“Hey Adaline!” Kai says cheerily. “You're here to tutor this one, right?” He points his head toward me.
She nods awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with me and focusing on Kai instead. “Yeah. You're going on your date with Victoria today, right?”
“Yeah.” He beams brightly and I suppress the urge to ruffle his hair for being so adorable.
Adaline smiles, but it's not her usual sarcastic smile, instead, she tilts her head to the side and shoots my best friend a wicked smile. I already know what's coming, I mean it's what every girl does for her best friend.
She walks inside my house without any invitation, coming closer to Kai who moves back instinctively. “You know I'm studying to be a surgeon, right?”
He nods slowly. “Yeah?”
Of course he knows, I think anyone within a five-mile radius would know that, considering she never shuts up about it. It would be endearing if she wasn't the one doing it.
I roll my eyes, but a part of me is curious to see where she's going with this.
“That means I'm very well versed when it comes to the human body …” she pokes her finger into his chest lightly, “so, I know exactly where to touch you in order for it to really hurt.”
I suppress a laugh at how nervous Kai looks right now. I know he's my best friend and I should be protecting him, but he's a big boy and I'm really enjoying this little spectacle.
“I'm sure you do.” He laughs shakily.
She smiles, threateningly. “So, you need to make sure Victoria has a very good time with you on this date because if she doesn't, you'll come to understand my surgical skills very well.”
“O—of course. Y—you don't have to worry; I'll take complete care of her. I mean, s—she can take care of herself, but—”
“Enjoy your date, Kai.” She cuts him off and her smile has completely changed; it's brighter, gone is the threat as it has been replaced with amusement.
She really is the devil, isn't she?
“Thank God,” he mutters under his breath before turning to me. “I'll call you later.”
I nod and pull him in for a quick hug. “Don't be nervous, take it slow, okay?” I whisper in his ear encouragingly. He smiles and gives me a quick kiss on my cheek before he runs out—all while avoiding eye contact with Adaline. She really has terrified him.
“That was cruel,” I say, amused as I shut the front door.
I'm testing the waters a little, to see if she'll bring up the kiss or act different with me. So far, she's avoided eye contact, so I bet she's been thinking about the kiss; I bet she's been revelling in how good it felt—
She shrugs, half smiling. “I need to keep him on his toes.”
I freeze a little at her coy tone and the way she's finally looking into my eyes. She doesn't look awkward anymore.
Why isn't she bombarding me about the kiss? First, she runs out after the kiss and now, she's acting like nothing happened?
Maybe it's for the best. I mean, if we act normal, then that technically means it never happened, right?
“You do realize that to hurt him, you'd have to go through me first?” I say, crossing my arms over my chest, half smiling.
I can do this; we can do this—go back to normal or whatever normal is for us.
She chuckles smugly. “Juliette, I could take you on my worst day.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Considering I throw girls twice your size up in the air most days, while you despise any type of physical activity…I highly doubt that.”
Not to mention I'm taller than her by a few inches. She's in spectacular shape, but that doesn't mean she could fight me off, she could try, but I highly doubt she would succeed.
She literally once said she couldn't partake in gym class because she doesn't believe in forced physical activity and that it ‘goes against her rights’.
To be fair, her excuse did work, mostly because Mr Smith was tired of her doing absolutely nothing during gym class.
