Page 5 of I Kissed Shara Wheeler
“First thing,” Chloe says. “Football Physics is first hour.”
“Great.” He unlatches the gate for her. “I’ll get my affairs in order.”
“Why didn’t you ever audition for spring musical? You’re so dramatic.”
“Not my thing.”
They stand there, Chloe’s keys jingling in her hand, Rory looking like he’s going to start writing depressing poetry about Shara any second. Or whatever his deal is. It feels alarmingly like she’s just been assigned to the world’s worst group project, and she can’t imagine the addition of Smith Parker will be an improvement.
“Um.” Chloe clears her throat. “Maybe… don’t tell anyone else? About Shara kissing me? I don’t know if I should’ve… well, anyway, I don’t think it should be spread all over school unless she tells people herself.”
Rory shakes his head. “I wasn’t gonna tell anyone.”
Satisfied, Chloe lifts her chin and whips around, forcing the gate open. “See you at school tomorrow. You better show up. I know where you live now.”
“Threat received,” Rory says with a sullen salute, and she shuts him behind the gate.
She crosses the front yard of the Heron house and rounds the corner to a copse of trees and an elaborate fountain in the shape of a very ugly dolphin, where she parked her car.
In the driver’s seat, she finally lets her body relax the way it only can when she’s really, truly alone. Her shoulders slump. Her keys slide out of her hand and onto the floor mat. Her head drops against the steering wheel. The miniature lucky cat on her dashboard waves at her, nonplussed.
She’s been kissed and ditched by Shara Wheeler. And she’s not even the only one.
But… that lip gloss. Vanilla and mint. It’s absolutely, 100 percent the lip gloss she was wearing when they kissed. Chloe would never, ever forget that scent.
Which means Shara bought it specifically to kiss Chloe with.
Proof that Shara does, when she’s home at night in her powder-blue room, brushing her hair and painting her nails and winding a rubber band three times around a stack of study cards, think about Chloe.
And that feels a bit like winning.
FROM THE BURN PILE
Handwritten note from Chloe to Georgia
PLEASE DO NOT REACT AUDIBLY if Madame Clark picks this one up and reads it out loud like she did with Tanner’s ranking of girls’ butts I will literally kill you
Okay. So.
Shara Wheeler just kissed me. Like literally just now on my way to fifth hour.
AGAIN PLEASE DO NOT REACT you are calm you are a placid lake you are my moms after a pitcher of hemp tea
I was taking the faculty elevator shortcut, and she got on, and then she kissed me, out of NOWHERE.
And I think I kissed her back??? She’s hot! I panicked! She may be the bane of my existence, but she also looks like she lives in the hills of Sweden and spends all her time embroidering flowers on linen shirts like an extra in Midsommar. She looks like she smells nice and I’m here to report that she does in fact smell nice, like lilacs, except for her lip gloss, which was vanilla and mint. Like, what else am I supposed to do when a girl like that is about to kiss me? Anyone would have done the same thing.
ANYWAY. She kissed me, like really kissed me, like KISSED me, and then she was GONE.
What does it mean??? Shara Wheeler is the most tragic heterosexual to ever cram herself into a Brandy Melville crop top. She was obviously just screwing with me. This is mean straight girl behavior. Right???
What do I do????
Lilacs, Geo. LILACS.
2
DAYS SINCE SHARA WHEELER LEFT: 2
