Page 96 of The Kissing Booth
‘I – I just... I can’t.’
I was saved by the bell: the hallways filled with people going to their first period class. Noah didn’t move, and I found I couldn’t either.
‘I... I have to go,’ I managed to say, and I fled, barging my way through people and not caring when I stood on someone’s toes. I just had to get away.
Not because I was afraid of Noah.
I was afraid of my feelings for him.
‘Are you telling me that for your seventeenth birthday – oh, wait, I’m sorry,ourseventeenth birthday – you have no idea what kind of party you want?’
I laughed. ‘I haven’t really thought about it lately. But we need to sort something out really soon. We have, like, a week.’
Lee sighed melodramatically. ‘And you sayIprocrastinate! So what are we going to do? Tiny gathering of close friends and family?’
‘Close friends? You’ve got to be joking. That’s half our grade, and then there’s the seniors.’
‘True. Then alargegathering of close friends and family? Huh? Yeah? Yeah? My parents said before we could rent out a club for the night.’
‘That’d be kind of cool... but it’d be so expensive...’
‘All right. House party at my place?’
‘I guess so. There’s not exactly much else we can do, is there?’ I said.
Lee and I had decided months ago that we wanted to do something so cool, so epic, that nobody would be able to top it. And since our birthday fell just after school let out, recently our party had been the big end-of-year celebration. With all the seniors we hung out with leaving now, we wanted to do something even bigger and better than just any old party.
I knew that Lee wanted a big party, and I owed him. I’d been selfish over the whole Noah situation, not telling him about it, sneaking around behind his back. I owed him. I had to come up with something awesome for him.
Then it hit me.
‘Remember in sixth grade – we had that costume party at the kiddie place that shut down? It had a ball-pit and everything.’
‘Yeah. And I was the Cat in the Hat. And you went as some Disney princess.’
‘Yeah.’
‘What about it? Oh, God, no. No way. No way.’
‘Yes way.’
‘No.’
‘Why not? It’d be so fun!’
‘Shelly, do you realize how childish that sounds?’ he laughed, grinning at me and making his eyes crinkle at the corners.
‘I know, that’s what makes it so cool! We’re, like, the only people who can pull this off and make it epic. Trust me.’
‘And you’re sure about this?’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘We’re going to shake on this before you change your mind.’
I nodded, smiling easily and sticking my fist out to him.
Lee grinned, laughing, and pounded his fist with mine. We both made identical explosion noises.
