Chapter 29 #2
Oliver blinks at me. “You’re already stuck? That was only step one.”
Ouch. Definitely not a parallel universe.
“No, uh.” I take a deep breath, uneasy. “I wanted to talk about something.”
He studies me from behind his glasses, one brow arched. Then he leans back in his chair and crosses his arms.
How do I even begin?
“Uh, well. I—um.”
He’s staring at me, waiting for me to go on. I feel myself turning red. Surely he’s noticed too.
“About the other night—atthesubway.” The last part comes out in a rush, as if it’s all one word.
Oliver glances down the hallway. “Uh, what night? I’ve never taken the subway.”
But his neck is flushed, and now he won’t meet my gaze. Sure, maybe he can see right through me, but I can also see right through whatever this act is. So I narrow my eyes, summon all my bravery, and take a deep breath.
“Cut it out, okay? I know you remember me.”
Oliver drops his eyes to my homework. “Yeah, well. I guess it’s hard to forget a random stranger coming up to you and asking to kiss you out of nowhere.”
Then his eyes flick up to meet mine. Even though my heart is rollicking inside my chest, I don’t chicken out and look away. This is my moment. I’m not going to leave anything else unsaid.
“Okay, I get it. The whole situation was weird, but I have a perfectly reasonable explanation,” I say. “You know my friend Patrick?”
“Unfortunately,” he intones. “Were you trying to make him jealous or something?”
“What? No. Let me finish.” I smooth my palms over my jeans. “Gosh, you’re sure chatty tonight. Anyway—Patrick. Well, I’ve never—ugh. I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”
He waits, silent. What do I have to lose, really? He already called me a weirdo in the subway. What’s he going to do now, say it again?
Okay, here goes nothing.
“I’ve never kissed anyone before, so Patrick dared me to go kiss you—a random stranger—so I could get it over with.
And I know it was stupid to agree. Obviously, a first kiss should be special, right?
But I wanted to prove I was, like, brave.
Next thing I know, I’m suddenly marching up to you and asking—agh. ”
It’s mortifying reliving this out loud, so I jump to the apology bit.
“I’m so sorry, Oliver. I shouldn’t have, because now you think I’m a total weirdo. Which is fine. I guess.”
Oliver places his forearms on the table and inches closer to me. “Okay, fine. Let’s do this, then.”
Uh, we’re moving on from this topic that quickly? I mean, I should have assumed he wouldn’t care that much, but I guess he really doesn’t want to discuss this. Which is fair. Why would he? He’s already moved on, and so have I.
I slip my pencil between my fingers. “Oh, studying. Right. Sorry.”
“No,” Oliver amends. “Your first kiss.”
My head snaps up so fast I may have given myself whiplash.
What did he just say?
The corners of his mouth tilt up. “Come on, then.”
“What?” I splutter, dizzy with confusion.
“You just said you wanted to get it over with, right?” He shifts forward in his chair, leaning in even farther.
And—oh my. His eyes are a kaleidoscope of greens. A lighter mossy color in some areas and a richer jade in others. Captivating, really.
Then it hits me.
Oliver Yang is about to kiss me.
Here.
At his kitchen table.
Do I want that?
“Ah, wait!” I slap my hands over my face.
“No! I’m saying it was stupid of me to ask you that one time.
I wasn’t thinking, clearly. And I don’t want it to happen like this—with all this math homework everywhere.
” I squeeze my eyes shut as I admit the rest. “I actually want my first kiss to feel special, you know? With someone I really like.”
“Relax, Sara.”
Huh?
I lower my hands. Oliver is still close, so close I can spot the lighter shades of golden blond mixing with darker strands as his hair shifts.
He grins. “I was kidding.”
And then the little prankster starts laughing. Laughing!
My fingers connect with his chin, pushing his face away from mine.
“Why are you laughing at me?” I demand. “After I just told you all that? How embarrassing.”
Oliver leans back in his chair, still smiling. He should really do that more often. Smile, I mean. Not try to kiss me.
“Hey, you did the same thing to me, remember? I had to re-create the moment. Consider it payback.”
Then he winks. It happens so fast that I think I’ve imagined it. Wow, I haven’t seen this side of him. Relaxed. Playful, even. Is Oliver Yang fun? Who knew?
My surprise must show on my face, because he laughs harder. It’s not mean laughter, though, and dimples appear on either side of his cheeks as he grins. It’s very adorable, which only causes my blush to deepen.
I thought he was cute the night I spotted him at the subway, but he’s been so grumpy to me ever since. This Oliver is tolerable. If he’d acted like this from the start, maybe we’d be friends.
“Okay, I’m back!”
As Joe reenters the room, I fling back in my chair, putting space between myself and Oliver. If Joe thinks this is odd, he doesn’t show it.
“Mom’s just having another panic attack about the wedding,” he goes on. “She keeps calling me every five minutes.”
“Your mom is getting married?”
“Yeah, she left my dad a while ago and now she’s remarrying for the third time,” Joe explains. “It’s kind of crazy, I know.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” I shift my gaze to Oliver, who’s suddenly gone stony again. “That must be hard.”
“Nah, it’s fine. It’s just hard when we’re all spread out like this.” Joe looks between us. “I heard you guys laughing—what’s so funny? Did you finally figure out that problem?”
Oliver covers his mouth to hide his smirk and, unfortunately, covers those dimples.
I swallow my own chuckle. This whole situation is sort of funny.
I mean, who would have thought I’d not only live across from the random boy I tried to kiss, but that he’d end up as my tutor?
Oh, and that I have a big ole crush on his older brother?
“Nope,” Oliver says simply, then rises to his feet. His eyes linger on mine, just for a moment, something softening behind them. But then he cuts away to address Joe. “It was way too difficult.”
Joe scratches the back of his head. “Huh. Really?”
“Yes.” Oliver’s already moving down the hall. “Maybe you’ll be able to figure it out—sorry.”
I watch him leave. What the heck was that all about? Who would’ve known Subwayboy was such a little flirt?
But—wait. Does that mean he’s going to tutor me again?
No! Geez. What am I thinking? I have Joe now.
Joe sits next to me, then picks up his pencil and studies Oliver’s work. “Is it really that hard?”
“Everything about calculus is hard,” I supply, which is unhelpful but honest.
“Let’s see if I can manage.”
If he can’t, I have no idea what I’m going to do. I imagine knocking on Oliver’s bedroom door, begging him to help me again, and shiver. No thank you. I won’t lose any more of my dignity today.
On the bright side, I finally confessed to Oliver. It’s all out in the open. No more secrets. Who cares if he knew the entire time? It’s in the past now. I don’t have to stress about it anymore. And he took it surprisingly well. I mean, he got me back with his little joke, so now we’re square.
Agh, but I told him I wanted my first kiss to feel special! Is that sappy? Does he assume I’m some pathetic hopeless romantic? Maybe Patrick’s right. Boys don’t think about romance the way girls do. Kisses aren’t something they dream about. Oliver probably thinks I should just get it over with too.
“Oh! I finally figured it out.” Joe tilts my homework so we can both read it. “So, this is how you do it—”
He begins patiently walking through each step in the problem, and by the time he reaches the end, I think I understand a little better than before. So he has me try the next one, and he’s encouraging when I make a mistake, ensuring I go back and try again. Eventually, I figure it out.
“You’re so smart, Joe. Thank goodness we have your brain here to help us.”
Joe only grins.
I may have bombed the pretest, but the real test is tomorrow. With Joe’s help, I’m going to do better. I know it. If I don’t, I may as well kiss my dreams of going to the festival with him goodbye.
And I’m determined not to let that happen.