Reader's POV
Throughout my college tour, I couldn't stop thinking about Peter. His smile. His eyes. His laugh. The way his lips felt on mine. How my lips tingled long after he left.
Monday morning I was a little nervous to go to school. I haven't talked to Peter since he kissed me in the jacuzzi and his mom called him from inside telling him that it was time to go.
I scanned the halls as I walked to my locker. I opened it and started getting my books when I felt someone standing behind me. I turned around expecting it to be Peter but froze when it wasn't him.
It was three of his teammates. "Hi," I said softly, looking between them.
"Y/N, we have a question for you," Ryan said.
"Okay," I elongated.
"Settle a bet for us," Charlie smirked.
"What bet?" I stuttered.
"Did Peter kiss you this weekend?" Tommy's question made my stomach drop.
"What?" I asked, my voice barely coming out. "What are you talking about?"
"He didn't tell you?" Charlie laughed.
"We bet Peter that he couldn't get you to kiss him." Tommy laughed. "So, did he?"
"He," I stuttered. As the realization hit me, my eyes started to water.
"I'm gonna take that as a yes," Ryan smirked.
"I guess we owe Peter 50 bucks."
"50," I said under my breath.
I looked up, my breath getting caught in my throat when I saw Peter walking towards me. He smiled when his eyes met mine, but it fell when he saw his teammates around me and the tears threatening to spill.
"Peter!" Charlie gave him a weird "bro-hug" thing as he walked over, his eyes never leaving mine.
"I gotta give you credit man," Ryan laughed. "I didn't think you could get Y/F/N Y/L/N to actually kiss you."
Peter looked at him before quickly looking back at me, his eyes wide. "Y/N," he started. "Let me explain."
I slammed my locker shut and quickly walked past them, with my head down. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I heard Peter ask his friends before chasing after me.
"Whoawhoawhoawhoa, whoa." Peter ran and stopped in front of me, blocking my get-away path. "Let me explain, Y/N. Please."
"There's nothing to explain, Peter." I said, my voice getting stuck in my throat. "It's all pretty clear. You and your friends made a bet to see who could get the school's mute to kiss them. And you won."
I tried to brush past him, but he immediately stepped in front of me. "It's not like that."
"Really?" I laughed sarcastically. "Then what is it? Huh? If it wasn't a bet then why did you kiss me?"
He opened and closed his mouth, stuttering. "It wasn't. . . I mean it was, but. . . Y/N."
He grabbed my hands, but I took a step back and pulled my hands out of his grasp.
"Congratulations," I said, my voice breaking. "You got your loser neighbor to kiss you. I hope it was worth the $50."
I brushed past him wanting nothing more than to disappear.
* * * * *
I skipped school and went directly home. I walked into my room and angrily threw my backpack on my chair in the corner.
I sat on my bed, struggling to hold back the tears. I had just started to calm down when my phone started ringing. I grabbed it out of my pocket, a sob getting stuck in my throat when I saw Peter's name and picture on my screen. I let out a frustrated scream as I threw my phone across the room, making it hit the wall.
The sob escaped my lips as I slowly slid off my bed, leaning against it and putting my head in my hands. My shoulders shook as all the frustration, hurt, confusion and embarrassment came out.
Suddenly, my door swung open. "Y/N? Baby, what happened?"
I looked up and could just barely see my mom through my tears. She walked into the room, instantly sitting next to me and pulling me into her chest.
She didn't say anything and gently rocked me, allowing me to sob. Once I had calmed down, she helped me stand up and we sat on the edge of my bed.
"What happened, sweetie?" She asked, reaching up and tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.
"Peter," I said, my voice breaking.
"Peter Kavinsky? What does he have to do with. . . Did he do something, baby? Did he hurt you?"
I explained everything to her. I told her about my crush on him since we were little. I told her about the barbecue and how Peter kissed me. I told her how it was all a bet.
"Oh, honey," she said gently. "That doesn't sound like Peter. Maybe his reason for the kiss had nothing to do with the bet."
"Doubt it," I said, picking at my nail polish.
"I don't," my mom shrugged.
"What do you mean?"
"Honey, I see the way Peter looks at you when you aren't paying attention. I think he really likes you and just. . ."
"Just what?" I scoffed. "Used a bet to kiss me?"
"Have you talked to him?" She sighed when I shook my head. "Maybe you should, baby."
After trying to convince me a few more times to talk to Peter, my mom left me alone. She kissed me on the forehead and told me she would let me know when it was time for dinner.
As I watched Netflix on my laptop, my phone continued to ring almost every hour. Well, every time Peter was between classes. By the end of the day, my eyes were red and my throat was raw. My mom must have warned my dad because he didn't ask why I was so quiet at dinner.
After we ate, I headed right back to my room. I took a hot shower, longer than normal. As I got out, I got dressed and slowly started brushing my hair. I stopped when I heard an odd sound. I shook it off as I finished brushing through my knots.
I walked out of the bathroom and stopped when I heard that weird sound again. I looked over just in time to see a small circle hit my window. I sighed before walking across my room and opening it up.
I looked down to see Peter standing by our garden, looking up at me. "You. . . You weren't answering your phone," he stuttered.
"Yeah," I shrugged. "That's something you tend to do when you don't want to talk to someone."
"Give me a chance to explain. Please, Y/N. I hate knowing you're mad at me. It's been distracting me all day. I couldn't focus in class because I just wanted to see you. I let pretty much every ball pass me during practice because I couldn't stop thinking about you. Please, Y/N. Just give me five minutes to explain everything."
I hesitated as I looked down at Peter and the desperate look in his eyes. "Fine," I finally gave in. "Five minutes."
I hesitated before ducking back into my room and closing my window. I slipped on a cardigan and quickly pulled my wet hair into a braid. "Where are you going?" My mom asked as I left my room.
"Peter is here. He wants to talk." I ignored her smile as I walked down the stairs. I opened the door, Peter standing directly in front of me.
"Hi," he said softly.
"Hey."
"Do you wanna talk in your room?" He asked, gesturing behind me.
I cleared my throat as I stepped outside. "Actually, let's talk out here." He nodded as I walked over and sat on the bench. He hesitated before sitting next to me.
"I never should have made that stupid bet," he sighed. "At first, I told them I wasn't going to do it, but they kept talking about it."
"About me?" I stuttered. His expression softened as he nodded slowly.
"They made jokes about what it would be like to kiss you. They thought I turned the bet down because I didn't want to kiss you. But, it was actually because I didn't want that to be our first kiss."
"But. . . You did kiss me. It was our first kiss."
"I know," he sighed, running his hand through his hair. He reached over and grabbed my hands. "You have to believe me, Y/N. When I kissed you, I wasn't thinking about the bet. I was thinking about you. I was thinking about how much we used to hang out and all of our adventures chasing dragons and fairies and whatever else we came up with. I was thinking about our parents' barbecues. I was thinking about our secret friendship and how I didn't want it to be a secret anymore. I was thinking about our late-night conversations. I was thinking about us."
"What do you mean, us?" I asked, my voice getting caught in my throat.
"About how, when I'm around you, I really feel like I can be myself. You know everything about me, Y/N. More than my teammates, my friends, even my mom. But there is one thing my mom knows that you don't."
"What?"
He reached forward and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. His hand lingered, cupping my cheek. "The one thing she knows that you don't is how much that kiss meant to me," he said softly, his hand still holding my cheek.
"What do you mean?" I asked softly.
"In middle school, I realized that you weren't just my neighbor or my best friend. You also were a lot more. You were the love of my life."
"But. . . But, middle school was when we stopped hanging out at school." I stuttered, not sure what to stay to that.
"I know," he laughed as he looked away, dropping his hand. He looked back up at me, his expression changing. "It was the days I didn't spend with you that made me realize how much you meant to me. The longer I would go without seeing you, the more I realized how much I cared about you. It didn't take me long to know that I was in love with you."
"What made you. . ." I let my sentence drop.
"The guys had seen you wave at me and started talking about how quiet you were. The more they talked about you, the angrier I got. It's not that they were saying rude or inappropriate things, it was just I had this weird feeling of protectiveness over you."
"Really?" I gasped, my eyes watering.
He nodded as he pulled me closer to him. I held my breath as he pressed his lips to mine. I instantly started moving my lips against his. He pulled away, pressing his forehead to mine. "I'm sorry I didn't make as big of an effort to be around you, but I promise to change that. Starting tomorrow."
"What happens tomorrow?" I asked, leaning away.
"I drive you to school, walk you to and from class, hold your hand, and eat lunch with you. All the cliché couple stuff." He smiled at me.
"Couple stuff?" I asked, getting caught on that word. "We're a couple?"
"Yeah," he shrugged, sending me a playful smile. "If you'll go out with me. Officially."
"I'd like that," I smiled before pulling him towards me and pressing my lips to his.