Page 46 of The Pucking Kiss

“Tall, blonde, thin, and on the cheerleading team? I’m just plain old me.”

“Oh, honey. I remember what it was like being in high school, pining over guys who didn’t give me the time of day.”

“I guess not much has changed since,” I chuckled darkly again.

“I guess not. But you want to know something?” she leaned in closer again, her eyes twinkling with delight. “I’ll let you on a secret that I’ve learned in all my years of chasing boys that never saw me for who I was.”

“And what’s that?” I couldn’t lie. My interest had been piqued. My aunt was one of the most interesting people I knew, and advice from her meant a lot to me.

“It’s that you cannot expect them to chase you when you’re the one doing everything to get their attention. Sometimes, you need to step away and remind them of your worth,” she said warmly.

“You’re right… but it’s not that easy,” I replied, “I don’t know how to remind him of my worth. Hell, I don’t even know if I mean anything to him.”

“Don’t say that. Did this boy ever give you any indication that he might be interested?”

I lowered my voice to a whisper, not wanting anyone else to hear what I was just about to admit.

“He pretended to be my fake boyfriend in exchange for me helping him out with school.”

My aunt burst out laughing. “A fake boyfriend? Oh my god, Romai. Was it his idea?”

I shook my head, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Nope, it was all mine.”

“My goodness, Romai,” my aunt burst out in laughter once again. “What’s going on with you?”

I sucked in a deep sigh, finally at my breaking point of keeping my emotions in.

“I’m kind of having a life crisis, okay? First, my best friend dumped me. So, I tried to come up with a plan to get back at her. And now I’ve ended up falling really hard for the guy I was only pretending to date. Nothing is going my way.”

“Wait, best friend?” Aunt Glenda’s eyes twinkled with remembrance. “Are you talking about Kathy?”

“Yup. She turned out to be quite the backstabber.”

“I get that you’re feeling like this,” she pressed her lips together. “But you know what? You don’t have to worry anymore. Now that you’ve told me, I’m going to do everything.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, Aunt Glenda. But it doesn’t really work like that. High school is ruthless.”

“That may be true, but I know a few tricks that’ll have you feeling better about yourself in no time,” she said.

The way she said her words with so much conviction had me almost believing for a second that she could help me get out of this mess. I eyed her curiously for a few moments before finally speaking.

“Go on.”

“Well, for one thing, it’s all about confidence. You need to be confident in yourself if you expect anyone else to like you.”

I frowned. “When you’ve been a loser your whole life, it’s hard to suddenly be confident.”

“Everyone feels like a loser in some way or the other. You just need to fake it till you make it,” she advised and pulled me away from the dinner table.

“I want to look at yourself,” she made me stand in front of a full-length mirror. “Who do you see?”

“I see Romai. A girl who’s good at studying and not much else,” I replied, self-loathing filling up every pore of my body.

“Wrong answer,” Aunt Glenda said, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ears. “Look again. Be kind to yourself.”

I sighed and looked at my reflection again. Even though I didn’t like what stared back at me, I forced myself to try and see the positives.

“I see my mother's eyes.”

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