17 First Kisses Read Online Free PDF

back, so that’s settled. I’m not going to make an idiot of myself chasing after a guy who likes my best friend and not me. I’m used to guys picking Megan. It sort of comes with being her friend. The thing is, I thought this guy might be different.
    â€œI gotta get some lunch,” Luke says. Messy reddish-blond hair that is a touch too long falls into his eyes, and he brushes it away.“Bye.”
    â€œBye,” they coo back at him.
    â€œBye, Claire.”
    I’m so startled by him saying good-bye to just me I can barely say it back. I start to think/hope/desperately wish things might work out after all. Until I see that tiny wrinkle appear between Megan’s eyebrows.
    After everyone else leaves, Megan catches me by the elbow.
    â€œSo. You like him too,” she says. It isn’t a question.
    I blurt out everything I’m thinking. “Yeah. I mean, I know I just met him, but I really do. He plays soccer, and he’s traveled the world, and, well, he’s just
different
.”
    â€œHe’s different for me too,” she says softly. “He made me feel smart.”
    â€œAw, sweetie. You
are
smart.” I want to hug her right here in the middle of the cafeteria, but that would be weird. Plus, she might take the hug as permission to go after Luke, which I am so not giving her. “So, what do we do now?”
    â€œHave the catfight of the century?”
    â€œHa-ha.”
    â€œHow does this always happen to us?”
    You call dibs on everything in boxer shorts.
“We both have impeccable taste in boys?”
    Megan giggles. “True. Seriously, though, what are we going to do?”
    â€œI don’t know. I don’t want this to mess things up with us.”
    â€œMe neither.” She sighs. “So, that’s it then. We both back off.”
    I blink. Seriously? Megan never backs off of anything. But her eyes look a little sad, and I realize she means it. Saying those words goes against everything in her nature, so even though I don’t want to, I force myself to say, “Okay. I guess I can do that.”
    But I don’t really believe either of us will be able to stay away for long.
    I also don’t expect to be tested in my very next class. Luke is there. In AP English. On top of everything else, he’s smart too? Of course he is. I’m sure I’ll uncover some sort of deal breaker if I talk to him long enough (I’m pretty picky), but for now I’m basking in the feeling you get when you’re instantly attracted to someone and you haven’t found anything wrong with them yet.
    I take my usual desk, and as soon as he’s finished talking with the teacher, he sits next to me.
    â€œHey, your, uh, nose looks better.”
    â€œYeah, it pretty much is,” he says. “I’m thinking of demanding a rematch, but I don’t know if my face can take it.”
    I laugh. “I swear I’ll keep my elbows to myself next time.” If I’m allowed to have a next time. I’m not sure what exactly constitutes staying away.
    We’re silent for a minute, and Luke begins twirling his pencil around on his fingers. “So, that football game. Are you going?”
    â€œYeah. I always go to them.”
    He smiles. “I’ll probably go too.”
    Even though I know I have to stay away from him, that smile makes me feel all floaty for the rest of the day.

    Â 
    Kiss #3 xoxo
Seventh Grade
    Sometimes you have to take the flying leap. Swallow your fear. Kiss that boy you’ve been thinking about every night for the past month. I don’t have the luxury of wading into the shallow end by degrees. Ryan Bond is moving to Wisconsin tomorrow. In less than twenty-four hours, he’ll be riding away in a moving van, and I’ll never know what could have been.
    He’s one of the only cute guys at our school who doesn’t have a girlfriend. And while the girls in his grade (eighth) can