Kiss Cam [Teaser/Published October 2016]

CHAPTER ONE | WEREVLOGGINGHERE

I KNOW JAS is up to no good the minute he plunks his tray down across from mine and flashes me a mischievous grin.

"You'll never believe what I convinced Lenny to do," he dares after he's dropped his schoolbag to the floor and seated himself slightly askew on the other side of the bench.

I raise an eyebrow and tip my head sideways to search for Lenny among the lunch lines. "What's he going to do?" I ask curiously, and turn to face Jasper again when I've decided there are too many students blocking him from my sight.

His eyes glint, smile growing when he answers, "He's going to eat a nasty combination of whatever I want."

"That's disgusting," I comment, and snap off the cap on my flavored water. "He's going to puke."

"Who's going to puke?" Allison, my best friend and go-to history project partner, asks as she drops her tray beside mine.

"Lenny's probably going to eat mayo and peaches," I update her. And mayo and peaches it's likely to be. We always grab fruit cups for Lenny, and I dip my french fries in mayo.

"Ew." She grimaces and then shoots a look at Jasper. "And you're going to film it, aren't you?"

Jasper lifts his backpack into his lap, unzips the first pocket, and pulls out his video camera, which he, Lenny, and I all pitched in to buy but is technically his. "Yep!" he chirps, and sets the camera beside his tray.

Allison's eyes narrow at him, and she shakes her head hard enough to make her dark hair sway. "You guys and your vlog," she mutters to herself.

It's no secret that Allison hates our vlogging antics, and it's mostly due to her camera shyness—something I got over six years ago, and it's all because Jasper Lahey, self-proclaimed news broadcaster of his life and all with whom he decides to tangle fates. If it hadn't been for dorky twelve-year-old Jasper inviting me to join in on his and Lenny's shenanigans, I would have remained camera and people shy.

As for my history partner, no one is getting Allison Steele out of her tightly woven cocoon. After all, it is I who does all the talking during our history presentations. For now, the girl has decided to hate the player and the game—covering her face from every camera shot and kicking Jasper under the table for trying to include her.

Lenny now joins our group with a sour face, making Jasper grin wickedly. Looking at the assortment of odd things on Lenny's tray, I can already tell that this will end badly. Not only are there peaches and a glob of mayonnaise, but pickles, coleslaw, ketchup, fruit snacks, lime Jell-O, and a bag of croutons.

Just the thought of all those things being combined and consumed is enough to make me gag.

"Oh, please don't eat that," Allison groans, and hides her eyes behind her painted fingernails. I nod in agreement and scoot away from Lenny when he seats himself on the other side of me.

"Puke in the other direction." I frown.

"Nah, man. Spray June. That's comedy gold!" Jasper cheers. Scowling, I glance up at Jasper, who has now turned on the video camera and propped it up, waiting with a boyish grin on his face.

Jasper is all jokes, dark hair, and long legs. And he would sacrifice me for comedy, too. Back in the day, he almost used me as a guinea pig to see if Mentos and Coke would still fizz up if someone drank it. That was one of the first things he wanted to do after inviting me to join Lenny and him in their games. I was about ready to walk away from it all when Lenny took a bullet for me and did the experiment instead. And, yes, Mentos and Coke still fizz up. Lenny laughs about it now, but he still won't drink anything that fizzes.