I read her the text: “You look beautiful right now. But you’d look even better in my jacket.” I looked up at Sophie. “He’s here.”

“I can’t wait to give Mr. Halifax a piece of my mind,” Sophie said. “Where is he?”

But we looked around and didn’t see him anywhere. While we had been immersed in the footage of the locker room, the party had gone into full swing. There were several bonfires lit. The fire and smoke obscured our view a bit. But we made our way through the woods and didn’t see one sign of Mr. Halifax. Just a bunch of drunken students.

Which made sense. Why would Mr. Halifax be here?

“Seriously, where is he?” Sophie said.

I looked back down at the text. “Sophie, what would Mr. Halifax even mean by his jacket? The kiss thief is obviously talking about a varsity jacket in this text. And Mr. Halifax wouldn’t come to a high school party.”

Sophie just stared at me.

“All the texts the kiss thief sends mess with my head. But his texts about being a mascot were worded very weirdly, remember? He said he was the mascot that day. Remember we thought he stole the costume?”

“Maybe...”

“And I’ve sent the kiss thief more pictures since then. And he’s never sent one back. If he had the costume on hand, wouldn’t he just keep sending me funny pics of himself in that?”

Sophie exhaled slowly. “That’s true.”

“Definitely true.” I mean...I hoped. I didn’t want to have made out with my teacher! Especially accidentally. “My kiss thief is on the football team. I’m sure of it.” I wasn’t really sure. But I desperately wanted it to be true.

Sophie nodded. “You’re probably right. Mr. Halifax would never do that to me. I know he’s playing hard to get. But playing hard to get and hooking up with my best friend are two different things entirely.”

Mr. Halifax wasn’t playing hard to get. He was playing the role of her teacher.

“So the mascot thing was a bust,” Sophie said.

I hoped so. I really hoped so. But I had this unease in my chest that I couldn’t shake. Your kiss thief isn’t Mr. Halifax. I said it over and over again in my head, hoping the phrase would become true if I thought it enough. I should have told Sophie as soon as I saw Mr. Halifax in the costume. That could have saved me a couple hours of spiraling. I just wanted the thought of Mr. Halifax out of my head.

“But your kiss thief is definitely here...wait.” She grabbed my phone back and started texting.

I looked over her shoulder. She’d just texted him: “Prove you’re at the party.”

My kiss thief didn’t respond.