Page 101 of The Kissing Booth
I gave him a little smile.
‘You look gorgeous. And you’ll figure this all out, I know you will.’
‘He really does make me happy, Dad.’
He gave me a weary smile – one that suddenly made him look so much older.
I gave another half-smile in return and went back into the hallway, where Noah was waiting for me, looking a little nervous. I didn’t even realize Dad had followed me out until he spoke.
‘All right – well, I suppose if you’re taking my little girl to this dance I have to have some photos.’ He picked up the camera again and motioned for me to stand by Noah.
Feeling more than a little awkward, I shuffled over. Noah pulled me in close to his side, his arms going around me. I felt at ease in an instant. It was familiar. Nice.
Dad took a couple of photos and then said, ‘Now listen up. I’m not happy with this at all, but if it’s what Elle wants, then I’ll put up with it –for now. But you do anything – and I meananything at all– to hurt her, and boy, you’ll wish you never stepped foot in here tonight. You got that?’
‘Yes, sir,’ answered Noah, sounding surprisingly sincere and polite.
‘All right then. You kids have fun.’
‘Bye, Dad,’ I said. I shot him an encouraging smile and he gave me a dubious shrug in return. I pulled the door closed, and Noah, his arm still around my waist from the photos, guided me down the driveway.
‘Wait,’ I said, stopping. ‘Does Lee know about this? Did you tell him?’
‘No. Why? Does it really matter that much? Tell him later.’ But he looked down at the ground when he said that last part.
‘Well, they’re all supposed to stop by, like, right now, with the limo...’
‘Text them and tell them you’ve gone ahead. Or something went wrong and you’ll meet them there later. I don’t know. Tell them you’re with me if you really want.’
‘I’ll say I had a make-up malfunction,’ I’d already decided, and texted Lee.
They’ve just left Dixon’s. Thanks for the heads up. Meet you there.
That was the wonderful thing about my best friend being a boy: no condolences and no worried messages asking if I needed help or what was wrong. He just accepted it without question.
I felt horrible for lying to him, even if it was only via text. I had a horrible, ominous sensation in my gut that it was all starting again – the lying, the sneaking around, the backstabbing... And the worst part was that I was doing it all so willingly, without a second thought.
But I could hardly text him saying,Don’t worry about collecting me, I’m going to the dance with Noah instead now. Yeah, right.
I had to tell Lee to his face. Make him understand. Explain everything. That was the only way. No more lying. That was the least I could do now. He deserved more than a text, or even a phone call.
I wondered for a moment what Noah was doing when he went to the passenger side of the car. Surely he wasn’t going to let me drive? He barely let anybody touch his car without permission. Lee was almost as bad – he never let me drive his car either. (Seriously – one teeny tiny scratch on my dad’s car from a mailbox and I’m branded for life.)
But instead, he held the door open for me. It was such a gentlemanly gesture that I wondered if my eyes were working properly.
‘Thanks...’ I said, unsure, sliding into his car. He shut the door behind me before getting in himself, then pulling away and heading to the Royale. It was a twenty-minute drive maybe, and I had no idea how to fill that time without things being awkward between us.
I did have one question I needed to ask, though.
‘What do we do, then? Just turn up there together and let everyone know we’re... we’re... whatever we are?’ I didn’t want to say ‘dating’ in case he didn’t think we were.
Noah sighed. ‘Look, I’m going to just lay it all down here, Elle. Cards up. I like being with you. I really care about you – more than I probably should. So... I don’t want to lose you again. I’m trying to make things up to you here, but I get it if you want this to stay... you know, casual or whatever.’
‘So...?’
‘So, what I’m trying to say here is... I guess it’s up to you.’
My heart was pounding so hard, I hardly heard the rest of what he said.
