Kyle
“I didn’t know Kamille was hooking up with Milo Donovan,” Kyle said, scrolling through the latest issue of Dish magazine on her laptop. “God, that’s not fair. I wonder if she’d be into sharing?” Just looking at the image of physically perfect Milo made her feel seriously horny.
“Uh, can we please get back to the Civil War? Quiz tomorrow, remember?” Benjy reminded her. He peeked over her shoulder. “Besides, that picture’s Photoshopped.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Benjy pointed to the photo of Kamille, who was dressed in some skanky-looking black dress and gazing up adoringly at Milo. “See the edges of her hair? That’s a bad pen-tooling job. And see how the two of them are lit differently? The magazine took two separate photos and made it look like Kamille and this dude were standing next to each other.”
“How do you know that?”
Benjy grinned. “I’m a genius, I know everything. That’s why I’m making the big bucks, being your tutor. Besides, I thought your sister was dating Chase what’s-his-name? The baseball player?”
“She’s your sister, too. I think Kamille’s been on like one date with him. Besides, she’s a total slore, she’s probably hooking up with both of them.”
“I’ll tell her you said that.”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
Bored, Kyle Googled “Kamille Romero,” “Milo Donovan,” and “Chase” (she couldn’t remember his last name). Seconds later, a number of items came up:
MILO’S GIRLFRIEND CHEATS ON HIM WITH BASEBALL PLAYER
MILO: SHE BROKE MY HEART!
SUPERSTAR CHASE GOODALL SMITTEN WITH SOON-TO-BE SUPERMODEL KAMILLE ROMERO
CHASE AND KAMILLE FIGHT ABOUT HIS OTHER GIRLFRIENDS!
MILO’S SECRET GAY PAST
CHASE’S BODYGUARD TELLS ALL!
KAMILLE’S SECRET LESBIAN PAST
KAMILLE PREGNANT WITH CHASE’S BABY!
Kyle read the headlines out loud to Benjy. “Are these magazines allowed to make this shit up? Isn’t that illegal or something?” she said incredulously.
“Yeah, and did you notice? They’re always quoting a so-called inside source, too, like it’s all true.”
“Hmm, I think I’ll start doing that. You know, writing papers for school and not researching any of it and saying it’s all based on ‘inside sources.’ ”
“Good one! Okay, so, back to the important stuff.”
“Huh?”
Benjy flipped through his notebook. “Can you tell me who Jeb Stuart was? Was he with the Confederacy or the Union?”
Kyle narrowed her eyes at him. Did he have to be such a buzz kill? Still, he did look kind of cute today in his untucked white button-down, left over from today’s school uniform, and distressed jeans. “Can’t we do something fun? Hey, you wanna go for a swim?” she said sweetly. She typed in the URL for the weather website, to see what the temperature was like outside.
“No. And you need to stop surfing. Give me that.” Benjy reached over, picked up her laptop, and snapped the lid shut.
“Hey, asshole! Give that back!”
“Not until we finish studying for the quiz.”
“No! Give it back!”
Benjy set the laptop on a bookshelf behind him, out of her reach. She lunged for it, and he blocked her. Furious, she punched him in the stomach, hard.
“Ow! What the hell?” Benjy yelled. He grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back. “Fine, you want to play rough? We can play rough.”
Actually, that hurt. Kyle squirmed. “Let me go!”
“Not until you apologize for punching me.”
“No!”
She tried to free her arm, and they struggled. Benjy hooked his foot around her ankle, knocking her off balance, and she fell to the floor, pulling him down with her. They rolled around and around on the carpet, trying to gain the upper hand, neither one quite succeeding.
All of a sudden Kyle started laughing. Benjy started laughing, too. Then, in the next second, something changed. They stopped laughing, and they stared at each other, breathing hard. Kyle was lying on top of Benjy, and before she could stop herself, she was kissing him, and he was kissing her back. His mouth was hot and delicious, like butterscotch. She could feel his hand under her T-shirt, fumbling awkwardly in the general vicinity of her bra strap.
What in the hell are we doing? Kyle thought wildly. What if someone walks in? What if Benjy tries to go all the way? She hadn’t made out with that many guys (or girls), even though she liked to pretend that she had, and she was still carrying her V-card around, even though she didn’t advertise that fact either. It was an image thing. Mostly, she preferred her solitude. Relationships, even casual hookups, could get so messy and complicated. She really just wanted people to leave her alone.
Except for right now. Making out with Benjy felt so good. Their bodies entangled, their tongues intertwined . . . she could do this all afternoon.
“We should stop,” Benjy said suddenly.
“You’re right, we should,” Kyle agreed.
They kept kissing.