Chapter 1 #5
“Can you even see me?”
“I can see that you’re there.”
“How bad are your eyes, normally?”
“Terrible.”
Wyatt laughed again. “Sorry I’m laughing. That’s not funny.”
“This is so embarrassing,” Julia said.
“You don’t have to be embarrassed. We’re strangers, remember?”
She smiled at his smudged watercolor face.
“Will you be able to find your friend’s car like this?” he asked.
“Yeah.” Julia had a pair of emergency eyeglasses in her pocket. Her mom made her carry them.
There was no way she was putting them on now. In front of Wyatt Hardy.
He’d make the connection soon enough. Monday morning. When he saw Julia in class. Or in the hallway. Sometimes you just needed to see people in context to recognize them. She was going to hold on to this secret awhile longer . . .
Wyatt waved his hand in front of her face.
“I can see that,” she said.
“Can you see me?”
“I said yes. You’re just blurry.”
“What if I scoot closer?”
He did. His knees pressed into hers. His face got a little clearer. “Is that better?”
“I mean, I can see you more clearly,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s better.”
“Very funny,” he said. “Very mean, but very funny.”
He was sitting so close. She’d never been this close to a boy. She’d only been this close to her parents, and her younger cousins, and Chloe when she was doing Julia’s makeup.
“Did you want me to help you find your friend?” he asked.
“I’ll wait until the movie’s over,” she said.
Wyatt laughed. “The movie that you’re not facing and can’t see or hear.”
Julia sat up, away from him, unsure. She could see his face, but she couldn’t read it. “Did you want to go find your friends?”
“No,” Wyatt said. He took her hand. The one not holding his shirt. He looked in her eyes. “Is this okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, feeling starstruck.
Chloe had a whole plan for Julia’s first kiss. It involved borrowing one of Chloe’s halter tops and going to the soccer team’s back-to-school party at Cooper Losole’s lake house.
Julia had her doubts about this plan. She couldn’t see herself with any of Aiden’s friends.
“You don’t have to see yourself with them,” Chloe had said. “You don’t have to, like, be with them.”
“Like you’re not with Aiden?”
“Pre-cisely.”
But Julia couldn’t see herself even wanting to kiss anyone on the soccer team.
“It’s about growth,” Chloe said. “We are in the business of seizing opportunities.”
“What business is that?”
“The business of life, Julia.” That was how Chloe talked. Grandly. Like she was addressing several thousand followers. “Kiss somebody,” she said. “Live a little.”
“Can you see me?” Wyatt asked. He’d moved his face even closer.
“Yes,” Julia whispered.
“I like talking to you,” he said.
“I like talking to you,” she said.
“I feel like everything you say is real.”
(What a thing to say to a liar.)
(Julia hadn’t told a lie.)
“I think you’re really funny,” Julia said honestly. “And really kind. And I think you might have the best smile in the world.”
Wyatt smiled from ear to ear. “I like your hair a lot,” he said.
“Thank you.”
“It’s so curly . . .”
“There’s a lot of product in it.”
He moved his face closer. “Do you want me to kiss you?” he whispered.
Julia nodded. “Yeah.”
Wyatt kissed her.
She didn’t kiss him back at first—she didn’t think of it.
She was thinking about how his mouth was bigger than hers.
And how he tasted like Chloe’s Twizzlers.
She was thinking about how much she’d always liked him from a distance.
A short distance. From three chairs back or across the cafeteria.
And how he was even better like this, close-up and one-on-one. Messier than he looked. And even nicer.
Julia was seizing the moment. She was living a little. (A lot!) She wasn’t trying to solve tomorrow’s problems . . . Monday morning’s problems . . . Julia Kimball’s problems . . .
She was a strange girl at the edge of darkness.
She was a figment of Wyatt Hardy’s imagination.
He pulled his mouth away a little. “Yeah?” he asked.
Julia nodded. Her mouth touched his. She tried kissing him. He kissed her back.
She squeezed his hand. Wyatt touched her cheek. And then her hair.
She thought that maybe she should be afraid. No one knew where she was. No one could see her.
She wasn’t afraid.
She wanted more of this—every part of it.
The lights came up over the cars when the movie credits rolled.
Julia and Wyatt were sitting under a huge floodlight. They pulled away from each other, blinking and smiling and trying to turn their heads away from the light.
Wyatt kept hold of her shoulders. He laughed out loud.
Julia had been so lost in the kissing, she hadn’t even realized the movie was ending. She hadn’t heard any of the dinosaurs shrieking. She tried to smooth down her hair. “I should text my friend.”
“Yeah . . .” Wyatt said. “Maybe she wants to stay for the next movie.”
“Maybe . . .”
It occurred to Julia then—Why hadn’t this occurred to her earlier? Did kissing make her stupid?—that Wyatt might ask to see her again. He might ask for her number or to follow her on Instagram. (She didn’t have an Instagram.) He might finally ask her name. Should she lie to him? Should she run?
The theater manager was making announcements over the sound system:
“The speed limit is five miles per hour. Don’t forget to turn on your lights. If you’re staying with us for The Lost World, please wait to move your car. Julia Kimball, if you’re listening, please meet your ride at the snack bar.”
Julia took out her phone—she had a dozen missed texts. She didn’t move to open them.
“That’s Juuulia Kim-ball”—the guy sounded like an old-fashioned disc jockey—“meet your ride at the snack bar.”
She didn’t move.
Wyatt shook her shoulders a little. “Hey, did you hear that? You’re famous.”
She looked up at his face. His expression hadn’t changed. He didn’t look shocked. Or alarmed. Or betrayed.
“I hope your friend isn’t worried,” he said. “Did you text her?”
“I . . .” Julia said.
Wyatt let go of her and started picking up their trash. His shirt had fallen to the ground. He slung it over his shoulder and stood up.
Julia was still sitting on the log.
He held out his hand. “Come on. I’ll walk with you. I don’t want you to wander into the soybeans.”
She looked at his hand for a few seconds, then took it. Wyatt pulled her up, then shifted his grip to hold her hand. “You got everything?”
She nodded.
They stood there together. Under a light so bright, it should be illegal.
Julia’s mouth felt tight and dry. Her eyes still felt gummy. She licked her lips.
Wyatt Hardy ducked down and kissed her.
He kissed her, knowing full well who she was.
Her mouth stayed open when he pulled away. (Maybe it had been more likely all along that he knew her, but it still made infinitely less sense.)
Wyatt tugged on her hand, and she followed him, walking along the gravel road as cars drove by on their way out of the lot.
“Hey . . .” she said. She still couldn’t say his name.
He looked down at her. He was still smiling. His lips were red.
Julia wanted to ask him why he’d winked at her. Why he’d looked at her like she was good news.
“What were you arguing with your friends about?” she asked.
Wyatt laughed and swung their hands. “You’ll think it’s stupid.”
“Maybe,” she said. “Tell me anyway.”
“I was mad at them for messing around. I didn’t want to miss the movie.”
He was grinning at her. For a second, she couldn’t help but grin back.
“You’ve never smiled at me before,” Wyatt said, squeezing her hand.
Before Julia could say anything—what was she supposed to say?—he pointed. “Hey, is that your friend? The new girl?”
Julia squinted. They were getting close to the snack bar. Chloe was standing there with her arms folded. She was wearing Aiden’s sweatshirt and shorts so short you couldn’t see them.
“Yeah,” Julia said.
“She looks upset.”
Julia couldn’t see Chloe’s face. She still hadn’t replied to her texts . . .
“I have to go.” Julia let go of Wyatt’s hand. She had to get to Chloe—Chloe was probably so worried. If the tables were turned, Julia would be in a panic.
“Julia!” Wyatt called after her. “Wait!”
Chloe looked up when she heard Julia’s name.
Julia turned back to Wyatt.
He was standing between her and the movie screen. She could only see his silhouette. (It was enough to recognize him. Those shoulders.) Behind him, a cartoon ice-cream bar danced with a hot dog. Julia twisted her fingers in her hair.
“I’ll see you Monday,” Wyatt said. “Yeah?” He sounded hopeful. And maybe a little nervous.
She took a few steps back toward him. “Yeah,” she said. “Yes.”
Wyatt’s face got clearer. He was smiling. He raised his hand to wave.
Julia waved back, for just a second—then turned to run toward Chloe.
They caught each other’s arms. Chloe’s eyes were huge.
“Sorry,” Julia said. “Sorry.”
“That was Wyatt Whatshisname,” Chloe said, shocked. “Were you with Wyatt Whatshisname this whole time?” She touched Julia’s mouth. “Oh my god, you’ve kissed yourself raw.”
Julia covered her mouth with one hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t text.”
Chloe laughed. “You’re sorry? Don’t be sorry! Unless . . .” She looked concerned. “Was it okay?”
Julia nodded. Her eyes were still watering. “It was so good,” she said in a hushed voice.
“Did you really kiss him?” Chloe was hushed, too. “Did you like it?”
Julia nodded. The kiss felt real now that she’d told Chloe. She’d been dying to tell her. If she could have paused the kiss to run and tell Chloe, she would have. (Well. She might have.)
Aiden honked the horn, even though they were standing right there.
Chloe turned to the Jeep and shouted, “Be patient!” She slung her arm around Julia’s shoulders. “Wyatt’s cute,” she said. “Kind of a nerd.”
“He’s not a nerd,” Julia said.
“You’re kind of a nerd,” Chloe said, laughing. “Where were you, even?”
“Out by the field.”
Chloe looked shocked. “Out in a field?” She opened the Jeep door. “Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend, Julia?”
Julia was blushing. “It’s an unsolved mystery.”
She took her glasses out of her pocket and put them on before she climbed into the back seat.