Page 6 of The Pucking Kiss

But as I threw myself on my bed and closed my eyes, still clutching the photo of my parents tightly in my arms, I began to imagine a life where I hadn’t lost them. And a life where Bryan didn’t bully me. And where Kathy saw me as an equal.

But those were only dreams. In real life, I was just Raggedy Romai, a loser.

Chapter 3

Romai

No new messages.

I stared at my phone screen, wondering what Kathy must be doing right now.

Kathy and I had been best friends for years. We hardly ever went a day without talking to each other. And yet, as I stared at my empty inbox, I realized that our fight was really serious this time.

An uneasy feeling settled in my stomach as I came to terms with the fact that I might have actually lost my best friend.

“All for what?” I whispered to myself as I sat at my desk with my books open. “Bryan? She doesn’t even like him that much.”

“Nerd alert,” Hector's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “What are you doing spending your Sunday evening studying?”

Hector was my cousin from my mom's side. He was a year older than me and was already in college. Growing up, the two of us had spent a lot of time together. Especially after my parents died, he came over often since we shared the same grandparents, and I lived at their house. Apart from Kathy, he was one of my only friends.

“I wanted to catch up with schoolwork,” I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly.

“You’re such a nerd, Romai,” he chuckled before pulling up a chair and sitting in front of me.

I tried to ignore him, going back to my textbook.

“Wait,” he said, his voice growing concerned all of a sudden, “Where’s the witty reply? You usually don’t waste a second trying to one-up me. I can tell something is wrong.”

“I guess I just have a lot on my mind,” I said, not wanting to divulge too many details.

The last thing I wanted to do was yap on about a sob story to my cousin, who was perhaps the polar opposite of me. While I spent my time studying and keeping to myself, he was a total social butterfly and had his own band. If we weren’t related, we would have never been friends.

“Nah,” he swiftly scooped up the textbook and held it at arm's length away from me. “Something is going on. You’re the smartest person I know, and I know you wouldn’t be this stressed out about schoolwork.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “I guess I’m having some friend troubles.”

“Friend troubles?” he raised an inquisitive eyebrow in my direction. “I know your only friend is Kathy. What’s going on with her?”

I pressed my lips together in a tight line. Even my cousin knew how my social life was in dire straits.

“I don’t think we’re friends anymore,” I admitted after a long pause. Just saying the words out loud made my heart wrench. “So I guess that brings the total friend count down to zero.”

“Hey, don’t say that,” he replied immediately. “I’m your friend.”

“Yes, but you’re also family. You kind of don’t have a choice.”

“Fair play,” he chuckled. “But don’t detract from the topic. Tell me what’s going on with Kathy.”

“It’s…” I sighed, feeling more sorry for myself than I had the courage to admit. “I think we like the same boy, and Kathy doesn’t seem to like that very much.”

Hector snorted loudly. “Finally, you have some boy drama going on.”

“That’s hardly an accomplishment,” I rolled my eyes at his remark. “Anyway, it’s pretty stupid. We like the same guy.”

“I can’t believe you like a guy,” Hector let out a dramatic whoosh sound, “I thought I’d never see the day. Always thought you’re asexual.”

“Hector,” I warned, glaring at him. “Do you want me to tell you or not?”

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