Sixteen Kisses: A novella Read online

  “What’s with the change?” Eli asked. “It had to be Selena, right? That outfit is so her.”

  I slid into my chair with a laugh. Poor Eli. He was head over heels for Selena, and she really did flirt with him as much as Ben said she did. But, as much as she loved to string him along, her heart belonged to someone else. Someone older, dumber, and related to me. “It’s mostly Selena,” I agreed. “But the shirt was Jared Clayton’s doing. I think they’re conspiring together now.”

  Eli’s head jerked back in surprise, and Dominic’s eyebrows climbed up his forehead. “Jared Clayton encouraged this?”

  I rolled my eyes, and tugged at the hem of my shirt. “This was his birthday present to me this morning. He tricked me into promising I’d wear it.”

  Dominic’s surprise turned into confusion, but it was Eli who asked the next question. “Jared is encouraging you to hook up with other guys? He’s okay with that?”

  The question startled me. Why was that so surprising? Glancing back and forth between my two friends, who both seemed sincerely shocked that Jared would encourage me to date, I frowned. “Why wouldn’t he?”

  Eli and Dominic shared a meaningful glance. “No reason,” Eli said. It was clearly a lie.

  When I didn’t buy it, Dominic shrugged and said, “He just always seems so…”

  “Into you,” Eli finished.

  Dominic nodded. “I was going to say protective, but, yeah, it’s more like he’s staked a claim.”

  Words would not come out of my mouth. I tried several times, but my jaw just flopped open and closed, soundlessly, like a fish’s. When I was finally able to speak, I said, “You can’t be serious.” But my heart didn’t match the doubt in my voice. Suspicion had crept its way into my mind. A feeling that I quickly realized wasn’t just disbelief, but hope.

  I tried not to sound too obvious when I said, “You really think Jared likes me?”

  A loud snort interrupted our conversation, and a new voice said, “Jared Clayton? Please. That guy’s been having wet dreams about you since you grew boobs.”

  I shook my head at the newcomer. Kolby Sanderson is that guy. The one who is somehow likeable, even though he is a total dipshit. We were friends, though for the life of me I couldn’t understand why. “Classy, Sanderson.”

  He grinned. “You’re looking hot today. I hope it’s not all for Clayton, ’cause that wuss is never going to man up.”

  “Actually it’s all for you, baby,” I deadpanned. “You want to find a supply closet after class, and make all my wildest fantasies come true?”

  Eli and Dominic both cracked up because, yeah, like that would ever happen. Kolby flipped them off, and leaned down until his face was even with mine. “Speaking of wet dreams,” he said in a low voice, trying and failing to be sexy. “I gotta go change my shorts now.”

  I smacked him away from me. “Ugh, you are so gross.”

  He stood back up with a laugh, and made a very obscene gesture at me with his tongue as he took his seat. He then continued to make kissy faces at me all through class. Sadly, this wasn’t all that unusual for him.

  What was strange was the way Dominic kept watching me. At one point, I met his stare with a questioning look. He tried to glance away, but his eyes dropped to my shirt quickly before he could completely avert his gaze. At least, it better have been my shirt he was looking at.

  I tried not to analyze his strange behavior, or do any of my own staring, but I kept thinking about the way he’d been looking at my shirt. Could he be considering kissing me? Was he one of the guys Jared had mentioned that liked me? I snuck a glance over at him, and was caught. I wanted to die of embarrassment. From then on, I kept my eyes glued to the front of the room.

  By the time class was over, I’d practically given myself an ulcer. I felt awkward and nervous. I was going to read into everything every guy said or did from now on. I’d never feel comfortable around another guy again. And guys made up ninety-eight percent of my friends. Grr! This was so frustrating. Thanks a lot, Jared.

  I was mentally cursing the cute cowboy, and trying not to act weird in front of Dominic, Eli, and Kolby, as I exited my first class, and therefore didn’t notice Aki Fujimoto until he was standing right in front of me. Aki was a junior, and a guy I knew fairly well, but we weren’t necessarily friends outside of school. He was cute and nice, but we usually hung in different circles. That’s why I was so surprised when he stopped me on my way to second period, and greeted me with a boisterous “Happy Birthday, Cassie!”

  He spread his arms out wide as if he meant to give me a big bear hug. When I stepped up to him, he placed his hands on my cheeks, and pulled our faces together, lips to lips.

  Holy crap, I was being kissed!

  And then, by the time I was done registering this single thought, the kiss was over and Aki was grinning at me.

  That was it. My first kiss. It had come out of nowhere, lasted two seconds, and was in the hall in front of half my friends. Aki was cool and all, but he was my first kiss? Kind of a letdown. It hadn’t been a bad kiss, but it hadn’t made me feel anything. I didn’t swoon, like in the books. My knees didn’t give out like in the movies. It didn’t make me cringe like all the kissing horror stories you hear about. It had just been…a kiss.

  “So, was I the first?”

  Aki’s question made my stomach twist into a knot. “What?” Was I really so obvious? Did everyone here know that had been my first kiss?

  Aki pointed at my shirt. “Jared Clayton mentioned something about you needing birthday kisses today. Was I your first?”

  Jared what? Hot, sweet, older, well-mannered, perfect cowboy or not... I was going to kill him.

  Willing myself not to blush, I laughed in relief. Aki wasn’t asking if he was my first kiss, just if he was my first birthday kiss. Big difference. “Oh!” I blew out a big breath, relaxing as it sank in that I wasn’t about to be completely humiliated. “Yeah. You were the first.”

  Aki grinned. “Lucky me.”

  Lucky him? Wasn’t it supposed to be lucky me? It was my birthday. I was the one with the penny. I’d just gotten my first kiss ever, just like I’d wanted. I guess that meant I was lucky. The kiss wasn’t magical, but at least it was over with. And I hadn’t made an idiot of myself.

  “My turn!”

  I didn’t even know who’d said that until Aki’s friend Shelton planted a smooch on me, very similar to the one Aki had just given me.

  What the heck was going on here? Jared was really a dead man.

  “That’s two,” Shelton said proudly. “Fourteen to go.”

  “Fourteen…?” My head was spinning. Two guys I was only kind of friends with had just kissed me twice in a row, within seconds of each other.

  Shelton raised a confused brow at me. “You’re sixteen today, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Sixteen years. Sixteen kisses. Two down, fourteen to go.”

  Oh! Okay. This was fine. I could play it cool. Just pretend I got kissed all the time. No big deal. I’d analyze everything with Selena later. For now, I was the same cool, confident Cassie that I always was. “Oh. Right. Yeah. Gotcha.”

  Shelton and Aki both laughed, and Aki slapped my hand. “Happy birthday, girl. See you in fourth.”

  “Yeah. Thanks.”

  The second Aki and Shelton strode away, Kolby stepped into my path. I didn’t need the mile-wide grin he shot me to know what he was thinking. I held up a hand to stop him. “Not a chance, Sanderson.”

  His smile immediately melted into a pout. “What? Why? You let Aki and Shelton have some lovin’.”

  I hadn’t exactly let them, but I wasn’t about to point that out to a guy who would follow their example. I shrugged. “I like them more than you.”

  Kolby’s frown deepened. “That’s a lie.”

  He was right. It was a lie. I liked Kolby a lot. I just had zero desire to kiss the pervert. “Sorry. They’re my birthday kisses. I get to choose who gives them to me.”

&nb
sp; I didn’t realize how that had sounded until Dominic said, “So, are you going to choose me, or what? I’m down to be number three.”

  My stomach fluttered a little. Dominic Cabrera is a good-looking guy. I’d crushed on him pretty hard when I first met him freshman year. He’d had a girlfriend then, but eventually we became good friends, and my crush faded. Still, I wouldn’t mind kissing him.

  Kolby must have seen the acceptance in my eyes because he pulled Dominic back and said, “No way. If you kiss Dom, then you have to kiss me, too. And none of that weak-ass closed-mouth crap. I want some tongue action, babe.”

  “Gross.” I shuddered at the thought of Kolby’s tongue in my mouth. “So not happening, Sanderson.”

  “Yeah, you wish, dude.” Dominic pulled Kolby back. “Leave the kissing to the real men.”

  This comment sparked a figurative pissing contest between Kolby and Dominic, which, of course, Eli had to get in on to prove his manliness even though he hadn’t offered to kiss me before then. Their argument was comical to say the least, and sparked the attention of several other kids passing in the hall. A couple of senior girls I recognized as friends of my brother slid up next to me with matching amused grins. “Are they arguing over who gets to kiss you?” Chloe, Ben’s current crush, asked.

  “Yeah. But they’re just being idiots,” I offered.

  We all turned to watch them just as Eli said to Kolby, “You cried at the end of Mockingjay!”

  Kolby came back with the same response he’d been giving us for months. “I did not! I had something in my eye!”

  What a load of crap. He totally cried. I burst into laughter with Eli and Dominic. There are some things that will never stop being hilarious. Kolby getting misty-eyed over Prim at the end of Mockingjay is definitely one of those things.

  Eli shook his head. “You bawled like a freaking baby, Sanderson. We all saw it. Don’t deny it.”

  We laughed even harder when Kolby glanced at Chloe and the other senior girl, Melissa, and blushed bright red. He then tried to own it. Puffing out his chest, he said, “So, what? I have a heart. Chicks dig sensitive guys.”

  Dominic threw his arm over my shoulder. “Sure, some girls, but we’re talking about Cassie. She’s badass. She doesn’t want to kiss some emo wimp crybaby. She needs a man who’s going to take charge—you know, throw her up against a locker and show her who’s boss.” He wriggled his eyebrows at me, making sure I understood the suggestion was an actual offer.

  I was not about to admit the thought of being thrown up against a locker and kissed by him made the hallway feel a few degrees warmer than it had before, so I shoved him away from me. “Anyone who throws me anywhere is going to get his butt kicked.”

  Melissa stepped forward with a laugh, shoving all three of my friends out of the way. “Maybe a man isn’t what she needs at all.”

  It was then that I received my third kiss.

  When Melissa grabbed my cheeks and pressed our mouths together, sound erupted around us. We’d gathered a small crowd, but I was sure from the amount of gasps, laughs, whistles, catcalls, and cheers that our audience had quadrupled in a second.

  The only thing I knew about Melissa Videla was that she was a senior transfer from San Diego, and was frequently in and out of detention. I honestly wasn’t sure if she was kissing me because she liked kissing girls, or if she was doing it for the attention. Either way, she was holding her kiss longer than either than either Aki or Shelton had.

  I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to push her away and hurt her feelings, or give off the impression that I had something against homosexual people—because I didn’t—but I wasn’t particularly enjoying this kiss, either. Not that I was completely disgusted, but it definitely wasn’t for me. I felt nothing other than awkward and uncomfortable. It was a confirmation of something I’d already known: I’m not gay.

  I never dreamed I’d kiss a girl. I’d never felt the need or even a curiosity. I’ve been sure of my sexual preference ever since I saw my first episode of Supernatural way back when the show started. Hello, those Winchester boys are tastier than anything on the Food Network. Even as a ten-year-old, I could recognize that.

  A loud deep voice boomed above the noise of the crowd. “All right, all right, break it up. What’s going on here—goodness gracious.”

  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.

  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?”
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  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.”