PECK PENALTY

#1 The Kiss

POV Anna (Annaleese Collins)

"I don't want to go to prison," I say.

"You won't," my best friend Elizabeth Renkl aka Lizzie says.

"Stop wasting time. Man up and go kiss him!" says my other best friend, Margaret Stephen aka Marge.

We once again look at the guy standing not too far from us, unaware of our ill intentions. He could easily be the most handsome guy I've ever seen. He's beautiful. Not the rose is pretty kinda beautiful, but a dark and loud thunderstorm kinda beautiful.

"What if he hurts me? Look how big he is!" I say.

"How?" Marge says. "He's talking to his phone on his one hand and has coffee on the other. You'll be out of his sight before he even has the chance to put either of them away." That is true. And where he's standing at the mall, there's no place for him to put them down, either. 

"What if he doesn't use his hands? What if he just round kicks me to Pluto?"

"Pluto is no longer in our solar system," Lizzie says.

"What if he round kicks me to Neptune?"

Lizzie grabs my collar. "If you don't do it, you won't be able to get back at your ex. Look at the guy," she says. I look at the handsome guy again. He's still talking on his phone. "If Mason thinks you scored that hot guy, nothing will make him regret cheating on you more than that!" she says.

I swallow. "Okay. I get it." I gently make Lizzie release her death hold on my collar and slowly get up from my seat. The girls give me thumbs up. It doesn't help. I take one step forward. Marge says, "Don't forget to make him lean towards you. Only then it'll look natural."

I nod. I keep walking towards the guy, as slow as humanly possible, hoping he'll stop standing there like an open target and get the hell out of here before something bad happens to him. But he shows no sign of leaving.

He's so busy talking, he doesn't even notice me coming and standing in front of him. I clear my throat. He sees me. "Yes?" he says in a voice that would be perfect for a radio commercial for men's aftershave. I clear my throat again and gesture him to come closer to me.

Confused, he bends down, the phone still on his ear. When he's close enough, I cuss inwardly before raising my chin and touching his lips with mine. I pull back before he could even realize. 

"What the" is all I heard him say before I'd run out of his sight and his life forever.

Marge, Lizzie and I keep running till we're sure no one's chasing us. Not the guy, or the security guards, or the cops. After confirming we'd gotten away with it we stop behind a pillar.

Now I'm excited to see the fruits of my labor. "Show me," I say to Marge. Marge shows us the photo. I grin widely. I cannot believe how good the photo had turned out. It really looks like a couple kissing in the middle of the mall. Romantic.

"That's so damn cool," Lizzie says. "We'll never doubt your photo skills, Marge," she adds. I nod. Marge should be given an award for this. She captured us in the right light and at the right angle.

"What's next?" I ask.

"I'll post this to my Instagram," Marge says. "Why not on mine?" I ask. "No," she says, "That'll look desperate. This way, you're letting everyone know about your shiny new hotty beau without letting everyone know about it."

She posts the image with the caption, "Her new boyfriend ;)" We wait with our breaths held. One like. Two likes. Three likes. The likes start pouring in. So do the comments. "Who's the hot guy?! 😍" says one comment. "Aww, that's so romantic. She's so lucky," says another.