Page 47 of One Little Kiss
It changes everything. It’s already made stuff weird between us.
And I hate that.
When I can’t stand it any longer, I open my eyes to see her watching me with so much empathy it hurts.
“And that’s bad?” Her nose wrinkles.
“Yeah, Leah. That’s really bad.”
She shifts in her seat, and I swear I feel Leah’s words brewing before she even starts to speak. “Maybe it’s not so bad,” she starts. “Maybe she feels the same—”
“She doesn’t.”
Leah blinks. “Oh.”
Yeah. Oh.
My insides sink even lower, seeing my own disappointment and hurt reflected back at me in Leah’s gaze.
“Are you sure?” she asks hesitantly.
You’re going to the dance with Elijah, right?
Pamela’s comment in the hallway comes back to me. That whole sickening conversation playing in my mind.
So how about doing us all a favor and just put that poor guy out of his misery already, hmm?
I flinch and Leah arches her brows in question.
“Does everyone know?” I ask.
Seriously, right now, I’m starting to think the entire school knows that I have a crush on my best friend, and I’m the last to find out.
“No,” Leah says quickly. “Honestly, I think most of your friends just want to see you together because they love you both. But it’s not like everyone’s talking about how you have a thing for her or whatever.”
I nod. That would make me feel better if I hadn’t just heard Pamela talking about how I have a thing for Noelle. And telling Noelle as much, right in front of my face.
I groan and scrub a hand over my eyes.
Leah leans forward. “Are you sure Noelle doesn’t feel the same, Elijah?”
We’re just friends.
Noelle’s voice is loud and clear in my head.
Oh, so you guys aren’t hooking up?
No, of course not.
I make a sound that’s alarmingly close to a moan. Leah flinches and glances around to make sure no one’s paying attention. “Have you talked to her about it?”
I’m pretty sure Leah is well aware of the answer, so I just stare at her until she huffs.
“Don’t you think maybe it’s something you should tell her?”
“No.” I shake my head quickly. “All I want is to forget I ever saw her this way. I wish I could rewind until…”
I think back to when this started. To that moment at my party when I almost kissed her? To that encounter in the parking lot when she mentioned me kissing her?
