Spellbound - Cara Lynn Shultz [87]
“Okay, how do I look?” I asked, smoothing my hair when we were about a block from school—where I knew Brendan would be out front waiting for me. It wasn’t my newfound witch skills at work though—he’d texted me early in the morning.
“Ridiculously happy,” Ashley said, digging in her backpack for one of the thousand or so lip glosses that lined the bottom of her bag, then attacking me with the tube even though I protested that I never wore makeup to school.
“That’s not for you, that’s for Brendan,” she smirked. “It’s lemon-flavored Fresh lip balm. If you’re going to keep making out with him, you need to make sure you don’t get chapped lips. Those are just so, so gross.”
“Jeez, Ash, way to be subtle,” I groaned, smacking my lips together.
Soon enough, Brendan came into view. He wasn’t leaning against the mailbox this morning, but against the cool stone of Vince A, with his headphones on and his hands stuffed into the pockets of his North Face jacket. His eyes were closed and his head was back, bouncing slightly in time to whatever he was listening to. As if he’d heard us approaching, Brendan turned toward us and opened his eyes—giving me a warm, inviting smile.
Ashley let out a low whistle. “Damn, Emma. You better find out if he’s got a cousin my age.”
I burst out laughing as we approached.
“What’s so funny?” Brendan asked, taking his expensive-looking headphones off. I could hear a burst of loud singing before he turned off his iPod.
“Just my cousin,” I said, laughing. “Brendan, this is Ashley. Ash, meet Brendan.”
“Um, nice to meet you,” Ashley mumbled, before casting an excited glance my way. “Find out about the cousins!” she squealed before running into the school.
“The cousins?” Brendan asked, furrowing his jet-black eyebrows.
“I’ll tell you later.” I smiled.
“So are you going to give me a proper hello or what?” Brendan asked, feigning anger. With that, I got on my tiptoes to clasp my hands around his neck and pulled him down to my height for a kiss. Brendan teasingly nibbled on my lower lip before pulling away—but kept his hands on my hips, holding me close.
“Is that flavored?” he asked, licking his lips, and I nodded.
“Now that’s the kind of hello I’m talking about!” Brendan exclaimed.
“I’m going to leave and come back so we can say hello again,” I said, a little breathlessly, and he laughed before a serious look crossed his face.
“So, are you in a ton of trouble with your aunt?”
“Not really.” I sighed.
“You don’t sound happy about that,” he observed.
“I’m not! I just feel so guilty,” I cried. “I wish she’d grounded me, or something.” But Brendan just laughed.
“I’ll trade with you,” he offered. “My mom’s pissed. The last time she was this mad I was fourteen.”
“What did you do?”
“Oh, we were spending the weekend at our ski house and I got caught breaking into a community pool to skateboard with some friends. The cops took me home.” He shrugged, like he’d just admitted that he forgot to take out the trash or do the dishes.
“You did what?” I squeaked.
“Not a big deal, I got off with a warning,” he said, shrugging. “But this involves public appearances, so of course my mother is acting like I set fire to the gym.”
“I’m so sorry I got you into this,” I moaned, continuing my apology tour.
“Emma, stop. Don’t even think about it.” Brendan’s voice was adamant as he pulled me closer and kissed me on the tip of my nose. “Look, it’s over now. I think deep down, she gets that what I did was right. I’m not really grounded, either. We made a deal. I just have to—ugh, get this—deejay the stupid winter dance next week.”
“Why? That doesn’t sound so bad.” Dances as punishment? Do you get a car for getting a D in chemistry?
“It is. It’s a competition for who spent the most money or had the hottest date. It’s lame. My mom knows I hate it, but it makes her look good. It’s that whole ‘I’m on the board so it’s good for appearances that you get involved in the school