Carly holds her textbooks painfully close to her chest, hiding as much of herself as she can behind a rectangle of pages. Even though she prays Kendra notices her, she simultaneously wishes it was easier to disappear.
Because Kendra is right there, as in right there, as in right across the hallway from Carly as she shuffles around in her locker. Just the scent of her overpowering perfume can make her knees weak, even though Carly knows it isn't supposed to. Her mom always laughs about how middle school is when you finally discover to magic of boys, but all she can ever think about is this one particular girl.
She waits until the bell rings before shutting her locker door, waiting for Kendra to walk away first. But Carly never hears her gentle footsteps on the well-worn tile, and she has to turn, just so she won't be late.
As she walks past, a little slower than usual, Kendra starts to smile at her, and Carly smiles back, knowing that her own thin lips can never reciprocate the kind of grin Kendra always gives her.
When she's halfway down the hall, Kendra calls out to her. "Hey!" Carly looks back just in time to see her blowing her a kiss, "see you at lunch!"
If the kiss had to land anywhere, she reasons, it would land on her cheek.
So Carly holds her hand there for a lot longer than she should.
YOU ARE READING
Osculation
Romance"As far as I can tell, there are two basic (kissing) rules: 1. Don't bite anything without permission. 2. The human tongue is like wasabi: it's very powerful, and should be used sparingly." In which Anna writes about a lot of people kissing.
