Shut Up And Kiss Me (gxg) ✓

7. F*ck It Up

       KISS A STRANGER. KISS a fucking stranger.

       Why did the thought of that make every nerve in my body thrum, every muscle in my back stiffen? It was stupid. It was beyond stupid. And―

       I really didn't want Skylar to kiss Monroe.

       I knew I should say something, but in gym class on Tuesday morning, it was all Skylar could talk about. Kissing Monroe―and Homecoming.

       "Talia? What dress are you going to wear?"

       The problem with being infuriated for absolutely no reason was that I wanted to bite Skylar's head off. "I'm not going."

       "What? We've been to every single dance since ninth grade! You can't just break our streak now."

       "I don't feel like it," I growled.

       "It's this Friday, you know." Skylar raised a patient, pink-tinted eyebrow at me. "You are absolutely not backing out."

       I was being a bitch, and I knew it. Besides, it wasn't Skylar's fault that I was questioning my sexuality. It was Monroe's.

      Just like that, I had a new place to direct my anger.

      Monroe fucking Kingston.

      "Alright, sorry," I said. "I'll come, it's just―I really don't have anything to wear. Nothing fits anymore."

      Skylar gave me a once-over. "Talia, as your best friend, I'm just going to tell you: it's your boobs."

      "What?"

      "She's right, Tal!" Cody said, jogging over. "You went from an A cup to a C cup over the summer."

      Skylar was already nodding before she rounded on Cody, who was dressed in fire-painted black jeans and a flannel. "Cody? What the fuck are you doing outside? You don't even have gym."

       Cody tossed his black hair, sapphire eyes bright under the piercing grey sky. "I'm ditching first period. I feel lonely―all of you have gym except for me."

       "Wait! Let's go back to the part where you said I have C cup boobs."

       "Oh, Talia," said Cody, sighing. "Everybody has noticed it. You're just oblivious."

       "But―"

       "Especially Aaron," Skylar added. 

       Aaron, across the field, was wrestling―shirtless―with one of his teammates. 

       Skylar let out a wolf whistle, capturing the attention of everyone in the fifty-yard field. The boys began to laugh, and some of the girls running ahead snickered, but―

       Coach Roberts yelled, "Decker! Tori! And―Beckham? What the hell are you doing out here?"

       "Giving the girls company," Cody said with a wink. "Do you need some too, sir?"

       "Cody, you can't flirt with everything that moves," hissed a girl nearby, Giselle Something. "And please, for the love of God, not our gym teacher too."

       Cody ignored that, and even from a distance, I could see the coach turning almost as vibrant a shade as his neon orange tracksuit.

       "Go seduce him," I said. "Maybe he'll give you a free pass."