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It’s never good to get your hopes up, but I think Vinny Brooks went out of his way to be my partner.

EMMA

Stubbing your toe.

Expired milk in your cereal bowl.

Salty foods when you have a canker sore.

Canker sores in general.

A solid list of things that are worse than hanging out alone with Vinny and Juliet.

I watch as Juliet tickles Vinny’s side at a stoplight on the way home from Barnes & Noble. He retaliates, squeezing her leg just above her knee. She twists and lurches, and it ends with one of them leaning in for a kiss. And now they’re doing some playful kissing, tickling thing (I mean that in the most PG way possible) in the front seat of the car while I watch from the backseat.

No, I can’t watch.

It’s weird, for one. And two, it hurts.

It’s amazing how, after all these years, it still hurts like the first time I saw them together. Aren’t you supposed to go numb after a while? Or adjust to the “new normal”?

Lies.

All lies.

My eyes drift past the happy couple to the stoplight, willing it to change to green. This has to be the longest red light in the history of mankind.

I glance up at the car ceiling.

A mosquito bite that won’t stop itching.

A horrible pillow at a hotel.

Ads that you can’t skip.

Cold French fries.

The car behind us honks, breaking apart their kiss. Thank goodness I’m not the only one annoyed by this impromptu makeout.

Vinny looks in the rearview mirror as he pushes the gas pedal, but Juliet is forever unaffected by anyone around her.

She’s the main character in the story.

Always has been.

Juliet Montgomery—even her name glides off the tongue elegantly.

I still remember the day she moved in next door, running up to me with confidence, two perfect, long, blonde braids, and a smile. I was mesmerized. Not to mention the knit poncho she wore that I would’ve killed to have in my closet, and the iPod Nano my parents said I wasn’t allowed to have. I immediately envied and adored everything about her. And if I’m being honest, it’s been that way ever since.

So it’s no wonder Vinny fell for her charms. It doesn’t take much to fall under her spell. She just has that kind of energy.

Juliet twists to talk to me in the backseat. “What do you think about the books I got my mom for her birthday?”

“Um.” I tip open the bag and look at the top one, Poems and Prayers by Matthew McConaughey. “Hasn’t she read this one?”

“No, I don’t think she ever has. But she loved his Greenlights book.”

“She’ll probably love this one too.” I shuffle the books around to count how many she bought. “Whoa, you got a lot for her.”