The Cure for Second Lead Syndrome by Amanda Abram

CHAPTER 13

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

I rolled my eyes at Natalie while taking a sip from my can of Coke. “How many more times are you going to ask me that tonight?”

“As many times as it takes,” she replied.

The two of us were sitting on the same rock Caleb and I had sat on two weeks ago, when I figured out he was a second lead. I was even wearing the same cola-stained Converse sneakers.

“I’m not going to change my mind,” I told her. My gaze traveled to where Caleb, Paige, Braden, and a few others were gathered. Tyler was there, too. Once again, he seemed to be having a great time talking to Paige. I watched as Caleb kept sneaking somber glances at them, and I felt bad for him. If tonight didn’t change anything between him and Paige, it was all over. He’d be leaving the party with a broken heart. Because I was going to tell him.

I couldn’t keep giving him a false sense of hope. It was best to put him out of his misery.

“You want to kiss him that bad, huh?”

A few drops of soda went down the wrong pipe, and I began to cough. As soon as I recovered, I threw Natalie a glare as she laughed at me.

“I don’t want to kiss Caleb,” I muttered.

“But don’t you, though? Bria, I’m your best friend. You can be honest with me. Caleb is hot. And he’s nice. Have you seriously never wondered what it might be like?”

I hadn’t given it any thought until tonight. But now, it was all I could think about. My mind kept flashing back to that moment last week when he was holding me close against the side of the pool. I’d been so aware of how close he was. If either of us had leaned in a little bit, our lips might have touched and then…

“Earth to Bria.” Natalie snapped her fingers in front of my face.

Closing my eyes tightly, I quickly shook the vision out of my head and turned to look at her. “Sorry.”

She frowned. “What if you like it?” she asked quietly. “What if you like kissing him, but your plan works, and Paige realizes she has feelings for him?”

I swallowed hard at the question. My first thought was to deny that could happen, but I wasn’t that naive. I knew it could happen. It was even likely to happen.

And if it did, I would have to deal with it.

Instead of answering, I set my can of soda down on the rock and stood up. I wiped my hands on my jean shorts before extending one out to her. “It looks like Braden has rounded everyone up. I guess it’s showtime.”

Reluctantly, she took my hand and allowed me to pull her off the rock.

We made our way to the fire pit where a large group was gathered, including everyone that needed to be there for my plan to work. When Caleb spotted us, he made his way over with a nervous smile on his face.

“Hey,” he said as he approached us. “So, has Natalie been informed of everything?”

“Yes, I have,” she answered with what sounded like fake cheer.

Glancing at me, he asked, “Are you still okay with it?”

“I am,” I replied with a nod. “Are you?”

“I am. Although, I was wondering, what kind of kiss should it be?”

“What kind?” I asked, confused.

“Yeah,” Natalie butted in, “he means like whether you should use tongue or—”

“Nat!” I exclaimed, horrified. “Oh my God!

Caleb looked about as uncomfortable as I felt. “That wasn’t what I meant, exactly. I was wondering if it should be a long kiss or a short kiss.”

“Oh, longkiss,” Natalie said. “Definitely a long kiss. I’m thinking, maybe ten seconds or so? Anything less may not be enough to fully trigger a reaction out of Paige. And it needs to be a good ten seconds. Don’t just press your lips together and stay perfectly still the whole time. This kiss needs to be hot. I’m talking tongues and roaming hands—the works.”

I gaped at her in horror. A queasy feeling slowly crept into my stomach. This was not what I signed up for. I thought it would be a simple kiss. Like the one I’d shared with Bobby Middleton all those years ago. I’d never kissed anyone the way Natalie was describing. I was pretty sure she hadn’t, either. And that wasn’t how they kissed in K-dramas. Those kisses were always simple and sweet. Then again, those kisses were always between the main characters after they fell in love; they were never attempting to make anyone jealous or realize their romantic feelings. Natalie was right. My kiss with Caleb had to be hot. It had to make an impact.

“Bria,” Caleb said beside me. He must have noticed the apprehension on my face because he said, “Don’t listen to Natalie. We don’t have to kiss like that if you don’t want to. We can make it as simple—and as quick—as possible. I think it would still have an impact regardless.”

I took a deep breath and let it back out. “No. If you’re on board with it, I’m on board with it. Natalie is right. We need to make the best of this. It’s all we’ve got left.”

He looked somewhat confused as he arched an eyebrow. “All we’ve got left? What does that mean?”

Whoops. “N-nothing,” I stammered. “I just meant—”

“Hey.” A hand clamped down on my shoulder and I breathed a sigh of relief at the interruption. I knew it was Braden right away. “Are we ready to start?” he asked.

“Yep,” I replied, more eagerly than I’d meant to. I spun around to face him. “So, we’re all clear on what needs to happen?”

Braden nodded. “I start the game, and I call on Natalie.”

“Please don’t make me do anything humiliating,” Natalie begged.

“You might want to consider choosing truth,” Braden said with a smirk.

“But then you’ll ask me something humiliating.”

“I’ll go easy on you. I promise.” Braden glanced at Caleb and wiggled his eyebrows. “How about you? Are you ready to make out with one of these girls?”

Caleb’s gaze shot to mine and we both flushed. Braden hadn’t been told yet that Caleb and I would be kissing each other. Nobody wanted to be the one to tell him.

Oh, well. He’d find out soon enough.

“Go ahead and start any time,” I said to Braden before Caleb had a chance to respond. “We’re all ready.”

Except for me. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready for this, but it had to happen. And I wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

“Okay.” Braden took off for the center of the crowd, where he stopped and then loudly said, “Hey, is anyone up for a game of Truth or Dare?”

As expected, everyone within earshot cheered at the suggestion. Everyone loved that game. It wouldn’t be a high school party without it.

After a large group—including Paige and Tyler—gathered around the fire, the game began.

“I’ll go first,” Braden declared. He glanced around the circle and pretended to consider who to call on. Finally, after a few seconds, he pointed at Natalie. “Natalie. Truth or dare?”

Natalie looked nervous. She had no idea what Braden was going to either ask her or instruct her to do, depending on her choice. Despite his claims of going easy on her, Natalie knew Braden too well to believe him.

“Truth,” she chose.

A devious smile tugged at Braden’s lips. He glanced around the circle, trying to come up with a question.

“Okay,” he said, returning his gaze to her. “Out of everyone in this circle here, who would you want to get to second base with?”

My jaw dropped at his question. So did Natalie’s. She had barely made it to first base with a boy, let alone second base. And I knew for certain that none of the boys at this party right now would ever be her first choice. Or second choice. Or any choice. But she had to pick one. It was all just part of the game.

Quickly recovering from the shock, Natalie jutted her chin out and confidently said, “You, Braden. I’d want to get to second base with you.”

It was Braden’s turn to be shocked. Judging from the look—and the pinkish tinge—on his face, he was not expecting that answer. Neither was I. And while everyone else reacted with a series of oohs and woos, I practically doubled over in laughter.

She had played that one quite nicely.

Unfortunately for her, Braden knew how to play back. “Name the time and the place,” he said with a wink and a grin.

“Ew, gross,” I grumbled, my laughter abruptly stopping. I didn’t want to think about my brother making it to second base with anyone, let alone my best friend. “Can we move on, please?”

Natalie, now visibly flustered, nodded. “Yeah, uh…” Apparently, Braden’s reaction to her answer had thrown her off, and now she was having a hard time remembering her part of the plan.

“It’s your turn to pick someone,” I reminded her.

“Oh. Right.” She smiled sheepishly. “Um, I guess I’ll pick…” She closed her eyes and waved her finger back and forth, like she was going to randomly pick someone, before stopping and pointing at Caleb. “Caleb. Truth or dare?”

I held my breath as I made eye contact with him. He searched my face for approval. He wanted to make sure one last time that I was okay with the kiss. It didn’t matter if I was or not. I got myself into this mess. It was my fault we were even here, and I owed him. I should never have butted into his love life. This was my punishment.

I gave him a subtle nod.

“I pick dare,” he said.

“Okay. Caleb, I dare you to passionately kiss…” Natalie also snuck a last-minute glance at me to make sure I was still on board before finishing with, “Bria.”

I had to somehow pretend to be surprised at Natalie’s choice while simultaneously checking to see Paige’s reaction. Luckily, she was right between Caleb and Braden, so it wasn’t that hard to take a quick look. What was hard, however, was deciphering the look on her face. She didn’t have one. In fact, she appeared to be indifferent to the whole thing.

Braden, on the other hand, looked livid that Natalie would choose to have Caleb kiss his sister instead of a random girl. Hmm. Maybe I should have told him about the kiss after all.

Oh, well. It was too late now. I would deal with Braden after it was all over.

As everyone cheered us on, Caleb and I slowly made our way to each other in the center of the circle.

“You’re gonna need to kiss for twenty seconds,” Natalie continued.

Caleb and I whipped our heads in her direction. “Twenty seconds?” we echoed in unison.

We had agreed upon ten seconds, not twenty.

Natalie smiled and shrugged. “I can ask for thirty if you’d like.”

I shot her a glare. “No, twenty is fine,” I said through clenched teeth.

She was going to regret that later.

Heart pounding in my chest, I turned back to Caleb, who was already staring down at me. He looked like a bundle of nerves. I felt like a bundle of nerves. Maybe it wasn’t too late to back out. Maybe it wasn’t too late to—

Caleb leaned down slightly. “Bria, again, you don’t have to do this,” he whispered.

“No,” I whispered back. “I want to.”

He blinked at me in surprise. Probably because it sounded like I had said I wanted to kiss him.

Because I did say that.

But that wasn’t what I’d meant. Not exactly.

“I mean—”

“We’re all waiting,” Natalie impatiently called over to us.

What the heck. There was no use in talking about it anymore. It was going to happen, and it was better to get it over with quickly so we could move on.

So, I took the initiative. Lifting myself up on my tiptoes to match Caleb’s height, I leaned in and pressed my lips against his.

He immediately froze. As did I. For him, I think it was because he was surprised that I had just gone for it. For me, it was because I genuinely didn’t know what to do next. I was inexperienced with this kissing stuff. I’d done plenty of reading on how to kiss. I’d certainly seen plenty of people kissing in movies and on TV shows. But it wasn’t the same as actually kissing someone. My experience with Bobby Middleton didn’t count.

Because this kiss was nothing like that one.

The first thing I noticed about this one was how warm and soft Caleb’s lips were. Like they were made specifically for kissing. And when I slightly parted my own lips beneath his, the second thing I noticed was how well they fit together. Like his and mine were part of a set that went together. When his mouth began to move against mine—slowly, gently, methodically—the third thing I noticed was that it didn’t matter that I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I was just doing it.

My head tilted, allowing him better access. My hands wrapped around his neck as his snaked around the small of my back—pulling me in. Pulling me closer. My tongue brushed lightly against his. My heart hammered, skipping beats. My lungs stopped pulling in oxygen. My whole body became warm and tingly. Butterflies fluttered to life in my stomach—

“Guys.”

At the sound of a very agitated voice, Caleb and I slowly broke apart. For a moment, my eyes remained closed as I began to breathe again. When I finally opened them, I was staring up at Caleb. Staring into his half-lidded eyes that were dancing across my face like they were in search of something. Like they were trying to figure out what just happened.

“Time. Is. Up,” the voice spoke again. It belonged to Braden.

It was then I realized this was supposed to be over. Caleb and I weren’t supposed to be clinging to one another anymore. He must have realized it too because we let go of each other at the same time, both taking huge steps back to distance ourselves.

The crowd was going wild, like they were part of a live studio audience for a sitcom where two characters had just kissed for the first time. But there were three people among them who weren’t participating: Natalie, who looked stunned; Braden, who looked mad; and Paige, who looked…well, she looked absolutely crushed.

Caleb noticed it, too. But as he started for her, she quickly got up from the log she’d been sitting on and took off toward the house.

Uh-oh. Apparently, our plan had worked—but maybe a little too well.

“Go after her,” I said to Caleb, even though it was hard to get the words out.

He looked like he wanted to say something to me, but instead, he nodded and took off after Paige.

I felt a pang in the center of my chest as I watched him go.

Everyone in the circle fell silent as their gazes settled on me, like they were waiting for me to continue the game. It wasn’t even my turn to pick someone. It was Caleb’s turn. He was supposed to pick next. But he wasn’t here. He was off looking for Paige.

“Somebody else can go next,” I mumbled. “I’m not playing anymore.”

I wasn’t sure if anyone heard me. I didn’t care.

I hastily made my way out of the circle, past Natalie and Braden, back toward the rock where my can of Coke was still patiently awaiting my return.

“Bria!” Natalie called after me. “Wait up!”

I didn’t bother to slow down; she’d have no problem catching up to me. By the time I reached the rock, she was right beside me.

“What happened back there?” she asked, breathless.

I grabbed my can of Coke and took a gulp from it. The soda was now warm and flat. “You were there, Nat.”

“Yeah, I was, but I have no idea what I just witnessed. Bria, that kiss was… What was that kiss?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that, so I didn’t.

But she didn’t need me to. “You guys really got into it. I mean, did you seriously not hear me tell you time was up, like, three times?”

My stomach dropped. Three times? I hadn’t heard her tell us even once. Caleb must not have, either.

No wonder Braden seemed so irritated when he finally managed to snap us out of it.

No wonder Paige looked so upset.

“Bria,” Natalie said, placing her hand gently on my arm, “did that kiss mean something to you?”

“Obviously not,” I replied quickly. A little too quickly. “It was a dare.” I was about to take another drink when I remembered how gross it was. “I’m going to go get something else to drink. Do you want anything?”

Natalie shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m all set.”

She was concerned. I could tell by the look on her face and the tone of her voice. I knew what she was thinking: that I had enjoyed the kiss with Caleb. That I liked him as more than a friend. She couldn’t have been more right.

I mean, wrong. She couldn’t have been more wrong.

With an aggravated sigh, I left Natalie alone in search of another drink. Something colder. Something fizzier. Something that could wash away the memory of the kiss I’d just shared with Caleb. Not that it was a bad kiss. In fact, it was quite good. Too good. So good, in fact, I wanted to kiss him again.

No, you don’t, I assured myself. That’s just hormones talking. Hormones that would have been activated no matter who you had kissed.

Except, I knew that wasn’t true. There was no other boy in that circle that I would have enjoyed kissing. Not Tyler. Not any of Braden’s other boneheaded friends. Not even the party host himself, Jordan Anderson, who was arguably the most popular guy at our school.

No. Just Caleb. Just stupid Caleb and his stupid obsession with another girl.

Lost in thought, I was startled and confused when a red plastic cup was suddenly shoved into my hand. I looked up to see a sandy-haired boy I didn’t recognize grinning down at me.

“What’s this?” I asked, motioning to the cup.

“Uh, beer,” the boy replied in a voice that indicated I should have already known that. And I should have, considering that I had ended up in the long line of people waiting to get a fill up at the keg.

“What am I supposed to do with it?”

The boy looked at me like I was from another planet. “You’re supposed to drink it,” he said and then laughed. “Man, you high school girls are weird. Next!”

I glanced over my shoulder to see a long line of impatient partygoers behind me, waiting for their own cups of beer, and realized I was holding up the line. Quickly stepping away, I began walking again. Beer in hand.

Beer.

It was cold. It was fizzy. And it could help me forget my kiss with Caleb. It was exactly what I was looking for.

I stopped walking.

It wouldn’t hurt to try it, right? Lots of other people at this party were drinking it. And I wasn’t going to be driving. I could take a few sips. Maybe it would loosen me up a bit and I could have some fun instead of spending the rest of the night thinking about some dumb kiss that meant nothing.

Nothing.

With my mind made up, the rim of the cup was about to grace my lips when the drink was suddenly slapped out of my hand, sending it splashing to the ground next to my feet.

“Hey!” I protested. I glanced up to see my brother glowering down at me. “Bria, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Nothing,” I lied. “Drinking water.”

“Nice try,” Braden said with a scowl. “Nobody is drinking water from a red plastic cup. That was beer, wasn’t it?”

I thought of lying, but what would be the point? He already knew the truth. “So, what if it was?”

“Bria,” he hissed, pulling at his hair. He was acting like our dad. I half expected him to claim I was going to make his hair go gray.

“Hey, it’s not like you’ve never had beer. Why can’t I?”

“Because you can’t handle it. Trust me.”

I sighed and turned my attention to the line of trees in the distance. “Did you come over here to be a buzzkill, or was there something else you wanted?”

He went silent. For a moment I had to wonder if he’d even heard me. “That wasn’t Natalie’s idea, was it?” he finally asked. “To kiss Caleb, I mean. It was your idea.”

I kept my eyes locked straight ahead. “Partly, yes.”

Braden groaned as he dragged a hand down his face. “Why? What made you think that was a good idea?”

“Because it was a good idea,” I replied robotically.

“Was it, though?”

“Yes.”

“You like him, don’t you?”

My silence gave him the only confirmation he needed. And the only confirmation I needed.

Dammit. I liked Caleb. A lot.

How could I have let that happen?

I could feel Braden staring at me, willing me to look at him. But I wouldn’t. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke again.

“Paige was upset,” he said, his voice hard.

“I know.”

“There’s a good chance your plan worked.”

“I know.”

“Bria, they’re probably gonna get together—”

“I know!” I snapped, finally turning to face him. “I know that. I was there. I’m not stupid.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” he muttered.

I narrowed my eyes into a glare. “Screw you, Braden.” I turned to stalk off, but he quickly grabbed my arm.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “You’re not stupid. I just knew this was going to happen.”

“Nothing has happened.” I yanked my arm from his grasp. “So, whatever you’re thinking regarding me and Caleb, you’re wrong.”

“Oh, is that why you were attempting to drown your sorrows?”

“What sorrows?” I asked, laughing humorlessly. “Braden, you’re reading too much into this.”

“I wish I was.” He shook his head and proceeded to stare at the trees with me. “This is precisely why I’ve wanted to keep you away from my friends. I knew one of them would end up breaking your heart someday.”

“My heart’s not broken,” I assured him.

“If you say so.”

“I do say so. Now drop it.”

“Okay, fine,” Braden agreed, stepping in front of me. “Why don’t we find Natalie?”

“Why? So she can babysit me and keep me away from the alcohol?”

Braden grinned and patted me on the head. “That’s precisely why, yes.”

I rolled my eyes and shoved him away as Caleb appeared beside us.

“Hey, guys.”

“Oh, hi,” I said, surprised to see him. I figured he’d still be dealing with Paige.

“Hey, man,” Braden greeted him. His voice was tight and not particularly friendly. I shot him a warning look. He had no reason to be upset with Caleb. It wasn’t like Caleb was aware of how I felt about him. I hadn’t even been aware until a few minutes ago.

Taking a step back, Braden raked a hand through his hair and said, “I’m gonna go back to the game. I love watching people make idiots of themselves.”

“Okay,” I said with an appreciative smile, thankful that he was giving me and Caleb a chance to speak privately. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

With a nod, Braden took off, leaving us alone in awkward silence.

“So, what happened with Paige?” I asked as soon as Braden was gone. I kept my voice cool and casual—like I didn’t care what the answer was.

“Nothing.” He sighed and lowered his gaze to the ground, where he immediately noticed the red cup lying next to my feet. He pointed at it. “That yours?”

“Oh, um, yeah.”

“What is it with you dropping drinks at parties?” he asked, amused.

“I know, right?” I chuckled. “My poor shoes. First, I get soda all over them, and now they’re covered in beer.”

Caleb looked considerably less amused at that. “Beer? You were drinking?”

“Trying to,” I lamented. “Braden knocked the cup out of my hand.”

“Good. I would’ve done the same thing.” Caleb gave me a disappointed frown. “You shouldn’t be drinking at parties. You never know what someone might’ve slipped into it.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard the horror stories.” I stared up at him expectantly. “But enough about my attempt to get drunk. What do you mean nothing happened with Paige? She looked upset when she left. Why?”

Caleb shrugged and threw his hands in the air. “I have no idea. According to her, she wasn’t upset. She swore up and down that she was fine. In fact, by the time I reached her, she was all smiles and said she only left to get something to drink.”

“That’s not the real reason she left,” I said.

“Well, she seemed pretty adamant that it was.”

“Of course, she did. She probably even believes that lie herself. But it bothered her to see us kissing. She just doesn’t know why yet. She needs some time to process everything.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.” I gave him a reassuring smile, but it didn’t feel right.

He nodded as he poked at a rock on the ground with his foot. “Look, Bria, I wanted to apologize.”

I narrowed my eyes in confusion. “Apologize for what?”

He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. “For the kiss. I know it went a bit further than we had discussed, and—”

“Caleb,” I interjected. “There’s nothing to apologize for. That kiss was perfect. It did exactly what it was supposed to do.”

“I know, but I want to make sure you’re okay. I mean, I want to make sure we are okay. I don’t want things to be weird now that we’ve kissed.”

“No weirdness on my end,” I said, playfully punching him in the arm. “We’re good. We’re cool. We’re okay.”

“Are you sure?” His eyes bore into mine.

“One hundred percent,” I said confidently and was proud of how well I pulled it off.

“Good,” he said, relieved.

“Good.” I gave him another insincere smile. “So, I should go look for Natalie. I told her, like, ten minutes ago that I was going to get something to drink. She’s probably wondering why I haven’t come back yet. I don’t want her to think I got kidnapped or anything.”

“Oh, okay.” Caleb chuckled. “Well, have fun.”

“I will. You, too.”

I quickly turned and walked away from him as fast as I could. If I stayed much longer, things would get weird. I would get weird. Because suddenly, I wasn’t sure how to act around him anymore. Kissing Caleb had changed things. It didn’t matter that it was all part of the plan. What mattered was that the plan had turned against me. Instead of just working on Paige, it had worked on me, too. Now I was stuck having to face the harsh reality that I liked a boy who didn’t like me back. In other words, in my attempt to help the second lead get the girl…

I’d become a second lead myself.