💋 THE LIST 💋
- Yorkie?
- Lip ring...
"He basically LICKED me!" I seethe into the phone. Maia and Nicole break down in laughter, the sound amplified from the echo in both of their rooms over the three-person call. I groan and flop back onto my bed.
"He said that kissing was supposed to be like eating a taco. Who says that?" I want to scream, but I don't want to alert my parents or siblings.
Nicole sighs between her laughter. "What happened next?" She asks before starting another giggling fit.
"I pulled away and said we should probably get going. And then get this: my mom picked me up - apparently, she and Yorkie's mom are FRIENDS, so she wanted to get out of the car and say hello. I seriously wished the Earth would open up and swallow me."
"Poor baby," Maia teases and suddenly pauses. "Oh, I have some news you won't like to heaar..." I wince. That sing-song voice cannot be a good sign.
"Lay it on me; my night can't get much worse."
"Will just texted and said that Yorkie wants to ask you to be his girlfriend." I hear her pause, waiting for my response.
Nicole responds first, breaking down into another fit of giggles. "He must have really liked your taco!" I want to be angry, but I can't help joining her in her laughter. When the three of us calm down, I sigh into the phone.
"Guys, what am I going to do?" I groan.
"Okay, when he texts you about another date, just tell him you're not interested." Nicole coolly suggests.
I bite the inside of my cheek and consider this idea. "Isn't that really mean?"
"You don't have to be nice to people all the time, Rach... he's just a guy. Besides, it's not like you want to be his girlfriend, so you're going to have to shut him down eventually." Maia reasons.
I nod, even though they can't see me. "Okay. I'm gonna do that. Thanks, guys."
--
I walk downstairs and join my family at the dinner table. My brother and sister, Eli and Jeannie, are already shoving spoonfuls of mashed potatoes into their mouths. My dad has his eyes focused on the TV in the other room, keeping track of the score of a game I don't care to recognize. My mom joins us last, having just gotten off the phone.
"Great news everyone, Alina's sister Ellie is coming to visit for Thanksgiving!" She announces as she sits down.
"Why is that great news?" Eli asks with his mouth full.
"Chew your food," she waves him off. "It's great news because you can play with David and Ben!" Eli seems to think about this for a second and then nods in approval. She turns to me and smiles suggestively. "Ellie is bringing her son, Roman," she says to me. I nod slowly, unsure of what point she's making.
Alina is my mom's best friend, and her sister Ellie lives in France. Whenever they come to visit, which, in truth, has only been twice, they force Roman and me to hang out. He's a year or two older than me and the last time they came to visit, he barely spoke any English.
My mom scoffs lightly at me. "Well, you two haven't seen each other in 3 years, maybe you'll have more to talk about now." When I see what she's getting at, I roll my eyes. Leave it to my mom to pick me up from an awkward date and immediately try to set me up on another one.
"We'll see," I mutter.
--
I plan to get a headstart on my schoolwork when I get back upstairs, but I'm interrupted by my phone ringing.
It's Yorkie.
I cringe, already aware of what's about to happen.
"Hey Yorkie," I answer as cheerfully as I can muster.
"Hey! Um... I just wanted to say that I had a great time with you today," he says quickly.
I find his words hard to believe, but he probably doesn't mean them, he's just nervous. I say nothing and wait for him to continue.
"I uh, wanted to know if you maybe, uh, wanted to maybe be... my um, girlfriend?" The last word of his sentence is awkwardly stretched out, as though he started to regret the word as it was coming out of his mouth.
I open my mouth but close it again, not knowing what to say. Suddenly I hear what sounds like a laugh in the background. Is he with his friends while asking me this?? I suddenly feel faint. This is so much worse than I was expecting.
I suck in a breath, trying to calm myself down. Don't focus on being nice, I tell myself, this is not what you want, and you're allowed to say no. I nod my head to no one in particular.
"Yorkie, I'm flattered. You're really sweet, and I like talking to you, but I really don't think that's a good idea."
He stammers into the phone, and I feel a pang of guilt. "Oh." He mutters. "So that's... a no, then?"
I frown. "Sorry, Yorkie. I hope we can still be friends," I offer, knowing he probably won't like that alternative. "I really did have fun at that movie with you the other day."
"Yeah... sure. Friends, I guess. Okay. Bye." He hangs up before I can say anything else. I feel terrible but also insanely relieved. I pick up my phone and send a message to the group chat.
Me: He just called and asked... I said no
Maia: omg... he CALLED?
Nicole: Proud of u for saying no! How did he react?
Me: Yup, he called... it didn't go well. I think he was with his friends too 🥲
Nicole: That is so stupid
Maia: LOL don't be mean Nikki!! Maybe he needed the support
Nicole: He'll def need it now 💔
Me: 🙄
I put my phone down and decide to start my homework, at the very least, so I can get my mind off the disaster that was today. I open my English notebook and then, without thinking, flip to the last page.
I look at my list with another pang of guilt. I erase Yorkie's name from it but find that "Lip ring..." on its own looks really pathetic. I think for a moment and then pull out a blank sheet of paper from my desk drawer. On it, I write a new list, entirely separate from my notebook.
💋 THE LIST 💋
- Lip ring...
- Harvey
I fold up the paper and slide it into a crevice on my desk. I'm not worried about anyone looking for it, but better safe than sorry.
In my notebook, I think about Harvey's entries and how he winked at me. I suddenly have an idea. Under the lip ring entry, I write down "basketball player" and smile down at it. I drum my pencil on my lower lip. I can't just have those two; it'll be too obvious. I write down a few more ideas with no real intention behind them—lifeguard, musician, barista, artist. Satisfied with the number of entries, I close my notebook and open my laptop.
YOU ARE READING
The Kiss List
Romance"Let's make a list of places we want to hook up in and people we want to hook up with," Jessica says with a playful glint in her eye. - Making a hook-up list was not the way Rachel imagined 10th grade would begin, nor did she think it would take ove...
