How to Hook a Bookworm (How To #3)

by Cassie Mae

  “Give me my first kiss. And do it quick. Before I’m sixteen. Then I can wish for something else when I blow out my candle. Win-win.”

  He scratches the top of his head, smooshing several of his reddish spikes and still holding the candle in his hand. “You serious? I can’t tell.”

  “Yeah, I’m serious.”

  “And you’re okay with that? No weirdness?”

  “No weirdness. Promise. I just, want to feel less lame about it. I don’t know.” My palms fill with sweat. Did I seriously just ask him that? I’ve lost my freaking mind. Must be the fumes from the beat up car. “Forget it. We’re running out of time anyway.”

  He lets out a breath, setting down the candle and turning toward me. “You can’t tell Levi. He’d beat the shit out of me.”

  I laugh, because like Levi would beat the shit out of anyone. Maybe give him a stern talking to.

  Adam gulps and looks me straight on, his brown eyes light and friendly, but also kind of nervous. “And you gotta promise you won’t get mad that I took something that could’ve been highly special for you. First kisses are big. But they’re awkward too, so don’t expect fireworks, ‘kay?”

  I roll my eyes, because he should know better. I’m not that girl. I don’t get bubbly or excited about this kind of stuff, even though everyone and their mom thinks I should. I want my first kiss from someone I trust. And before I’m fifty-two and losing my hair.

  “It will be special, Adam. You’re my best friend.”

  He smirks, checks his watch again, then settles his hands on my cheeks. “I do know how to be a friend,” he says, then his lips inch their way closer to mine. I don’t have time to change my mind or back out or tell him I was sort of joking. And once he’s kissing me, I’m glad I didn’t.

  My hands automatically plant themselves to the sides of his shirt. I don’t dream about this stuff, so I don’t know how my body knows what to do, but it does. And the first kiss always seemed like it was overrated to me, but I can see that I severely under…under…underestimated its value.

  I feel connected to him on a much deeper level than I ever thought I could. Like it’s just his lips, but it’s a part of Adam I haven’t seen before. It makes me happy that he’s letting me experience it—that he trusts me enough to know how his lips move when he kisses. How gentle his hands are. How controlled he is, yet uncontrollable too. He breaks away before I have a chance to get really into it, but I feel every moment of that kiss as if it were a million moments.

  Adam grins, drops his hands, and immediately plops the candle into the Reese’s Big Cup. He clicks the lighter on and puts it in my face as he lights it up. “Now that I’ve proved you wrong, you can wish for another wish that you think is impossible…but really isn’t.”

  I bite my smile back, focusing on the reflection the flame makes in Adam’s glasses. Maybe this year, I can find it in me to let go of the attitude, make friends who are my age, and try to be happy. I wonder if Adam laces his kisses with caffeine or something, because I feel like I’m on a major high. Closing my eyes, I suck in a breath and hold it.

  I wish for a better heart so someone will want a piece of it.

  Then I let the air out, the flame disappearing into smoke that floats over Adam’s head and into the night sky.

  Chapter 2

  I know I wished for a better heart, but a hot new guy with some serious cash is good too.

  Okay…people are acting really weird today.

  I mean, the people in my school always act weird, but they’re acting super weird.

  My eyes scan our cafeteria, my brows inching lower and lower as I try to figure out why it’s so loud in here. Why the popular beauties are suddenly talking to the science geeks. Why the nerd table isn’t playing their Dungeons and Dragons game. Why are even the teachers buzzing with the lunch staff? Seriously… what’s going—

  “It has happened.”

  I jolt in my seat as Jolie, one of my four friends, takes her normal spot across from me. Her lunch tray is overloaded with lettuce and a big orange juice because she won’t eat anything other than salad at school. Last year Steve Harpes gave her shit about eating two slices of pizza and hitting the vending machines for a Snickers. Jolie’s a bit on the heavy side, but what the hell is it Steve’s business what she eats?

  I pick a crouton off her plate and ask, “What has happened?”

  “You know all those movies when the hot new guy appears out of thin air, in the middle of the semester, only to sweep you off your feet with his accent and money? Well, apparently, that’s not a fantasy. It actually happens. And Orchard High is now one of those movies. We just have to figure out what lucky girl will be playing the lead.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Her fork pauses on her ranch covered lettuce as she glares at me. She doesn’t like it when I cuss. I try to keep it to a minimum around her, but sometimes I forget.

  Sierra plops down on the other side of me with a gusty sigh she usually reserves for my brother. “Have you guys seen him yet?” She settles her chin on her hand with a lovesick look on her face. I wrinkle my nose. “Don’t give me that look, Brea. He’s quite possibly the sexiest sixteen-year-old I’ve ever seen.”

  Jolie laughs, sliding a big chunk of lettuce past her teeth. Ranch collects in the corner of her mouth, but she quickly licks it away. “You have a boyfriend. Let the rest of us ogle.”

  “Oh, Levi is still the sexiest guy I’ve ever seen. Hands down.”

  “Even in that old band uniform?” Jolie waves her fork in teeny circles, suppressing another laugh.

  “Especially then,” Sierra answers, then she goes back into blissful sighs. “The way that sash hangs across that muscular torso, and oh, those red slacks make his butt look so tight and—”

  “Okay, that’s my limit.” I hold my hand up before she keeps going. I’ll let girl talk slide, as long as I don’t have to hear about my brother’s tight anything. My eyes desperately search for Adam’s red-brown hair in the crowd. He always comes to my rescue, and I need him stat.

  “Adam’s not here today,” Sierra says before she reaches over and snags one of Jolie’s croutons as well. Jolie jabs her in the back of the hand with her fork. “He’s got some major sinus thing going on. I was going to go over later with movies and soup to keep him occupied while he’s out of commission. You wanna come?”

  I slouch back in my seat, sniffing a few times to see if I’ve caught anything because of my proximity to Adam last night, but all seems okay. The cold must’ve hit him out of nowhere or he’s lying his ass off, because he was totally fine twelve hours ago. “He doesn’t like soup. But yeah, I want to come.”

  Sierra’s forehead wrinkles, and she puts her slice of pizza to her lips. “Yes he does. I give him some every time he’s sick.”

  “He’s too nice to tell you he hates it.”

  “And you know this how…?”

  I shrug. “He told me.” It was actually pretty funny. I caught him dumping the last cup Sierra brought him in his dog’s food dish. His face when he saw me looking was priceless. Half panic, half embarrassment, then he begged me with his eyes not to say anything… whoops. Forgot about that part. My bad.

  “Don’t tell him I told you,” I dart in to cover my butt. Adam will figure it out though. I’ll make it up to him somehow.

  Jolie’s fork drops out of her hand, and she stares bug-eyed at something over my left shoulder. “Holy. Freaking. Shit.”

  Jolie just cursed. I almost comment on it, but Sierra laughs interrupting me.

  “I told you. Sexy… wet panty level.”

  Curse my curiosity. My head swivels around just to see just exactly how much Sierra’s exaggerating.

  But she isn’t. Not in the least.

  I can’t believe it, but the second my eyes land on him…whoever this piece of heaven is…my hearing goes fuzzy, my vision blurry, and my skin numb. I blink a few times to try to get a grip on myself, because I know I’m swaying and sw
ooning like every other female in this room, and probably a few of the males too. Hell, anyone with eyes.

  His dark hair is styled up in front, and a cowlick in the back that makes him look GQ sexy. He’s got a wide grin on his face so he doesn’t look like a complete douche. He’s wearing a leather jacket that’s probably worth as much as Levi’s moped, but he shrugs it off to sit in a seat across from who the hell knows because I can’t tear my eyes from him. The whitest T-shirt I’ve ever seen on a high school student pulls across his chest and hugs his arms.

  “You…you said he’s sixteen?” I croak, and big bubbled laughter jolts me out of the new guy trance and back to reality.

  “Is Brea actually expressing interest in a guy…out loud?” Sierra grabs Jolie’s arm and laughs again. “Check the thermostat! Hell must be freezing over!”

  “You guys are dorks.” I laugh, but I can’t help the blush creeping through my neck and cheeks. I pull my long hair around and quickly start braiding it, just to give my hands something to do. Wish I had my sketchbook. “I was just asking because he doesn’t look sixteen.”

  They exchange a glance like they know I’m full of shit, but they won’t call me out on it. Sierra takes a sip from her water bottle, then cracks her neck as if she’s about to give a speech in the auditorium. “Yes, he’s sixteen. A sophomore, like you. His mom just married Greg Garrick—yeah, the gajillionaire—and he took his last name probably to inherit that major fortune. So he moved out here, and his mom insisted he go to public school, not private like Greg wanted him to, because she wanted things to be as normal as possible or whatnot. He’s in Debate with me, and he’s ah-maz-ing…either that or I was way too distracted to give a good rebuttal. Don’t you dare tell Levi any of this because I love Levi and there is no point in getting him all revved up and jealous over something so stu—”

  “Sierra, I don’t talk to Levi about really anything. So don’t worry about it.”

  “So, you think you’ll talk to the new guy?”

  Jolie and Sierra lean in with big eyes, and I bolt out a laugh. “Guys, just because he’s my age doesn’t mean we have enough in common for me to just walk up and talk to him.” I shake my head and play with the cap from my juice. “Besides, I make better friends with seniors. You know that.”

  Sierra’s smile widens. “Especially Ad—”

  “We’re leaving at the end of the year.” Jolie cuts Sierra off, picking her fork up and diving into her salad. “You may as well make friends with people in your grade or high school will become a very lonely place for you.”

  Sierra nods, and I guess whatever she had to say about Adam wasn’t that important. I won’t tell them that school is already a lonely place, and that every time they talk about graduating I want to flee the conversation like an elephant flees from a mouse. But she has a point, and I should let myself open up enough to at least make one more friend who won’t be graduating this year.

  Problem with that is, the one time I let someone in, he picked up and left.

  ***

  My bladder is the size of a peanut. I knew I shouldn’t have had that full thing of apple juice, plus the rest of Jolie’s orange juice, but I had to keep chugging so I wouldn’t look over my shoulder every two seconds. And keeping my lips busy was priority one with all the he’s-so-hot-you-better-make-a-move talk. But I’m paying for it now. I practically had to get on my knees before Ms. Weber finally let me take the bathroom pass.

  I’m just getting to the girls’ room in the main hallway when I spot a tall guy with a bright white T-shirt shining under his jacket walking my way. My feet lose the ability to function properly, and I trip right into the water fountain.

  He smiles as he gets closer, and I know the appropriate response is to smile back, but I can’t make myself do it. I need in the bathroom now!

  “Hey,” he says with a wave as he passes. He sounds so casual. Like, “Dude, we know each other. What’s up?” I straighten my stance and try to get my feet to move again.

  “Hey.”

  I turn my neck to watch him retreat, letting my gaze float to his ass. But he turns around on me, and suddenly I’m looking dead on his crotch. My eyes zap up as my face flames.

  His mouth forms an “o” and he snaps his finger. “Do you know where the G hall is?”

  I gulp, and nod, pointing over his right shoulder. “Two hallways down, take a left, then a right. It’s kind of hidden away.”

  He lets out a sigh of relief and throws me a smile that must’ve been given to him by gods. “Thank you. I’ve been looking for it all day. It’s my last class, and I figured I’d get a hall pass just to find the damn thing.”

  I laugh, and I’m surprised it comes out completely normal. I feel like I’m clenching every body part. “It took me a year to find the guidance counselor’s office. This place is a maze.”

  “Tell me I’ll get the hang of it at some point.”

  “Just follow the crowd. You’ll eventually get blown into a classroom and maybe learn something.”

  He laughs, and it’s gravelly but light, and damn it…so, so fine. “What grade you in?”

  “Tenth.”

  “Me too.” He takes a step back toward me and the water fountain. I jam my hands in my pockets because I have no idea what to do with them. “I’m Jay. Not the letter…but the actual name…” He puts a hand over his face and mumbles through his fingers. “That sounded much smoother in my head.”

  He could’ve said his name was Dinkleberry, and I would’ve swooned in my pants. “I’m Brea. Like the cheese, but with an accent.”

  “See, that’s a smooth introduction.”

  Now, to find a smooth way out of this conversation so I don’t end up doing the potty dance in front of him.

  “Well, I um…gotta get back to class. Come find me if you need any more navigation expertise.”

  “Oh…” His smile twitches like he’s trying hard to keep it there. “Um, I will. Thanks again.”

  “No problem.” I’m not trying to blow him off. I’m trying to prevent an accident here. But I don’t have time to reassure him, so I turn on my heel and walk as casually as possible around the corner. Once I’m out of his sight, I bolt to the nearest restroom. It’s not till I’m washing my hands that I realize I had a pretty normal conversation with someone outside of my circle of friends. Let’s hope my bladder shuts the hell up if I get the chance for another one.

  Chapter 3

  They never put enough red M&Ms in the bag

  “Give me two seconds, and we’ll get running,” Sierra says, flinging her front door open. Whenever I can, I hang out at Sierra’s house because it’s so big in comparison to my shoe box of a trailer. I like my own space, don’t get me wrong, but I like how her kitchen is separated from her living room, and that she has stairs. Reminds me of my old house.

  Sierra wraps her shoulder-length brown hair up into a ratty bun on her head and snaps an elastic band on it while she fills her cheeks with air. She looks at the cupboards in her kitchen like they’re giving her a brain teaser.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Something for Adam. He needs something, and soup is out I guess.”

  She’s so funny. Like he’ll be able to taste anything if his sinuses are jacked up. “I’m sure he’d be cool with a book. Or a word search.”

  She snorts at my joke, but I’m not really kidding. Adam loves all those word games. She whips open a drawer that’s loaded with papers, pens, batteries, other junk, and starts digging. Another thing about her I love and hate…she’s determined to make people happy when they feel like crap. I’m cool when it’s anyone but me. Last time I was pissed off about… I don’t even remember…but I told her to leave me alone and let me wallow, damn it. She pouted and ended up crying to Levi about how she just wanted to help, and I’m making it difficult for her to be a “mentor.” The second she left Levi gave me an hour long lecture on respect and yadda yadda. Basically, don’t piss off older brother’s girlfriend. Got it.
>
  But when she gets protective mother-bird over Adam—and Levi—I’m okay with it. Because I’m glad someone’s looking out for them.

  The front door creaks open, and Sierra stops dead in her search. She looks over my head and out into the foyer. “Uh… hello?”

  It’s quiet for a few seconds. I grab my backpack ready to wield it as a weapon if need be, and Sierra slides a Sharpie out of the drawer. Thank goodness she has me here. What damage is that going to do?

  Then a big head of red hair and a bright yellow shirt that says “Keep Calm and Watch Star Wars” leaps into my line of vision. I jolt back, and Sierra screams chucking the Sharpie across the room.

  “Guess who?!”

  Clutching my chest, I catch the breath knocked out of me and train my heart back to its normal pace while Sierra runs around the kitchen bar and plows into her sister, Zoe, nerd of the year. Self-proclaimed title.

  “What are you doing here?” Sierra squeals behind Zoe’s back. I shift a little and sit on one of the bar stools to keep out of the way of the reunion.

  “I’m kidnapping you.” They pull back, and I can see both their faces light up with smiles. I can’t help but let that attach warm fuzzies around my heart. I hope things are like that between me and Levi whenever we get to see each other after he moves out. But seeing as we’re not all that close now, I find it unlikely.

  “Okay, where are we going?” Sierra asks, her bun already coming loose from jumping up and down.

  “We’re getting fabric. My Maid of Honor gets to create all the outfits. Because…get this…Zak got the job!”

  “Agh!”

  They hug again, and I pop my gum for something to do with my mouth. I’m not real good at floating into conversations, even though I was here first. Especially when they involve people I don’t really know. Zoe was Levi’s best friend for a while, but then he started hanging out with Sierra more, and I rarely see Zoe around. And I know two things about Zak. He’s Zoe’s fiancé, and he’s got dark brown hair. Yeah…that pretty much covers my knowledge on the guy.