End transformation,” Miss Appleby called.

I slowly lowered my arms, blinking as I looked in Liam’s direction. He held his arms out toward me, but I shook my head with confusion.

“Belle, it’s me,” he said.

I tilted my head, taking cautious steps forward as I stared into his eyes. I lifted a hand and lightly touched his cheek, and I could have sworn Liam shivered under my touch. I was almost too scared to speak my next lines because I knew what would happen the moment they were out. We were supposed to kiss, but I was so jittery because the beautiful boy standing before me wasn’t just another actor. He was Liam Black.

It’s just a play, I reminded myself.

“It is you,” I whispered, the words barely passing my lips because I was so nervous.

He slowly brought his head down toward me before hesitating for the briefest second. I knew I had to reach up the rest of the distance to kiss him—that this kiss couldn’t be one-sided. My heart raced and my stomach dropped as I placed my hands on his chest and pushed up on my toes. I lightly pressed my lips against Liam’s and, in an instant, I was gone.

His lips moved gently against mine, and the lightness of the kiss made my knees go weak. I could feel it tingling all the way down in my toes. He tasted like peppermint, and as his strong arms wrapped around me, I found myself wishing he’d never let go. The kiss wasn’t supposed to be real, but my heart couldn’t seem to tell the difference. It had exploded the moment his lips touched mine, and my skin buzzed like I was cocooned in the purest form of magic. I was both relieved and disappointed when Liam finally pulled away. If he hadn’t, I very well might have lost myself in the kiss forever.

His eyes stared intently into mine, and even though our lips no longer touched, I felt more connected to him than ever. My skin smoldered where he still held me and we breathed in and out in unison like we were one person rather than two. The kiss had left me speechless, and though there was a niggling feeling in the back of my mind, I struggled to remember why we had to stop.

Miss Appleby started clapping, and the two of us seemed to snap back to attention. I jumped out of Liam’s hold and turned to the teacher. My cheeks were flaming red as I looked around the room and remembered we weren’t alone.

“That was brilliant, you two,” Miss Appleby said, smiling proudly at us. She continued talking as she analyzed our performance and gave us instructions for where we could improve, but I didn’t hear a thing.

My ears were ringing and my heart was still fluttering because I had a serious problem: I had fallen for Liam Black.

19

Teagan

Isomehow managed to stumble out of drama without talking to anyone and make my way to PE. After the kiss with Liam, I wasn’t sure how to face my friends, let alone the boy in question. I’d pretty much run from the room once our scene was over. Liam must have thought I was so weird.

“Way to ditch us after drama today,” Hayley said, as she joined me on the sports field. Evan and Madi were both at her side, and all three of them were looking at me with their eyes filled with questions. There was no way I was going to be able to avoid talking about the kiss with Liam like I’d hoped.

“Sorry I left class in a rush. I was just really excited for baseball today,” I replied. It was such a lie. I’d been hopeless at fielding in our last class and I had a feeling that I’d be even worse at batting today.

“Sure, you were, Teags,” Evan said, with a laugh. “It had absolutely nothing to do with what happened in drama class.”

I was starting to wish we were running in PE today. At least then I might have had some chance of escaping my three friends. Instead, we were all waiting in line to bat and I was cornered.

“You justkissedLiam Black,” Evan continued. “I need to hear all the juicy details.”

“What juicy details?” I glanced in the teacher’s direction, desperately hoping she’d call me up to bat and save me from answering. I just wasn’t that lucky though as Willow’s name was called instead. She looked absolutely terrified at the prospect of having one of the boys pitch a ball at her, but I’d have done anything to trade places with her and avoid the grilling from my friends.

“Tell us what it was like, obviously,” Hayley said, sounding all too eager for my liking. I gave one last wistful look in Willow’s direction before focusing on my friends again. Three sets of curious eyes met my gaze, and I couldn’t really blame them. I’d probably be asking the same question if one of them had just kissed a Hollywood superstar.

“You don’t need juicy details, you saw the whole damn thing.”

“That kiss was hot though,” Hayley said.

“And it’s your sacred duty as my best friend to tell me what it was like,” Evan added.

“Stop, you guys. We don’t need details,” Madi interrupted, as if she sensed my apprehension. I shot her a thankful smile. At least one of my friends was a decent human being.

---