Kiss Cam [Teaser/Published October 2016]

CHAPTER ELEVEN | VOLUNTARY TASTING

ALLISON'S SUGGESTION ABOUT feelings really starts to get to me as the day goes on, and I fumble with my locker, unable to open it the more flustered I get.

I do like Jasper, but only as a friend. And we love each other, of course—like family. I know this. My parents know this. My friends know this. Hundreds of people online know this. It's about as obvious as stating that the grass is green.

However, we're not into each other like that, and there's no way we ever could be, because I like the way we are now. And, hey, when you've got a good thing going, why change it?

Years ago, when I first met Jasper, we were about as insignificant in each other's lives as silent letters are in the English language. That all changed when we realized that Lenny had a cookie-cutter life with parents who were home by four o'clock and who wanted him home by nine every night. Leeann was rarely home, and my parents' odd work hours kept me from seeing them. That's when Jasper and I started to seek each other out. While Lenny went home for the night, Jasper and I bonded over strange things like his secret love for oldies music and my dislike of the color yellow.

Our friendship with each other put to shame the relationship we had with Lenny. We've all become tighter knit since VlogIt, of course, but no matter what, there will always be those long nights teaching Jasper how to braid hair and him trying to show me how to effectively read a comic book that make us closer. We've invested a lot of time into each other.

That's really all there is, though—invested time. It's a family union between Jasper and me, not a romantic one. Our love is the simplest of endearment merely platonic—nothing close to the magical sparks of a budding romance.

So, we kiss . . . a lot these days. Does that really matter in the grand scheme of things? There are no sparks, no shivers of pleasure—at least not on my end. My trembles are the result of nervousness, the shakiness of my breath is inexperience, and the added heat created out of competitiveness.

Allison knows nothing about Jasper. He's loud and passionate and extremely unpredictable. He is both easy and hard to read at the same time. There are no boundaries in his mind, no lines that can't be crossed. If he truly loves me the way she says he does, then I would feel it in his kisses, hear it in his voice. But I don't.

I feel weak just thinking about Jasper and me together. The awkwardness that would replace the effortlessness. The way his passion would compete with my demure nature. We'd be somewhat of a chaotic couple—always fighting, always searching for the fluidness that used to come without the pressure of commitment. I would want one thing, he'd fight with me for the other.

Some people just work better as friends, and I think we found that out a long time ago. That's why my freshman crush faded into nothing but curiosity.

The rash flush of panicky nervousness that surged through me minutes prior earlier now settles into cool composure. My fingers steady on the dial of my locker, and I'm able to open it with relative ease. I even laugh a little in spite of myself.

Kiss Cam really is taking us for a whirl.

<ORN>

That evening, I recline back against Jasper's legs while he plays with my hair. Lenny sits on the floor with me, hiding in the curve of his living room's massive couch. He's got his computer in his lap and throws out suggestions for the Twelve Days of Kissmas—which happens in about two weeks. Until then, he figures we should hold off on the regular Kiss Cams. We're spoiling our viewers, anyway.

"On the first day of Kissmas, my true love gave to me a hickey for the Jasiper Team."

Jasper laughs at this and twirls one of my blond curls around his finger. "Wait, who's giving who the hickey?"