Second Kiss Read Online Free PDF

invading their personal space.
    “Who invited the beanie babies?” a loud male voice boomed from somewhere in the crowd. I knew he was referring to us, and so did everyone else who stared at us in silence. I was too afraid to look toward the voice that sounded much too old to belong to a junior high student. I stopped breathing completely. I wanted to turn around and run out the back door and not look behind me until I was safely outside the school boundaries. But then I heard a familiar voice. “Leave them alone, Conrad.” I turned around, and so close to me I could hear him breathing was my Jess. I was so happy to see him I could hardly contain myself. But I had to stay cool. Screaming and giving him a big hug like I wanted wouldn’t help either one of our reputations. Thankfully, Jess didn’t care much about his. He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Hey.”
    Conrad let out a loud, mocking, “Ha! Dating an eighth grader, are we, Tyler?” He flashed his white teeth at the crowd forming around us then glared back at Jess. “I would have thought someone like you would set your standards a little higher than that.”

    Jess kept his hand on my shoulder as he turned toward Conrad. He wasn’t flustered in the least. “I wouldn’t let it bother you, Conrad. I’m sure there will be a girl left for you.” He lifted his shoulders. “And then you’ll have a whole new set of things to worry about.” And with that Jess looked away, as though Conrad was no more than a helpless mouse.
    Conrad watched us skeptically before growing bored and turning back into the crowd. I looked at Jess, bewildered. I had never seen him like this. I mean he talked smack to me all the time. But we were just joking around. I didn’t know he talked that way to big, burly guys named Conrad. I looked around at the ninth graders standing around us. I couldn’t help but notice the way all the girls looked at him with their flirting eyes-willing him to look at them. I looked back at Jess, who was oblivious to their pining.
    I was about to speak when Clarissa let go of my hand and shimmied her way between Jess and me, knocking his hand loose from my shoulder.
    “Hey, Jess!” Clarissa spoke in an unnaturally high voice. “Thanks for bailing us out. You made that guy look like a total idiot!”
    Jess’s face turned downward, and he almost looked concerned. He looked back toward the direction that Conrad went. “Conrad’s not such a bad guy.”
    “Well, I don’t think you’re such a bad guy either.” Clarissa shifted her hips so that she stood closer to Jess. I watched him carefully as Clarissa shamelessly flirted. He looked confused.
    As a slow song started over the speakers, Clarissa reached up and twirled her index finger in Jess’s hair. “Do you want to dance?”
    My jaw dropped to the floor. What was she doing? And how was she doing it? I have to say the only person on the dance floor who looked more disorientated than me was Jess. He clearly did not see that coming.

    “Uh, well,” he cleared his throat and stumbled over a few more words, “sure.”
    My feet felt like they were cemented to the ground as Jess and Clarissa stepped away from the tightly packed group so they could dance. Jess glanced back at me and pulled a face before they faded into the darker area of the gymnasium. I continued to watch as Clarissa wrapped her arms much too tightly around Jess’s neck, and he awkwardly placed his hands on her waist. I hated seeing them together. I hated it when she let her head fall back with laughter at whatever he was saying, and I hated watching him grip her waist tighter when she nearly tripped over his shoe. I couldn’t figure out why I was so angry at them. I was the one who wanted them to dance. I was the one who set this whole thing up! And now it was taking everything I had to not pounce on them and tear their hands from each other like a referee in a boxing match.
    The song was over before I