Page 5 of The Kissing Booth
‘You think I’d lie to you, Shelly?’ he asked sadly, putting on a pained expression and staggering back, hands clutched over his heart.
I gave him a look in the mirror. ‘Do you need me to answer that, Lee?’
‘No, I guess not,’ he laughed. ‘So you gonna get it?’
I nodded. ‘Yeah, I guess. It’s fifty percent off.’
‘Cool.’ Then he groaned. ‘You’re not spending that other fifty percent on shoes, are you? Please tell me you’re not. If you are, then you owe me a sodaandpizza.’
‘I promise I’m not buying shoes, or anything else, okay? We can go home after I buy the dress.’ I stepped out of it and put on my jeans and top and sweater: the air-con in the mall made it freezing.
‘Aw,’ he sighed. ‘I wanted pizza.’
I laughed, walking out of the cubicle with him in tow. I walked straight into something – no, someone.
‘Sorry,’ I apologized reflexively. Then I realized who it was. ‘Oh, hi, Jaime.’
She looked suspiciously from me to Lee, and a sly smile slipped onto her face. Jaime was the biggest gossip in the school, and while she was really nice, she is one of those people who can annoy you very easily for no reason.
‘What’re you two doing in here? This is the girls’ changing rooms, Lee, you know.’
He shrugged. ‘Elle needed a second opinion.’
‘Okay,’ she said; she actually sounded kind of disappointed, like she’d hoped there was a more gossip-worthy reason. ‘Sure thing. Hey, I heard you’re having a party tonight. Your brother’s going to be there, right?’
Lee rolled his eyes. ‘Yeah.’
Jaime smiled brightly. ‘Great!’
‘Are you dress shopping too?’ I asked her, just making small talk.
‘No, I need a new pair of jeans. My dog decided that my jeans made a better toy than his squeaky ball.’
I laughed. ‘What a nice dog.’
‘Tell me about it. Are you wearing that tonight?’ She nodded at the dress in my hands.
‘Yeah.’
‘I’m not sure it’s really your color...’ she said, but I caught the muscle twitch in her cheek, and the expression was one I’d learned to read over the years. Jealousy. I took that as a good sign.
‘Hmm, maybe... But it’s on sale. I can’t resist a good bargain.’
She laughed politely. ‘Yeah, I guess. Well, see you guys later!’
‘Bye, Jaime,’ we chorused, and I heard Lee sigh and mumble something about how much she annoyed him.
I paid for the dress and we made another stop by the food court so he could get a slice of pizza before we left. I just had a milkshake.
‘Don’t spill that in my baby,’ he warned when I was slurping it as I got into his car.
‘Of course I won’t!’ I nearly did, though, and, seeing his threatening look, I didn’t dare take another sip till we hit a red light.
As Lee pulled up in his driveway, I checked the time. ‘Almost six... I’d better head home and get ready,’ I said.
‘You can be such a girl sometimes, Shelly.’
I laughed. ‘Are you only just noticing?’
