Kiss List (Book I of the List Series)

Chapter 26 - Moving On

When I finally left David I had big grin plastered on my face. I couldn't help it. My session with him had been very... educational. The looks on the girls' faces were priceless. "Really? 20 minutes?" Vicki said. "What could you have been doing for 20 minutes?"

"I think our girl is not as innocent about boys as she was earlier this evening," Lindsey said with a smile. "Judging from the sounds coming from the other end of the playground, David has learned a few things as well. That's alright girls, there's plenty of him left for all of you and I expect you all to take advantage of that. If David is able to walk tomorrow we will have failed our mission. We're the state champions; we do have a reputation to uphold."

The girls really seemed to like the sound of that.

I sat down on a bench a little ways from the girls to collect my thoughts. It was difficult with memories of David's impeccable body swimming in my mind. Gradually, however, the heat of the moment began to fade. Then, inexplicably, I started to cry.

Alyssa and Payton were instantly beside me. "What's wrong, girl? It can't have been that bad." Payton said. "What happened?"

"No, David was great," I said. "He helped take my mind off of Dylan. Now I just have to deal with the fact that I've screwed things up bad. What do I do?"

Alyssa and Payton exchanged looks. "Sadie," Alyssa said, "we haven't always agreed with the way that you've gone after boys and fought Missy, but I don't think there's anything wrong in wanting to date different guys and find out who makes you happy. Maybe we should go back to the kiss list."

My head shot up to look at them in shock. "You've got to me kidding," I said. "The kiss list is responsible for all this. "I can't go back to it."

"The kiss list is not responsible for this," Payton said. "It's just a list of guys you want to kiss. There's nothing wrong with that as long as you don't lead the guys on. Listen, our mistake from the start was that we were dishonest. We told you to go make out with guys just so you could check them off the list. That led to guys like David feeling taken advantage of. Though, I will say he's probably having no complaints about being taken advantage of right now..."

"Focus Payton," Alyssa said.

"Right," Payton said. "This time, just make it clear to the boys on the list that you want to kiss them because some of your girl friends dared you to do it. If they want to kiss you under those circumstance, great. If not, we'll let you off the hook. We won't even send out pictures of your bunny footie pajamas. At least not yet, anyway."

"You leave PJ Bunny out of this," I said as I cracked a smile and wiped tears from my eyes.

"That's better," Alyssa said happily. "How about we forget about boys tomorrow and just hang out like we used to? We can even ditch a few classes at the end of the day and go to the mall."

Alyssa offering to ditch school was like Darcy actually going to school; it just didn't happen. She must really feel bad for me. "Thanks a lot, girls," I said. "That means a lot. Unfortunately, I can't hang out tomorrow. It's, uh, the anniversary of when my mom died and my dad and my sister and I always go after school to put flowers on her grave. She planted some tiger lilies in our yard so we always take those."

"Wow, I'm sorry," Payton said. "What a crappy time to lose your boyfriend. We're here for you Anderson. Whatever you need, we're here for you." She gave me a fierce hug and rejoined the rest of the girls.

Alyssa was staring at me. "If there was one boy on that list that you really wanted to date, who would it be?" she asked thoughtfully. "Including boys you have already kissed. Even Dylan."

I shrugged uncomfortably but a name had already popped into my mind.

Alyssa stared deep into my eyes as if reading my thoughts. "It's Aaron, isn't it?" she said. "You've always had a crush on him."

"You can't say anything to him," I said fiercely. "I mean it. Not even to one of his friends or about what he thinks of me. I have hurt all the other boys I've kissed. I'm not even going to chance it with Aaron. Not a word."

Alyssa held my gaze. "Do you trust me?" she asked.

"Of course," I said without hesitation. I had to. Alyssa was my closest friend. I would have put my life in her hands if I needed to.

"Okay then. I promise you that before this year is out you will know what Aaron thinks of you," she said. "I can't promise that he will fall in love with you. I can't even promise that he will like you, though I can't imagine how he couldn't. What I can promise you will know one way or another how he feels."

My eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What are you planning?" I asked her.

Alyssa bit her lip. "I can't tell you," Alyssa said finally. "You'll just have to trust me. I promise that I won't embarrass you or go to him or his friends. It's going to take a while but it will happen. You just worry about yourself and being happy. Go back to the kiss list. I think Payton is actually right; it might not be a bad idea to date some new guys. You focus on them and let me worry about discovering what is in Aaron Caldwell's heart."