Page 105 of Places We've Never Been

CHAPTER 26

“Whoa,” I said, trying to back up but being stopped by the arm of the bench.

“I’m sorry, I thought…”

“No,” I said. “I hardly know you.”

He looked at the ground. “I’m sorry. You were giving all the signs. I thought I’d take my chance.”

“I didn’t mean to give signs. I’m actually super bad at signs.”

“You’re better than you think.”

“Well, obviously not, if you got that idea.” I pointed to my mouth to indicate the kiss.

He laughed. “True. You’re not going to punch me in the face or anything, are you?”

“If I was going to punch you, it would have happened immediately following the kiss. Now I’m just going to awkwardly stand and walk away to go eat lunch.”

“Then I’m going to awkwardly stand and be grateful we live in different states.”

I smiled. “That sounds like a good plan.”

We both awkwardly stood and each took two or three steps backward.

“Bye, Norah.”

“Bye.” I was trying not to feel stupid as I headed back to camp. Why shouldIfeel stupid? He was the one who kissed me without asking. He could’ve at least done the thing where he went in halfway and waited for me to follow his lead. That was a thing people did, right? I wasn’t sure; I’d only kissed one guy and our first kiss happened after I’d said, “Are we ever going tokiss?”

I had just talked myself out of the need to feel embarrassed when I entered our campsite and Paisley announced to the entire meal-prep group—which apparently waseveryonetoday—“Did I just see you kissing Ty? I thought you didn’t like him.”

What could I say out loud in that moment that wouldn’t make all three guys, who were now staring at me, go give Ty a talking-to? “Sort of” is the stupid thing my brain landed on before I rushed into the RV.

I flung myself on my mom’s bed and slid the door shut. Before long there was a knock and Paisley’s voice. “Norah? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said.

“Can I come in? I want to show you something.”

I honestly just wanted her to go away, but saying that would make everything worse. “Sure.”

She opened the door and sat on the bed next to me. In herarms was her sketch pad. She wanted me to do more of her homework right now? “Can we work on that later?” I said.

“Will you just look?”

I held back a sigh and reached out for the book.

“Hold on, let me find the right page.”

“Okay,” I said.

She flipped to somewhere near the middle and gently handed it to me.

At first, I didn’t quite understand what I was seeing. My brain was trying to make sense of Paisley being responsible for the drawing in front of me. The style and technique felt so familiar. Then my mouth dropped open. “You didn’t…Is this…” It was a sketch of me. A super-detailed, hyperrealistic, picture-like drawing of me.

“It’s Skyler’s,” Paisley said. “I found it in his stuff.”

I practically threw the book across the bed. “You took that without his permission?”