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“I think Axel agrees with you being perfect the way you are,” Liam said. “For some reason. You looked really silly in those long school skirts, Scar.”

I laughed. “I need to get to the dance.”

“One second,” my dad said. “What was all this about a kiss thief?”

Liam and I glanced at each other.

I cleared my throat. “I told Axel I was going to give someone else my first kiss instead of him. And then someone pulled me into a dark closet and kissed me before I got a chance to choose who to kiss. I didn’t know it was Axel at the time. So I just called the guy my kiss thief. But...it was him. I only just found out tonight.” I didn’t think my dad needed to hear about all the other bases Axel had stolen. Or the saucy pictures I’d texted him. Yeah, my dad didn’t need to hear about any of that.

My dad shook his head. “That little scoundrel went behind my back anyway?” He looked a little pleased about it actually.

“Why are you smiling?” my mom asked him.

“I wanted someone that would fight for Scarlett. And if there’s one thing I know about that kid, he’s put up one hell of a fight. Which I guess maybe I should have realized when he kept asking for your hand for the last several years. Stevenses are annoyingly persistent.”

I was still having a hard time processing all this. Axel loved me. He’d loved me this whole time. “Can I please go talk to him now?” I asked. I set down the book. I was definitely going to read that later.

My mom nodded. She stood up and pulled me into a hug. “And I’m sorry about what I said,” she whispered. “You’re not broken. Not even close. You’ve always known what you wanted. You’ve always had such a clear vision of your future. And just like Axel, you were willing to fight for it. I’m so proud of you, sweetie.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Now let’s get you to the dance.”

“Let’s do it!” Liam yelled. And then he looked around like he wasn’t sure if he’d just said that out loud.

I laughed. He was definitely high. I’d always thought it was unfair that my parents weren’t harder on him. But I was glad they weren’t. Because it would have been pretty terrible if they’d tried to ruin both our lives. Hopefully this stopped with me.

Liam stood up. He bumped his shoulder against mine. “For the record, I like Axel more than Leo. I’m glad he’s your kiss thief.”

“Me too.” Axel loved me. And it was finally time to tell him how I really felt about him.

Chapter 27 – This Was My Moment

Saturday

My dad pulled up to the curb outside Empire High. I ran out onto the sidewalk, not even bothering to close the door. I took the steps two at a time and burst into the school.

Music was blaring into the hallway from the cafeteria. I kept running.

Axel Stevens loved me back. Axel freaking Stevens loved me back! I ran into the cafeteria, but it was absolutely packed. I pushed my way into the students dancing and turned around in a circle. Where was he?

I made my way farther onto the dance floor. It felt like I was in a movie with everyone in their 50s attire. The only problem was that I couldn’t find Axel anywhere. If I was in a movie, he’d be here, waiting in the middle of the room. But I finally saw someone I knew.

“Soph!” I yelled. She was grinding with Eli, but she hurried over as soon as she saw me.

“Tell me everything!” she said. “Did you accept?” She grabbed my hand and frowned when she saw there was no ring. “You said no?!”

“What? No. He was gone when I came out of my room. He’s supposed to meet me here, but I don’t see him anywhere. Have you seen him?”

She shook her head. “But I’ll help you find him.” She hooked her arm through mine and we made our way through the crowd.

I saw Luis the Cheater dancing with a girl that wasn’t his girlfriend. I shook my head and turned around. I couldn’t believe that I’d ever thought the kiss thief was anyone but Axel.

“Where the heck is he?” Sophie said. We stopped by the windows and she pulled out her phone. She tried texting Axel but he didn’t respond. “We need to split up to find him. I’ll get RJ to help. He’s hiding from Parker anyway. We’ll check the classrooms. Maybe you can check outside?”

I had no idea what Axel would be doing outside. It was freezing out tonight. But I nodded my head. Sophie went off to find her brother. And I hurried out the other side of the cafeteria. I’d just walked up the front steps and Axel wasn’t there. Maybe he was out back.

I walked through the empty gymnasium. My high heels clicked on the floor. And I realized for the first time that my dad had actually let me out of the house in a nice pair of heels. He’d probably been a little off his game after the whole trying to ruin my life thing. Hopefully he was finally done trying to control me.