Best-Case Scenario

Chapter Twenty-Three

Walking into school the next day feels like walking in with a solid ball in my stomach. My skin hurts; my brain hurts. I want to go back to sleep.

"Good morning beautiful." Finn throws his arms over my shoulder and pulls my back against his chest, snuggling his head into my neck.

I take even breaths and let myself melt into him. I have no reason to feel guilty. A crush is a crush. I close my eyes, turn around, and kiss him. "Good morning," I say. I open my eyes and I smile at Finn.

His eyes are beautiful and pull me in. For the first time since I woke up, I take long steady breaths.

"I didn't hear back from you last night. How was the star gazing?"

"We saw some shooting stars so good I guess."

Finn lets go of me and grabs my hand so we can walk together up the stairs. He's ambivalent to the waver in my voice. "I looked out my window and didn't see a thing. I live in the middle of nowhere and still didn't see anything."

"Yeah, we went where there were no lights at all. It was cool," I say. I feel like I'm being more passive than usual but Finn is acting normal. I decide it's just my imagination.

Nothing happened, I remind myself. Last night when I got home, I had to take a shower to try and get rid of the feeling of Kali's hand in mine. The hand holding is something we have always done. We've cuddled together and it's always been platonic, but this felt much different. And there was the moment where I was sure we would kiss. My body goes hot imagining her lips and her body pressed against mine.

"You okay?" Finn asks jolting me out of PG fantasies.

I jump a little looking around. We're stopped in the middle of the hallway. I pull him over to an empty wall. "Sorry, I didn't sleep that much last night." I shake my head a few times. "Still trying to wake up."

He nods but lifts mine chin so I can meet his eyes. "You were out pretty late last night. When did you get home?"

"Midnight," I say.

"Surprised your parents were okay with it."

"Me too, but I told them we were watching a meteor shower and my dad gets pretty excited about experiencing the world and all that, so it was fine."

Finn's eyes brighten. "Do you think they would let you stay out until midnight on Saturday? My parents are out...."

"No, I don't think they would let me stay out with my boyfriend until midnight," I say. My voice is dull as if it's a joke but I feel cold at the thought of what he was thinking.

My heart begins to pound and I feel dizzy all over again but for a much different reason. I glimpse at Finn and take him in. His blonde hair that curls over his blue-gr eyes. The eyes that change color depending on what he wore. His hand that covers mine completely. The muscular arms. The chest I can lay my head on and feel immediate comfort. The feel of his lips on mine and the butterflies that it gives me. The whole romantic story that began when we were thirteen and continued when we found each other again.

I have a crush on Kali and it's a lot more than I thought but it doesn't mean I have to give up what I already have with Finn. I lean over to him outside of homeroom and give him a tight hug.

"Hey what's this for?" he murmurs in my hair.

"I love you. That's all," I say.

He kisses my head. "I love you too."

We stand there and I feel my heart swell in my chest. In a good way. When we break apart, I give his hand one last squeeze. Finn and I walk into homeroom and I start my plan on how to make it through the day.