Photos [Luke Hemmings]

Chapter 6 - Kissing Booth

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Chapter 6 – Kissing Booth

{ a u t u m n }

          “Autumn!”

          I turned my head, stopping momentarily in the middle of the cafeteria as my eyes caught sight of Danielle making her way to me as quickly as she could without dropping her lunch, dodging other students before she caught up to me. “What’s up?” I asked with a short laugh as he quickly fixed her curled hair.

          “Are you excited?” she asked with a grin. “For the festival?”

          I rolled my eyes, laughing as we walked in the direction of our lunch table where Erica was already seated with our friend Miranda and her girlfriend, Joy. “Of course I am,” I replied. “It’s the best part about this school.”

          Every year, our school was in charge of putting this amazing festival that was always hosted a little outside of town. We had a bunch of game booths come in—along with bumper cars and even a Ferris wheel. I always loved going, and Danielle loved it even more because she was in the school’s event planning committee and got to help out with everything.

          “Are you talking about the festival?” Joy asked, grinning as we nodded. “I’m so excited! I love the festival.”

          “Speaking of which,” Danielle spoke up as we sat down, looking at me with a slightly nervous expression. “I need to talk to you about something.”

          “What?” I asked warily, eyeing her suspiciously. She did something and by the looks of her face, I wasn’t going to like it. “Danielle, what did you do?”

          She inhaled deeply as we all stared at her in anticipation, before she looked at me with a sheepish smile. “I kind of, sort of, may have signed you up to run the kissing booth,” Danielle rushed out, speaking so fast that I almost missed what she had said. Unfortunately, I didn’t.

          My eyes widened at Danielle’s words as Erica, Miranda, and Joy all burst into loud laughter, ringing throughout the loud cafeteria. “You what?” I shrieked, causing some heads from the tables nearby to look over, but I ignored them as I stared at Danielle.

          “I’m sorry!” she squeaked out, scooting her seat away from mine and closer to Erica. “But we needed more than one person so I signed you up when no one else was willing to. Plus, you need the volunteering hours.”

          Dismissing the last comment with a roll of my eyes, I merely shook my head at my blonde best friend. “But why me?” I asked in exasperation, slumping back against my seat. “Why not, like, Erica?”

          Danielle shot me a look. “Because Calum would kill me,” she deadpanned, making Erica giggle in agreement as I groaned loudly.

          “You’re fucking killing me here, Danielle,” I threw my head back. “I don’t want to kiss some strangers. That’s fucking weird.”

          “Please, Autumn!” Danielle exclaimed, joining her hands together as she leaned towards me. “Your shift will only be half an hour each before you switch back and forth.”

          “Half an hour?” I repeated with wide eyes, making Danielle flinch as the other three girls snickered at my despair. “You’re kidding me, right? That just ruins the whole festival for me, Danielle.”