Kiss Cam [Teaser/Published October 2016]

CHAPTER FIVE | MAYBE WE'VE HAD BETTER IDEAS

IT'S NOT UNTIL Friday afternoon that the idea of a "kiss cam" is taken seriously. I promptly dismissed the idea upon its initial suggestion, knowing that things could get out of hand if left up for discussion. The case was closed after that—or so I thought.

Things are starting to go haywire at our chosen lunch table. Lenny brings up the comments from our last vlog and begins coming up with an argument as to why we should do it. Jasper leans over the table to see the evidence himself and quickly tries to rope me into the idea.

"Juniper, it's the absolute worst idea," Allison remarks when it looks as though I'm going to give in.

I know it's a bad idea—a funny and unpredictable idea, but a bad one, nonetheless. I know what she's worried about, but there is no way anything between Jasper and me could develop now. We're just friends for a reason. Why ruin a good thing with complications? I figured that out freshman year when he started dating Bree. I decided then and there not to let him get to my head. Everything with him was just friendly, and feelings were never allowed. No complications meant no feelings could get hurt.

And kissing without the complication of feelings? What could be so bad about that?

I had previously thought I would never give my kisses away so easily, but after sifting through the comments, I have to admit our viewers' reactions are worth it. There's something thrilling about having people so invested in you. It's like being persuaded onto a roller coaster you'd never dare to ride otherwise and ending up drowning in your own giggles as you swoop down a near-ninety-degree drop.

Plus, it's fun reading about the excitement people get from a segment where their ship is smashed together by the lips. I'm a crowd-pleaser, to say the least, and it's not even like Jasper and I are doing anything bad. Our viewers know that there's nothing actually going on between us—they only wish there was. We're being teases, and that's what makes it exciting.

But Allison dropping her two cents into the piggy bank of opinions makes a good dose of reality shoot back into my system, and my excitement deflates like a balloon. She's seen things go terribly wrong between Jasper and me before. Maybe she's right and I can't justify the idea the way I thought I could.

Sighing, I lean away from the computer screen. "She's right. This is ridiculous."

"We all know kissing between friends never goes well," Allison tacks on.

"We're not normal friends," Jasper reminds her. "We live on the Internet, and this kind of thing happens on the Internet all the time."

Allison motions at Jasper accusingly. "Can't you see? He's glamorizing everything in order to get you to play along with his silly game—which, by the way, can only lead to trouble."

Jasper's fingers have been tapping on the table since she started talking, but now he just turns on her with narrowed eyes. "Why are you making me out to be some kind of bad guy? I didn't do anything."

"But you will," she snaps.

Silence settles over the table. Even Lenny's rapid typing and clicking comes to an abrupt stop while Allison and Jasper stare fiercely across the table. I'm at a loss, not even sure what's happening here. Like I said, Allison and Jasper don't get along well. There's always this tense wall between them. I always thought it was because he pushed her limits with the video camera. Now I know it's because she's bitter about him being reckless with my feelings in the past, and although I'm grateful for her loyalty, I know it's time to prove that Jasper and I are beyond that— because he didn't even know he was responsible in the first place.

"Um, guys," I say hesitantly to break the silence. "You can put your claws away. I honestly think that maybe the 'kiss cam' is taking things a bit far, but I don't see any harm in doing it as long as when I say that's enough it stops, because I can easily seeing this going too far."