Page 35 of One Little Kiss
A little while later, my dad calls up the stairs that he’s leaving and if I want a ride, I better hustle. Addie and I say goodbye and I blow a kiss at the camera. She catches it, smushes it against her cheek, and laughs.
I head to school in a much better mood, feeling lighter than I have in days.
“There’s my favorite weirdo.” Elijah’s arm slings around my shoulders as I walk into the cafeteria, and aside from a flare of nerves that’s completely unwarranted, we fall into step and right back into banter like it’s just another Thursday.
See? It’s already basically forgotten. Everyone’s moved on from talking about the playoffs and the after-party, so I can move on too.
“I can’t believe you expect us to kiss, Eli,” Mara says.
I slide into the seat next to Elijah’s at the cafeteria just as Mara starts to talk about the scavenger hunt. Or, more precisely about the stupid kiss challenge that Elijah added to the scavenger hunt. The first of many new challenges, apparently.
And before I can even take a bite of my apple, my appetite disappears.
Everyone at the table is talking about kissing. Kissing each other. Kissing strangers. The rules about who to kiss.
I stare down at the table as heat inexplicably floods my cheeks and my mind fills with the memory of that night.
Would he have kissed me if I hadn’t backed away?
Does he even remember?
I slide a glance in his direction but he’s not looking at me. Which is good. I’m able to sit in silence as my friends discuss the rules about what constitutes a kiss to earn points in this stupid game.
“So I can’t kiss Ryan?” Mara whines.
Ryan leans over to kiss the top of her head. “You can kiss me anytime, babe.”
I snicker as Mara smacks his chest.
“It can’t be someone who’s participating,” he says.
“Oh my God,” Celia moans. “Dude, you’re not participating, is this your way of getting every girl in school to kiss you?”
We all crack up at that. No one more so than Elijah, who’s got that cocky grin going on. “Celia, you know I don’t need help there.”
There’s no arguing this. But at the reference to all of Elijah’s hookups over the years, my stomach churns with a violent lurch.
Is that all that moment was? He’d had some drinks and went into player mode?
I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse.
The moment I think it, my stomach gets so knotted I toss my apple in the garbage.
Worse. This is definitely worse.
It’s a relief when the bell rings marking the start of class. I’m ready to bolt and get the heck away from all this talk of kissing when Elijah stops me. “You’re still going to the college fair, right?”
I nod, my heart sinking.
Wonderful. Just what I need right now. A vivid reminder of how bleak my future looks.
The rest of our friends don’t have to go. Their futures are bright and have been planned out for years.
As Elijah and I peel off toward the gymnasium where the college fair is being held, I wonder if he’s thinking something similar, because his earlier, laughing demeanor fades and he gets oddly serious. “Do you sometimes feel like maybe our friends have their acts together more than we do?”
I bump my hip into his thigh, making him laugh as he stumbles a bit.
“Every day, dude,” I say.
