Her List of Kisses

Chapter 9- Party Plans and Being Busted

“Let me see, let me see!” Kate chants. She has her hands clasped together before her, her eyes bright and her clothes dark, and she looks for all the world like a half-crazed voodoo priestess. Her fashion choices never cease to amaze me. As I watch, she leans forward and tries to part the curtains of my hair, struggling to get a good view of my neck.

I push her off and peel back my bangs to reveal the hickey. She gasps.

“Bloody hell, Chloe! That’s gigantic! Did it hurt?”

Thinking back to the way he held me, the want in his eyes and the jolt of the pain, still makes me blush. I’m not used to being the one telling this type of story.

“Yeah, a little,” I admit. “But at the same time, it was like I wanted him to do it all harder.”

Kate, who came round immediately after school on Monday and has done every day until now, Wednesday, bounces up and down on my bed.

“I know, right? I remember once, back when me and Matt were dating, we went to this party and we were drunk and kissed all night, and when I came home I had like five of them! I mean, they weren’t half as big as that, but you try having to explain them to your oh-so-strict parents!”

“What did you tell them?” I ask, a laugh already on its way.

“That I had some kind of skin disease and it must have been a reaction to the perfume I wore. I know what you’re thinking: good lie. And it was all well and good until they tried to get me to go to the doctor!”

I laugh, and pass the tips of my fingers over the raised skin. It tingles softly, and I blush harder, thinking of how turned on we both were.

“Anyway, guess what? While you were off snogging ‘Prince William,’ I was in Biology chatting to Kelly Petersburg!” She looks at me like she deserves an award for being able to talk to the school’s most popular girl without being mocked or ignored.

“Wow,” I say sarcastically. If she picks up on my tone of voice, she doesn’t mention it.

“She says she’s having a party, and she actually personally invited me to come!”

My stomach clenches. I never get invited to parties, mostly because I usually don’t speak to those who have them. I enjoy a night out as much as the next person, but it’s hard to get on guest lists when you’re as invisible as a chameleon to a blind person. Kate must see my face change for the worse, because she grabs at my hand.

“Chloe, it’s on Saturday and it’s a pool party and you’re invited too!”

I look up in shock. “Really?”

“Really, really. I made sure of it.”

We share in a squeal for a moment as I mentally scan through my wardrobe for suitable swimwear. I have a black bikini that I’ve always been too shy to wear, but it’s my only one so it will have to do. After all, wearing a full swim costume to a pool party isn’t really what’s done nowadays, as much as it would set me at ease.

“And do you want to know the best part?” asks Kate. She is on a roll now, her thick-sleeved hands spiralling in midair madly.

“Go on,” I say.

“We both get to bring a plus-one!”

My mind automatically turns to Will. The thought of him seeing me in a skimpy bikini suit both terrifies and thrills me. He would be shirtless. The possibilities of a party, in the dark, barely clothed and half-hidden beneath a pool send my heart pounding. Anything could happen.