Page 60 of Kissing is the Easy Part

She stiffens, then she opens her arms and hugs me. We almost never do this. She pulls away after approximately 2.8 seconds, grimacing. “Ew. Bad idea.”

“Agreed. Let’s never do that again.”

She laughs and taps on the steering wheel. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

* * *

The next day at lunch, Flora calls out to me in the cafeteria. Lindsey is sitting with them, shoulders slumped. She hasn’t sat with Flora’s group for a while, but maybe today’s special circumstances.

“We heard what happened. Unacceptable,” Josie says as she crumples a juice carton and drops it onto the table.

Madison says, “We’re brainstorming ways to get even.”

“No,theyare,” Carmen corrects. “I’m against this whole revenge thing.”

Lindsey lowers her head. “Me too. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Grow a spine.” Madison gives Lindsey’s shoulder a firm pat. “How’s a girl supposed to move on unless she has the perfect revenge plan underway?”

“How about leaving it to karma?” Carmen suggests.

Madison scoffs. “Karma is what people say when they’re too lazy to be petty. Strong people take matters into their own hands. Now, Lindsey, we start a rumor too.”

“Something so stupid, so bizarre, that it outlives us all,” Flora says. “How about he’s been secretly feeding a Sasquatch in his backyard? They’re best friends.”

Lindsey snorts.

“We’re trying to ruin his life,” Josie says, “not make him seemenchanting.”

Flora’s eyes sparkle in that way that excites and scares me. “Forget the rumor—let’s pull a prank. If we put our heads together, we can make his lifeveryannoying.”

Lindsey turns to me, mouthingNo.

“Come on, you don’t have to stoop to his level,” I say. “The best revenge’s moving on and living well.”

Madison says, “You sound seventy instead of seventeen. Toss whatever self-help book you’re reading.”

Flora leans in, both hands on the table. “We call his parents and say he’s been stealing cafeteria meat loaf. Get them to set up a meeting with the principal. Or—I read about something like this on Reddit—we post a Craigslist ad saying he’s giving awayfree alpacas.Imagine people calling him day and night, demanding alpacas.”

Lindsey laughs—because alpacas. They have that effect on people. Then she drops her head into her palms. “Can wepleasedrop this?”

“Write a song about him!” Flora claps Josie on the shoulder. “Something like, ‘Beckstabbing Liar,’ or ‘What the Beck Was I Thinking?’”

“Again, not trying to make him enchanting. Dude, do it the old-fashioned way and punch him. Or at least threaten him. Or ask your guard dog Dylan to do it—he’ll throw hands for you, no questions asked.” At this point, Josie’s just here for the chaos.

“Violence works like a charm every time,” Madison seconds.

“I’m not going to hit a freshman,” I say.

Flora shakes her head at me like I’ve personally let her down. “Chivalry is dead. You won’t even defend your own sister?”

I don’t answer. I could, technically, shove the kid against a locker and tell him to keep his mouth shut, but what would that change? Lindsey doesn’t need revenge. She needs perspective. One failed relationship doesn’t define her. High school can scar you, but it can also give you something real—friendships, memories, the kind of moments that stay with you long after you leave.

Besides, if wereallywanted to annihilate him, it wouldn’t be hard. Between Flora’s friends and mine, between our social reach and whatever I can dig up online, we could make his life a lot worse than a few alpaca calls. But no one’s said that, not once. Maybe because we all know the goal isn’t to kick him down. It’s to lift her up.

If only I could find a way.

Chapter Nineteen