“That’s cool.” He nudges my shoulder. “As long as you get there in time to see us win, I’m good.”

“You’re so cocky,” I say, shaking my head. “What if the Spartans lose?”

“We always win.”

I roll my eyes, shoving him lightly, but there’s no weight behind it.

“Where’s your faith?” He wraps an arm around my shoulder. “I thought you believed in me.”

As we walk down the hall, my cheeks are flaming. If Claudia were here, she’d undoubtedly make fun of us. The thought makes my heart pang. After the game today, I’ll call her, and try to talk about anything but Miles. I don’t want to be that girl.

And if the note-leaver were here…I swallow the thought down, but it just makes my stomach hurt.

“Well, you aren’t going to be on the field,” I remind him. “And I still don’t understand the game. So I’ll go watch, but they could suck and I wouldn’t even know.”

“Come on, that’s not fair.” He leans down so his voice is close to my ear. “I don’t understand musicals, but I still know you’re good.”

“That’s different,” I say, trying to hide my smile. “It’s not just me. Mr. Palumbo does a lot of work to make sure everything looks good.”

“And the Spartans have a coach.” He smirks at me. “I know everything I do looks completely effortless, but—”

“Oh please.” I bump his side. “A musical is totally different from lacrosse. Music is different. You could watch an Italian musical and still understand it because music is so universal. It transcends languages.”

“Lacrosse doesn’t have a language,” he says. We’re quickly approaching my physics class, but if he notices, he doesn’t show it. “I think that means I win by default.”

“Whatever.” I reluctantly untangle myself from his arms. “I have to go now.”

He glances at the classroom, then back at me. “The bell didn’t ring yet.”

“Miles, I gotta go.” I cross my arms, but my entire body tingles, right down to my toes.

He smiles, bending down to kiss me.

I’ve thought about kissing him again more times than I can count. It’s like all the time I’ve spent with him is separated into before that first kiss at rehearsal, and after. Before, I thought about kissing him sparingly, like my thoughts needed to be hidden away. I’d think about it late at night, right before I was about to slip off to sleep.

But this is real. I get to kiss Miles in the hallway and in the prop closet during rehearsal, and see him after school. I know it’s true, but the awe is still there, in my fingers, in my cheeks, in my lips. Girls like me can have this.