“A date? Like a proper, official, let’s go for a day out together and then back to my place kind of date?” squeals Kate.
We sit together on the park bench, where she has been interrogating me for the past few hours. I promised to tell her everything about the day of the Mayville race, but I wasn’t quite expecting her to interpret my ‘everything’ as ‘every-little-freaking-miniscule-detail’. My face aches- my throat from talking and my lips from smiling.
“Um, yeah? I guess?” I laugh. “Although not all dates end in ‘back to my place’, Kate.”
“Trust me, judging by the way he looks at you, this one will.”
I blush scarlet; I can’t help it.
“So, what you gonna wear? Where are you going? Details, details,” she claps her hands excitedly.
Honestly, I don’t want to talk much more. I feel selfish enough as it is, blabbing on about my life as though it was a soap opera. Plus, her constant insistence on knowing everything is beginning to get on my nerves. As much as I love Kate, if she carries on this way I’ll be forced to tell her exactly where she can shove her ‘details’.
I sigh, brushing these thoughts aside with a sweep of my hair, and indulge her request. “We’re going to watch a movie. You know, basic date material and all that. No, I don’t know what we’ll see- it’s a spur of the moment kind of thing.”
“And then?” she prompts.
“Well, the movie’s late so there won’t be any romantic dinner involved, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Kate tuts and backcombs a few strands of hair which stick up comically. Beneath the bangs, her eyes are bright. She’s happy for me.
“I meant,” she elaborates, “what then? As in, what happens afterwards?”
That is actually a very good question. For all our strengths as a team, Will and I are awful at organization.
“I’m not actually sure,” I admit. “We haven’t really planned that far.”
“So if he asks you to go home with him? What’ll you say?” Kate sits on the edge of her seat.
“Um, I don’t know.”
“That, girl, is the worst thing to say in that situation. ‘I don’t know’ is almost worse than ‘no way’! Say yes! It’s so obvious that you should. Why, in bed I bet that boy would-”
“And that’s quite enough!” I stop her, my face blazing. “Oh look, here comes Joey! Hey, Joey!”
“Ladies” nods Joey, sauntering over to sit between us. He’s so whipped; offering Kate the one cookie left in the packet he holds and already giving her bedroom eyes. She kisses him gently on the lips and I smile for a moment, glad that the whole Rob fiasco is a thing of the past and that she's found someone who genuinely cares.
Beside me, the lovers’ kiss deepens and I shift awkwardly. This, I realise with a surge of relief, is my cue to go.
“Bye Kate, I wouldn’t want to third wheel on you or anything so…”
Kate’s eyes narrow as she pulls away from Joey and she grins.
“You got off lightly,” she says. “I expect a call as soon as you get back from this hot date, you hear me? Or tomorrow, if you two, you know-”
“Understood!” I interrupt, miming chopping motions to my neck while Joey’s back is turned. Kate just laughs, and her laughter continues as I walk away, only stopping when Joey’s lips find hers once more.
YOU ARE READING
Her List of Kisses
Teen FictionWhen she was thirteen, Chloe Golding wrote a list. On this list was every type of kiss she hoped to experience in her teenage years. They ranged from an innocent peck on the back of the hand, to passionate make-out sessions and kisses on the private...
