The Kiss List

Fifteen

💋 THE LIST 💋

- Drew (Lip ring)
- Harvey
- Nathan
- Roman ✓

MONDAY

"Holy... shit," Maia says incredulously. "Rach, that's kind of... insanely hot."

"I know," I say, softly pressing my fingertips to my lips as if I can still feel the buzz of Roman's kiss. 

"Who is this guy again?" Nicole asks. We're in a three-person call, all in stunned silence as I recount my weekend with Roman. 

"And when are you seeing him again?" Maia follows.

I groan into the phone. "The last time I saw him was years ago, so who knows? They left this morning, they're going to visit another family member in Montreal for a few days and then back to France they go."

"Rach!" Maia exclaims. "That's so sad!"

"You're telling me," I reply. "At least we made the most of it."

Nicole sighs. "I wish I could say the same."

I sit up, my smile transforming into a frown. "What happened with Aaron?"

"Nothing," Nicole replies sadly. "We literally just watched a movie. I was waiting the whole time for him to make a move, and he didn't. And when I finally went for it, he totally shut me down."

"What?!" Maia sounds the way I feel. "Did he say why?"

"He didn't, but I have a pretty good feeling," says Nicole.

We're quiet for a moment before I break the silence. "Kenny?"

Nicole doesn't say anything, but that's answer enough.

"I'm sorry, Nic, that sucks," Maia says.

"I don't get it," I mutter. "Nate said that everyone knows Kenny is a liar, so why would Aaron even believe what he says? And what was with all the flirting then?"

"And he kissed you over the summer, what was that about?" Maia adds.

Nicole doesn't say anything.

"Aw, Nikki," I sigh. "Can we do anything?"

Nicole sighs again. "Honestly, I think I just want to forget about it. Other fish in the sea or whatever."

"That's right, let's focus on the positives," Maia chirped. "How's it going with Matt?"

"Actually, we were texting over the weekend," she seems to brighten with the subject change. "He asked me if I wanted to hang out yesterday. I obviously said no because I had plans with Aaron."

"You can ask him next time," I say, relieved that she doesn't seem to be taking what happened with Aaron too hard. "Not to mention you've got a study date with Caleb this week, so I'd say you're pretty stocked up on, um, fish in the sea."

Nicole laughs. "You're one to talk Rach, after Harvey you'll be at two entries checked off - three if you count Yorkie."

I scrunch my nose. "I don't."

Maia gasps. "Basketball Harvey? How did neither of you tell me that Harvey Wu is not only in your English class but on your list?"

"Okay, okay, yes, he is on my list," I giggle sheepishly. "He's so hot and cold though, one week he's in the worst mood and the next he's super flirty..."

"Hello?! He's totally into you!" Maia is basically shouting into the phone, but I can hear the smile in her voice. "That is classic jealous guy behaviour - let me guess, whenever you're talking about another guy, that's when he gets annoyed?"

I nod even though she can't see me. "Yeah exactly... wait, so you think he's actually into me?"

"Oh my god, Rach, I could have told you that just from sitting across from the two of you," Nicole answers.

I smile as I consider this information.

"Who else is on your list?" Maia asks curiously.

"Like apart from Harvey? Well, I guess Roman is checked off now, so that leaves Lip Ring and, um..." I pause for a moment, "Nate."

Maia and Nicole both shout, "I KNEW IT," simultaneously and I pull the phone away from my ear.

"But it's not a now entry!" I quickly add. "I really feel like we're friends. I'm into him, but I also actually like him. I don't wanna mess that up yet. Plus, I don't even really know if he's into me that way."

Nicole scoffs. "You're killing me here Rach, you're not sure if a guy that regularly stays up late to talk to you likes you?"

I shake my head. "I don't think it's like that, we really do talk like friends. I mean, there's a little flirting but he seems like the kind of guy that just talks like that to everyone. Plus, he's the one who gave my number to Ethan, so how do you explain that?"

"Speaking of whom... are you ever going to text that poor guy back?" Maia asks.

I think for a second. "I don't know. I guess one date couldn't hurt. I'll decide and let you guys know what I do. Maia, who's on your list?"

Maia clears her throat, and I hear the crinkling of paper. "Okay, so remember Austin from the soccer team? He's number one, I'm just waiting for him to realize that he should ask me out. My brother's friend Parker is second. I know that's sooo cliche, but he's super gorgeous, and he's basically over all the time anyway..."

This doesn't come as a surprise; Nicole and I have always thought that Maia's brother Dakota and his friends are super hot - not that we would ever tell Maia that.

"Will is obviously checked off, but I do have one more entry that I haven't told you guys about yet..."

Nicole and I are silent, waiting for her to continue.

"I may have been texting Jason this weekend," Maia giggles. "I got his number from the group chat, and at first we were just being friendly, but I got a little bored and started flirting... and he started flirting back. I wasn't really expecting it to go anywhere, but I've kind of been looking forward to his replies all weekend."

I squeal in delight. "Maia!! That's so cute! I feel like you guys would make such a good match, too, you're both basically walking sunshine."

"I know!" Maia continues. "It could be nothing but it could be something. Anyway, one thing at a time. I have to get through this mountain of assignments before I can even thinking about checking things off my list. I don't know how you guys are doing it."

Nicole and I laugh at that. As the three of us move away from the topic of boys and lists and compare homework loads, I start thinking about Ethan. I feel less nervous about it than I did a few days ago - probably due to spending so much time with Roman. Weirdly, I feel more experienced now. In Yorkie's words, I've done this before.

Later, when the three of us hang up and start getting ready for bed, I pull out my phone and send a text to Ethan.

*Hey*

He answers immediately.

*hey*

*think about it yet?*

*Yeah*

*When did you have in mind?*