The Kissing Booth 2: Don't Kiss & Tell

Chapter 1: The Dream- Noah's POV

I woke up dreaming of her again. It doesn't seem to matter how long its been, or who I've been with, my dreams still come back to her. These definitely aren't the dreams that a typical 19 year old male would have. As my alarm goes off, I cant help but scowl at it. I can't help but beg it for five more minutes. Five more minutes to dream of her. Five more minutes to see her smile or hear the memory of her laugh. Five more minutes to just rest and dream. Five more minutes to escape from reality. 

As I go to slap the snooze button, my roommate laughs at me. "Flynn, I know you're probably hung over, but we have to get ready. We have practice in like twenty minutes." With that declaration he grabs his gear and heads out the door. He was right though. I was kind of hung over. Last nights party had been intense. Brooklyn had just broken up with me, and I wanted nothing more than to drown my sorrows. I knew I was never serious about her, but breakups are never easy. We share a lot of friends, so life is about to get awkward. 

As I climb out of bed, I can't help but glance up at the silver infinity necklace hanging above my bed. I see it a lot, but it stings even more today. It just happens to be the necklace I gave Elle shortly after I started Harvard. Not long after our break-up, she mailed it back to me along with some of my old stuff. There was no note in the package, but I completely understood where she was coming from. I tried to purge my life of all things Elle, but this necklace was just something I couldn't let go of. Every girl I bring back to my dorm asks about it, but I've never been able to give them a direct answer. I mean, what am I supposed to say to them "My ex-girlfriend sent it back to me after our break-up, and I keep it on my wall to torture myself with reminders of my first love."

Since, there is no point in showering, I throw on my clothes and glance at the clock. I must've been too deep in thought because I managed to lose an extra seven minutes. I have less than 15 minutes to get to my early morning practice, so I throw my bag over my shoulder, grab my phone, and rush out the door. While exiting my shoe box sized dorm room, I was hit by a blast of sunshine. Why did it have to be so bright outside? It was also extremely hot. Jesus, I should've watched what I drank last night. This hang over is going to kick my ass. I'm going to be dead by the end of practice. I'm definitely hating life today.

I glance at my phone as I'm running down the halls and realize that I have a few new text messages. A few came from random girls that ask how I'm doing. I know that they know about the break-up and they're just trying to get in line. I see a few from some of the guys on the team laughing about how messed up I was last night, and I can't help but feel ashamed. I've really tried not to gain a "reputation" but it seemed to have happened anyway. My last text is from my friend Josh. Josh is also on the football team and is arguably the best friend I have here. I never really had a direct best friend in high school, so this experience has all been pretty new to me.

Josh's text reads: "Dude, there is this new girl down on the field. I think she would help you take your mind off of Brooklyn." 

I know he's trying to help, but I'm just not interested right now. I put my phone away and finish my run to the football field. As I drop my stuff off at the locker room, I seem to catch the end of a conversation. For some reason, they're all sitting around talking about this new girl that Josh texted me about. She must really be something if they're all in here talking about her. I heard one guy call her "feisty" and another say "Damn, she's definitely the type you take home to Mom and Dad." I can't help but be intrigued. First of all, she must be pretty hot since the news of her seems to have traveled everywhere. Second of all, how is she "new?" We are well into our 4th semester and summer vacation is just around the corner. How can she really be new?

Oh no, there I go again thinking about summer vacation. Thinking about it gives me knots in my stomach. I know that I'll have to see her. Worse than that, I know I'll want to see her. I've considered taking summer classes just so that I can stay away, but I know Mom would kill me. It's also Lee's last summer home before he heads off to Princeton. I can't believe my baby brother is going to Princeton. He was accepted into Harvard, but he turned them down. He said it had something to do with not wanting to live in my shadow. I guess I can't say I blame him though. Having him so close would've been nice, but it makes me feel better to have him at least closer than he currently is. I'm sure he'll have a hard time being separated from our Shelly, that is IF he will be separated from her. 

Crap, I did it again. Not only did my mind wander back to calling her Shelly, but I also insinuated that I had some kind of claim to her. I lost that right or privilege. It also reminded me that I had no idea what her future plans were or what her future would hold. I don't know where she'll end up. I wonder if she's chosen a school yet. I wonder where she was accepted to. I can't help but worry about her safety. 

Even though we aren't together anymore, I know she is still safe at home. I know she has her family and I know she's safe at school. I can't help but smirk at the idea of Elle being safe at school. We may have broken up, and I may be 3000 miles away, but people flinch at the mere mention of my name. She doesn't know it, but I'm still keeping tabs on her. I meddle in her dating life, but she doesn't need to know it. When she heads out to college, nobody will be able to protect her. I will obviously have no pull and she's too nice to see past others "intentions." 

Here I am, in the middle of football practice, fresh from a break-up, listening about a hot new girl I've yet to meet and I'm still thinking about Elle. I seriously hope this passes someday. This is pure hell on earth. I don't completely understand why I can't just will myself to move on. Come on, I'm Flynn, the notorious bad ass. I have a "love um and leave um" reputation, yet I can't think about anything other than Elle. She seems to have to have been completely fine after our break-up. She seems to have no trouble moving on, so why can't I?

As I'm deep in this disastrous thought, Josh claps in from of my face. It definitely snaps me out of it. He says "Whats up Flynn, are you still thinking about your glorious night with your latest hookup?" I laugh and say "No dude, I was thinking about your girlfriend." He scoffs at me and says "Get your head out of the gutter and get your ass down to the field." At this point, I'm ridiculously thankful for the distraction. I need to stop thinking about Elle. Damn, it sucks being so in love with a ghost.

As I walk down to the field, I see a group of girls warming up. Damn, their practice uniforms are pretty hot. They all have on a black sports bra and tiny black practice shorts. Their practice uniforms are even better than the cheerleaders. I wonder what team they are. They could be part of the track team, the Volleyball team or even the Soccer Team. At least, those are my best guesses. As they warm up, I hear my teammates throw out cat calls. I'd never do it, but I love how it embarrasses the girls.  I guess not all girls though. You frequently have the easy girls that love the attention. I've learned that you have to look out for those ones. Once they attach themselves to you, they're nearly impossible to get rid of. They also are almost always high maintenance. Brooklyn fit in this category, but at least she had a brain and wasn't overly clingy. 

As I start warming up, Josh runs over to me with a big smile on his face. Something is obviously up. Josh is never this happy in the mornings. He stops two feet in front of me and excitedly says "Dude, that girl everyone is talking about, well shes over there. She's the new recruit for the women's soccer team. They happen to be on our field today because theirs is in use" 

This definitely peaks my interest. I move past all of the guys throwing out the obnoxious cat calls and look in the direction that Josh keeps pointing towards. In less than two seconds flat, I spot her. Oh my god. I must still be asleep or more hung over than I thought. Maybe I'm still drunk? There is no other way to explain what I'm seeing. There is no way that this is the girl everyone has been talking about. There is no way that she's here. There's no way. My imagination has been pretty crazy today, but I had no idea it was capable of this. My heart breaks as I listen to her laugh. That laugh is even better than the laugh in all of my other dreams. Its so much more vivid.

As I try desperately to snap back to reality I hear one of my teammates say "LOOKING GOOD EVANS." Oh god, I know I'm in for a super rough day. My heart feels like it's somewhere deep inside my stomach and the butterflies are going crazy. Rochelle Evans is standing like twenty feet away from me in the hottest little black practice uniform and hasn't even noticed me. What in the hell am I going to do?