“Well,” he finally speaks, stopping in front of my house, “here we are.”
Okay, then. We’re really not going to talk about us? And what that whole conversation and kiss meant?
Chill, Megan.
But I don’t want to chill. I’m annoyed.
“Thanks,” I mutter, popping my seatbelt off.
I almost tell him to “have a great night,” or something like that, but then I decide to just grab my backpack and open my door without saying anything else.
“Hey, Meg,” he says as I start to get out of the car. “Wait a sec.”
Are we going to talk about it then? Because I will gladly wait MORE than just a sec if we’re going to talk about “us.”
I turn so I can see his face. “Yeah?”
That wasn’t too anxious, was it? No, no…it was totally casual. Very natural.
He taps his thumb against the steering wheel, which I obviously find hot, and then he licks his lips—which I also find hot. “Don’t forget to ask your mom about those peanut butter cookies, okay?”
In that moment, I find myself wanting to cuss him out…a lot. Somehow, I don’t.
Instead, I manage an extremely fake and tight-lipped smile. “Of course.”
I think he says something about “seeing me at school,” but I’m too busy getting out of his car and slamming the door to hear whatever he told me.
PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES?!
He’s really worried about some stupid cookies right now?
Knowing he’s probably watching me, I make sure not to stomp up the driveway, but I most definitely cuss him out.
Once I’m inside the house, I glare at his car as he pulls it into their driveway, and then I toss our front door shut.
So much for cheering me up. I went from being frustrated to being straight-up mad.
“Megan!” I hear Mom call from the kitchen. “Don’t slam the door like that, please.”
I drop my backpack on the floor. “Sorry!”
“Finally!” Hailee exclaims, coming out of the living room. “I thought you’d never get home!”
At first, I’m confused by why she’s so happy to see me—then I realize it’s because she knows I was with him.
“Tell me EVERYTHING!” she demands, pocketing her phone. “Where did you guys go? What did you guys do? It was a date, right? MEGAN!”
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” I deadpan, dragging my feet to the stairs, “leave me alone.”
“Oh, crap,” she huffs, “does that mean it wasn’t a date? Is that why you’re in such a bad mood?”
“Hailee! Stop hounding your sister, please!”
“But, Mom!” Hailee whines, directing her voice toward the kitchen. “I’m invested in this relationship! I deserve to know what’s happening!”
“Nothing is happening!” I snap, starting to go upstairs. “And Brayden says ‘hi’ too, Mom! And he wants you to make stupid peanut butter cookies for the stupid housewarming party that I will NOT be attending!”
Did I already mention that I’m mad? Because I’m mad.
Hailee gasps, following me upstairs to my room. “Did you guys fight? About what? Megan, you can’t keep me in suspense like this!”
“Megan?”
Oh great, Mom is coming up here too.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” she asks, now standing beside Hailee with her eyebrows creased. “Why don’t you want to go to the housewarming party?”
“Because he’s annoying!” I reply, throwing open my bedroom door so I can storm into the room. “And frustrating! And confusing!
And gorgeous. And sweet. And an A+ kisser…
“I don’t understand, Megan,” Mom says as I fling myself onto my bed, “what did he do? Because I can have a talk with Dawn and—”
“No flippin’ way!” Hailee cuts Mom off, moving past her to come into the room. “You guys finally kissed! DIDN’T YOU?!”
How the—
“Hailee,” Mom says in a scolding tone, also coming into my room, “I know how strongly you feel about your sister and Brayden, but now is not the time for that.”
“Would you just tell her that I’m right?” Hailee asks, giving me an exasperated look. “Tell her that you and Brayden kissed, because I know you guys did. That’s why you’re so flustered and everything. You guys kissed, you liked it, but then Brayden did something to mess it up.” She proceeds to fan herself. “Oh my gosh, this is just like episode twenty of season one—I can’t even right now!”
Darn that Cloverdale show…
“Episode twenty of—” Mom looks even more lost than before. “Megan, what is your sister talking about? Is she right? Did you and Brayden kiss?”
I can’t believe we’re having this conversation. And there’s no getting out of it either because Mom isn’t going to let it go until she gets some kind of understandable explanation.
Ugh.
“Yeah,” I grumble, crossing my arms, “she’s right. Brayden and I…kissed.”
Hailee shrieks, placing a hand to her heart. “I’m dying! It’s too much, oh my gosh!”
Mom begins to massage her temples. “Hailee, please.”
Hailee’s too busy pulling her phone out though.
“So, Megan,” Mom says with a sigh, “you guys kissed, but now you’re mad at him?”
I nod. “Exactly.”
She props a hand on her hip. “Well, why? What did he do?”
“I thought we’d talk about what the kiss meant,” I start to rant, letting out a bitter laugh, “but no—he just wanted to make sure I remembered to tell you about the peanut butter cookies! Can you believe that?! I’m there wondering if we’re a couple or not, and all he was thinking about were those flippin’ peanut butter cookies!”
“Ah,” she replies, though I doubt she gets it, “so I’m guessing this means you didn’t bring up the whole ‘couple thing’ either?”
“Of course not!” I look at
