The Trouble with Kissing Connor

Chapter 14 (Connor)

Brett is a total movie geek. He has a thing for silent black and white movies and even has a silent movie club at school—it only has 4 members, including himself. Sometimes I'll catch him with his iPhone just filming the stuff around him. He's been doing it for about two years now and I've often wonder what the hell he's doing with all the footage, especially when I catch him filming Sadie and I. He just smiles and says, "Working on the next great black and white movie."

So when I asked him to bring some entertainment for the night, I should have guessed I'd have old movies on the wall of my basement game room. "Romantic," he said as he set up the projector. "Will get everyone into the mood."

"What mood?" I asked.

"You know, the kind of mood that will inspire your mystery kisser to confess her undying love for you." Brett looked at me strangely. He was teasing me and suddenly a thought hit me. Did he know who it was? I returned his strange look.

"Wait, do you know who it is?" I asked, and the look that washed over Brett's face gave me a feeling that he knew more than he was letting on. "Is it your sister?" I asked him.

Brett smiled at me again. "It's soooo not her. Trust me. Honestly, she's not exactly your biggest fan."

"Why?" This was news to me.

"You're a blonde, pretty boy.... Her words. She's into those dark, twisted poetry spewing guys that piss my mother and father off. You know...the kind of guys I want to hit over the head with something hard... kind of like what I want to do to you sometimes."

Brett was still smiling at me and it was making me very suspicious.

"I swear you know more than you're letting on." I walked over and squared off in front of him.

He shook his head again, but there was something in the way he was looking at me...

"Oh My God. You know! You know who it is! Don't you?" I pointed a finger at him.

He shrugged teasingly. "Maybe you just need to open your eyes a little wider."

"What the hell does that even mean?" I grabbed him by the shoulders. " If you know who it is, you have to tell me."

"Not a chance in hell."

"Fuck, man, tell me. Please. I need to know." My heart started beating faster. Did he really know who it was?

"Nope."

"Why are you being such an asshole? If I were in your position I would tell you! What the hell?′

"Hey. Chill. I seriously don't know who it is. I just said you need to open your eyes..." Brett trailed off like he had just seen a beautiful ingénue from one of his silent films—he taught me that word. I couldn't help but turn to see what he was looking at, and then I saw her.

"Sadie," Brett said as he strode past me and went to hug her. "You look smokin tonight! Give us a spin around," Brett said taking her hand and making her walk around in a circle.

Sadie smiled and I realised, she looked very different tonight. I did a double take. Why did she look so different, I couldn't figure it out. But she looked...? I was struggling to find the words. She looked....?

"Did you dress like this for me?" Brett asked but Sadie stopped smiling. She was looking straight at me and suddenly she looked really self-conscious. She slipped on an old brown cardigan she was carrying and buttoned it to the top. But even with that old, familiar cardigan on, she still looked different?