Page 67 of Just One Kiss

“Hey,” he said.

Belinda turned, gave Carly a once-over, then looked back at Josh. “Save me that dance, okay?” She pranced off without a word to Carly, who felt small and plain in the other girl’s presence.

“What did she want?” she asked, doing her best to keep her tone light, as if she could pretend she didn’t care who Josh talked to, as if she was secure in their relationship, which she had been up until that exact moment.

“You know Belinda.” Josh shut his locker and didn’t say another word.

Later, Carly’s friend Beth told her that Belinda had a bet going with the other cheerleaders that she could get Josh to ditch Carly at the dance and leave with her.

That tidbit of gossip plagued Carly for the rest of the night and the following day right up until Josh showed up at her house to take her to the prom.

She questioned the sincerity of his compliment when he saw her in the princess dress and told her how beautiful she looked. She sat through dinner wondering if Josh would rather be sitting across from Belinda. And when they arrived at the country club for the grand march, she found herself scanning the crowd for Belinda, as if knowing exactly where she was would change anything.

“You okay?” Josh asked as they stood in the long line of couples about to parade up onto the stage and out to the back of the big banquet hall.

“I’m fine,” she said.

“You seem distracted.”

If she mentioned Belinda, would she sound needy and whiny? The kind of girl she swore she’d never be?

But if she didn’t mention her, would it ruin their night? It wasn’t like she was doing a good job of forgetting what she’d heard—and an even worse job of forgetting what she’d seen.

“I’m fine,” she repeated.

“You keep saying that, but you don’t seem fine.” He fixed his eyes on something ahead of him, and she saw the annoyance in his expression. She was irritating him. She had to be careful or she’d run him off. She knew that. He had plenty of other girls waiting in the wings, including one of the prettiest in school.

She slipped her hand in his as they stepped up onto the stage. He glanced down and she smiled at him. She was being ridiculous. She and Josh were meant to be—nothing Belinda or anyone else said or did could change that.

But an hour later, Carly exited the bathroom stall to find Belinda leaning against the sink, as if she were waiting for her.

Carly’s heart raced. Why was she nervous? It wasn’t like Belinda was going to beat her up or something. Right?

“You and Josh are really cute,” Belinda said.

“Thanks,” Carly said dryly.

“But don’t you think you’re kidding yourself a little?”

Carly found Belinda’s eyes in the mirror.

Belinda smiled innocently. “I mean, it was cute when we were underclassmen, but he’s outgrown you, don’t you think?”

Carly turned off the faucet and moved past Belinda to get a paper towel.

“Face it, Carly, he’s hot and you’re a nerd. How long do you think he’s going to keep dating you once he realizes it?”

She dried her hands and threw the paper towel in the garbage.

Where was her snappy comeback? Her witty repartee? Why was she frozen in the other girl’s presence, as if stringing two words together was too complicated?

She left the bathroom even more worried and distracted than she’d been when she came in.

Josh smiled. “The dance is almost over—what’s the plan?”

She reached into her purse and pulled out the movie tickets, but quickly stuffed them back inside. “Nothing, it’s stupid.”

He frowned. “Let me see, Carly. Come on.” He reached across her and pulled out the tickets. “Sandlot 2?” He laughed.

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