Second Kiss by Natalie Palmer Read Free Book Online

probably sad that you weren’t dancing with me anymore, right?” I was dying to know, but I laced my words with a hint of humor in case the answer wasn’t what I wanted to hear.
    Jess pursed his lips and nodded with a reciprocating hint of sarcasm. “Really sad.”
    “I bet it was my mismatched reds that made you miss me so bad. Guys really go for that kind of thing.” I resorted to joking because I was nervous-no, terrified-that he actually wasn’t sad to have had our dance cut short at all.
    Jess let his head fall back. “Yes,” he agreed with his lips lifted into a half smile. “Mismatched clothes are irresistible.” We were approaching our houses. I hoped that Jess would follow me onto my lawn, but he began heading in the direction of his driveway.
    “You shouldn’t feel too bad,” I spoke louder as Jess continued to widen the gap between us. “I did give you half a dance.”
    Jess swung around and continued walking backwards as he nearly yelled at me across the street, “Yeah, and maybe one of these days I’ll ask you to dance for a reason besides feeling sorry for you.”
    I knew he was joking-or rather I hoped he was joking-but his words stung, and my shoulders fell with disappointment.
    Jess smiled at my response and waved his arm in my direction as he stepped up onto the curb and walked across his lawn. “I’m only joking, Gem.”

    He turned back toward his house to watch his footing on the porch steps, and as he did he said something that I couldn’t quite make out. Because what he said wasn’t meant to be heard. What he said almost sounded like-for a moment I thought I heard-he couldn’t have possibly said it-but I thought I heard the words, “I asked you to dance because I love you.”

Chapter 7
    Before I could blink it was nearly June, and the energy level throughout the school was rising. Teachers were collecting the last of the make-up homework. Students were cleaning out their lockers, and orange cones were spontaneously showing up around the courtyard awaiting the big summer project of expanding the faculty parking lot. I usually lived for these last days of school. I loved how the hallways always smelled like cleaning liquid from students wiping down the desks and chairs. I loved the scattered boxes in all of the rooms being filled back up with used textbooks and rented calculators. I even loved the cafeteria running out of food because the lunch ladies didn’t want to buy more food just to have leftovers after the last days of school. But this year these things made me feel a twinge of sadness. This year wasn’t just the end of a school year; it was the end of Jess and me walking to and from school together-again.
    I had already encountered this heartbreak once before when he’d gone to junior high without me three years before. Though when I was only eleven, the fact that Jess and I weren’t walking to elementary together didn’t occur to me until I was getting ready to leave for school the first day of sixth grade. I had been eating my breakfast when I looked at the clock and realized that Jess was late (and he was never late). I slurped down my cereal and hurried to put my shoes on as I casually mentioned to my parents that I was going to go to Jess’s house and make sure everything was okay. I remember Mom and Dad looking at each other with concern in their eyes. Dad looked so casual when he told me, “Jess isn’t going to be walking you to school this year.” He had said it so nonchalantly, as though it was no big deal. Now, I think he knew how big of a deal it really was; he just didn’t know how else to say it. My parents had watched me with pained eyes as I melted to the floor, tears streaming down my face. Mom had called the school nurse and told her that I was going to be late for school that morning. I think she felt guilty for not warning me about it earlier. The next nine months of sixth grade had been a lonely time for me, and I was not excited to relive those