Becoming Flynn - a kissing booth fan fiction

Eighteen

So my senior year hadn't exactly started out the way I'd intended, but punching Tuppen in the face had been particularly satisfying. I meant what I'd said to Elle that day when we were sitting outside the principal's office, that no girl deserved to be treated like that. That skirt she'd worn had been crazy short, and yeah, I'd noticed just like every other guy in the parking lot. Which is probably why I'd then lied to Elle in the next breath about her being like my little sister. Because the truth was, I hadn't thought of Elle like that for awhile now. If I'm really honest, not for a couple of years.

Someone I cared about? Yes. Little sister? No.

Sure I still tease her the same way I always have, and I still look out for her like I always have, but other than that, I kind of avoid her outside of family stuff. It's just easier that way. She isn't making it easy though. I'm still mad that she forgave Tuppen so easily and agreed to go out with him. The guy's a jerk who thinks he's going to be king of the school after I leave at the end of the year - hence the choice I gave him. I told him it was up to him, either he cancelled his date with Elle, or he would end up with a broken nose. He made a smart decision, probably the first one of his life.

I didn't tell him to stand her up, though, that was all him. Which, might I add, just proves that he's a jerk and not worthy of Elle. He could have at least text her with an excuse. But no, he stood her up, but then had the nerve to rat me out, so now I'm on the phone with an angry Shelly who thinks it's all my fault. I mean, it's a little bit my fault, but it's also her fault for agreeing to go out with that jackass and it's Tuppen's fault for being a douche. But back to Shelly yelling in my ear...

"You do realize that you're not my dad, right?"

I can hear her pacing in her room and I can also picture her furious little face, which makes me grin as I lean back in my desk chair.

"Look, you've still got a lot to learn, kiddo."

Yeah, that was deliberate and Shelly takes the bait.

"Ugh! Kiddo? Oh my god! Ugh, if you were here I would beat you with my shoe!"

The thought of Elle trying to beat me up makes me grin even harder.

"Tuppen is a player." Straight up facts.

"So are you!" That may also be true, but it takes one to know one.

"And that's why I know he's wrong for you. You're gonna thank me one day."

She would be thanking me already if she knew the kind of shit guys like him said about girls they'd taken on "dates".

"Okay. Well today is not that day. It is not your job to monitor my dating life, do you understand me? The days of you controlling my life are over!" Like hell they are.

"We'll see about that." I hang up the phone, smirking.

I fully expect her to give me the silent treatment at lunch on Sunday, but I'll survive. It won't be the first time and the way this year has started, it won't be the last.

Except Elle's dad and mine just happen to give me a chance to redeem myself in her eyes almost as soon as we've sat down at the restaurant. Mike asks me about being a starter this year on the football team and of course my dad has to bring up the fact that Coach won't be happy that I got into a fight on the first day of school. And here's the kicker - Mike doesn't know why. It's clear from the mildly disguised look of panic on Elle's face that she didn't tell him.

Lee's quiet for once, so it's clear neither of them want our parents to know they were involved. I guess I can bear the bad rap for us all then. It's not like it will change anyone's opinion of me anyway, and it might just get me back in Elle's good books. Normally I wouldn't care, but if she's too angry with me she'll probably go out with someone even worse just to spite me. So I fob off Mike's question, telling him it was just an argument about something that happened at football camp. Then I excuse myself from the table, but not before catching the small look of appreciation on Elle's face.