The Girl Least Likely by Katy Loutzenhiser

Author:Katy Loutzenhiser
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Published: 2021-04-22T00:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

The Rom-Com Kiss | A smooch worthy of orbiting cameras, a swell of music, maybe a fountain going off somewhere. Rain is preferred. Mouths stay extremely open. Oh, and no breathing breaks. This is serious business, people.

The rain is a nice change from the snow today. I watch from the kitchen window, eating Cheerios standing up, still in my cozy plaid pajamas. I spent the late hours of the morning hovering between stages of consciousness, enjoying the pitter-patter on my windowsill. By the time I got up, I’d decided. It’s time I got kissed already.

Even the weather seems to agree.

This afternoon, I will be “writing” with Jeremy in his dorm. The implications of the meeting place are obvious. And he’s been finding little ways to stay in touch all week.

Now, I’m thinking logistically. I have mints in the car. And maybe I’ll go easy on the lipstick. Mom and Dad are out running errands at the moment, but I think they’ll likely be home before I go. Maybe I could wear a more casual black outfit, to avoid the car change?

“It is the weekend,” I say to Nacho at my feet. “Who wears skin-tight leather pants on a Saturday afternoon?” He tilts his head, like he’s really considering this. “Also, it’ll be daylight. And I’d rather not flash anyone.”

A loud thump from the basement almost makes me spill my cereal, and Nacho starts jumping and yipping hysterically. “Hello?” I call, just as the door from downstairs swings open. “. . . Carmen?” My cousin whizzes past me with an armful of two-by-fours, cut down to about her height.

“Hi,” she grunts as she heads for the front of the house.

I leave my bowl on the counter to follow as she adds her lumber to the pile in the foyer I somehow didn’t notice earlier. “I can’t believe you’re here,” I say, smiling as she turns around. God, I’ve missed her.

“Only briefly,” she says as she reaches for her raincoat on the hook. She looks a bit haggard but still stylish this morning, in her ripped jeans and dirty white tee, neon pink hoops dangling from her earlobes. “There was a long waiting list for the table saw in our woodshop. Your dad said I could cut a few pieces here. I’m the genius who elected to do a quarter-scale model for my project because I thought I could keep it as a fun clubhouse after. There’s a chance I won’t sleep for five straight days.”

“Dang,” I say, lowering down onto a step and leaning into the banister. “So I take it there’s no way you’d want to stay and hang out, then?” Carmen might be a good person to talk to right about now. I could probably use some advice. I really don’t know the first thing about kissing.

Maybe I should practice on, like, an apple.

“I wish,” she says, her expression softening as she looks me over. “But I should get back to work.”

I nod—easy breezy—though inside I’m racking my brain for ways to trap her here a little longer.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.