Chapter 16
Chapter 16
“Well?” Erin says from across the table.
I take a sip of my tea and let out a breath. “Back in high school, Alex . . . well, he humiliated me.”
“What happened?” Sophie asks, her voice soft.
“When I first met him, I thought he was cute. You know, in an older guy kind of way. I was fourteen, he was sixteen. He was much worldlier than me.”
“Two years does make a big difference when you’re a teenager,” Erin says.
“Exactly. Anyway, I got a bit of a crush on him. A huge one, really.” I remember the feeling as if it all happened yesterday. The way I’d get a thrill just to hear someone mention his name, the way I’d see him with his friends across from me at lunch, hoping, praying he’d look my way. I was totally at his mercy, and all I wanted was his attention on me, even just for a split second.
“I told Erin just last week that I thought you must have had a thing for him back then!” Sophie says in excitement. “Didn’t I say that, Erin?”
“To be fair, it’s not exactly a giant leap, Soph,” Erin says. “Darcy’s a girl, Alex is a guy, both at the same high school together. You do the math. What I want to know is how we didn’t know about this crush at the time.”
I shrug. “I guess I was embarrassed. He was Sophie’s cousin, and it was all so overwhelming. Teenage crushes always are.”
“Remember that crush I had on Brandon Richardson?” Erin says. “I thought he was amazing. I would have taken a bullet for him.”
“You would?” I question.
“Well, in the leg maybe,” she replies.
“You got to date him when you were sixteen, Erin, so your crush wasn’t unrequited,” Sophie explains. “Not like yours, Darcy, right?” Her features change. “Unless you’re going to tell us you secretly dated him or something?”
“My crush was definitely unrequited. At least I thought it was until I saw him at the mall one Saturday afternoon. I was with my mum, and he was there hanging out with a bunch of friends, kids I recognized from school. I remember what he was wearing like it was yesterday: a light blue open shirt over a white T and a necklace.” I smile at the memory. That whole look he was sporting was so hot back then. “He was leaning up against a pillar down by the fountain, like he was James Dean or something.”
“I can imagine,” Sophie says with a chortle. “He was super cool back in the day.”
“Mum had to go buy something, so I told her I’d grab an ice cream and meet her later. That’s when I saw him again, at the ice cream parlor, only this time he was alone.” I remember the feeling of standing near him, closer than I’d ever been. It was nerve-wracking and utterly exciting at the same time. “I decided to be brave and move so he’d see me, and when he did, I smiled at him, and he smiled back. Then, he came over and asked me my name, and he asked me where I went to school. I told him, and he said he recognized me, but even the dumb fourteen-year-old version of myself knew he wasn’t telling the truth.
“He told me I was pretty, and I thought I would die from happiness right there in the ice cream parlor. I remember looking up at him and thinking he was the absolute perfect guy. I was so freaking nervous, but I knew this was my shot with him.”
Both of my friends are sitting on the edges of their seats.
“What happened?” Sophie asks.
“He kissed me,” I state simply.
“He did?” Erin says in surprise. “Alex kissed you at an ice cream parlor.”
“Yup,” I reply. “ I never did get that ice cream.”
Sophie shakes her head, her eyes wide. “How did we not know this?” she says to Erin. “You’re our BFF, and he’s my cousin.”
“You kept that secret well, girl,” Erin says.
I cast my eyes down. “The thing is, right afterwards, Cora Huntington turned up, and he left me standing there, looking like a total idiot. I remember him saying an extremely un-heartfelt sorry and whisking her and her perfect ten body and gorgeous curly hair away.” My insides twist at the memory of the feeling of utter humiliation.
“Oh, no,” Erin winces. “Bad form, Alex.”
“What a dick,” Sophie says, not beating about the bush. She holds her hands up in the stop sign. “I can say it because he’s my cousin.”
“So, now you know,” I say with a shrug. “The secret I’ve kept from you all this time.”
“Oh, honey. We all had crushes back then, but he did not treat you well,” Erin says. “On the plus side, at least you got to kiss an older, more experienced guy. That counted for a lot when we were that age.”
I shake my head. “You’re looking for the silver lining here, and I’m not sure there is one.”
Erin shrugs. “I guess I am. Was it a good kiss?”
The memory of it fills my brain. When he reached out and gently cupped my face in his hands, leaned down, and brushed his lips against mine. I knew beyond a whisper of a doubt it was love. Big love. And here he was, finally noticing me, finally showing me that he felt the same way, too.
Idiot, right? Complete and utter idiot. He was just a teenage boy who happened to know how to give a girl a kiss. And I was the silly, romantic girl who lapped it all up.
My cheeks heat up. “It was a good kiss. You know, for a kiss with a teenage boy.” Instantly, my mind flashes to the kiss we shared at the café kitchen. But I can’t go there. I’m not going there.
Erin prods me in the arm. “OMG, girl. You’re blushing about a kiss from years ago!”
“It was my first kiss.” I twist my hands in my lap.
Erin’s eyes grow huge. “Alex Walsh gave you your first-ever kiss?”
I bite on the inside of my lip and nod. That big moment in a girl’s life, when she gets her first ever romantic kiss, and mine had to be with a guy like Alex.
Sophie knits her brows together. “But you always told us that your first was with Gavin the Tongue.”
“OMG, Gavin the Tongue! I forgot about that guy,” Erin says. “What was with that guy and his tongue?”
I shudder at the memory. “I think someone told him the way to kiss a girl is to ram it in as far as it can go and say a little prayer she’ll like it.”
Sophie lets out a light laugh and groans. “ Euw .”
Erin places her hand on my arm. “I always felt bad for you that Gavin the Tongue was the first guy you ever kissed. Now I don’t have to.”
“I guess,” I reply.
“What happened after that?” Erin asks.
I look down at my hands in my lap as my familiar friend Mortification alights inside. “I found him by that burger place by the supermarket and asked him why he kissed me if he was with Cora Huntington. He told me I was a nice kid but that he wanted to be with ‘a woman.’” I use air quotes.
Erin’s eyes are like saucers. “He seriously said that?” she asks, and I nod.
Sophie shakes her head as she repeats, “What a dick.”
I toss my hair and paste on a smile. “So, now you both know. My deepest darkest secret is that my first kiss was with a guy who treated me like I was nothing.”
“Babe, I’m so sorry,” Erin says. “What a jerk. No wonder you’ve hated him all this time.”
Sophie is clearly angry. “Wait until I get my hands on him. I’ll tell Auntie Margie, that’s what I’ll do. She’ll deal with him, believe me. Us Irish can be tough when we need to be.”
“No!” I cry at the outlandish notion of Sophie sharing my high school story with Alex’s mother. “Can’t you see how much worse that would make it? And anyway, it was such a long time ago.”
“Okay. But I’ll do it if you change your mind. Auntie Margie takes no prisoners, believe me,” she replies.
“This puts a totally new spin on what’s happened between you two in the last few weeks,” Erin says.
I hang my head. “Not for me it doesn’t.”
Erin holds a mini scone with jam and cream up. “Here. Eat sugar. It’ll help.”
I do as I’m told and pop the scone into my mouth. Although it tastes delicious, Erin is wrong. It doesn’t help.
She picks up the teapot and pours more tea. “I bet he regrets what he did back then.”
“I doubt it,” I harrumph. I think of that smug look on his face every time I see him. He knows what he did. He knows . And he finds it funny.
“He’s probably reminded of it every time he sees you, and wants to make things right,” Erin continues.
“Don’t forget that we live among unicorns and slide down rainbows with big, happy smiles on our faces every day, too.” I sulk and then pull my lips into a line. “I know, I’m being sarcastic. Trust me on this, he doesn’t want to make things right.”
“Just kiss you,” Sophie adds with a grin.
I let out a heavy sigh. “I should never have let that happen.”
“Which time?” Sophie asks.
“Either of them!” I snap and instantly regret it. “Sorry,” I mutter.
“No worries. We get it.” Sophie stands up and pushes her chair into the table. “I need to go greet those people who’ve just arrived.” She nods at the podium where a group of middle- aged women is talking happily among themselves. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Darce. But you know what? You’ve got to work with the grown-up version of Alex now. Do whatever you can to put that high school stuff behind you. Otherwise, it’ll be a nightmare for you until the gallery opens.”
“Sophie’s totally right. Move on dot com,” Erin adds.
I cross my arms. I feel like I’m being told to pull my socks up by my mum. Whatever that meant. (I’m in a cute pair of silver sandals today, anyway, my small rebellion against the head-to-toe blue regime.) “I guess you’re both right.”
Sophie gives my shoulder a quick squeeze. “We are right, Darce. Now, enjoy the rest of your high tea. This one’s on me.”
We both thank Sophie, and she leaves to go greet the newly arrived gaggle of women at the podium.
“You know, this whole high school past thing changes that kiss you two had in the kitchen.”
“No, it doesn’t. All it says is that I’ve been an idiot when it comes to Alex for far too long.”
“Maybe? Or maybe you’re meant to be together.”
What is she talking about? I’m meant to be with Alex? How absurd. “Erin, that’s insane,” I scoff.
She shoots me a sly grin. “Is it?”
“It is,” I reply firmly.
She turns her head, and I follow her gaze to see Alex standing at a nearby table. He’s concentrating on listening to one of the customers, his pink High Tea apron tied around his waist. He should look ridiculous in that apron, but somehow, he doesn’t. Somehow, he still manages to look incredibly hot.
He lifts his eyes, and they flash to mine. Immediately, I look away. You don’t know where you stand with a guy like Alex. He’s the type who could let you down in a flash, and undoubtedly would. Guys like him are the reason why I agreed to the No More Bad Dates Pact in the first place.
I’m done with guys like Alex.