Seems Like Royalty

XVIII: Friends teasing and Christmas shopping

18

            It had been a week since Blake confessed that he liked me, liked me. More than friends. And it also had been a week since he started pestering me about the meaning of the kiss that I gave him. Was that guy really that dense? Didn’t that kiss seem like a confession too? Frustrating.

            “Amber.” Here it comes.

            “Yes, Blake?”

            “What do you mean by that kiss?” The idiot asked while we were at our table in the cafeteria. To make things worse, we were sitting with Maddie, Richie and Izza. Izza didn’t usually sit with us but today she did. Was he doing this on purpose so I would finally answer?

            “Whoa. What kiss, Amber?” Izza asked.

            “Amber kissed Blake?” Richie asked too as his eyebrows swept upward.

            Maddie coughed. “If you two are willing to sit with us, you have to get used to this. They always kiss each other. See? I’m no longer shocked by those kinds of news.”

            “Maddie! Shut up!” I called out.

            “Why? Just saying. I’m sure they’d want to sit with us from time to time so I warned them. Are my intentions wrong?”

            “Um, how about yes? Absolutely wrong. And it’s also wrong to spread wrong news to others,” I reproached.

            “Wow. You seem to like saying the word ‘wrong’ that badly.”

            “Yes. Especially if it describes something you are doing.”

            She pouted. “So does that mean it’s wrong to love my best friend?”

            “No! Well, yes. I mean, no! Ugh. Whatever. Just shut up.”

            “So to bring back our conversation earlier, what’s the meaning of that kiss?” Blake asked once again. He was so pushy! I’d want him to figure it out by himself. And I did not want to confess in front of my friends. They would never make me hear the end of it.

            “Yes, Amber. What’s the meaning of that kiss?” The trio chorused. I couldn’t believe it! Don’t tell me that they practiced this beforehand!

            “Guys, it was a kiss on the cheek. Not on the lips or anywhere else,” I defended. Knowing them, they would still disregard it.

            “A kiss is a kiss,” Izza taunted.

            “And it was even you who initiated it,” Richie pointed out.

            “Ah, yeah. That’s another thing. Amber always initiates their kisses,” Maddie added.

            “What?! No! Blake initiated the first time!”

            Four pairs of eyes stared at me. It made me sweat all over.

            “What?”

            Izza shook her head in disappointment.

            Richie said, “That’s wrong, Amber. You’re putting the blame on Blake when the truth is you were the one who made the move first.”

            My mouth just snapped open. There were no words that left it.

            “That’s also what I thought. You know, they fought over that kiss a few weeks ago too. But I think Amber jumped on Blake first,” Maddie weighed in, looking at her nails. “She’s that kind of girl.”