Page 93 of Kiss Me, Maybe

As soon as I post the video and glance up from my phone, I spot her.

There. A mass of dark brown curls I recognize by heart, piled on top of her head. Just to be sure, I move through the crowd to follow her. Julian calls out my name, but I ignore him.

Turn around, I think frantically.Just once.

I’m surrounded. There’s no way for me to move faster, to catch up to her. I call her name, but I barely hear myself over the roar of voices. Again. And then, miraculously, her headturns. I only catch her side profile, but it’s enough.

It’s her. She came.

I’d run to her if I could. Fall at her feet and apologize for being so dense. Because how could I not see then what I so clearly see now? There’s no one else for me but her. I love Krystal. I’ve been slowly falling for her for months. Years, even.

“Angela!” I’m pulled out of the crowd by a hand gripping my arm. When I turn around, Marcela looks anxious. “You can’t just run off like that. We almost lost you.”

“Sorry, I—” I turn my head back, but if the person I saw in the crowd really was Krystal, I have no way of knowing. She’s gone. “I thought I saw her.”

“Krystal?” When I nod, she asks, “What are you going to do?”

There’s only one thing I want to do—something I should’ve done a long time ago. Julian and Marcela follow as I ditch the crowds for a grassy lawn outside a nearby building. Once we find a secluded area that isn’t too noisy, I press the camera app and hit record.

NO CAPTION

@ANGELA CLOSED CAPTIONS:Krystal, if you’re watching this, ignore the last video I posted. I don’tknow if you got any of the messages I’ve been sending you, but just now I thought I saw you, so if you are here—and if you’re still in this—meet me at your spot. You know the one. I like to think of it as our spot now. Hopefully I see you, and it will be.

“You’re really doing this, huh?” Marcela’s eyes are sparkling, and Julian is wearing a cheesy grin once I hit post. They crush me in a hug from both sides, sandwiching me between them. “I’m so proud of you, Angela.”

“Go get your girl!” Julian agrees, shaking my shoulders.

“All right, fine, yes, but we have to hurry!” I say, pulling away from them. “Can you drop me off at home? I need to get my car. I have to be alone for this.”

They agree, and then we’re running back to Marcela’s car. Julian says they’ll let me know who wins the scavenger hunt later, and for a moment a pang of regret hits me that I won’t get to see it through. But only for a moment. Because with every fiber of my being, I’m praying that I’m right. That Krystal is really here somewhere, searching for me. That we’re not too far off from our happily-ever-after.

Forty-Four

The sky is dark with gray clouds by the time I reach the deserted parking lot. My hands are shaking as I turn off the ignition. My whole body is shaking, actually, at the thought that she might not show. That the face in the crowd I could’ve sworn was hers belonged to someone else, and I’ll end the day the same way I started it: alone. Not that I’m entirely against the prospect as much as I once was. Krystal is it for me. It’s her or no one.

I’m envisioning our reunion like the night she first brought me here—the sky awash in brilliant color, the air cool on my skin, Krystal pulling me into the trunk of her car and wrapping us in one of her many oversized blankets. It’s a perfect picture. At least, until thunder rumbles in the distance. I push myself out of the driver’s seat, my shoes hitting the pavement at a run. The fireworks should be starting any second now. With a storm on the way, we might only get a few minutes of fireworks before we’re rained out.

I check my phone for notifications, looking for her name.Come on, Krystal.I glance up at the darkening sky when the first drop of rain hits my cheek.

No. No no no—

Against the skyline, a red flurry launches into the air and pops, but fizzles out before it can make its grand showcase.The sound of popping fireworks is replaced with another roll of thunder that’s much louder than the first, and then the sky splits open above my head. In mere seconds my hair and clothes are soaked, but that’s not what I care about. I barely notice I’m soaked to the bone until I take my first steps, bogged down by my water-logged tennis shoes.

No fireworks. No Krystal. No first kiss.

It’s just about what I deserve for being so fickle. But despite how gigantic of a bust this whole scavenger hunt turned out to be, I don’t have any regrets. It wouldn’t have felt right to lose my first kiss to anyone else. There’s no one I’d rather kiss than Krystal. I won’t be satisfied with anyone else.

I tip my head back and let the rain hit my face. Take one deep breath in and hold it before letting it out in slow bursts between my teeth. I might have a towel in the back seat, or at the very least a jacket of some sort. Even then, there’s no way my seat survives the drive back. These are the thoughts occupying my brain when a flash of headlights break through the fog. My pulse races the closer they get, until I’m just able to make out the silhouette in the driver’s side. I’d recognize those curls anywhere.

Krystal’s car pulls in beside mine. She wastes no time jumping out despite the pouring rain. “What are you doing out here?” Even though she’s shouting, I have to strain my ears to hear her. “Angela, you’re gonna get sick!”

“You came.” She doesn’t hear me. I know because I can barely hear myself, and her stern expression doesn’t change. My face breaks into a ridiculous grin I can’t contain, that I don’twantto contain, becauseshe actually came.

“Come on.” She grabs my arm and pulls me against her.“Get in the car.”

“I didn’t think the rain would reach this side of town,” I tell her. I shout it, really, so she can hear me. “There were supposed to be fireworks. I had all these plans. I was going to kiss you—”

A crack of lightning startles us both.

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