Konrad Wolnik.
His gaze is locked onto mine, his expression a reflection of my own: parted lips, burning cheeks, and eyes so round they might pop out of his face.
“OVER HERE!” Ashley yells, her hand flapping through the air.
The silence around me shatters. My heart starts pumping in overdrive. And I realize: there is no dick pic. Jodie hasn’t been talking to Joe Park. She was texting Lauren Batko, because just then I see Lauren’s red mane right there next to Konrad. Or maybe she was texting Alan Nguyen, who’s a step behind them, peeking over Konrad’s shoulder.
I’m the victim of a setup. And judging from Konrad’s expression, so is he.
Konrad’s churro sinks to his side. His lips close. Jodie and Ashley stand up. I can feel their eyes on me, urging me to do the same. Theme park-goers pass through my field of vision like ghosts. Alan leans in and whispers something in Konrad’s ear. With her fist, Lauren gives him a little shove. Konrad takes a small step forward.
He stops.
I stand.
Jodie and Ashley are speaking now, but I don’t hear what they’re saying because my entire world is only Konrad and my thumping heartbeat.
I should run. I want to. That’s what the shame I’m feeling is telling me to do. But the desire to be near him overpowers it, so I stay where I am. I want to hear his voice—see his smile—one more time. But why would he even talk to me? And why would he smile?
No. Running is out of the question. At the very least, I need to apologize. A rush of determination makes one of my feet step in front of the other.
Seeing me move, Konrad’s eyes widen. Even from here, I can see his Adam’s apple rise and fall. He mirrors my action and starts shuffling over.
Little by little, we close the distance between us. When we’re only a couple of feet from each other, we stop, face to face. Trembling, I take him in. He’s cautious. On full alert.
“Hey,” I say.
His reply comes in the form of a polite chin lift. Like I’m a bro of a bro he’s not very good friends with. My insides explode with so much guilt and shame my knees buckle. But that’s not what makes me want to cry. It’s the fact that he acknowledges me at all.
People slow as they walk by, staring at the ugly girl getting all teary-eyed in front of the beautiful boy, wondering what’s going on.
I blink away the tears, take a deep breath, and look Konrad straight in the eyes. “I wish there was a word stronger than sorry. But there isn’t. I’m sorry, Konrad.” My voice gets smaller. “I’m really, really sorry.”
It feels like I’ve dropped two heavy dumbbells I didn’t even know I was carrying. I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand and take another deep breath.
Konrad still hasn’t said anything. Okay, now what? I think. But before I can properly read his reaction and decide what to do, I see his foot dash forward. Next thing I know, my face is pressed up against his broad chest, his boy scent all around me.
I’m only stiff for a second, before I melt into him. And it feels so good, I’m crying for real now, my whole body shivering.
“Tell her to stay at our school!” Jodie yells from behind us.
Konrad’s embrace loosens. He sets his hands on top of my shoulders and looks me in the eyes. “Stay at our school,” he says. “Please.”
“What?” I manage a smile. “All the paperwork is done already. I start Monday.”
His grip around my shoulders tightens. “If you’re transferring to Roosevelt then I’m transferring to Roosevelt, too.”
I sniff. “But how can you still like me?”
He cracks a crooked grin. “I wish there was a word stronger than like.”
“But why?”
“Why do you ask so many questions?”
“But I’m evil. I’m an asshole. You shouldn’t like me. Not after what I did.”
His grin stretches wider. “I guess I like evil assholes, then.”
My face is burning hot. I see the sincerity in his eyes, the same sincerity they’ve shown me all along. Only, this time, I let myself believe it.
“Okay,” I say. “I’ll think about it.”
Konrad’s grin starts moving toward me. Before I can process what’s happening, his lips are pressing into mine, bringing with them the taste of cinnamon churro.
A euphoric tickle scuttles down to my toes.
Forget roller coasters. Forget running. I’ve found the best thrill yet.
“TOO MUCH TONGUE!” a voice yells. “There are little children around!” It takes me a moment to realize it’s Lauren.
Konrad and I untangle from each other. Slowly, the world comes back into focus. Our friends are watching us, giant smiles plastered on their faces. Who would’ve thought Jodie and Ashley would be there to witness my first kiss?
A lady with an impatient kid hanging off her arm shoots me a wink. I’m too embarrassed to maintain eye contact with anyone for longer than a second, so I snuggle up against Konrad instead. His arms falls around me.
“You guys are so stupid.”
I peek out at Alan. His lanky arms are crossed, and he’s shaking his head at Konrad and me. If he didn’t have a smile on his face, I might’ve been offended. “Why?” I ask.
“The main Inexplicable Development theory,” he says. “It’s obviously true.”
“What do you mean?” I say, tensing up.
Alan sweeps his arm at Ashley, Jodie, and Lauren, and says, “We’ve known for days what you guys wished for.”
The three all nod in unison.
Goose bumps spring up all over my body. The Inexplicable Development Theory: the theory that says all IDs stem from a trigger originating in the person to whom the ID happens—that IDs are a reaction to a powerful desire. A wish coming true.
In Konrad’s case, it always made sense. But I never wished to be ugly. So what powerful desire could possibly explain why this happened to me?
Confused, I tilt my head at Konrad. And in his expression, in his swelling eyes and parting lips, I see it dawn on him at the same time it dawns on me.
I’m suddenly so hot, I duck under Konrad’s arm and step away so I can breathe properly.
“You’re saying that I wished for …” I look at Konrad, the skin on my entire body—especially on my face—on the verge of burning off. “… for … Konrad?”
“Well,” Ashley says. “Sure. That’s one way of putting it.” She looks at Alan and smiles. “We thought of it more like you guys each wishing for, you know, love.”
Lauren winks at me. “Cheesiest shit I’ve ever seen.”
Eyes shining, Jodie says, “Most romantic shit ever is more like it.”
Alan’s singing now: “Konrad and Camilla, sitting in a tree …” Jodie and Lauren and Ashley join in. Everyone’s laughing and going aww. But I’m speechless.
Did I really wish for love that much without even being fully aware of it?
Could be …
But if that’s the case, and my own wish was the reason for my Development, then the universe chose one twisted way to grant it.
It’s happened before. With IDs, there are no set rules on how people get what they want. Sometimes, happiness takes a roundabout path.
It would mean that I was partly right from the beginning. Konrad might not have been directly responsible, but he did have something to do with my ID. He was involved, only in a way I could never have imagined.
It would also mean I did this to myself.
I look at Konrad.
Was it worth it?
He’s looking at me. His face is redder than ever. I melt under his shy smile.
Fuck. I think it was.
“So we good?” Ashley asks, basking in my state of shock.
“Yeah,” Lauren says. “Can we do the drop tower now?”
“YES!” I announce.
“You guys go,” Jodie says, tossing her pretzel wrapper into a nearby trash can.
“Jodie,” I say, lowering my chin and making my eyes into slits.
Alan steps in after her with Ashley by his side. With a tilt of her head, Lauren invites me and Konrad to follow.
Konrad takes my hand and he doesn’t let it go. Not even when we’re free-falling on the drop tower, our stomachs flying up to our throats, air pummeling our faces.
He only holds it tighter.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Melissa Edwards and Alison Weiss. You made this book not only possible but also infinitely better. Thank you for making my freakin’ dream come true.
Konrad and Kamila. I like your names. ;) Love you, guys.
Wojtek, Madoka, Alan, Ayumi, Yusuke, Jango, Piotr, Amina, Fleur. Your cheers and support mean the world to me. I’m beyond lucky to have friends like you.
Mamo i Tato. Dziękuję za Wasze wsparcie, wiarę we mnie i zrozumienie. Kocham Was.
Babciu, Dziadziu. Opowiadaliście mi o nocnych tęczach i ufoludkach, które lubią kapustę. Rozbudziliście moją wyobraźnię, za co będę Wam na zawsze wdzięczny.
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