Hope laces Meredith’s expression as she takes in what Rue is saying. Her posture relaxes a bit. “Kiss, then.”
Rue blinks. “Excuse me?”
“If you’re really dating, then prove it. Kiss him.”
Rue shifts her stance, like she’s nervous, and says, “I’m not into PDA.”
“That’s what I thought,” Meredith says. “You’re not really together.”
“Why would I lie about this?” Rue asks.
Meredith shrugs. “I don’t know. Why would you…?”
I think I might be short-circuiting. My brain turns to complete mush as Rue suddenly grips my shoulder, pulling me closer to her. I don’t have time to process the fact that we’restanding close enough for me to feel her body heat before we’re facing each other and she’s pressing her lips against mine.
The kiss is so sudden, I forget who’s behind it for a moment. I fail to remember it’s Rue, who I’ve known since she still played with dolls. All I can think about is the way her lips softly coax mine open before the kiss becomes more intense and hot, stealing my breath away. She grips the front of my jersey to steady herself. The hint of her body wash mixed with the smell of dust in the corridor makes me lightheaded, and before I can process how much I want this to continue, Meredith clears her throat. “Okay, you can stop now. I, um, believe you.” There’s a layer of humor in her voice as Rue and I break apart.
Her entire face blushes as she averts her gaze from mine and back to Meredith. “Happy?”
“Yes.” She fiddles with a strand of her hair, eyes downcast. “I’m sorry for doubting you two.”
Rue sags in relief. “Thank you.”
I chuckle and squeeze her hand before pressing a small kiss to the side of her head. Like it’s no big deal. Like I do it all the time. “I better get going. See you later.”
I leave Rue and Meredith alone in the hallway and ignore the sound of girlish giggles that bursts from them as I retreat. They might be laughing, but I can’t believe that just happened. I can still feel the imprint of Rue’s mouth on my own. I feel like I just got off a rollercoaster, having kissed her. I don’t know why, because this wasn’t my first kiss—not at all. But I’ve never felt so jittery after locking lips with someone.
Well, Ezra, you might have a lot to think about now, but at least you got your answer about whether she still wants to be your fake girlfriend.
Chapter 8
Rue
It was bad enough having Ezra march into the drama room with his sports crew, but it’s even worse that Miss Fern is going to force him to participate in our rehearsals.
The whole room was already in chaos before the basketball team even showed up. Miss Fern announcing that the spring production would be a musical completely shook everyone, since Fallbrook is used to plays. Suddenly, everyone’s scrambling because auditions now mean preparing eight to sixteen bars of a song instead of a monologue, and that changes everything.
After class, Meredith and Carlton were already talking in the hallway about what they were going to sing. Of course they were. They both have gorgeous voices, and they looked almost annoyingly calm about the whole thing. Meredith even mentioned maybe doing a song fromWaitress. Meanwhile, I stood there pretending not to feel devastated while mentally signing myself up for crew. Because there is absolutely no world in which I’m auditioning to sing in front of people.
And then there was the kiss…the kiss I can’t stop thinking about. Who knew Ezra could kiss like that? I’ve only been smooched one other time, and it was during a dare at summercamp last year. The boy was from a different school, and I never saw him again.
But this is Ezra. I’m absolutely going to have to face him again.
This can’t possibly get any worse.
I try to keep my expression neutral as I walk to the parking lot with Meredith. Even though that kiss seemed to convince her, I’m still on eggshells at the thought of us being okay again. It seems too good to be true.
“You want a ride?” she asks when we reach her car.
Mabel is already there, leaning against the hood. She’s texting, but when we approach, her eyes light up. “Wait a minute! Are you guys good?”
I risk a glance at Meredith.
“We’re good,” she says with a grin.
Mabel squeals, clapping her hands together. “This is the best day ever.”
As Meredith drives me home, the three of us listen to music the whole way. My chest feels like it’s been stitched back together for the first time in weeks.
