When Sydney Sherwood was thirteen, she fell in love. She was utterly enamoured with Carter Pearson - the cute, enigmatic, brilliant fourteen year old who lived across the street. But, after only a few months, Carter and his family disappeared, leavi...
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"So, y'know, I put my arms around his neck and we kiss."
Alice squealed, resting her chin in her hands as though she was listening to the most romantic love story in the world. Her bright blue eyes shone with excitement and she was clearly proud at having set Michael and I up. I bite back a laugh, holding up a finger.
"That's not all," I continue. "So, we're kissing and I'm thinking, hey, this is nice - nothing mind-blowing, but still nice. Then, we pull apart and he looks a little bewildered, so I ask if he's okay, and he says - I kid you not - I think I might be gay."
At this, Alice burst out laughing. "Oh my god! Your kissing was so bad that you turned him off girls completely!"
"Hey!" I exclaimed, grabbing a cushion and chucking it at her. "I've been told I am a very good kisser, actually."
"According to who?" Alice asked. "Because Carter doesn't count, you know. He was fourteen and kissing a girl for the first time so, like, of course he thought it was great."
I rolled my eyes. "I have kissed other people besides Carter."
At this moment, Maya walked into the kitchen, announcing her entrance with a sneeze. She was on the final stretch of her cold, despite still insisting that she wasn't ill. "You kissed Carter?!"
"No!" I replied. "Not since I was thirteen, anyway."
In the pause in conversation, Alice giggled to herself. I couldn't help but smile when I looked at her, even though I knew she was just going to recount my humiliation to Maya.
"You remember Sydney had that blind date last night?" she asked, to which Maya nodded. "Well, she kissed him... and then he told her he's gay!"
Of course, Maya laughed, too. "That's rough."
"I don't mind," I insisted. It was true; I wasn't invested in a budding romance with Michael. "I'm just glad I helped him on his journey of self-discovery."
"Also, Alice, clearly your matchmaking skills are terrible," Maya added. "I mean, you originally tried to set up a gay guy with a lesbian."
The topic of conversation soon changed, which I was glad of. One detail I'd left out of my recollection of last night's date was the presence of a certain irritating person from my past. I knew that Alice would think it was fate again, or something. Plus, I didn't want them getting any ideas that I was bothered by seeing Carter on his date, because I wasn't. He was arrogant and a player and so frustrating, so as far as I was concerned I wanted as little to do with him as possible.
Unfortunately, Carter didn't seem to have the same idea about our current relationship. As I walked to a lecture on Monday morning, my phone buzzed with a text from him, asking what's up?
