Kiss Me (34 page)

Dawson is being his sweet, snuggly self and teasing me about my boots in front of everyone, but then he starts whispering in my ear about how he would like to see me in
just
my boots later on tonight. 

I’m not sure if I could do that. 

Two reasons why I could not float through my head simultaneously. 

One is that Grandpa would roll over in his grave, if he were dead, if he saw me doing those things in the boots he had made for me. 

The second reason is that boots are kinda Aiden’s and my thing. Like, not that we have a thing at all. But the way he calls me Boots and said he wanted to meet my grandpa . . . I just don’t think I could allow my boots to be a part of what Dawson has in mind. 

I may have to put a blindfold on them or put them in the corner or something. 

Jake and Whitney are sitting a couple rows below us, and I notice Dawson doesn’t seem to be affected by this at all. Which makes me very thankful. Bryce says
Hey
to them, then walks up and sits down behind me and Dawson. 

“So, did you take any of our advice?” he asks me.

“About my speech?”

“Uh, no, about making Dawson worship you.”

This gets Dawson’s attention.

He says teasingly, “What have you two been up to in ceramics?”

Bryce laughs. “Well, so far I’ve made a lopsided cup and an animal that resembles a pig but was supposed to be a pony.”

“They may have suggested the library,” I tell Dawson.

His eyes get big and he gets a big old grin on his face. He turns to Bryce and puts his fist in front of him. They do a fist bump and he says, “You can make suggestions like that
any
time, man.
Any
time.”

Now Bryce’s eyes get big. “You mean you took our advice! Like, the library idea?”

I roll my eyes. “Maybe.” 

“Can I get a clone of you? Seriously?” 

I start to say something, but Bryce interrupts me. “What the heck is on the football?”

In front of him, Annie says, “Looks like a four-leaf clover to me.”

Dawson says, “That’s for Notre Dame, like the fighting Irish, right? Why would they put that on our footballs? Shouldn’t it be a cougar paw?”

I look out and see that Riley is getting ready to toss a pass to Aiden. And on the football is a marker-drawn, green four-leaf clover outlined in black.

And I think I just passed out. 

Toying with my force field.

9:45pm

Dawson has a paper due, so I’m getting ready to leave after giving him just a few kisses. Well, okay, we were making out a bit, and his hands were everywhere under my shirt. But I drew the line when he was trying to undo my shorts. 

“We both have homework. You told me to promise to make you do it.”

“Oh, I wanna do it, alright.”

“Dawson! Behave!”

“Sorry, okay. I’ll text you before I go to sleep.”

“K, bye.” 

As I round the corner to go down the hall, I almost run into Aiden.

Who is looking more god-like than ever in a plain white T-shirt that clings to his perfectly formed chest.

He grabs my hand and nods his head toward the stairs. 

I follow him up to his room.

He shuts his door, locks it, and dazzles me with a smile. “So, only had twelve tonight. But we won!”

“Yeah, you all played great. Riley’s really stepping up.”

“That and we had a secret weapon.”

“What’s that?”

“Motivation.”

“I saw the clovers on the footballs. That your doing?”

“Yeah. This girl wished me luck and offered me dances. So I gave a little motivational speech before the game. Showed everyone that I drew them on the game balls, prayed Coach wouldn’t kill me, and it was a big hit. We went out there pretty pumped up.”

“It was awesome, really.”

“I didn’t have a chance to pick twelve new songs. Okay if we do some of the old ones?”

“Are we dancing tonight?”

“Heck yeah.”

He hits play on his iPod and pulls me in close. We sway to the music and he gets so close to me. Like before. It’s like our faces have a force field around only them. 

And he is toying with my force field. 

Like, he’s firing shots, trying to find its weakness. 

And what’s up with that?

Because I clearly told Kirk, or Scotty, or whoever is in charge of that stuff on the starship,
Shields down
!

But he will not kiss me. He is totally teasing me, totally playing with me, and it pisses me off, and makes me weak at the knees at the same time. 

Remember how I said it feels like time stands still when I kiss him? It feels that way when I dance with him too. Like we are the only two people on this green earth, and we’re okay with that. And, before I realize it, we’ve gone through not just twelve songs, but all twenty-nine on his original playlist. Rap music blares on, and I look at the clock.

Holy shit!

Shit!

“Aiden! I’m thirty-six minutes late!”

I go tearing out of his room, down the stairs, and sprint to my dorm.

I check in and receive a very stern warning and over one hundred minutes of detention. 

Worth. Every. Second.

I mean, our team won, right?

I’m still downstairs, dealing with being late. There’s paperwork that has to be filled out for my detention. Now that she’s done chewing me out and focusing on that, I check my phone. 

I have texts. Lots of texts.

Dawson:  Almost done with my paper. Night, Keatie <3

Katie:  You are 12 minutes late for curfew. Where are you?

Katie:  Texted Dawson, to tell you you were late. You are not with him???? Where are you??? And now you are 15 minutes late!

Dawson:  Where are you? I thought you were going back to your dorm? 

Katie:  I’m freaking out. 18 minutes late. 

Katie:  Text me for god’s sake.

Maggie:  Katie is trying to find you. Where are you?

Annie:  Why aren’t you in your dorm? Why aren’t you answering? Katie says Dawson doesn’t know where you are.

Dawson:  Text me when you get in. Katie’s freaking out. 

Katie:  You ARE 27 MINUTES LATE!!!!

Dallas:  Heard you are MIA, have a sneaking suspicion you are tutoring. If so, use Dallas as your excuse. I will always have your back. But you better text me back and tell me what the deal is.

Katie:  32 MINUTES!!

Me to Katie:  I’m in the dorm. Will be up in a few. Getting my ass chewed first. Tell everyone you were texting I’m fine.

Katie:  THANK GOD!

Me to Dallas:  I love you, seriously. And you are correct. I told you he is a powerful one. I got lost in his eyes and lost all track of time. 

Dallas:  Why do I have a feeling you have something to do with the four-leaf clover on the footballs tonight. He gave you one before dance tryouts, right?

Me:  Right. And again before my speech. I just decided to like pay it forward. He wished me luck. I knew it was a rough game. I have school spirit, wanted the team to win, offered up some more dances. That’s where I was.

Dallas:  Was it just dancing?

Me:  Yes. 

Dallas:  If I were Dawson, I wouldn’t want you dancing with Aiden. I wouldn’t give a shit about school spirit.

Me:  I’m on the dance team. I’m into school spirit. It’s like my job. So what were we doing? Why was I late? My brain is mush!

Dallas:  You were helping me study for our English test tomorrow and we were both so tired, we fell asleep.  

Me:  We have a English test tomorrow??!! And Riley is your roommate. He will know.

Dallas: Yes...go study. And Riley fell asleep early. You seriously need to talk me up to Katie, she’s cute. I deserve it.

Me:  Done :)

I really don’t want to lie to Dawson. 

Me to Dawson:  Hey, sorry. I’m fine. 

Dawson:  It’s okay. I figured Katie was freaking out over nothing.

I walk in my room, and if I didn’t get my ass chewed enough, Katie starts in on me. And really, I’m not in the mood. I tell her about Dallas, tell her I’m tired, and tell her goodnight. 

How many lies?

1am

I lie still in my bed and daydream about Greek gods in white T-shirts. Then, when I can tell she’s asleep, I get back up and study for the stupid test. 

While I’m studying, I get a text from Garrett asking if I’m still up. 

Me:  Yeah.

Garrett: I need to talk to you. Can you grab your iPad and go somewhere private?

Me: Sure.

I walk quietly out into the hall and then into the concrete stairwell. 

“What’s wrong?” I say when I answer Garrett’s call. 

“Some things have been going on that I need to update you on. On your Facebook wall, people have been speculating about where you are.”

“You should just delete my profile.”

“We’re monitoring it. And some interesting things have come up. Specifically, there has been a lot of talk about rehab facilities. A little over two weeks ago, one was mentioned by name. A famous one in Malibu.”

“Okay?”

“A day later, their office was broke into. Files were searched.”

“I’ve heard that’s not uncommon. Paparazzi trying to get a story.”

“I agree. But then, nine days ago, another one was named. The one we sent the plane to in Utah.”

“Did it get broken into too?”

“Yes. And, a few days ago, another one in Arizona.”

“Have you been following him?”

“Yes, but he hasn’t left. He probably hired someone to do it.”

“Okay, so he’s still looking for me. Got it. I won’t do anything stupid.” 

“There’s something else.”

I instantly panic. “Mom? The girls?”

“No. They’re all fine. It’s your friend, Cush.”

“What about him?”

“He, well, he left. He’s not at your school anymore.”

“Where is he?”

“There’s a message from him on your Facebook. On your iPad is a special icon that looks like the one on your phone only it’s orange. Hit that. Then log into Facebook. It’s a program that doesn’t allow your IP address to be tracked. Read the message. I’ll wait.”

I log on and take a deep breath. I have numerous messages and notifications, but I look for the one from Cush. 

And open it.

Keatyn,

I came to your party because I had to apologize to you. Tell you I was sorry about what I said after the whole Mandy thing. That it wasn’t your fault. 

I had something else to tell you too. It’s the real reason I came back. After all the plans we’d made, I felt like I owed it to you to tell you in person. 

Here’s what I was supposed to tell you:

I decided to live with my dad and go to school in Oregon. I thought it would suck here, but it really doesn’t. I like coming home and having people in the house. Everyone here is really nice and I kinda met this girl. She’s sweet. You’d like her. She doesn’t care about being popular. It’s not that big of a deal here. 

But here’s what happened:

I gave you the boots. 

You loved them.

I wasn’t lying when I said they look like you, but I was lying when I said I bought them. I’m sorry, but my mom picked them out. She said they were a good brand and you would love them. 

Then you kissed me, and I wanted to forget about Oregon. 

I wanted to come back and pretend there was no one else.

I loved dancing with you again.

And then you dragged me off the dance floor and really kissed me. Told me you broke up with the surfer and that you loved me. I swear, Keatyn, you can wrap me around your finger like no one else can. I started making plans with you that I knew I couldn’t keep. I told you about prom because I wished it could be true.

But then I started feeling guilty. 

Because I knew I was lying. 

I told myself I would tell you the truth at your after-party. 

But then you cancelled the party and left.

I tried to call you. I tried to go to your house. I felt like I owed it to you to tell you in person, but I had to go. 

I hope I can see you again someday. 

And that you’re okay. You were the first girl I ever really cared about. 

I just had to do what’s best for me. Go where it’s good for me. 

I hope you’re somewhere good for you too. 

Cush

Tears stream down my face, but I laugh at myself through them. At my own stupidity. I told a guy I loved him over a pair of boots. A pair of boots that I was convinced symbolized everything we could be. I’m such an idiot.

“I read it,” I tell Garrett. Trying not to sound like I’ve been crying.