The Kiss List

Ten

💋 THE LIST 💋
- Lip ring
- Harvey
- Nathan

I wake up tired the next morning, sleep-deprived after another night of staying up far too late with Nathan. I wonder idly if this is going to become a pattern... I'll need some caffeine if so.

Nicole notices almost instantly how tired I look, and her face spreads into a gleeful grin. "Nathan again?" she mouths silently, knowing that I'd prefer to keep it low-key. I nod, and she pretends to scream, expertly turning it into a fake yawn as Harvey takes his seat.

He turns to face me and tilts his head to the side. "You look tired," he says, studying me.

I roll my eyes jokingly. "Thanks so much Harvey, just what every girl wants to hear."

He smiles. "You pull it off."

I can barely focus on the lesson, so when Harvey turns to me and mouths, "us two?" I nod absentmindedly, unsure of what I was agreeing to.

It's only when the bell rings that I find out. Nicole leans over as I'm gathering my books and whispers, "So you're partnering up with Harvey for the peer review?"

I give her a confused look. "The what?"

She laughs as we make our way to our lockers. "You desperately need a coffee."

I yawn, proving her point, and nod in agreement. "Oh wait," I realize, "who are you partnering with?"

As if on cue, someone calls her name, and we both turn to find one of our classmates, Caleb, walking over.

"Hey," he smiles at Nicole, "I was wondering if you had a partner for the peer review next week?" He shoots a hesitant glance my way, and I take it as my cue to wait for her in the hall.

I lean against a row of lockers and space out, only coming back to reality when a low voice says, "cool shirt."

I blink, taking in the person standing in front of me. My eyes scan across his black t-shirt and follow his forearm tattoos up to his face, where a shiny piece of silver flashes from the corner of his smile—lip ring.

I look down at my shirt, unable to remember what I threw on that morning. I'm wearing a Joy Division t-shirt, soft from years of wear, under a plaid shacket and paired with my favourite dark jeans.

I meet his eyes and smile brightly at him. "Hey, thanks." I drag my gaze down to his mouth and bite my lower lip before continuing. "I like your lip ring."

His smile widens, and he chuckles softly. "Thanks. I'm Drew."

"Drew," I repeat, tasting the name on my tongue. "Hi Drew. I'm Rachel."

The second bell rings, and he shoots a glance down the hall before looking back at me.

"See you around, Rachel," he says with a smile before making his way down the hall.

Nicole grabs my arm and squeals quietly, and we quickly make our way to meet Maia at our lockers.

"Oh my god," she says, "did I just see you flirting with lip ring??"

"You guys!" Maia calls out as she runs over to us. "What took you so long? We're totally late for second period now."

The three of us speed over to our second-period class, sneaking in quick updates to each other while the teacher has her back turned. 

"He just came up to you and started talking?" Maia whispers.

I nod. "He complimented my shirt, I complimented his lip ring. His name is Drew." I feel myself flush slightly and turn to Nicole. "Are you and Caleb partnering up for the review?"

She nods and winks.

"I'm jealous! No one is flirting with me." Maia pouts.

I swat at her and smile. "I'm sure you'll find someone to flirt with before the end of the day."

-

When lunch rolls around, I meet Maia and Nicole at the cafeteria doors, and we make our way to Jason's table. It looks busier than yesterday, but there are still three seats open where Jason and Ian are seated.

"They came back!" Ian grins as we walk over.

Jason laughs. "I'm glad you didn't scare them away."

Ian turns to me. "I'll have to try harder, I guess," he says with a wink.

I smile back as I sit down, unpacking my lunch as Nicole asks what they've got planned for the long weekend. I don't even realize I've spaced out again until Maia nudges me with a laugh.

"Rach is sleep-deprived today," she giggles.

I smile sheepishly and shake my head slightly. "Sorry guys, what did I miss?"

Jason smiles kindly at me. "What are you doing this weekend?"

"Hmm," I say, taking a deep breath. "Oh, we're having family friends visit. My mom is definitely going to force me to hang out with the older kid."

Ian grins, his wide smile inviting and infectious. "Is she cute?"

I giggle. "My mom? Yeah, she is." The group laughs as I continue. "It's a guy, actually."

"Ooh, is he cute?" Maia asks excitedly.

I scrunch my nose. "Last I remember, not quite, but it has been a few years. I'll keep you posted."

"Okay, next question," Jason asks, "why are you so tired today?"

I flush deeply. "She's been having some very late-night conversations with Nathan," Nicole answers with a giggle.

"You're dating Nate?" Ian asks in genuine surprise.

I shake my head. "We're not dating, we're friends," I say, resting my head against my fist. "I'm just not used to having nocturnal friends."

Jason laughs. "Well, Nate doesn't have many nocturnal friends either—I can't even remember the last time he stayed up so late to talk to me." He tilts his head at me. "He must really like you."

He seems to want to say something else but is interrupted by more people joining the table. Matthew slaps his hand down on Jason's shoulder in greeting as he flashes a grin at the rest of us. "Hello again," he purrs at Nicole as she smiles back at him. I exchange an excited glance with Maia as Matthew slips into the seat next to Nicole.

I look to my side to find that Grayson has slid into the seat next to mine, joined by a shaggy black-haired boy.

"Hey," I smile at Grayson, "I'm Rachel." He seems to stammer a bit before meeting my gaze and smiling back.

"I, uh, I know. Sorry, I mean hi. I'm Grayson. This is Leon," he says, jutting his thumb in the blue-eyed boy's direction. Leon looks over at the mention of his name and smiles.

"Hey, sick shirt!" Leon says, gesturing to my worn tee.

I smile. "Thanks! You know, I wear this all the time but today it seems to be getting a lot more compliments than usual."

Leon nods knowingly. "Maybe it's the weather. Rainy days always make me want to change up my playlists."

"You don't have a specific rainy day playlist?" Jason chimes in.

"I do," I nod, "and it does actually have Joy Division on it, so maybe you're onto something."

Our little corner of the table explodes into conversation about what kind of music is best for a rainy day, sharing playlists and song recommendations. Once again, it feels like lunch flies by, and before I know it, the bell rings, and we all begin to gather our things.

"I have an idea," Jason says. "I'm gonna make a music group chat and add us all to it."

I nod happily and ask for his phone so I can plug my number in, and Nicole and Maia do the same.

As I walk to my next-period class, I feel my phone vibrate and find that the group has already been formed—and is already being spammed with memes. I giggle as I scroll through, saving everyone to my contacts as I go. It feels like we're all friends already, and I smile as I think about how quickly things can change, and how nice it feels to spend an hour laughing with people you like.