“Six minutes to go,” she said, crossing her arms.

“So?” I quietly asked.

“So what?”

“Are we going to kiss?”

Noelle let out an unfamiliar sound at that, something as bright and airy as wind chimes that bounced off the closet walls; it was the first time I had heard her laugh. “Would you want that?”

I gave an emphatic nod.

“Ever kissed a girl?” she asked.

“No.”

“Ever wanted to before?”

My tongue formed the words before I could think better of it. “Every time I look at you.” I knew there was a reason why I wasn’t allowed to say that, but it was hard to remember with her standing inches away from me, watching me with an unreadable expression.

Noelle was silent long enough for me to, in a moment of sudden clarity, realize that I would regret everything about this in the morning. However, all rational thought was erased from my brain when Noelle said, “Fine. One kiss. Come here.”

After leaning against the wall for so long, I hadn’t expected my walk to still be as unsteady as I pushed off the wall, swaying slightly until Noelle wrapped an arm around my waist to steady me.

She frowned. “You’re drunk.”

As close as we were standing, I could smell her perfume layering over the smell of dust and mothball, the fragrance surprisingly sweet. Something flowery. With vanilla, maybe. “Only a little,” I giggled and got on my tiptoes.

“Evelyn.” Noelle gently pushed me back but kept her arm around me. “I’m not going to kiss you, idiot. Not when you’re wasted.”

I swallowed, trying hard to make it seem like that wasn’t the most tragic thing I had ever heard. “But you’re so pretty.”

The same wind-chimes-on-a-summer-day sound tumbled from her lips again, which, now that I knew I wouldn’t get a kiss, just seemed like mockery. “If I ever kiss you, I want you to be able to remember it in the morning.”

“I’ll remember, I promise.”

“It’s still no.”

I wobbled backward, hitting the back wall of the closet. This was what Darcy had felt after being rejected by Elizabeth then, his pride crushed, his hopes destroyed by a few cruel words, every prospect at happiness shattered—

“Evelyn—Oh my God, are you crying?”

“No,” I lied, hastily wiping over my eyes with my sleeve.

“Jesus. You’re a mess,” Noelle said without any heat.

“Sorry.”

“Shut up.”

Then, before I could brace myself, her hand cupped my cheek.

I forgot how to breathe when I felt her lips on my skin, pressing a lingering kiss just above the corner of my mouth.

“There,” she murmured, slowly leaning back. “Better?”

I nodded. Her hand still rested on my waist, the warmth of her palm seeping through my clothes before it spread into my stomach and up, until my entire chest was filled with it and I was sure that, if I looked down, I would find golden light emanating from my rib cage.

However, before I could vocalize any of that, the door flew open and Amelia’s face came into view. “Your seven minutes are up.”