The Half-Class by Kayvion Lewis
Chapter Thirteen
“You want to learn to kiss someone?”
I willed my cheeks to cool down. “That’s not what I said, Kat.” It didn’t matter what I said. That was what Kat heard.
A sparkling smile stretched across her face. Her honey eyes glimmered with a mischievousness that probably should have concerned me more than it did.
“Hold on.” She jumped from the kitchen table and ran out of the kitchen before I could say another word. I’d been waiting so anxiously for her return from the races. I thought she would be back right after me, but dawn was now only a few hours away, and she’d only just returned. Just what was she doing with Luke? I’d have to ask later, but for now, I needed guidance on a different matter and figured she was the perfect person to give it to.
Apparently, so was Sammy.
Kat shuffled back into the kitchen a few minutes later, dragging Sammy right behind her.
“Why did you bring Sammy?” I raised my hand to the oncoming pair like I was pointing out something ridiculous.
“The more, the merrier.” Kat pulled a chair out for Sammy, who pursed her ruby red lips, clearly unsure what she had been pulled into, then sat down beside Kat. “Sammy’s kissed a lot more men than I have.”
“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” Sammy folded her hands in her lap.
“Evie needs to know how to kiss,” Kat informed her.
Sammy’s eyes widened on me. “Kiss? Who?”
“I didn’t say I needed to know how to kiss someone,” I sputtered. “I simply asked that if there were a certain person who I needed to kiss me, how would I go about doing that.”
“Needed?” Sammy’s brow quirked.
“I mean, not ‘need’ as in I need to be embraced by this person because I’m completely enamored with them, and my heart is yearning for it,” I insisted. “But on a technical level…” Why was I so flustered trying to prove that that wasn’t the case? It wasn’t.
Gathering my words like a sane soldier, I went on. “Let’s say I told someone I would kiss them. As in, it’s a job of sorts. What is the solution then?”
“Lean forward, bat your eyes, and he should do the rest.” Kat tilted her head up, closed her eyes, and parted her lips in a demonstration.
“Tried that,” I said. “It didn’t take.”
“You already tried to kiss this person, and he denied you?” Sammy asked.
“He didn’t deny me. It just...didn’t happen.”
“Hmm.” Sammy tapped the dip under her lips. “There’s nothing you can do then. If he doesn’t want you, then he doesn’t want you.”
I scoffed. Not exactly the answer I was hoping for. “Who said he didn’t want me? Maybe I just wasn’t presenting myself in the most alluring way. I know we had a connection or something. It’s there. I just have to draw it out.” I slumped back in my chair. “Failure isn’t an option at the moment.”
“Just pounce on him.” Kat arched back and fluffed her hair over the back of her seat, putting her lovely, laced bodice on display for us. “That’s what I would do.”
“I was hoping for something a little more subtle,” I said.
“I agree with Katalin.”
My eyes flitted to Sammy in disbelief.
“I told you,” Kat sang.
“In some part,” Sammy said. “I see two routes before you, Evie, one of directness and one of patience. If you’re not willing to do the former, which is usually successful in Kat and I’s line of work, then you’ll have to settle with the latter.”
I scoffed. “So just wait and do nothing?”
“Not nothing. Keep doing whatever you’ve been doing. If you’re right and there is a connection, it will inevitably build to your desired kiss. Just give it time.”
Time. I was supposed to see Gilow and Jace again soon. I needed to have more progress to report. If only to prove to Luke that I hadn’t put our relationship through so much stress for nothing.
“May I ask who this lucky fellow is?” Sammy traced seemingly mindless circles over the tabletop. “Someone I’ve seen around here?”
Kat and I exchanged a curious glance. “No one special,” I said.
“But someone special enough to kiss?”
I bit my lip. “In some way.”
Sammy gave me a small smile and stood from her chair. “Well, whenever you do finally get to it,” she leaned down to me, “just remember to breathe after.” She brushed a hand over my hair. Heat flushed over my cheeks as she strode away. “And close your eyes. Only loons keep their eyes open during a kiss.”