Scarlett and the Kiss Thief Read online

  I went to lift my hand to wave at him, but then I was falling. Not falling in love with Axel. I’d already done that. I was literally falling. On my face. I realized at the last minute that Axel’s eyes weren’t wandering down my body with newfound respect. He’d probably just been looking at Gigi’s foot as she tripped me.

  My hands slammed onto the ground just in time to avoid totally busting my face. And I pulled Sophie down with me.

  “Ow,” Sophie groaned. She didn’t sound embarrassed at all, just annoyed. But I knew my face was bright red.

  Gigi started laughing.

  I slowly looked up. Gigi was wearing a pair of heels too, and her skirt was significantly shorter than even my new one. I freaking hated her.

  Her arms were folded across her chest and she was staring down at me with her demon eyes. “What a way to start the new year. On your knees begging to be popular.” She laughed. “For the record, walking in heels takes practice. Do yourself a favor and walk around in front of the mirror a bit. Then you won’t trip over your own feet and embarrass yourself in front of the whole student body.”

  Gigi snapped her fingers and her minions Georgia and Gemma appeared by her side. The Triple Gs. I hated Gigi the most. But all three of them were evil. Georgia and Gemma started laughing too.

  Sophie stood up and brushed her hands off on her skirt. “Great logic, Gigi. There’s only one problem…you tripped her. So apparently it’s you that doesn’t know the proper etiquette of wearing shoes, Neanderthal.”

  Gigi glared at her. “Excuse you?”

  “Excuse you, you utter simpleton. We have better things to do than listen to you.” Sophie put her hand out for me.

  I’d rather just stay down and somehow melt into the floor. But that didn’t seem like an option. I grabbed Sophie’s hand and let her help me up to my feet.

  “Look alive,” Sophie whispered as she pulled me away from the Triple Gs. “Axel’s coming this way. Time for phase two of Operation THTH.”

  “But now I’m not ready,” I said and tried to walk in the opposite direction. But Gigi was there, still glaring at us. My feet froze in the middle of the hallway. I wanted to go back in time to five minutes ago when I was on top of the world. And what happened to the very flattering wind in my hair? The air was now stale and I was starting to sweat. Screw high school. I needed to get out of here.

  Sophie caught my arm. “Nope. You talked about this all summer. Hell, you’ve been talking about it for 17 years. We’re doing this now…” her voice trailed off. “Hi, guys!” she said in a super upbeat voice, dropping my arm.

  “We’re seniors!” Jacob yelled, not giving a care in the world that teachers would probably scold him. He hugged me, lifting me up just enough so that my feet no longer touched the ground, and twirled me in a circle.

  I laughed as he set me back down on my feet.

  Axel put his arm around my shoulders. “Gigi already giving you a hard time?”

  I looked up at him. And for a second, I forgot what he’d just asked me. His skin was golden from the sun and his blonde hair looked lighter too. He’d spent the entire summer at the beach. He and Jacob both got jobs at Rehoboth. I’d begged my parents to let me go with them, but my mom was too worried about my fair skin being in the sun unsupervised. Sophie had stayed in New York with me out of solidarity. But also because her crush had stayed in the city and she had stalker tendencies.

  “Scar?” Axel said.

  My eyes locked with his. He belonged at the beach. His skin tanned perfectly and his blue eyes were the color of the ocean.

  The side of his mouth quirked up. “You okay, Scar?”

  “Hm?” Oh my God, had he been talking to me this whole time?

  “I asked if Gigi was already giving you a hard time?”

  “Psh,” Sophie said. “Who cares about Gigi when we should be talking about hot Scarlett looks. Haven’t you noticed, Axel? She’s on fire.”

  Axel’s eyebrows lowered.

  Jacob whistled as he leaned against his locker. “You ditched the glasses and your skirt isn’t to your knees. Everyone’s noticed,” he said. “And Soph is right, you look sexy as hell.”

  I could feel my face turning red. I looked up at Axel, but instead of seeing a flirtatious smile like Jacob’s, all I saw was a frown.

  I swallowed hard. “What?”

  “I liked your glasses.” He stared at me for a second and then dropped his arm from my shoulders. “Gotta get to class,” he said. He turned and walked away.

  What? He liked my glasses? He’d had seven years to tell me that. Seven years where I’d thought that he thought I looked like a loser. Seven years of hell.

  Sophie’s face fell as he walked away.

  “Why so glum?” Jacob said. “We’re seniors!” he shouted again. “Catch you guys later. And Scar…you really do look hot.”

  “Axel liked my glasses?” I said as I watched Jacob catch back up with Axel down the hall. “When the hell did he start liking my glasses?”

  “You could always start wearing them again,” Sophie said.

  “What? No. Do you have any idea how hard I had to fight my dad in order to get contacts? I’m freaking wearing them. He was supposed to notice how much I changed for the better. Not that he liked me how I was before. I just have to do something else…” I started to roll my skirt so it would be as short as Gigi’s.

  “You’re spiraling.”

  “I’m not spiraling.”

  “I don’t know, Scar. Your ass is practically hanging out.”

  “Ugh.” I groaned and looked down. “It is not. It’s the same length as yours.”

  “Is it?” Sophie looked over her shoulder to see where her skirt barely covered her butt. “Huh, I guess so.” She shrugged. “Well on a positive note…Jacob was all over you.”

  “He hugged you too. And gross, we’re basically cousins.”

  “Are you kidding me right now?” She started laughing. “You’re basically cousins with Axel too. You call his dad Uncle Tyler. Where the hell do you draw the incest line?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Axel doesn’t like me.”

  “He does. He just…he’s a boy, so he’s dumb.”

  The bell for first period rang.

  “Come on, we’re going to be late for class.” She pulled me toward our calc class. Sophie ditched classes a lot. But never calc. Because she was in love with Mr. Halifax. He was her crush. The guy she was currently stalking. He was 27, exactly 10 years older than her. And it was never going to happen. Kind of like me and Axel.

  “So much for Operation Too Hot To Handle,” I mumbled.

  “Nonsense. We just need a phase three. And I have the perfect idea. But it might involve a little incest.”

  “Ew, what?”

  “God, look at Mr. Halifax’s ass in those khakis. Trust me, you’re going to love it.”

  Mr. Halifax’s ass or her incest phase? God, both sounded terrible.

  Chapter 3 – This Plan Is So Epic I Could Cry

  Wednesday

  Before I could sit down in one of the front seats, Sophie pulled me to the back of the classroom.

  “What are you doing?” I asked. “You always insist on sitting in the front of Mr. Halifax’s class.”

  Sophie sat down in the back corner. “Yeah, which hasn’t worked. I don’t think Mr. Halifax is looking for a good student. I think he likes bad girls. So I’m going to be bad.”

  I laughed and sat down at the desk next to hers. “I don’t think he’s looking for a student at all.”

  “Psh.”

  “And getting bad grades on purpose…”

  Sophie pulled out her calc book. “Who said anything about bad grades? I’m going to be bad. Not stupid.”

  I just stared at her.

  Some girls sat down in the chairs in front of us. “Did you guys hear about the new computer science teacher?” one of them said to their group. “Apparently he’s gorgeous.”

  “More than gorgeous,” one of her friends
said. “I saw him and he’s literally the hottest guy I’ve ever seen.”

  “Hotter than Mr. Halifax?” said the first one.

  “So much hotter than Mr. Halifax.”

  Sophie rolled her eyes and then looked at me. “I will cut them,” she mouthed silently at me. “No one is hotter than Mr. Halifax. Now enough about my love life. Let’s talk about Phase Scarlett Loves Incest.”

  “Don’t call it that.” I looked around to make sure no one had overheard us. “What’s wrong with good old Phase Three?”

  “Too late. So here’s what we’re going to do. At lunch today, you’re going to totally ignore Axel.”

  Oh. I could do that. I for sure thought the plan would involve something weirder than that. “Okay, yeah. Give him the cold shoulder?”

  “What?” Sophie shook her head. “Lame. No. You’re going to speak exclusively to Jacob. Brownie points if you sit on his lap. We’re not giving Axel the cold shoulder. We’re going to make him jealous.”

  I sighed. “Nothing I do will make him jealous, Soph. We already tried that freshman year, remember?”

  “And you look hotter now than you did three years ago. Besides, this new sexier version of you is just the change that’s going to get his attention. You two have been in love since you were like…toddlers. You just need to remind him of that.”

  “By sitting on Jacob’s lap at lunch? Don’t be weird, Jacob and I are just friends.”

  “Are you though?”

  “Yes.”

  Sophie shrugged.

  “Why are you shrugging?”

  The bell rang to start class and Sophie lowered her voice slightly. “Because I think maybe the new look worked. Just…on Jacob instead of Axel. Did you see the way Jacob beelined right toward you this morning? Like he only had eyes for you. And that hug?”

  “He hugged you too,” I said.

  “Right. But he literally lifted you off the ground and twirled you around. In the middle of the hallway. If that isn’t a public display of affection, I don’t know what is. It was actually really cute to watch.”

  I swallowed hard. I didn’t want Jacob to like me. I wanted Axel to like me. Was that why Axel had been acting weird? Because he didn’t like that I hugged Jacob?

  “Which is so great,” Sophie said. “Jacob will probably even get a little handsy when you sit on his lap today. This plan is so epic I could cry.”

  “Soph, I’m not going to lead Jacob on.”

  “Well, then fill him in on the plan. He’ll be down, he’s the best. We’re going to make Axel so jealous he explodes.” She put her hands next to her face and made an exploding motion, with the noise and everything.

  She’d lost her mind. There was no way in hell I was sitting on Jacob’s lap. Or telling him about my undying love for Axel. But before I got a chance to tell her, Mr. Halifax cleared his throat.

  “Miss Hunter and Miss Hunter,” Mr. Halifax said with a disapproving shake of his head. “Are the two of you planning on talking during my whole class?”

  “That depends,” Sophie said. “Are you running detention today?”

  He frowned. “No.”

  She leaned forward slightly, not being subtle at all about showing off her cleavage. “Then I guess we’ll be quiet, sir.”

  Oh my God.

  She gave him what could only be described as a very sexual smile. She even raised her eyebrow.

  Mr. Halifax cleared his throat and turned back to the board. But not before I saw his Adam’s apple rise and fall as he stared at her.

  I looked back and forth between Sophie and Mr. Halifax. Damn. Sophie had more chemistry with one of our teachers than I did with Axel. Screw me.

  ***

  “You ready for this?” Soph asked.

  We were standing outside the doors to the cafeteria. And I was 100% not ready. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  Sophie laughed. “Come on, you and Jacob are friends. Friends sit on each other’s laps all the time. Just play it cool. And if you are going to be sick…just don’t do it on Jacob’s lap.”

  God, that thought hadn’t even occurred to me! But now that she mentioned it, it was all I could think about. “What if he pushes me off?”

  “What? That’s what you’re worried about? You should be worried that he’ll pull you closer.”

  “Maybe I should just talk to Axel…”

  “What? No. He’s skittish, you don’t want to scare him off.”

  “He’s not a horse.”

  “Yeah, he’s worse. He’s a boy.”

  “No, the new teacher,” a girl said to her friend as she passed us. “He’s droolworthy.”

  Sophie laughed and pointed after them. “Have you heard that a million times today?”

  “Yeah. Apparently everyone thinks he’s droolworthy.”

  “I can’t wait until our coding class last period so we can finally see for ourselves,” said Sophie. “If I can’t get anywhere with Mr. Halifax maybe I can make him jealous by getting with the new guy.”

  “The new teacher? Why don’t you just date a student?”

  “Ew. All the guys here are so immature. I like older men.”

  “You know how weird that is, right? It doesn’t even make sense. You couldn’t possibly have Daddy issues. Uncle Rob is the best.”

  “It’s not a Daddy issues thing. It’s a Mr. Halifax-is-a-grown-ass-man-and-there-is-nothing-hotter-than-that thing.”

  “You know what’s hot? Being able to date in public without getting arrested. You’re going to give your dad a heart attack.”

  “My dad won’t care. He’s cool. Unlike yours,” she said through fake coughing.

  “Hey.” I shoved her shoulder. But she had a point. My dad said he’d ground me if he saw my skirt rolled up…which it currently was. I couldn’t even imagine what he’d do if I started dating a teacher. Which again, would be such hypocritical crap. Since he’d literally been my mom’s professor in college. Gross.

  “I’m kidding. I love Uncle James. Now let’s go get Axel to fall in love with you.”

  “How tragic,” someone said from behind us. No, not someone. Because I knew exactly who it was based on the way that her shrill voice made the little hairs on the back of my neck rise.

  I turned to see Gigi standing there, her minions missing. They were probably off torturing a cat or something.

  Gigi smiled. “You really think a guy like Axel Stevens would date a girl like you? Darling, there’s a reason you’ve been friend-zoned for 17 years.”

  It didn’t seem like the time or place to tell her Axel and I had technically dated in pre-school.

  “Because he…” she took a step forward. “Is so far out of your league. You know how I know that? Because he’s in mine.”

  “The league of troll people?” Sophie said. “I don’t think so. And wake up call, Scarlett is one of the two most popular girls at this school. And the other isn’t you. It’s me.”

  Gigi made a disgusted noise with her throat. “We’ll see about that. I’ve always wanted to know if Axel’s a good kisser.” She pushed through the doors to the cafeteria.

  “What does she mean by that?” I asked.

  Sophie cringed.

  Oh God, no. I ran into the cafeteria.

  Gigi had marched right up to my usual table. Where Axel and Jacob were already sitting. They didn’t look up at her as she approached. And for a second, I thought she might just walk right past them and go get a salad or something to eat. But no such luck.

  My feet froze as I watched Gigi plop herself down right on Axel’s lap. She grabbed both sides of his perfect face and kissed him right on the mouth.

  Sophie gasped.

  I closed my eyes and turned away from them. I could feel tears pooling in the corners of my eyes. Of all the people Gigi could have kissed. Why did it have to be him? Why did she have to torture me? It felt like I’d been punched in the gut. Or like someone had stabbed my heart with a knife. Yeah, I was definitely going to be sick.

&nb
sp; Liam walked up next to me. “Rough day?”

  I sniffed. “What? No, everything’s fine.” I blinked away my tears before they could fall. I was not going to break down in the middle of the cafeteria in front of my little brother.

  He lowered his eyebrows as he looked at me. “Want to sit with my friends instead of with those guys?”

  Friends plural? He’d been going to this school all of five minutes. How did he already have a huge group of friends to sit with? I was supposed to be the one offering to let him sit with my friends. Not the other way around.

  “She’s gone,” Sophie said with a slow exhale. “So much for phase three. You can’t sit on Jacob’s lap now. It’ll just seem like you’re mimicking Gigi and you’ll look so desperate.”

  I felt desperate. But I wasn’t going to sit on Jacob’s lap. I wasn’t sure I was ever going to do that. But I also wasn’t going to cower either. “It’s fine, really,” I said. “We’re just friends.” The words felt like acid in my throat. “And we should sit with our friends.”

  “We’ll sit with you too then,” Liam said. He gestured RJ over from their own table full of new friends.

  “Savage,” RJ said as he joined us. “Right in front of you.” He shook his head.

  “What?”

  “You’re in love with Axel,” he said. “And Gigi just kiss-raped him.”

  “Does everyone know I like him?”

  RJ shrugged. “I guess everyone but him.”

  Great. My little brother and cousin even knew how pathetic I was. And probably the whole school. Everyone but Axel. But was it everyone but Axel? Because I was pretty sure he knew it too. And he didn’t care.

  It felt like everyone in the cafeteria was staring at me. I knew it was just in my head, but I just wanted to scream. Enough was enough. Axel Stevens didn’t like me. Clearly. He’d just made out with the person that had enjoyed making school a living hell for me for the past several years. And I didn’t freaking like him anymore either. He’d kissed the devil. He’d literally kissed every girl but me.

  Everyone thought they knew me. But they didn’t know me. I could be bad just like Sophie could. And I was about to be very bad.