The Downside of Popularity

32| New Target

Alina
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The fire crackled, sending puffs of brilliant orange sparks up against the black sky. Seven pairs of eyes, including mine, stared at Cody as he tallied the numbers on the score sheet. A little tense, I flicked my fingers in the air. This was it...

“And the overall winners of this game are…” My breath hitched. “Drum roll please?”  The boys created a steady beat by drumming on their thighs. “Thank you,” Cody grinned, touching his closed fingers to his forehead in salute.

“And our winners are… Jalina!”

It took me a while to recognise the ship name, but I couldn’t help the scream that erupted from my throat when I bounced off the log, throwing my hands wildly in the air.

“OMG, we won!!” I kept repeating.

I didn’t notice someone was lifting me until I saw Jake’s nose right in front of me. He grinned, twirling me around and provoking a round of high-pitched giggles from my throat. Tipping my head up at the dark sky, I smiled at a blinking rainbow star, spreading my hands like I was about to take flight. “This is so great, Jake. I never thought we’d win a couple’s ga—”

The crash of Jake’s lips against mine didn’t let me complete my sentence. Three seconds was all it took for my brain to register what was happening and for me to kiss him back. My lips followed Jake’s rhythm, creating a mind of its own. When I felt his tongue touch the tip of mine, I opened my mouth a little wider, letting him deepen the kiss. Scratch that kiss that happened in the hallway, this was my first real kiss. It felt even better than that one did.

I swear I would have kissed Jake for the rest of eternity if my brain hadn’t registered the sound of someone’s wolf whistle.

Our lips broke apart at the same time, but Jake stayed there, forehead resting on mine.  “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to do this,” he breathed, eyes sparkling as he dropped me to the ground.

I staggered on my feet, secretly touching my tingling lips as I made my way back to the bonfire. Ever since the day that first kiss happened, I’d wanted to kiss Jake again – to reassure myself there hadn’t been any fireworks and I wasn’t imagining it happened. Who would’ve thought Jake had such thoughts too?

Still in a flurry haze, I watched Bodie and Ashley excuse themselves from the group. Ashley, giving me a sly wink as she followed Bodie towards the beer pong table.

“Wasn’t that something?” Bianca breathed, settling next to me.

“Yeah,” I admitted breathily. “It was.”

Lifting a suggestive brow at me, Bianca erupted into a fit of giggles. “I think I should leave you alone to your fantasies now,” she chuckled, scrambling to her feet. I stared at her with pursed lips, watching as she ran over to join Cole, Sharon and Cody at the cliff’s edge.

My eyes caught Laurie and Jake, talking nearby. Laurie spoke to Jake with an urgent expression etched across her face as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

The hot steam that puffed out of my ears as I narrowed my eyes in their direction could cook a pot of broccoli.

“Now, that’s just a bad sign.”

I jumped and spun to see who’d echoed my thoughts. A girl I didn’t recognize perched next to me. 

“Hey.” She nudged me with her shoulder, blonde box braids swinging. “I’m sure you can tell what she’s trying to do right?” she asked, her narrowed hawk eyes trained on Laurie as she led Jake down the path that led back to the beach.