I’d have never guessed Taggish had soft lips, but he did—and they were warm. Spicy, like cinnamon. Rough, too, the bristly whiskers at the edge of his lips had scraped against my mouth.
My stomach wobbled, remembering.
I’d been kissed before. Nice kisses. Pleasant. I’d never made out with a boy, though, or been kissed the way Taggish kissed me. But that shouldn’t be surprising. Taggish wasn’t like anyone else. Why should his kisses be any different?
I couldn’t believe he’d kissed me!
I was the first to arrive in detention, followed quickly by Kate Andrews and Miller Hardwell. What had they done to earn detention? I didn’t know, but they didn’t seem bothered at all to be there.
I tried not to stare when Miller leaned over to kiss Kate’s cheek. They both smiled like they shared a secret. Miller leaned in again.
Mr. Gentry walked in at that exact moment. “Ah, ah, ah, Mr. Hardwell. Isn’t that what got you here in the first place?” he asked.
Miller didn’t even have the grace to appear embarrassed. “Yes, sir.”
Mr. Gentry glared at the pair of them before his eyes shifted to me. “Seems to be going around.”
My cheeks burned as Miller and Kate both swung around to stare at me.
Kate sat at the desk beside me. “Mara, what are you doing here? And what did Mr. Gentry mean? Are you here for PDA, too?”
Miller took the seat on the other side of Kate and leaned forward so he could see me.
“You got detention for PDA?” He sounded just as incredulous as he should. The idea that I would have detention—for making out with someone on school property, no less—was ludicrous. Unless, of course, one entered Taggish into the equation.
I gritted my teeth. I would strangle Taggish for this. I was about to explain to them what had happened when Mr. Gentry rose to his feet and began talking.
The room had filled almost to capacity. Who knew so many people got detentions? Of course, Taggish hadn’t arrived yet.
Was he crazy? Who would be stupid enough to show up late to detention?
Mr. Gentry held up his arm and stared at his watch. “Detention will begin in three . . . two . . . Just in the nick of time, Taggish, per usual.” He glanced up from his watch to fix Taggish with a glare. “And one. Find a seat.”
Taggish, who’d skidded into the room, breathless and flushed from sprinting, slipped into the first open seat. I wanted to watch him to see if he would look my way, but Mr. Gentry started talking again, this time about his expectations and the rules of detention. I couldn’t miss that.
Mr. Gentry was a cool guy for a vice-principal, but I still didn’t want to get on his bad side, especially not after earning my first detention ever.
“There will be no talking. No phones. No devices of any kind. No passes to the bathroom—I hope you took care of that already, or you’re out of luck. There will also be no early dismissal. Each of you owes me sixty minutes of your time, which you may use to contemplate your poor decisions and how to do better moving forward. You may also work on homework. Those are your choices, friends. Choose wisely.” With that, Mr. Gentry sat back down behind the desk and opened the top file from the stack he’d brought with him.
How humiliating!
How did people stand it? I knew from looking around the room, most of the people in here had been here before. Why? Why would anyone want to repeat this process? I knew I would never, ever have another detention.
I lifted my eyes to glare at the person responsible for my current situation.
He held his brown gaze steady on me.
I would never forgive him for this.
Never.
4
Taggish
Mara was out the door before I could even stand up. I packed up my stuff, prepared to race after her, but got held up by Miller.
“Dude, what are you doing in here?” I could tell by the tone of his voice; it wasn’t a surprise that made him ask, just curiosity.
I forced my mouth into a carefree grin. “PDA. Same as you.”
Miller put his arm around Kate. The two were joined at the hip these days. “How did you hear about that?” he asked as the three of us walked out into the hall.
I lifted my bag onto my shoulder. I had resolved myself to talking to Mara after running laps for Coach Samms. He hadn’t been at all pleased when I told him I had detention after school. In fact, he was the reason I’d almost been late.
“I was there when it happened. What were you thinking? You should have stopped outside Ms. Drake’s room. She’s more romantic.” Ms. Drake taught Language Arts.
Miller snorted, and Kate grinned. “Anyone would be more romantic than Mr. Klaton,” she said, glancing up at Miller before saying, “But it wasn’t like we planned it. We were celebrating.”
I raised my brows. “Celebrating?”
A look passed between them. After a small nod from Kate, Miller turned to me. “Celebrating two things. One, Kate agreed to go to prom with me. And two, we got accepted to the same school. We’ll be heading east together next fall.”
“Wow,” I said, not knowing how else to react. These two definitely had their acts together more than I did. I didn’t have a single plan for next fall, let alone one that included school and a girl. “Congratulations. To both of you.”
“Thanks,” Kate said for both of them.
We’d reached the double doors leading to the student lot. I still had to run laps on the baseball field. “I’ll see you guys later.” I waved and had started down the hall when Miller called out.
“You didn’t tell us. You got in trouble for PDA, but who was your partner in crime?”
I opened my mouth to answer but changed my mind. I’d done enough to make Mara’s life miserable. I wouldn’t throw her under the bus again.
Grinning at Miller, I shook my head and walked backward. “I won’t kiss and tell.” If he found out, it wouldn’t be from me. “Have a good one!” I called over my shoulder.
I ran my laps. It sucked, and by the time I got home, I was ready to collapse. Instead, I took a shower before heading back downstairs to warm up leftovers for dinner. I stood at the kitchen counter in front of an open window and scarfed down a small mountain of spaghetti.
I’d demolished half of my food when Dad walked in to find me standing perfectly still and listening at the window.
“What are we looking at?” he asked, pulling a plate down from the cabinet.
“She’s crying.”
Dad stilled, holding his plate midair. “Who’s crying?”
“Mara.” She’d been breaking my heart for the last ten minutes.
“Neighbor girl? The one who’s been giving you a hard time?” Dad leaned over the counter to look out the window. We couldn’t see her from here; I’d already tried. “What happened?”
I knew if he asked, I’d have to tell him. We promised. Even if I didn’t like the consequences, I wouldn’t lie. As long as I promised to tell the truth, he promised to see things from my side before dishing out those consequences. Sometimes people did things they shouldn’t do when other things weren’t going well. It wasn’t an excuse for bad behavior, but sometimes it was a reason for compassion.