by Dean, Ali
Melissa finally released me, giving me a playful wink that had me leaning more toward my just-trying-to-cause-trouble theory.
“Miss Videla, why am I not surprised?” my geometry teacher, Mr. Rugger, asked with a heavy sigh. “To the office. You too…” His gaze shifted to me, and he did a double take. “…Miss Caldwell.”
“But it wasn’t me. I didn’t do anything—she just…kissed me.”
I got no sympathy from my teacher. He simply held up his arm, and pointed the direction of the office. “Get moving, girls. Everyone else, go to class. The bell is about to ring.”
I sighed. Happy freaking birthday to me. It wouldn’t surprise me if Ben had heard Jared’s plan and put Melissa up to this. A trip to the office, and probably detention, for an inappropriate public display of affection—not to mention the rumors that were, no doubt, already flying—sounded like something Ben might consider a funny birthday prank. Even if he didn’t have anything to do with it, he was definitely going to get a good laugh out of it, so I added him to my people-I’m-going-to-kill-after-school list anyway.
Chapter 4
Principal Augustine let me off the hook. I’d love to blame the lucky penny, but I doubt luck had anything to do with it after Melissa explained that it had been all her fault. It was easy enough to believe her, considering she was being antagonistic on purpose and was sent to the principal at least twice a month while I, on the other hand, was pale-faced, had no explanations, and had never seen the inside of his office before.
Not having detention on my birthday was nice. But having to walk into class twenty minutes late when everyone, including my teacher, knew I’d been sent the principal’s office for kissing a girl in the hall? That was an experience I could have done without. The idiots I have geometry with burst into applause when I entered the room. Well, most of them. Some of them just whispered to each other, and a couple shot me looks of disgust.
Since I couldn’t flip the rowdiest of the catcallers off—that would definitely land me in detention—I did the only thing I could. I accepted the ribbing, and took a sarcastic bow. The class howled with laughter. “All right, that’s enough,” Mr. Rugger said. “Everyone settle down, or I’ll have you all here after school. Miss Caldwell, I assume you have a pass?”
I handed my teacher the slip of paper that Principal Augustine had written for me, excusing my tardiness. The look Mr. Rugger gave me made my cheeks flush. He seemed embarrassed to meet my eyes. So awkward. “Sorry for the interruption,” I mumbled, and quickly got to my seat.
The girl who sat behind me was one of the few who’d scowled when I came in the room. Not a shocker. Heather Beri has never liked me. She’s a typical Popular Girl. So, naturally, the tomboy cool chick that hangs with all the guys she considers her territory is an unwelcome thorn in her side. I can’t help it if they like me better than her, though. She’s a catty, self-centered, stuck up you-know-what. The guys all know it. They date her because she’s hot, and she puts out, but they genuinely like me. She and I both know that, and she hates me for it. As I took my seat, her scowl deepened and she leaned forward to my desk. “Nice of you to finally come out, Cassie, but spare the rest of us the show next time. Not all of us want to watch you make out with your girlfriend.”
I wasn’t ruffled. Heather, and other girls like her, weren’t worth the stress. As I pulled my math book from my backpack, I whispered, “If you’re really that jealous, Heather, I could introduce you. I doubt you’re Melissa’s type—too prissy and all—but you never know. She might see something in you that I don’t.”
Heather gasped, outraged, while everyone else around us snickered.
“Miss Caldwell, is there a problem?”
I gave Mr. Rugger a wide smile. “Not at all. I was just asking Heather what page we’re on.”
Yeah, Mr. Rugger wasn’t that dumb, but he didn’t bother to call me on it. “One sixty-four, Cassie.”
My grin stretched even further. “Thank you, Mr. Rugger.”
He turned back to the board with a sigh, and I shot a smug look at Heather as I hunted for a pencil in my backpack. Two rows over, I caught Eli’s wink of approval and grinned for real. Eli liked Heather about as much as I did. Of course, he’d appreciated the insult. It was nice to see that things were still normal with my closest friends, even if the rest of the class was still sneaking glances or outright staring at me. It was Eli’s wink that made me get over the embarrassment Melissa’s kiss had caused. My friends would be cool about it, and that’s all I cared about. The rest of the school could all go take a flying leap.
After class, Eli was standing beside my desk waiting for me before I was even packed up. He continued to stick close to my side as we made our way into the hall. Much closer than normal. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was hovering like a bodyguard, trying to protect me from any teasing or whispering. It was sweet. “You all good?” he asked.
“Yeah. No detention.” I smirked up at him. “I guess I looked shell shocked enough that I passed for innocent.”
“Oh, yeah, definitely. You should have seen your face.” He nudged my arm, and added in a more serious tone. “You really good? Cause Dom, Kolby, and I will have a chat with Melissa after school if you need us to.”
Ah, the offer of threats and violence to defend my honor and feelings: the mark of true friendship. “Thanks, but I’m really okay. She didn’t mean any harm, and, hey, now I know what it’s like to kiss a chick.”
Eli laughed. “All right. Cool. Let me know if anyone gives you too much crap.”
“Are you saying I can’t take care of myself?”
“No. But, if there’s going to be any action, I want in.”
I knew what he meant, but I couldn’t help teasing him. “You’re looking for some action, huh? So, I should add you to the list of guys lining up to kiss me?”
Eli shot me a dry smile. “No offense, Cass, but you’re not my type.”
I knew that. His was the much shorter, much girlier, much gigglier Latina type, like a certain best friend of mine. Still, I let out a breath. “No offense back, but you have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that.”
We met each other’s gazes and laughed together. “Just friends, then,” he said holding out a fist to me.
“Without benefits,” I agreed, pounding his fist with mine. “See you at lunch.”
We parted ways and I had about three seconds to prepare myself for the coming whirlwind of excitement, also known as my best friend. My third hour class was drama. I didn’t love it, but I needed an arts elective, and Selena made me sign up so that we’d be guaranteed at least one class together this year. It worked, and it was a good thing, too, as it turned out to be the only class we had together this year.
Selena was waiting near the entrance to the theater with our friends Rylin and Victoria. “Cassie!” she shrieked the moment she saw me. She grabbed me, and the three of them rushed me into the theater. “Holy cow, girl! Everyone is talking about it. I cannot believe I missed all the craziness!”
“I saw it!” Victoria cheered happily. “I missed the Aki and Shelton part, but I saw Melissa kiss you!”
“I can’t believe she did that.” Rylin shook her head. “Insane.”
Kolby plopped down in the seat behind us, grinning his face-splitting grin. “I think you mean insanely hot. Damn, Cass. You’ve got to do that again for me, so I can get it on video.”
I rolled my eyes while my friends all groaned. They put up with Kolby for my sake, but they didn’t have as high a tolerance for his particular brand of humor as I did. Yeah, he was a crass pervert, but he was my boy. We’re neighbors, and we’ve been riding quads and dirt bikes together since we were big enough to climb on them. He’d signed up for drama with me, knowing that the girl to boy ratio would be drastically in his favor. The guy was hopeless, though, and, until he got some kind of clue, no favorable ratio in the world would do him any good.
“So…?” Selena asked me.
That question had so
many possible answers. I was at a loss as to what she wanted from me. “So…what?”
“The story, duh! Tell us everything!”
I propped my feet up on the seat in front of mine, and glanced around the auditorium. The bell hadn’t rung yet and our theater teacher, Ms. Schulenburg, was still MIA. “There’s not really much to tell. Jared showed up to my house early this morning because he knew my mom would cook breakfast, and he tricked me into wearing this ridiculous shirt.”
“It’s cute,” Selena interrupted. “The man has great style.”
“Whatever. He made me wear the shirt. Then, after first, Aki saw it and decided to follow the instructions. Shelton jumped on the Cassie train right after him.”
“You kissed Aki and Shelton?” Rylin sighed wistfully. “You’re so lucky.”
“They kissed me. And I don’t know if it was lucky, because it encouraged this tool”—I pointed my thumb at Kolby—“to try and join the party.”
All three girls heaved shudders, and I laughed at the pout on Kolby’s face. “Then, he and Dom got in this ridiculous argument over who deserved to kiss me next and—”
“No way!” Victoria’s eyes snapped wide, and she leaned forward, grabbing my arm. “They seriously fought over who got to kiss you?”
I’m not sure why that, of everything I’d just said, was the biggest news. “Yeah. But, neither of them actually did because, while they were arguing, Melissa Videla laid one on me that got us sent to the principal’s office.”
Again, Victoria didn’t react the way I expected her to. “Oh my gosh! Jared was right!”
And here I thought I’d have to talk about my now-infamous kiss with Melissa. I was happy about the new topic…and not happy about it at the same time. “What do you mean? What was Jared right about?”
Victoria’s eyes lit up at the opportunity to tell me new gossip. “So, my first hour is next to his, right? I was standing out in the hall, talking to Jace Christiansen, when Jared met a group of his friends right next to us.”
“And…?” I didn’t need the specifics. My heart was pounding as I waited to hear what Jared had said about me.
“One of Jared’s friends saw him walk you to class—which is totally romantic by the way—and she asked him what was up with you guys.”
My heart went from pounding to lurching in a single breath. “What’d he say?”
Victoria grinned. “Well, he wouldn’t confirm whether he was in to you or not, but he blushed when they asked him if he was going to ask you out. Then, he smoothly ignored the questions and said it was your birthday. When he mentioned the birthday kisses thing, Ben said he’d never find sixteen guys willing to kiss you, but Jared said it would only take one guy to start it, and then they’d all be fighting over you. And he was right.”
My face heated up. “Oh, my gosh. I’m seriously going to kill him. He actually went around asking people to kiss me?”
Victoria shrugged nonchalantly, but the smile on her face gave away her excitement. “Not really. He just said it would be cool if you got sixteen kisses today for your birthday. Then, he may have mentioned someone would have to be brave enough to give you the first one, and he may or may not have dared a few guys to step up.”
I choked on some spit. “Are you freaking kidding me?”
“Hey, take advantage,” Selena said. “I overheard Scott Williamson say it was a cool idea. He’ll probably go for it.”
Victoria, Rylin, and I all gasped.
“Scott Williamson?” Kolby blurted. “No joke?”
Selena nodded, like a bobble head doll on the dashboard of a car driving down a dirt road. “Sure. He’s even between girlfriends at the moment. Until I can snag him anyway.” She winked.
I was so stunned by the possibility of Scott Williamson kissing me, I felt a little dizzy. “Holy crap. I’d probably faint if Scott kissed me.” He is only the most popular, hottest guy in the entire school. He was Homecoming king this year for heaven’s sake.
Kolby scoffed. “Just because the guy has some looks—”
“Some looks?” I laughed.
“Doesn’t mean he can kiss.”
“Oh, I’m sure he can kiss,” Rylin promised.
None of us girls had actual first hand knowledge of that, but we all nodded, sure she was correct. There was no way a guy like Scott Williamson wasn’t an amazing kisser.
“Who can kiss?”
The question startled all of us from our Scott Williamson daydreaming. Asher Pepin and Wyatt Rogers, the two main male stars of the drama program at Desert Ridge High were waiting for a response. They’d sat in the row in front of us girls—no doubt intentionally, as they had shamelessly butted their way into our conversation.
It was weird because they’d never paid any of us a speck of attention before. They were older—Asher a senior and Wyatt a junior—and they were real drama people. They took all this very seriously, and it was obvious that my friends and I fell into the group of people who needed to fill an elective. None of us had anything against each other, but we weren’t on chatting terms.
“Uh…” Rylin was a little tongue-tied. “Scott Williamson. Um, I mean, not that I would know, or anything. We’re just assuming….” She blushed, and I didn’t blame her.
Asher and Wyatt shared a surprised look before grinning at me. “Scott Williamson, huh? That’s setting the bar pretty high for the rest of us,” Wyatt said.
I should have seen it coming from the second they sat down, but it was a shock to realize they were talking about kissing me. I blinked at Wyatt. “The rest of you? Like, as in you, you?”
Wyatt gestured back and forth between him and Asher with a laugh. “As in both of us.”
“What?”
“We heard about your birthday kisses, and we’re hoping you can help us settle an argument.”
Asher folded his arms and, with a completely serious face said, “Who’s the better stage kisser?”
Selena, giddy at this new development, squeaked, “Yes! She’ll totally do it!” I glared at my traitorous best friend, and she shoved my shoulder. “Oh my gosh, girl, if you don’t, I will. Now, go.”
“Yeah, do it,” Victoria encouraged.
Rylin nodded enthusiastically.
“Um….” I glanced back at Asher and Wyatt. Was this seriously happening? They didn’t look like they were joking. “Sure…?”
Okay, I’ll admit it. I completely caved to peer pressure. But, hey, I’d already been kissed three times today. What was two more, right? And really, I could think of worse things than kissing either Asher or Wyatt. So, why not? It was my sixteenth birthday. I was allowed to be adventurous.
Wyatt’s face beamed, and he reached over his seat to take my hand. “Then come, fair Juliet. Act one, scene five awaits.”
It took me a moment to register what he’d said and apply meaning to it. I put on the brakes just before we reached the stairs leading up on stage. “Wait, you mean you want me to act out a scene with you?”
Wyatt stopped, and answered me with a wicked grin. “You know it, right? We all had to memorize it for last week’s test.”
My breathing quickened. “Well, yeah, I memorized it for the test, but…”
Wyatt started pulling me up on stage again. Asher was right behind us, gently nudging me forward. “Perfect. We get extra credit for performing the scenes we have to memorize.”
Suddenly, I was up on stage with Wyatt and Asher, and the whole drama class was watching us with intrigue. My stomach rolled. “Yeah, but I memorize everything so that I don’t need to do the extra credit. Can’t you guys just, like, kiss me or something?”
Asher moved me to center stage and faced me toward Wyatt. With an encouraging squeeze of my shoulders, he whispered, “You’ll do great. We’ll shorten it for you.”
“Sure,” Wyatt said, grinning that devilish grin again. “We’ll skip right to the kiss. Almost no acting.”
As he grabbed my hand and pulled me close, Asher faced our classmates. “The beaut
iful Cassandra Caldwell has agreed to stand in as Juliet for a stage kiss-off between Wyatt and me.” The entire group laughed, and I had the sneaking suspicion that the obnoxious whistle was courtesy of Selena. “We’ll let you guys be the judge.”
It was definitely Selena who shouted, “I think Cassie should get to decide the winner.”
What had seemed like an exciting adventure a moment before, turned into the ultimate mortification when Ms. Schulenburg stepped forward, taking control of the class. I thought for sure this was where I’d get the detention I’d miraculously avoided earlier, but my drama teacher smiled and shook her head at Selena. “Ah, but Cassie won’t be in a position to see the kiss, Selena, so I’m afraid she can’t be the judge. No, we’ll let the class decide.”
My jaw dropped and, in my shock, I blurted, “You’re going to let us do it?”
Ms. Schulenburg laughed. “Of course. This is a great learning opportunity for everyone. Kissing scenes are an important part of any stage production. It was very kind of you to volunteer, Cassie.” She waved her hand. “You may proceed.” To the class, she added, “Watch carefully for the different styles and techniques from both Wyatt and Asher. You’ll be surprised how much a kiss can change a scene.”
And I thought being kissed by a girl was bad. What had I just gotten myself into? I wanted to find a nice big rock and crawl under it. Could I back out? Change my mind? Would Ms. Schulenburg be disappointed and hold it against me for the rest of the semester? Probably not. This wasn’t an assignment, after all. But she looked so thrilled.
Didn’t matter. I couldn’t do this. I was so bailing. I took one step, and, as if he’d read my mind, Wyatt grabbed my hand and whirled me around to face him. There was a twinkle in his eyes as he flattened our hands together, palm to palm. “O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do,” he recited, moving our hands up, as if we were praying together. “They pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.”
He looked into my eyes, wet his lips, and I totally blanked. Utterly and completely. Epic. Acting. Fail. I couldn’t even remember what we were doing, much less the line I was supposed to repeat. All I could think about was my hand clutched in Wyatt’s, and how he was bringing it to his lips. “I—what?”