A Young Adult Romance Collection

by Victorine E. Lieske

  Olivia’s mouth screwed up in a disgusted expression. “No way.”

  “Then, you.” Destiny pulled the seeds off her handful then tossed the rest into the trash.

  Olivia stuck her nose near one of the pumpkins. “That stinks. You guys are gross.”

  “We’re just carving pumpkins. You never did this as a kid?” Eli grabbed a spoon to get more goop out of his pumpkin.

  “No.” She stepped back. “But you guys have fun.” She left the kitchen.

  Eli pulled a stringy glob of guts out. He held it out to Destiny. “So, how does one have a pumpkin guts fight? Do I just toss this on you?”

  Destiny backed away from him, her slimy hands held up. “Hey, that’s when I was young. I didn’t wear angora when I was a kid.”

  He took a step toward her, a wicked grin on his face. “It will wash.”

  “Don’t you dare.” She meant it to sound menacing, but she couldn’t help the smile from creeping onto her face.

  “Oh, I dare,” he said, coming closer to her.

  Before he could slime her, she grabbed his handful and smashed it into the side of his face. The stringy guts fell to the floor. Eli gasped and wiped his hand on her cheek. The cold, wet pumpkin goo slid down her skin. She shrieked and grabbed more slime from her pumpkin.

  “Stay away,” he called out as he ran around the other side of the island.

  She came at him, but he was too fast. She ran around the other side. He must have decided that playing the game was more fun than running, because he waited for her. She plopped the slime onto his head.

  His mouth dropped open and he let out a surprised grunt. “I can’t believe you did that.” He reached for her.

  She tried to run away from him, but he grabbed her. “Oh, no, you don’t.”

  She wiggled, but he had too strong of a hold on her. “Let me go.”

  “Not until I get you back.”

  She squinted up at him, waiting for him to slime her again. Her heart beat a thousand times a second, and she could barely catch her breath. He suddenly sobered and looked at her. “You’re beautiful.”

  “With slime on my face?”

  He chuckled. “Yes.”

  “Well, now I know it’s true love.” She hadn’t meant to say it, and she sucked in a tiny breath. The word love was now hanging in the air between them, like an unwanted guest.

  He leaned in closer to her. “It might be,” he whispered. He brushed his lips across hers and she closed her eyes, getting lost in the electricity skittering over her skin.

  This kiss was slower than their kisses in the woods, as if Eli had nothing better to do. His warm lips caressed hers. She got caught up in the moment and threaded her fingers through his goopy hair. He moaned and kissed down her neck.

  She swallowed, emotion swelling in her. She had only known him a short time, but everything was multiplied with him. She’d liked Jack, but with Eli, it was different. Stronger. She might even dare to think she loved him.

  Was she ready to admit that to herself? Could it be possible that she had fallen in love with Eli in just a few days? She was stunned by the possibility, and yet, as he held her and kissed her neck, she couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.

  Eli was exciting. He was flirty and attentive. Kind and caring. He wanted to know everything there was to know about her. Jack had never asked her what political party she belonged to, or what her favorite movie was. He hadn’t cared. Eli was so different.

  “I think it is,” she whispered.

  He pulled back. “It is what?”

  She held her breath for a moment, looking into his brown eyes. Was she ready to expose her feelings like that? She swallowed, not knowing if she should walk out on that ledge. What if he didn’t return her feelings? She could break under that kind of rejection.

  But the way Eli was looking at her, like his gaze was caressing her skin, told her he was not going to dash her heart to pieces. But she couldn’t speak the word.

  He smiled at her in that playful way he always did. He opened his mouth to speak, but the sound of the garage door opening startled her, and she jumped back from Eli. “My parents are home.”

  He wiped a piece of slime off her cheek. “Oops.”

  “Come on, let’s go to my bathroom and clean up. I don’t want them to meet you like this.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him up the stairs to the hallway bathroom. She pulled out a washcloth and turned on the faucet. “Sit down.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “On the toilet?”

  “Where else? Yes, on the toilet. I have to wash it out of your hair.”

  She cleaned him up, then wiped her face. Her sweater would need dry cleaning. She left him in the bathroom while she went into her bedroom to change. When she came out, he was standing in the hallway. Dang, he cleaned up well. How could it be possible that he looked even more hot? Maybe it was his damp hair, slightly mussed. Or the look he had on his face. Like he was full of desire.

  He leaned down and kissed her briefly. “Let’s go finish the pumpkins.”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  They passed by her father in the hallway on the way to the kitchen. “Hey, Dad. This is Eli. This is my father, Frank.”

  Her father stuck out his hand. “Eli. Nice to meet you.”

  “Good to meet you, sir.”

  “Are you the ones making a mess in the kitchen? Your mother wasn’t too happy about it being left there.”

  “Sorry, we’re in the middle of pumpkin carving. We’ll clean up when we’re done, I promise.” Destiny smiled at him.

  “Okay.” His expression said, “Where’s Jack?” but thankfully he didn’t say anything.

  Destiny tugged Eli back into the kitchen. They spent the next hour carving the pumpkins and roasting the seeds. Eli showed her how to season the pumpkin seeds and put them in the oven. He was right; they were delicious.

  They placed the jack-o-lanterns on the front porch. Eli rubbed his hands together. “Let’s step back and look at them.”

  Destiny joined him, walking backwards until they hit the gate. She put her hand up to her chin.

  “Oh, no,” Eli said, shaking his head. “This isn’t good.

  “What?” Destiny couldn’t see anything wrong. They’d placed them on either side of the stoop. She thought they looked good.

  “Oh, this won’t do. I can’t believe I did that.”

  “What did you do?”

  He sighed. “My pumpkin looks like Shawn Mendes.”

  Destiny laughed. “No, it doesn’t.”

  “Oh, yes. Look. He’s got the same features. That same smile. And now every time you look at my jack-o-lantern, you’re going to wonder why you’re going out with me instead of Shawn.”

  Destiny slapped his shoulder. “Stop it. You’re handsome. What, are you jealous of a pop star now?”

  “Yes.” He grabbed her hand. “Because you’d rather spend time with him.”

  “All right, all right, can I amend my answer?”

  “Yes. You may.”

  “If I could spend the day with any famous person, I’d turn them down and spend it with you instead, because you’re the super jealous type who can’t stand the thought of me with Shawn Mendes.”

  Eli chuckled and grabbed her, pulling her to him. “You are so in trouble.”

  “Am I?”

  “Yes. Now I have to kiss all thoughts of Shawn Mendes out of your head.”

  And he did.

  Chapter 13

  Destiny stood by the toaster, waiting for it to pop up. She’d had lovely dreams of Eli last night. She couldn’t wait to see him again, which was a bummer because he was spending the morning applying for jobs. She was already bored to tears. Maybe she’d go to the mall. Fluffy rubbed against Destiny’s legs, and she reached down and scratched behind her ears.

  Olivia sat at the kitchen table, eating a yogurt. She hadn’t yet had a conversation about school with their parents, and Destiny could feel the tension mounting. Her father walked into
the room, his robe and slippers on. He grabbed a cup of coffee.

  The toast popped up and Destiny pulled it out of the toaster. She buttered the first piece, watching it melt on contact. She loved toast if it was still hot. Once it got cold, she couldn’t stand to eat it.

  Her sister scraped the bottom of her yogurt cup with her spoon. Destiny glanced over at her when the noise didn’t stop. Olivia was on the edge of her seat, her shoulders tense, scraping the bottom of that cup like she was digging for gold.

  Her mother came into the room. She was dressed like she was going to go out with friends for lunch. Olivia continued…scrape, scrape, scrape.

  “Olivia,” Destiny said.

  Her sister stopped and looked at her.

  “Just tell them.”

  Olivia’s eyes grew wide, and she looked like she was going to throw her empty yogurt cup at Destiny.

  “Tell us what?” her mother said.

  Olivia blanched and then set down her yogurt cup. She cleared her throat. “I have something important to say. And even though I was going to wait…” She shot daggers at Destiny, and Destiny just shrugged. “It’s something I have to do.”

  Her father set down his coffee mug on the table and took a seat. “What is it?”

  Olivia took in a deep breath. “I quit school.”

  “You what?” Her father stood up, his chair flying backwards.

  Her mother clutched at her neck. “You quit school? Why?”

  Olivia flinched. “I started up my own business.”

  Her father’s mouth dropped open, but no words came out. Her mother just stood there, staring at Olivia. Destiny took another bite of her toast.

  “You can’t quit school,” her father finally said. “What kind of business? Where is it? What will you be doing?”

  “I’m a personal shopper.” Olivia straightened her back and rushed ahead. “And I know you don’t think that’s a real business, but I have people paying me to do this for them. I even have a client from Alaska!”

  Her mother seemed to have something caught in her throat. Her father looked like he’d swallowed a tomato, then assumed the same color. “You will not quit school, young lady, and that’s final.” He righted his chair and sat in it. “You will go back to school on Monday.”

  “I hate accounting, Dad. I can’t go back to it. It’s sucking the life out of me.” Olivia dramatically flopped onto the table, her cheek pressing against the wood.

  “It’s a very sensible degree.”

  “I hate sensible,” Olivia muttered.

  “Sensible has given us a stable income,” her father said, raising his voice. “Sensible gave us a place to live, and food to eat.”

  “I could have all those things with my own business, too.” Olivia sat up. “If I give you my business plan, would you at least look at it?”

  “You have a business plan?” Her father’s eyebrows raised so high, he almost had no forehead left.

  “Yes. And I have a website and one investor.”

  Destiny was impressed. Her sister hadn’t mentioned all this to her.

  “An investor…” Her father sat back in his chair. “Well, I could look at your business plan.”

  “Thank you.”

  “But I feel like you should continue to go to school while you—”

  “I know, Daddy, but I have a lot of things scheduled over the next three months. I’m leaving on Wednesday to go to a wholesale clothing show in Chicago.”

  More news to Destiny. Maybe she should have talked with Olivia some more. Her father rubbed his temples. “Let me see your business plan. We’ll go from there.”

  Olivia jumped up from her chair and kissed her father on the cheek. “Thank you, Daddy.”

  Since the show was over, Destiny pulled out her phone and texted Jessica as her family dissipated from the kitchen.

  I need to buy a warmer jacket. You free today?

  An answer came back quickly.

  Sorry, Christian and I are going to the lake today.

  Darn. But that made sense. Jessica and Christian were pretty much glued together since they started dating.

  She sent a frowny face emoji then told her to have fun. She pressed on Amanda’s name next. Amanda wasn’t big on shopping, but she would go to the mall with her if Destiny asked. Unfortunately, Amanda was busy today, too.

  Destiny set her phone down and ate the last of her toast. She’d just have to shop by herself today. She grabbed her car keys and headed toward the garage. “I’m going to the mall,” she called out.

  “Have fun,” her mom called back from the living room.

  “I will.”

  Destiny pulled on her warm fall boots and denim jacket before she left the house. Her coat from last year was too small. She’d seen some adorable fuzzy, cropped coats at the mall last week.

  As she drove by the school, she saw the same tiny kitten she’d seen a few days ago walking across the grass. She pulled her car into the parking lot and cut the engine. She climbed out and hurried to see if the kitten was still there.

  It was no where to be seen. She looked in the bushes but couldn’t find the small animal. Since this was the second time she’d seen it on the school property, she figured its mother lived somewhere nearby. But as she scanned the houses, she saw no sign of any other cats.

  There wasn’t anything left to do but continue to the mall. It didn’t take her long, and soon she was walking through the well-lit strip. She crossed the mall to her favorite clothing store and entered. She headed straight for the cropped coats. As she flipped through them on the rack, she heard laughing behind her.

  Nikki and the other pop girls entered the store. Destiny froze. The last time she’d spoken to them, she’d made a fool of herself. Her first instinct was to cower and hide, but Nikki saw her and they walked toward her. “Hey, guys,” she said when they approached her.

  The girls stared. Nikki looked her over before smiling. “Hey, Destiny.”

  Nikki knew her name? Destiny couldn’t believe it. She acted cool. “Shopping for something in particular?”

  Charley snorted and Nikki gave her an evil look. Then Nikki turned back to her. “Yep. We’re shopping.”

  That wasn’t what Destiny had asked, but she shrugged it off. “These jackets are on sale. I think I’m going to buy one.”

  “Nice.” Nikki picked one up off the rack.

  “And it even has little pockets, see?” Destiny showed her.

  “Very cute,” Kara said. She tugged at the security tag on the bottom of the jacket. “But not really practical.”

  Nikki shook her head. “You’re right. Not practical.” She walked over to the bracelets and the other pop girls followed her. Nikki motioned for Destiny to follow.

  It was like a dream come true. Destiny was being included in the group of pop girls. She hurried to catch up to them. Kara picked up a bracelet and slid it on her wrist. “Does this go with my complexion?”

  “I think it looks nice,” Destiny said.

  Nikki squinted at it. “Yep. Looks good.”

  Destiny kind of felt like one of them as they looked through all the jewelry, commenting on the styles. She picked up one with turquoise stones. “This one is cool.”

  “Love it,” Nikki said. “Turquoise is so in right now.”

  Destiny could have floated out of there. “Yes. And it would go with your shirt.”

  Nikki grew serious and set down the bracelet. “Okay. I’m going to give it to you straight. You’re cool, Destiny. And I think you could help us.”

  Destiny tried not to hyperventilate. Nikki called her cool. That was freakin’ awesome. “Sure, I’d be happy to,” she said, trying to keep her voice light.

  “Are you one of us?” Nikki said, her voice low.

  They wanted her to be one of the pop girls? Destiny thought she was going to faint. “Yes.”

  “Would you swear yourself to secrecy, even if it meant going to jail?” Nikki looked at her like this was the most important quest
ion of all. Kara and Charley huddled in closer.

  “I swear,” Destiny whispered. She’d do anything to be in with the pop girls.

  Nikki looked around the shop, then leaned in closer to the group. “Here’s the plan. I’ll go distract that harpy behind the counter. The rest of you will snag the bracelets.” She looked at Destiny, her gaze piercing. “You in?”

  Chapter 14

  Destiny’s throat closed up, and she had a hard time breathing. Nikki wanted her to steal? Was that what the pop girls did for fun?

  A thousand things ran through her mind at once. She was an honest person. She’d never stolen anything in her life. She always drove the speed limit. She never even stayed out past her curfew. It wasn’t in her nature to steal.

  But the pop girls were who she belonged with. She was born to be popular. She loved the fashion, loved the too-cool-for-school vibe they had. She loved the way everyone wanted to be them.

  A vision flashed through her mind, and she saw herself at school. She walked with a swagger, sat at their table, and laughed with them. She was looked up to by every freshman girl. She was crowned prom queen. She could have it all, if only she would do this.

  But the vision turned dark, and she saw herself with them, stealing on the weekends. Getting caught. Getting arrested. Going to jail. She would be in so much trouble.

  Guilt overpowered her, and she knew. There was no way she could help the pop girls steal.

  Nikki stared at her, her long eyelashes thick with mascara. “Are you in, or are you out?” She emphasized the words, and Destiny knew what she meant. She would be in the group if she did this. But if she refused, she’d be out of popularity. Out of the inner circle. And probably out of every group at school.

  Destiny swallowed. She wanted to be in. She wanted it so bad, she could taste it. But she couldn’t do what Nikki wanted her to. Destiny licked her lips. “I’m going to pick out a jacket. You do what you want.”

  As she left them, she heard one of them snort. Probably Kara, but she didn’t look back to see. Her skin felt like it was on fire. She could feel them staring at her. She picked up a white fuzzy jacket and checked the size. It would fit.