threatened to buckle. I felt his warm breath against my ear and shivered. "How's that for icing on the cake?" he whispered.
He pulled back with a huge amused smile and I worried about my ability to stay vertical.
"Same time tomorrow, right?" he asked, throwing his bag over his shoulder. He smiled again and walked over to join his friends.
I wished I could have made some clever comment over my shoulder, tossed my hair saucily and sauntered off. Instead I made a sound like, "Gagrsnarf," and for the second time that morning, stood frozen in complete shock with my hand over my cheek and my heart racing.
I continued to stand there long after the parking lot had emptied, reliving the moment over and over again.
I told myself that if I didn't move soon, I was going to be late to first period.
Chapter 11
I was late to first period.
After calculus I went and officially declared my candidacy. The advisor already knew that I planned to run thanks to Ella's hard work. She hadn't been kidding when she said she had already started. In the main hallway, she managed to charm a janitor into hanging up signs from the rafters. The first one in each series would say "Vote," the second one "for" and the third "Mattie Lowe." I noticed people pointing at them.
She had also gone out into the courtyard and covered the entire ground in different colored chalk with "Mattie Lowe for President."
Then she had put up posters we had worked on together that had this picture of me that is one of the few that I actually liked where I sort of resembled Jennifer Garner in that show she used to be on where she was the spy and had the fuchsia hair (admittedly, where I got my current hair color inspiration from). We kept it simple. No clever little catch phrases (which I always found annoying)—just vote for Mattie.
Ella was amazing.
Then I would think again about that morning and the feel of Jake's lips on my cheek and get all fluttery and flustered.
Jake was amazing.
Everything just seemed so right, so perfect.
Life was amazing.
I couldn't remember the last time I had felt this happy.
Unfortunately, the universe had no intention of letting things stay that way.
At my locker I felt Mercedes Bentley staring at me. Usually she looked at me in this condescending, sneering way. But today she looked royally confused, like I was some alien who had just landed and she couldn't figure me out. I grabbed a pile of fliers I'd made up and smiled as I closed my locker.
I walked down the hallway, passing out fliers to everyone who would take them. Jake's kiss had given me a confidence I'd never felt before. I even managed to tell people, "Vote for Mattie." I couldn't stop myself from smiling at everyone, and lots of people smiled back.
I stopped short when a freshman that looked like a Mercedes Bentley-in-training stood directly in front of me. She was pulling along a mousy, quiet-looking girl who stood two steps back with her head ducked down. The quiet one didn't even make eye contact with me. The other one just stared at me.
I found myself wanting to say something snide to this girl as she stared at me, but I couldn't let all my hard work go to waste. I was running for president. I needed to behave. "Is there something I can help you with?"
Mercedes's Mini-Me said, "Are you, like, dating Jake Kingston?"
I could feel my face flush. I knew my cheeks were bright, cherry red. Curse my stupid ghost-colored skin! "What?"
"We heard about what happened in the parking lot. Did you, like, steal him from your sister?"
"Stepsister," I absentmindedly corrected as I tried to take in this new information. People thought Jake and I were an actual couple? I had noticed people looking at me earlier, but I figured it was because of the campaign posters and the fliers. What if they were talking about Jake and me? My heart thrilled at the idea that people believed it was possible. That Jake could like me. I wondered what it would be like to have the satisfaction of
He pulled back with a huge amused smile and I worried about my ability to stay vertical.
"Same time tomorrow, right?" he asked, throwing his bag over his shoulder. He smiled again and walked over to join his friends.
I wished I could have made some clever comment over my shoulder, tossed my hair saucily and sauntered off. Instead I made a sound like, "Gagrsnarf," and for the second time that morning, stood frozen in complete shock with my hand over my cheek and my heart racing.
I continued to stand there long after the parking lot had emptied, reliving the moment over and over again.
I told myself that if I didn't move soon, I was going to be late to first period.
Chapter 11
I was late to first period.
After calculus I went and officially declared my candidacy. The advisor already knew that I planned to run thanks to Ella's hard work. She hadn't been kidding when she said she had already started. In the main hallway, she managed to charm a janitor into hanging up signs from the rafters. The first one in each series would say "Vote," the second one "for" and the third "Mattie Lowe." I noticed people pointing at them.
She had also gone out into the courtyard and covered the entire ground in different colored chalk with "Mattie Lowe for President."
Then she had put up posters we had worked on together that had this picture of me that is one of the few that I actually liked where I sort of resembled Jennifer Garner in that show she used to be on where she was the spy and had the fuchsia hair (admittedly, where I got my current hair color inspiration from). We kept it simple. No clever little catch phrases (which I always found annoying)—just vote for Mattie.
Ella was amazing.
Then I would think again about that morning and the feel of Jake's lips on my cheek and get all fluttery and flustered.
Jake was amazing.
Everything just seemed so right, so perfect.
Life was amazing.
I couldn't remember the last time I had felt this happy.
Unfortunately, the universe had no intention of letting things stay that way.
At my locker I felt Mercedes Bentley staring at me. Usually she looked at me in this condescending, sneering way. But today she looked royally confused, like I was some alien who had just landed and she couldn't figure me out. I grabbed a pile of fliers I'd made up and smiled as I closed my locker.
I walked down the hallway, passing out fliers to everyone who would take them. Jake's kiss had given me a confidence I'd never felt before. I even managed to tell people, "Vote for Mattie." I couldn't stop myself from smiling at everyone, and lots of people smiled back.
I stopped short when a freshman that looked like a Mercedes Bentley-in-training stood directly in front of me. She was pulling along a mousy, quiet-looking girl who stood two steps back with her head ducked down. The quiet one didn't even make eye contact with me. The other one just stared at me.
I found myself wanting to say something snide to this girl as she stared at me, but I couldn't let all my hard work go to waste. I was running for president. I needed to behave. "Is there something I can help you with?"
Mercedes's Mini-Me said, "Are you, like, dating Jake Kingston?"
I could feel my face flush. I knew my cheeks were bright, cherry red. Curse my stupid ghost-colored skin! "What?"
"We heard about what happened in the parking lot. Did you, like, steal him from your sister?"
"Stepsister," I absentmindedly corrected as I tried to take in this new information. People thought Jake and I were an actual couple? I had noticed people looking at me earlier, but I figured it was because of the campaign posters and the fliers. What if they were talking about Jake and me? My heart thrilled at the idea that people believed it was possible. That Jake could like me. I wondered what it would be like to have the satisfaction of
Similar Books
