I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest

Author:Kristina Forest
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

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We stop at a gas station in Virginia, about a half hour away from St. Maria College where Larissa is enrolled. Our playlist this time is a mix of today’s R & B (me) and ’90s rap (Eli). Eli is trying to figure out how to work the gas pump, but he’s having trouble. He keeps cursing under his breath, and when a man walks over to offer help, Eli grunts and says he’s okay. He probably doesn’t want people to know we’re spoiled kids from New Jersey who’ve never had to pump our own gas. When he finally gets the pump to work, he sports the world’s most satisfied grin.

“Hey,” he says, poking his head into the window. “Wanna hear something funny?”

“Your idea of funny and my idea of funny are very different,” I say. “So, no.”

He continues anyway. “When we were younger, I used to think that Trey liked you. When he told me he was gay a couple months ago, I was like, ‘Wait, didn’t you like Chloe?’” He laughs. “Funny, right?”

I shrug. “I thought he liked me, too.”

“Really?” He leans in farther and raises an eyebrow.

“I kissed him just before he moved. Then he told me he was gay.” Now I’m the one laughing. “It was so embarrassing.”

I expect Eli to laugh, too, but he just looks confused.

“You kissed Trey,” he repeats. “When?”

“I just told you. The summer he moved. We were hanging out at my house one day.”

He scratches the back of his neck. “Where was I?”

“I don’t know. With your dad, I think.”

“Oh.” He steps away, fiddles with the gas-pump nozzle, and doesn’t say anything else.

I thought for sure he’d love hearing about how I embarrassed myself in front of Trey. Maybe it’s only funny to me.

After the tank is filled up, Eli walks around the car and climbs into the driver’s seat. We merge back onto the highway, and for a while there’s only the sound of LL Cool J saying he needs an around the way girl.

Suddenly, Eli says, “I never knew that you liked Trey.”

I look at him in surprise. “I didn’t like him. For, like, a second, I thought he liked me, but I was wrong, obviously. It was stupid. We laughed about it afterward.”

He drums his fingers against the steering wheel, and I can tell he’s thinking hard about what he’s going to say next. “So … was that your first kiss?”

“Yes,” I say slowly. I shift in my seat to get a better look at him.

He licks his lips, and my eyes fall to his mouth.

WHY AM I STARING AT HIS MOUTH AGAIN?

I turn away and look straight ahead.

A little smugly, he says, “If I were your first kiss, it probably would have been better. Just saying.”

Immediately, my cheeks grow hot.

Then he laughs. He’s not flirting with me. He’s joking, of course. I force out a laugh, too. I thought he was flirting with me, but he wasn’t! Ha-ha! How hilarious!

It’s a relief when we need to pull over to let Geezer go to the bathroom.

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