Secrets and Stolen Kisses

06

"What about me?" Archer slid into his seat. I didn't even realize he wasn't there during that conversation.

"You were gone this whole time?" I gawked at my brother.

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I went to the bathroom."

"Well, to fill you in, Mark just found out that I'm allergic to peanuts and you're the one that can't eat shrimp," I recalled the conversation. "Oh, and I still have no idea what peanut M&M's taste like."

"Bro, I told you I was allergic to shrimp a bunch of times," Archer sent a disappointed look at Mark's way and plopped down on his seat. "Eh, whatever."

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry about these two, Mark. And don't worry about the candy, it's all good."

"Thanks, Maddie," he smiled at me before looking away.

He avoided any eye contact the whole rest of lunch.

Archer and Nate walked me to my next class and told me they'd be waiting for me after the last period somewhere in the school parking lot. The three of us were going to Nate's house for dinner to celebrate his mom's birthday.

Quinn Reed was one of my favorite people, and although others were a little intimidated by her at times, I always thought she was super sweet, and I always looked up to her. She was like a second mom to me.

Not that my mom wasn't great, of course.

As promised, they were there. I would've preferred to change into a better outfit, but both our families agreed that we went to enough fancy birthday dinners every year. That's why we all just have a nice, casual dinner every time there's a birthday, except for one random one every year where we go out for dinner.

My dad's birthday was always the best because it was in the summer, and we usually spent it with his friends and their families. The more the merrier, right?

"How much are you two willing to bet that they're gonna ask us about college tonight?" Archer spoke from Nate's bed. He was playing with one of the basketballs lying around.

"Am I betting on them asking or betting on them not talking about it at all?" Nate asked, looking up from one of my rings he was playing with.

"He thinks they're gonna ask, so you're the opposite," I noted. "What, you up for it?"

Nate shrugged. "Twenty bucks?"

"Just twenty? Come on, fifty, bro," Archer bargained.

I rolled my eyes. "That's not gonna happen, Arch. Nate might be dumb enough to bet twenty, but he's not dumb enough to bet fifty."

"She's right," Nate nodded. "Twenty bucks."

"Fine," my brother agreed. "Easiest twenty bucks I'll ever make."

That wasn't true. There was that one time with my dad...

"Nah, the easiest twenty you made was when your dad told you he'd pay you to write his name on your forehead and keep it there for a day," Nate corrected him.

Hey, we thought of the same thing.

"Oh yeah," Archer chuckled. "I should've asked him for more."

"That's what I told you to do, but I guess we don't trust the businessman," Nate threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Hey, I'm pretty business-y," I argued. "I'm not my father's daughter for nothing."

My dad's the President of an investment firm. He climbed up the corporate ladder before inheriting the business from my grandfather when he retired. My aunt, Brianne Nixon, was supposed to take it, but she always liked music more than all the math, so she chose to head Nixon Records instead.