Chapter 29 - A Million Rainbows

Emily left for vacation, which meant I was sitting alone at lunch on Monday and would be for the rest of the week. Yay.

It wasn’t so bad. It would give me time to get some schoolwork done. And I wasn’t really alone. The other half of my table was filled with kids I kind of knew. I could pretend they were my friends.

I had my nose in a book when Emily’s empty seat scraped across the floor in front of me.

I looked up, straightened up, folding my book in my lap.

It was Kyle. He placed his tray on the table, sat down, and ate his burger without a word.

“What are you doing?” I asked. My shoulders were rigid, but a smile was threatening on my lips, and the rest of me was melting. I was so happy to see him.

He unscrewed the cap to his water, taking a swig. “Well, my beautiful girlfriend was over here sitting all by herself, kind of making me look like a jackass … since everybody knows about us.” He paused, holding my gaze, his eyes sincere and imploring. “They already know, Bree. And after that shit with Lyndsay, I can’t pretend you don’t exist anymore.” He lifted his shoulders. “I hope that’s okay with you?”

I was going to cry in the middle of school because of how much I loved Kyle. “You just called me beautiful,” I muttered, blinking my misty eyes.

“Well, Dover, you look beautiful today.” He picked up a french fry, eating it in two bites.

I didn’t look beautiful today. I was in my regular jeans and hoodie, wearing hardly any makeup, and I should have been wearing more because I had three stupid zits on my forehead—they looked like Orion’s Belt. But I wanted to kiss Kyle in front of everyone for saying that.

“I like your hair up,” he said, pointing a french fry at my regular, messy ponytail.

I touched my hair, pulling the ends over my shoulder. “Thanks,” I said. “I like your hair too.”

Kyle’s dimples pinched.

“Is that perfectly tousled look done on purpose or is it natural?” I asked.

He raked his fingers through his hair. “Pomade,” he said with a funny smile.

“Pomade,” I repeated. “That must be why you always smell so good. And here I was thinking it was because you were some kind of deity.”

Kyle frowned, his brow growing all crinkly with concern. “Dover, you really need to take me off that pedestal. Otherwise, I’m going to highly disappoint you one day.”

I shook my head at him. “I don’t think so.”

He pulled in a long breath, looking at me sternly. “I’m serious. You can’t keep thinking of me like that. Like I’m better than you or however it is you think of me.”

I shrugged. “Stop being so perfect then.” I teased him with a smile, then straightened up because he was still being so serious about it. “I know,” I said, rolling my eyes a little. “I know. I was kidding. You’re not just the perfect Kyle Roberts to me anymore. I swear.”

Kyle rubbed the back of his neck, a frumpy frown in place. “I’m not?” He actually looked kind of hurt, and I could have slapped him for it. He leaned back in his chair, his tongue pressed into his bottom lip. “Well, tell me something you don’t like about me. I want to know what took me down.”

My head shot back. “Oh my god, no. I can’t do that.”

“Sure you can,” he said, shrugging it off. “Give it to me straight.”

I scoffed, giving him an indignant once-over. “No way. I’m not doing that.”

Kyle wrinkled his nose. “Come on, I want to know.”

“You first, then. If I have to, you have to.” The truth was, I didn’t have anything on him. Not a thing. And I was racking my brain.

Kyle’s mouth opened, his tongue touching his teeth as he smiled. “Okay. No. This was a bad idea, actually.”

“Yeah, it’s a bad idea,” I said, laughing at him, wondering now what he was holding back about me.

He leaned forward, flat palms on the table. “You’re beyond perfect, Bree,” he said, answering the question like he’d read my mind. “A million stars. I had nothing.”

“Yeah, me neither,” I said, smiling too big.

He laughed and sat back. “Well, maybe if you come to one of my games someday, you’ll see I don’t always smell so good. I’m sure one whiff will knock me down a few.”

My face flushed, hot and red. That would have the complete opposite effect, I was sure.

But I was considering the game. I glanced around the crowded cafeteria, having kind of forgotten for a few minutes we were even at school. And a game couldn’t be as bad as the cafeteria. “Yeah, maybe,” I said. “Charlie would like it.”

Kyle’s eyes brightened. “Really?”

“Well, I’m not a hundred percent sure. Can I surprise you?”

“Don’t you need a ride?”

“Well, that’s okay. I walk to school every day. We can walk.”

“It’s supposed to be cold on Saturday.”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to be driving me yet?”

He shrugged that worry away with an “Eh.”

“How about you drive us home?” I said.

Kyle nodded, his smile, too happy, and I knew right then and there I was going to the game.

He dunked a french fry in ketchup and sat staring at me while he chewed, a smile sparkling in his eyes.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing. I just like sitting next to you and talking to you. I could get used to this. What do you think?”

“Well, Emily,” I said. I couldn’t do that to her. She’d, rightfully, hate me forever if I abandoned her at lunch.

Kyle looked up, thinking. “What about Wednesdays? Once a week? I’ll come bug you and Emily.”

“Yeah, maybe. I can ask her.”

A smirk pinched one of Kyle’s dimples. “Hard to get, even when I’m dating her,” he said, his smile falling to his lunch tray.

I shifted in my seat, probably reading way too much into that. “Hey, I’m not trying to play hard to get.”

Kyle looked up. “I know that.” He pointed at my tray. “Why don’t you eat? I’m going to be here all week, so you’ll have to get used to it, and that means eating.”

I picked up my apple, put it to my lips, and pushed my teeth into it, breaking the skin.

I pulled it back.

“I’m glad to have you all week, Kyle,” I said. I hated that he felt like I was always pushing him away when, really, I wanted the complete opposite of that.

He kicked my foot under the table, meeting my gaze with a small wink. “I know.”