His kiss turned me inside-out. My upside-down world righted itself. Wind filled my sails and carried me past the rough waters I’d been stuck in. Fireworks exploded in my chest while a kaleidoscope of butterflies fluttered feverishly in my stomach. Spencer’s kiss was all the metaphors.
When he drew away, everything felt right in my world again—until Spencer opened his mouth one more time.
“I need to tell you something.” He hit me with those blue eyes, and what scared me was how serious they were. “I’ve been lying to you, Tessa.”
“You’ve been lying to me?” The hope in my chest went from supernova to a collapsing star in record time. A time so fast, astronomers all over the world would be astounded at the feat.
“Yes. And I need to tell you now, in case it’s a deal-breaker.”
Uh-oh.
28
Spencer
I held Tessa’s hands in mine and released a puff of air, trying to depressurize my lungs, which felt like they were about to explode. Breathe in. Breathe out.
“I would first like to say that I’ve never lied to you before.” I honestly couldn’t think of a time, even back when we were in elementary school.
“You’re making me nervous, so could you just spit it out fast?” Tessa tightened her grip on my hands and bit her bottom lip. “Please?”
“I lied about liking Ashley. I never liked her. Not even a little bit.” In fact, I thought Ashley was shallow, stuck up, and could be mean. That’s part of why I was able to pick her. I couldn’t have pretended to like someone perfectly nice without the guilt getting to me. In this case, the few times guilt kicked in, Ashley would do something snotty or rude to some poor kid at school, and the guilt just eased away.
Tessa’s lips formed an O, and her eyes went wide, and her hands went slack in mine.
Uh-oh. I better keep talking and maybe even work my eyes and deploy my dimples.
“I don’t know exactly when I fell in love with you. I just knew for sure that two years ago, I was. For over two years, I tried to get you to see me as more than a friend. Nothing worked. I needed to shake things up. I needed to rock the boat.”
Her lips pressed together in a firm line, but she still didn’t say anything.
“In my defense, I was desperate. And then last summer, you pulled back from us, and I realized I was already losing you. So, I figured I might as well take the biggest risk I knew how in hopes of winning you back, but as my girlfriend.”
Still nothing from Tessa, and my chest felt like someone was crushing it with a steamroller.
“If you ask me my idea of a perfect date, it’s watching old movies with you. If you ask me my favorite color, it’s the exact soft gray of your eyes. Second favorite is whatever color you’ve dyed your hair. If you ask me my favorite song, it’s whatever song you’re singing.”
“What are you saying?” she whispered, her eyes so serious on my face.
“I’m saying it’s you, Tess. It’s always been you.”
Her hands trembled in mine, and she opened her mouth but shut it again quickly.
“For the love of all that’s holy, Tessa, please say something.”
“You’re saying . . .” Tessa frowned and stabbed me with her gaze. “You lied about Ashley? You lied about changing for her, and the plan—the big huge plan—to get Ashley? Every bit of it was a big fat lie?”
This was my fear. A huge part of our friendship—all three of us—was trust. We’d always told each other the truth. Trust was hard-won and easily broken. Had I gone too far? Even Cody had hinted that maybe I had.
My heart felt scooped out and breakable at the thought of losing Tessa. But that was the idiotic risk I’d taken, wasn’t it?
“Tessa, I—”
“Hang on. Let me get this straight. You’re also saying . . .” Tessa tilted her head to the side. “We don’t have to hang around Ashley anymore? Or Trey? Or Karen and Brian? We don’t have to go to their lame parties where all they talk about is shopping, makeup, and boys? Ashley won’t come to our practices anymore and make snotty faces at Cody’s songs? And you and I get to keep hanging out, making music, watching movies, playing lacrosse, laughing, and stargazing . . . only now, we get to kiss too? Do I have that about right?”
“I think that covers most of it.” It felt like my heart pulled a Grinch and grew three sizes right then. I couldn’t stop the smile spreading on my lips.
“Yeah, I’m okay with it.” Tessa’s eyes suddenly teared up, looking beautifully soft and luminous. “Actually, thank you. Thank you for being strong enough to risk losing our friendship for the possibility of something more. You’re right. I wouldn’t have done it without you rocking the boat I was sailing in. It’s part of what I love about you—the way you throw everything you have toward the things you care about. That bodes well for me.”
She went up on her tiptoes and kissed me. The softness of her lips undid me. Tears escaped her eyes, and the salty taste let me know we were both all-in emotionally.
When she pulled back, I wiped the tears from her face with the pads of my thumbs.
“You’re so, so beautiful.”
“Hold that thought, because I definitely want to come back to it, but I do have a few questions.”
“Ask away.”
“What about when you broke the phone rule by taking Ashley’s call? What was the purpose of causing that uproar?”
“You need to make big waves to rock a steady boat, babe. Our friendship was and is rock solid. I needed to get your attention in a big way.”
“But why throw Brian at me?”
“When I told you he’d asked about you, you seemed interested. I needed to let it play out. I want you to be happy. So, if Brian made you happy, then so be it.” I tucked a wild red curl back from her face. “Of course, then he’d have been my mortal enemy for the rest of my life, but whatever.”
“Haha. Just so you know, I only told you to give Brian my number because of your kiss.”
“My kiss?”
“Your kiss was perfect. Too perfect. That’s when I knew for sure I was head-over-heels for you. But there you were with she-who-shall-not-be-named, so I reacted out of desperation.”
“That’s funny because Brian is the reason I invited Ashley to our band practice. I sort of freaked out when you said yes to Brian, and I tried everything I could to get you jealous.”
“Well, it worked.” She poked me in the arm.
“I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.” I leaned down and placed a soft, slow kiss on her lips. Losing myself in the sweet taste of her and her softness.
“Miss Martin! Mr. Hale!” Ms. Fox’s voice startled us apart. “Break it up, or you’ll both get detention.”
Tessa’s eyes twinkled up at me, and her lips tilted into a sweet smile. “I’m okay with more detention. I’m actually getting to like it.”
“I like your style, Tessa Martin.”
I wrapped my arms tight around her, ready to get lost in one more kiss.
“Stop! What is going on here?”
Tessa and I both turned to find Ashley, Karen, Trey (of course), and Ms. Fox standing, staring at us with a variety of reactions. Ashley’s face was red and pinched, Karen wore an excited I-told-you-so look, Trey’s mouth twisted in his signature condescending smirk, and Ms. Fox looked like she was about to hand us those detention slips she’d promised.
Cody and Lexie stepped into the group.
“Just so you know, I’m going to be saying ‘I told you so’ for a long time,” Lexie said, making Tessa laugh.
Cody gave me a nod, his smile starting slowly but moving to wide acceptance. I had an idea of what this was like for Cody. He couldn’t see it now, but somewhere out there was the perfect girl for him.
“Seriously, what do you think you’re doing, Spencer?” Ashley demanded. “Aaack! What are you wearing? Why are you dressed like Robin Hood?”
“She doesn’t know who Legolas is?” Tessa asked, her shock and confusion completely adorable.
I winked at her and pulled her into my side.
“Spencer, we cannot win the cutest couple like this!” Ashley actually stomped her glass-slippered foot.
“We can’t win the cutest couple because we aren’t a couple,” I said. “I never asked you to be my girlfriend.”
“It was assumed,” she growled.
“Wait, isn’t there an expression about making assumptions?” Cody asked. “Pretty sure there is, but I can’t remember it.”
“Hey, Trey,” I called. “The costume is in the bathroom. Here’s your chance to rescue your princess and be her actual Prince Charming. What the heck are you waiting for?”
“What are you waiting for, Trey?” Ashley asked, snapping her fingers. “Hurry. The voting for the best couple is over after the last lunch bell.”
Trey took off on his mission.
“Time to break this up.” Ms. Fox held up her pad of detention slips. “Anyone still here in three seconds will get detention.”
Everyone scattered except Tessa and me. Tessa grabbed me by the shirt, pulled me in, and kissed me. When we came up for air and pulled apart, Ms. Fox stood shaking her head.
“I’m going to let that one go on account of young love. Now scram.”
We scrammed.
They announced the Cutest Couple Halloween contest over the P.A. at the end of the day. Mrs. and Mr. Gentry won (dressed as Sheldon and Amy from The Big Bang Theory), and Tessa and I came in second (word got out that we were a couple even though we weren’t in a couple costume) and Ashley and Trey came in third.
Some people do this the other way around. First, they fall in love. And then, over the years, they become best friends. Boat rockers like us do things backward.
You know what changes when you fall in love with your best friend? Not much. Except for the kissing. A lot more kissing.
“Spencer Hale, you’re my rock, my sun, and my North Star. You’re my hero and my best friend.” Tessa looked at me like I’d hung the moon.
“Back at you,” I said.
“I do think we should put ‘practice kissing’ near the top of our to-do list.” Tessa smiled sweetly up at me.
Oh, yeah. I could get used to kissing my best friend.
My totally off-limits best friend.
Epilogue
Enjoy a sneak peek of book 3 in the Sweet Mountain High Series: Class of 2021, My Royally Cute Enemy
Tori
There was nothing like a pitiful message from my absent mother to darken my Halloween day.
Having a frightfully good time in Cancun!
Happy Halloween.
Love, Mom.
Eleven little words on the back of a beachy scenic postcard. That was all she’d written to me. It was the first time we’d heard from her in three months, and that was all she could come up with? Some stupid Halloween pun?
Grandpa deserved better from the daughter who’d stuck him with raising his only grandchild.
I crumpled the postcard in my hand and stuffed it into my back pocket as I headed to my locker before the last period of the school day. It was costume day at Sweet Mountain High, so my journey was a little more perilous than usual. A few knights, superheroes, and princesses wandered into my path.
Of course, not even a costume contest could convince me to change from my usual cardigan or do something different with my plain-Jane straight, brown hair. I was pretty much one of the only kids not dressed up, but that was totally okay with me. My feet slowed as I neared my locker, where a pale, blonde bombshell of a girl in a leopard print romper and matching cat ears waited for me, wearing a massive grin.
“No, Erin. Whatever it is, I said no.” I wasted no time in opening my locker and taking advantage of the situation to ignore my practically life-long best friend.
She was still grinning at me, her thoughts all too clear. I knew that expression. She wanted my help with something.
And it was plain that I wasn’t going to like it.
“Come on, Tori.” Erin grabbed my planner out of my hands and waved it in front of my face. “It’s Halloween. Do I need to schedule some fun for you? Break out of your shell for once. It won’t hurt you, I promise.”
I snagged my planner back from her and stuck out my tongue in her direction. Her idea of fun was getting on a random bus and seeing where it would take her. Not mine. I was perfectly happy living out every predictable moment of my life in peace. No surprises, no risks. It kept me from repeating my mother’s mistakes. And after getting her letter today, that was top on my mind.
“Come on, Tori,” Erin pleaded with me, her eyes darting across the hall at the people quickly headed toward their lockers and then to the last period of the day. “We don’t have much time left to pull off the most awesome Halloween prank, and Jeremy is waiting for us at his truck with the chicks.”
“He’s . . . what?” I turned to her, confusion pushing away the frustration with my mom. “What’s that supposed to mean? What are you up to?”
An evil grin worked its way onto her face, making her freckles pop. “See? You’re curious. That’s a good first step toward the dark side, my friend.”
I rolled my eyes but paused when I saw a new couple pressed up against the lockers just down the hall. To the untrained eye, it looked like a rocker Little Orphan Annie and Legolas were staring lovingly into each other’s eyes, but to anyone who knew them, it was best friends Tessa Martin and Spencer Hale.
“When did that happen?” I asked. Tessa leaned in to press her lips softly to Spencer’s, and I had to look away before all the blood rushed to my face.
“Oh, them?” Erin leaned casually against the locker next to mine and shamelessly watched Tessa and Spencer make out. “Today. Turns out they’re in luuuuurve. I’m pretty sure everyone knew except for them.”
“And me.”
I glanced one more time at the couple. Tessa was glowing with happiness, and Spencer wore a sappy expression so touching that it made my stomach clench with envy. No guy had ever looked at me that way before. Being the school’s buttoned-up perfectionist wasn’t exactly appealing to the opposite sex. Everything about me screamed prude, and boys just didn’t go for that.
Not that I needed a boy. Boys meant trouble.
It just would’ve been nice to be wanted once in a while.
“Come on, Tori,” Erin said, biting her lower lip as she turned back to me. “It’ll be fun. You need this.”
“And you need someone in independent study you can pressure into helping you,” I teased her.
She shrugged and then tugged on my hand. “I promise I’ll keep you out of trouble. You don’t even have to come back inside the school when the clucking chaos begins. It’ll be a clean getaway. Pleeeeeease?”
I looked at her as if she’d gone mad, but she didn’t care. Erin never cared what anyone thought of her. She just pulled me along through the hallways until we were out in the parking lot and approaching a blue Ford pickup. As soon as we got close, the driver’s side door popped open, and out hopped Jeremy from my second hour Lit class wearing a green mesh trucker hat tipped up high on his head.
“We ready to go?” he asked, rubbing his hands together excitedly.
“Just as soon as Tori agrees to help.”
Erin glanced around the parking lot conspiratorially and then opened the tailgate of the truck. There was a large cube shape sitting there, hidden by a heavy tarp. With a snap of her wrist, the tarp came off and revealed two clucking chickens and a rooster keeping guard of his wire coop. The chickens each wore tiny knitted sweaters, and the rooster had a tiny suit jacket.
“Is that . . .?” I leaned in closer to see if my eyes were deceiving me. “Is that chicken dressed like Mrs. Gentry?”
“Yep.” Jeremy leaned against the truck, his blue eyes sparkling. “The rooster is Mr. Gentry, and that last little blonde chick is Ms. Derby.”
“Aren’t they cute?” Erin grinned at me, her eyes widening in a silent plea. “And we need you to pull this epic prank off. Jeremy can
’t risk Coach Mullins benching him for basketball, and I can’t miss out on dance practice with regionals coming up soon. We just need you to be our clean-up crew, Tori. Hide the evidence, and everything will be perfect.”
I wasn’t sure how our Principal, VP, and receptionist would feel about seeing their chicken forms, but I had to admit, they were pretty cute. And the clucking noises they were making were kind of soothing, in a way. Whatever Erin had planned, it couldn’t be too bad.
The postcard in my back pocket was mocking me. Prodding at me with all the things that I’d never let myself do so that I wouldn’t become my mother. A tiny little prank wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Right? This was what being a teenager was all about.
“Okay, what do you need me to do?”
I sighed in defeat as Erin pulled me into a crushing hug. “OMG, Tori, this is a defining moment. Today, you’re pulling pranks with your bestie. Tomorrow, you’re letting loose, going to parties, having fun, and finally letting your bestie hook you up with your own Prince Charming.”
My heart nearly leapt into my throat. Erin had been trying to pair me off with different guys since elementary school. She’d be crazy to think I’d changed that much in the past five minutes. Not even a pair of cute little chickens could get me to rethink my stance on high school dating.
“Um . . . let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.”
“Oh, fine.” She jumped back quickly and pouted, as if she knew this was a losing argument, and then pointed to the cage. “Just take the cage and stash it around the corner of the building. Somewhere they won’t find it right away. Jeremy and I are going to put the chickens in the hallway just before everyone gets released from their classrooms to go to the end-of-the-day assembly. It’ll be total and absolute chaos.”
“Okay, even I have to admit, that’s pretty good.”
I could feel my adrenaline picking up a bit as I imagined the chickens flying through the hallways, the teachers rushing to gather them up. This was the closest I’d come to being rebellious in my entire teenaged career. I could see why the other kids liked it. It was kind of a rush.
My Totally Off-Limits Best Friend: A YA Sweet Romance (Sweet Mountain High, Year 2: A Sweet YA Romance Series) Page 14
