And then once the party started, I waited for Sophie to have a drink in her hand. Nothing seemed quite as bad when a bonfire was going and the smell of fall was in the air. Maybe she wouldn’t freak out as much as I was worried she would. But I was certainly still freaking out.

“Soph,” I said. “I...um...”

“What is going on? You’ve been so quiet ever since the kissing booth blew up.”

I downed my entire cup and winced.

“Whoa, slow down. Barely anyone is even here yet.” She grabbed my cup away from me.

“Sophie, I made out with a teacher!”

“I’m sorry...what?”

“I rewound the footage from the locker room to see who the mascot was. And it’s a...he’s a...the kiss thief is our teacher.”

“Which teacher?”

The bonfire crackled and hissed.

And it was almost like it was Sophie’s soon-to-be wrath. I couldn’t even say it out loud. And I wasn’t sure she’d believe me even if I could form the words. She needed to see it for herself. I pulled out my phone and hit play where I’d paused the video.

Sophie’s jaw actually dropped. “No.”

“I’m so sorry, Soph.”

She grabbed my phone from me and stared in horror at the footage. “The mascot is Mr. Halifax?” Her voice cracked.

I nodded, but she wasn’t looking at me.

“Mr. Halifax is the mascot?”

It was the same statement, just worded differently. I understood her shock. But why was she not freaking out right now? Because I had been internally freaking out for hours. I expected her to scream or something. Or toss my phone into the fire. This whole thing was such a betrayal and I hadn’t even meant to do it. Yeah, I definitely felt sick.

“So...Mr. Halifax is your kiss thief?” she said slowly.

I nodded again. “Sophie, I swear I had no idea. I...I don’t even like him. I...what the actual hell?”

“What kind of disgusting teacher makes out with a student?” she said and shoved my phone back into my hands.

Um... That was a turn I didn’t expect. She’d been trying to make out with him all year. And it was also kind of an insult to my dad since technically my mom had been one of his students. God, everything suddenly felt so messy.

“I don’t know,” I said. “But why the heck would Mr. Halifax kiss me? And text me all this stuff?”

She shook her head. “I guess grown ass men play games too.”

“What?”

“He’s clearly trying to make me jealous by making out with my best friend.” She downed the rest of her drink too.

“Soph...” My phone buzzed. I looked down at a new text from the kiss thief. “Ah! It’s him.”

“What did that little asshole say?”