Noelle nodded, scratching at her neck. I hoped I was the only one who noticed the disheveled state of her hair. “Yep. So . . . see you after practice?”

“Okay,” I breathed, “See you later.”

The magnet immediately gave an indignant pull when I walked away from her. Dizzily, I wondered if it would always be this way from now on, a constant hum trying to draw me back to her that only ever ceased when her hands were on me. For some reason, the thought wasn’t as terrifying as it maybe ought to be.

I turned around once more only when I was at the door to find her standing in the center of the room, absentmindedly dribbling a basketball with one hand while the other players were shouting and running around her. It was when she met my eyes and her lips quirked into a private smile meant for no one but me that realization set in: I had kissed a girl. Not only that: I had kissed Noelle Daniels and she had kissed me back. Oh God.

15

Evelyn

Living with Noelle turned out to be a blessing and a curse all at once. The best thing about it: she was always within reach. The worst thing about it: she was always within reach.

While it had been hard to stay away from her before, now it was simply impossible. It was the knowledge that I could kiss her anytime she allowed me to that made it so difficult to focus on anything else. She was the first thing I saw when I woke up, the last thing I saw when I fell asleep, and the entire time in between she was pretty much the only thing on my mind.

The worst thing was that I couldn’t get anything done for the life of me. As hard as I tried, in the end I always seemed to end up in her arms again, too far gone to even care that there was a stack of unfinished homework on my desk.

One morning we missed breakfast: Noelle had been getting ready for class, with her eyes half-closed and features soft in the hazy morning light, and I had truly meant to only steal a quick good morning kiss, but that little peck escalated into a proper make-out session that had left me breathless.

We almost came late to class as a result, slipping into our seats only seconds before Miss Pepperman entered the classroom.

Between Noelle’s Cheshire-cat grin and my glowing red cheeks, it had been no surprise that Seth immediately figured out what happened and promptly informed Jasper as well.

Other than them, no one knew yet. I wasn’t sure where we were standing now; all I knew was that I liked getting kisses and being held and the way she whispered my name into my hair when she stumbled into the bathroom in the mornings. For now, that seemed like a good place to start.