Soul Kiss by Scarlett Jacobs, Neil S. Plakcy Page A
Authors: Scarlett Jacobs, Neil S. Plakcy
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and me share a bed next to them--but that was back when he was a wild child, so I never got any sleep. Now they get a second motel room next to theirs, the kind with the adjoining door, and trust the Big Mistake and me not to kill each other while we're unsupervised.
I went into the bathroom and changed into my nightgown, and by the time I came out Robbie was already tucked in, the covers pulled up just under his neck. If I hadn't seen his T-shirt and jeans thrown on the floor, I'd have guessed he was fully dressed under there.
I turned out the light and crawled under the covers myself. "You like Daniel, don't you?" he asked.
"Why do you care?"
"Just asking. Geez, don't get all defensive."
"I like him," I said, after a while. "We get along. He gets me, you know?"
"Like we don't?"
"It's different. Your family, they have to put up with you. It doesn't mean they can see inside your soul or anything."
"And Daniel can?"
I thought back to that first deep kiss, when my brain started crackling with electricity and some part of Daniel's brain seeped into mine. "Yeah, he can."
"I like Jennifer Terrazzini, but I don't think she can see into my soul," he said, unexpectedly.
"Jennifer Terrazzini? The one with the frizzy brown hair and braces?"
"She's getting them off next month."
I turned to him. "Have you kissed her yet?"
"Melissa."
"Hey, you started this."
"Just a little. She kissed my cheek."
"That's a good sign," I said.
"You think so?"
"Sure." I slid back against the pillow. "Go to sleep, Robbie."
"Good night, Missy."
I grabbed the bolster pillow and threw it over at him, then turned on my side and went to sleep.
When I met up with Daniel at the library on Monday, he said he had quizzed his mother again about getting shots when she was pregnant with him. "It was weird. She said no, but she changed the subject fast. I think she did, and that's what happened to me."
"You make it sound like it was some kind of tragic accident. It made you smart."
"It made me a freak. Until I kissed you and made you a freak too, I didn't know anybody else whose brain worked like mine."
"But why would some kind of shot that your mother took work on me?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. But we have a math test on Wednesday we have to study for. And we won't have any study time tomorrow afternoon."
We spent the next couple of hours testing each other on math. It was very cool the way I could just look at a problem and immediately see how to approach it. I'd never been that great at math before; like my father had pointed out, I could memorize formulas, I just couldn't always put them to work.
But that afternoon it was like some kind of magic. Every problem Daniel threw at me, I was able to figure out. He was the same way, and by the time we split up to take our buses, I was confident we knew our stuff.
And Geeks
The next afternoon I had literary magazine. I hadn't been writing anything for a while, so caught up with Daniel and in figuring out what was going on, not just between us but between our brains, and Miss Margolis called me on it.
"Are you going to write a story for this issue?" she asked. "Because if you are, you need to get it in by the end of the week."
She wasn't very pretty, and I wasn't surprised that she was almost thirty and still a Miss. She had some old acne scars, and she kept her hair cut too short to be flattering. She also had kind of a wide bottom, though I know some guys like that kind of thing.
"I don't know, Miss Margolis. I just haven't been inspired."
"Genius is only one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration," she said. "Have you tried to write anything?"
We were sitting in a classroom on the second floor, with Lashonda, Kate, and about a half dozen other kids. Lashonda was a pretty good photographer; she had already put in a bunch of nature photos for the next issue. Kate had written an essay about her grandmother's oatmeal which was full of great descriptions. We also had a
I went into the bathroom and changed into my nightgown, and by the time I came out Robbie was already tucked in, the covers pulled up just under his neck. If I hadn't seen his T-shirt and jeans thrown on the floor, I'd have guessed he was fully dressed under there.
I turned out the light and crawled under the covers myself. "You like Daniel, don't you?" he asked.
"Why do you care?"
"Just asking. Geez, don't get all defensive."
"I like him," I said, after a while. "We get along. He gets me, you know?"
"Like we don't?"
"It's different. Your family, they have to put up with you. It doesn't mean they can see inside your soul or anything."
"And Daniel can?"
I thought back to that first deep kiss, when my brain started crackling with electricity and some part of Daniel's brain seeped into mine. "Yeah, he can."
"I like Jennifer Terrazzini, but I don't think she can see into my soul," he said, unexpectedly.
"Jennifer Terrazzini? The one with the frizzy brown hair and braces?"
"She's getting them off next month."
I turned to him. "Have you kissed her yet?"
"Melissa."
"Hey, you started this."
"Just a little. She kissed my cheek."
"That's a good sign," I said.
"You think so?"
"Sure." I slid back against the pillow. "Go to sleep, Robbie."
"Good night, Missy."
I grabbed the bolster pillow and threw it over at him, then turned on my side and went to sleep.
When I met up with Daniel at the library on Monday, he said he had quizzed his mother again about getting shots when she was pregnant with him. "It was weird. She said no, but she changed the subject fast. I think she did, and that's what happened to me."
"You make it sound like it was some kind of tragic accident. It made you smart."
"It made me a freak. Until I kissed you and made you a freak too, I didn't know anybody else whose brain worked like mine."
"But why would some kind of shot that your mother took work on me?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. But we have a math test on Wednesday we have to study for. And we won't have any study time tomorrow afternoon."
We spent the next couple of hours testing each other on math. It was very cool the way I could just look at a problem and immediately see how to approach it. I'd never been that great at math before; like my father had pointed out, I could memorize formulas, I just couldn't always put them to work.
But that afternoon it was like some kind of magic. Every problem Daniel threw at me, I was able to figure out. He was the same way, and by the time we split up to take our buses, I was confident we knew our stuff.
And Geeks
The next afternoon I had literary magazine. I hadn't been writing anything for a while, so caught up with Daniel and in figuring out what was going on, not just between us but between our brains, and Miss Margolis called me on it.
"Are you going to write a story for this issue?" she asked. "Because if you are, you need to get it in by the end of the week."
She wasn't very pretty, and I wasn't surprised that she was almost thirty and still a Miss. She had some old acne scars, and she kept her hair cut too short to be flattering. She also had kind of a wide bottom, though I know some guys like that kind of thing.
"I don't know, Miss Margolis. I just haven't been inspired."
"Genius is only one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration," she said. "Have you tried to write anything?"
We were sitting in a classroom on the second floor, with Lashonda, Kate, and about a half dozen other kids. Lashonda was a pretty good photographer; she had already put in a bunch of nature photos for the next issue. Kate had written an essay about her grandmother's oatmeal which was full of great descriptions. We also had a
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