Sunkissed Serendipity

Chapter 72

Isla

"So his name is Julian?" my friend, Jasmine, asks when we meet up at lunch. I nodded, tucking my hair behind my ear, and over at the entrance of the lunchroom, the boy in question was looking over at me. Our eyes catch, and I smile before he looks away. Rylie follows my gaze and says, "Yup, definitely your boyfriend."

"This is so exciting!" Kayla says with a giant grin.

"But why didn't you tell us earlier?" Jasmine asks, and before I can answer, another question pops up.

"And did you say that the kiss on the first day of school was a joke?" Rylie asks, eyebrows scrunching together. I nod and then shake my head quickly. "I mean, yeah," I start. "But that kiss caught me off guard, and I wanted to tell you guys it was my boyfriend, but you guys asked questions, and in a rush, I said that."

Kayla whistles, "I don't remember much of it, but I think you said something along the lines of "it's just a joke"." She shakes her head, giving a long frown as she says, "It must have been tough if he heard it."

"He did," I say with a thin smile, wincing when I remember the exact word I shared. It was awful of me, and even worse for him to overhear.

"Aw shit," Jasmine says out loud. "I wonder how he felt."

"Awful," I say when I remember all that had happened the past week or all that was still happening. I still didn't make amends with him properly, and I'd never feel completely okay with it. I wanted to make it better. I needed to try and make it better. Right now was a start, but I haven't done everything I needed to. I still remember how awful he felt, his words, and how much emotion he had in his voice. I'd never seen him that way, and it was awful to know that I was the reason for that.

The girls share a wince together, but then all move on from the subject. "So," Rylie cuts in. "How did it happen?"

"Well, I met him in Hawaii, remember?" I start. "The guy that I kissed."

"Oh yeah, the dare!" Jasmine was proud that she remembered.

"I knew he looked familiar before he even kissed you last week," Kayla said, placing her hand under her chin. Yeah, we were going to be unpacking most of the story. Just our story, rather.

"So," I say at last. "We spent the entire summer together and went from friends to dating. It was very great."

"I can tell," Jasmine says, then reaches across the table. Raising her eyebrows in excitement, she asks, "Oh my God. Do you love bim?"

Rylie points at my face from beside me and says, "Of course she does. Look."

"Yeah, I do," I admit, leaning back on the chair. "How could I not know after spending the entire summer with the sweetest boy?"

Kayla laughs at me and says, "Yeah, she really does."

While the girls make fun of the way I was acting (I guess you can say I was blushing), I look over at the table a few feet down. Julian was sitting with his friends, and even though he was listening to something Cameron was sharing, his eyes found mine. I give him a smile in return, and he reciprocates that softly.

Yeah, I still needed to work on this.

•

I find Julian after school again. He was finishing up at his locker, so I hurriedly made it over to him. Before I can walk over to him, though, I slam into his chest. Looking up, I find the smile of someone I'm friends with and mutter my apologies. Kyler laughs it off and says, "What are you in a hurry for, babe?"