“What?” She leaned forward, her eyes widening.
I brought my mouth to her ear. “Kissed.”
“Kissed what?”
“You know—with our mouths.”
Her brows pinched together. “That’s it?”
I ached to tell her the truth. That I’d never had a boyfriend before. I wanted to ask her all about her first time. What was normal, what wasn’t. But she’d probably think that was funny too.
A slowing car caught my attention. Justin pulled up to the curb in front of us.
Naomi grinned, standing up. “Speaking of a certain ex-thug.”
“Don’t call him that.”
She rolled her eyes and ran over to Justin’s car.
I stayed back and watched them through the lens of the camera. The world looked so different this way. Naomi’s smile seemed less real, and Justin looked almost shy. I zoomed in as he pulled out of their hug. He stared right into the camera, like he was trying to see inside my mind. Naomi glanced over at me and whispered something. He eyed the ground and shrugged.
I focused on Naomi’s mouth as they walked toward me. It moved so quickly. Like she couldn’t get the words out fast enough. Justin’s lips curved up, not enough to be smiling. But enough to look unassuming. Pleasant.
“She can’t seem to stop messing around with that thing,” Naomi said.
Justin came within a few feet of me and stopped. “Hey.”
I straightened, peering over the camera. “Hi.”
Naomi’s gaze bounced between us. “Hello, awkward.” And then the wicked grin took over. “Drea tells me you two had quite the hot night.” She punched his arm.
He shot me what could only be a confused look. “That’s interesting.”
“Don’t,” I said, hoping she’d drop it for once.
“Yeah, apparently you guys…” She put a hand over her mouth, pretending to giggle.
“What? I missed the joke, sorry,” Justin said.
My heart thudded. “Naomi, please stop.”
“Drea said you guys”—she nudged him and whispered—“kissed.” Then she covered her mouth like it was the most shocking thing ever.
My cheeks burned, and I felt like I was going to throw up. I ran into the house, slamming the basement door behind me. Naomi must’ve known what a big deal that kiss was to me. And she didn’t care. It was a joke to her.
I buried my face in the softness of my pillow, squeezing my eyes shut.
The basement door creaked open a couple minutes later.
“Give me five minutes, Grandma! Five lousy minutes.”
But it wasn’t her open-toed heels coming down the stairs. These steps were softer, more like tennis shoes. “Don’t worry. Grandma and Naomi are holding down the fort,” Justin said. “But I brought the camera down in case they decide to go Jerry Springer on each other.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled into my green pillow.
His footsteps echoed behind me and stopped as he set the camera down. He walked over to the side I was facing and leaned against the wall, peering down at me. I turned the other way.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.
“Everything is a big joke to her, including me.”
“She gets off on teasing people. But you aren’t a joke to her, Drea. She went on and on last night about how talented you are.”
“Why is she always trying to embarrass me?”
“Because she wants attention and doesn’t know how to ask for it.”
“You sound like Jackie.”
“So be it. But it’s true. Besides, she feels pretty bad. Your grandma asked where you were, and Naomi told her you didn’t feel well. She got suckered into helping your grandma redo the table display.”
I rolled over and met his gaze. “I told my mom what happened last weekend. She wants to call her dad.”
“Did you tell her about me too?”
“I told her everything. I’m sorry. She still likes you.”
He shifted his weight against the wall. “Don’t be sorry. You guys are close. I tell my sister everything too.”
“I need to convince her not to call Naomi’s dad.”
He shrugged. “I don’t think you can.”
