I'm feeling generous. Here, have another today. I didn't proofread it so if you see mistakes, just shout out!

Thanks already to amiva0402 and jueka1

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"So," Ashton started as he plopped a chair by our table, sitting in it so that his front faced its back, "Which of you is going to date Fraser?" Miss Brooks was in the middle of talking over an assessment with one of our peers before history started, meaning we were all chatting to kill time.

"Not me," Lexi and I said in unison. And while Lexi turned to smirk at me—being overly friendly since I woke up to her cuddling me yesterday morning—I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Jinx!" we both then called at the same time.

"Jinx!" we said once more.

"Jinx!" I then quickly got in before she did.

Lexi's nose scrunched up.

Meanwhile, I wagged a finger at her, a grin forming on my face as I exclaimed, "Aha! You owe me a drink."

"Whatever," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

But as we both slowly turned back to Ashton, his mouth was open in shock. "Do it again," he said.

"Do what," I asked.

"That weird twin thing you just did. That was so—"

But then a small white object flew across the room, hitting Ashton in the head.

"Ow!" he yelped, hand going to his forehead as he gingerly rubbed the square mark it had made. Bending down, he picked up the culprit: an eraser. "Sara, why would you—"

"Stop treating Callie and Lexi like they're attractions at a zoo. Twins are people, not animals," Sara scolded.

Ashton shook his head at Sara, shooting her another glare for good measure, before turning back to me and Lex. "Anyway, before I was rudely interrupt—"

Another white object hit Ashton square in the head.

"How many erasers do you have, woman?" he gasped.

"Not enough," Sara glared. "For the record, you weren't interrupted. You got sidetracked making fun of them."

He heaved a sigh and held onto this eraser as he turned back to us, trying once more to speak. "Anyway," he started, eyes warily flickering to Sara before going back to us, "Fraser thinks one of you is going to date him because you both kissed him at the party."

Lexi scoffed, muttering, "As if."

Meanwhile I laughed and said, "He wishes."

And Ashton narrowed his eyes, looking between us. "Then how come you both kissed him?"

Lexi pretended to be amused by her nails as she nonchalantly replied, "I was bored."

Meanwhile I quickly blurted, "Flynn dared me."

Ashton's eyes narrowed even further as his gaze flickered between us again. Then, finally, he relaxed, sitting up straight in his seat. "Poor Fraser. His dreams will be crushed. I must say though, Callie, I was surprised to see you at a party, let alone kissing someone!"

Glancing down at my book, I started doodling in my column, acting disinterested in the conversation. "Yeah well... I'm in high demand these days," I tried saying in a cool-like fashion, but I was certain everyone heard me choking on how ridiculous my words sounded coming out of my mouth.

Nonetheless, when I flickered my eyes back up to Ashton to gauge his reaction, it was hard to miss the grin. "Well, I wish I was at the end of the dare instead of Fraser. I would have been able to check off one of my final childhood crushes I haven't kissed."

My eyes widened and jaw fell slack. And almost in unison with me, Lexi and Sara's heads turned to Ashton.

"W-what?" I stuttered.

Ashton's grin turned sheepish as he looked down. "Like, not anymore or anything. But in the ninth grade... Nothing against you now. I'm just... I'm not really crushing on anyone at the moment."

That's still amputee Callie... chair Callie... WHAT?

Was Flynn right? Was I really just that scary that no one ever...

"Y-yeah, well..." I cleared my throat, knowing this was never going to come out smooth, but forced it out anyway with the five seconds of courage I still had remaining while my heart thudded loudly in my chest. "If you ever want to cross it off sometime... let me know."

A coy gleam flickered through his gaze as he leaned over his chair. Then, in an ever-so-low voice he said, "I might just have to take you up—"

"Ashton! Facing forward. Class is starting," Miss Brooks demanded.

With a sigh, Ashton shot me one more smug smile before he turned around in his seat, shuffling back to his desk.

And as Miss Brooks started going through the seen stimulus for our mock exam next week, my heart was trying to jump out of my throat as the heat finally entered my head.

Did that seriously just happen?

Did I really... flirt back?

And most importantly... DID ASHTON BROOKS ACTUALLY USE TO HAVE A CRUSH ON ME?

As I took steady breaths as my heart began to slow and the heat finally left my face, I finally turned my head, glancing at my sister.

Already waiting for me, her lips were pressed together, stifling the satisfactory grin I knew she wanted to sport.

Because Lexi was right.

Most of everything I had assumed was in my head. One rejection, many miscommunications, and...

"Callie!" a familiar friendly voice called from behind me as I slowly made my way from history to maths.

At once, the body of the voice crashed into me, arm wrapping around my shoulder. 

"I missed you," Flynn grinned.

And, almost as if it was waiting just for him, my heart jumped on the horse and began galloping circles around us, a lump sticking in my throat as I fumbled to process what he had just said. 

Am I seriously going to react like this every time a guy so much as references kissing me... or has kissed me?

"W-well..." I stuttered, "You could have messaged me yesterday? We still haven't arranged a time for tutoring." I tagged on the last part for two reasons: first, to stop my own brain from remembering kissing him, but, secondly, because I was dying for an excuse to see him again out of school hours. As friends, though, of course... to see if it was possible to be normal around him before I go exchanging saliva with more guys.

Lips pressing into a straight line, Flynn replied, "I'm not thinking about school on the weekend, Callie."

"Oh..." I muttered, turning my head to the ground as I realised what was also left unsaid in his statement... He also wasn't thinking about me. I spent the whole evening after Noah dropped as back off at Sara's dissecting the kiss and him... and too long Sunday, drifting into a daze as I remembered his face glancing at me in the darkness of that cubby, the intensity caressing the parts of me I was so scared anyone would ever see. But whatever happened then... obviously just meant more to me.

But then he said, "Besides, I figured you could do with a break from me. Don't want to give you too much heat."

My head snapped up, meeting his sparkling onyx eyes. Immediately, that familiar flush returned to my face, wondering if he knew exactly what I was just stewing about.

And Flynn barked a laugh. "I'm sorry, Callie. I'll stop messing with you. It's just so cute when you get all flustered because no one ever hits on you." He shook his head, scruffed my hair, and then unwound his arm from my shoulder as he walked alongside me.

But the fact he had called me 'cute' began to bounce around my brain, impeding my ability to speak normally again. "Y-you should get to class," I said, keeping my eyes forward instead of on him.

"I am going to class," he replied, unfazed by his previous statement.

"But you're going to be late—"

"And I told you last week... I'll distract the class so no one looks at you."

I don't know why I kept hoping that he'd say something more... that he'd give me a hint that he was flustered by what happened. Because the reality was, Flynn seemed to not care. It was, as he said, just a kiss. And I had to stop hoping it owuld be any more. Heaving a sigh, I said, "You really don't need to—"

"But I want to."

I paused in step, warily looking at him, trying to decipher the guy and his intentions in all of this. Why does he keep pushing me away, but at the same time tries to make my heart warm as he creates the distance?

Corners of his lips turning upwards, eyes softening, he said, "It's what friends are for." 

Then he placed an arm on my shoulder, pushing me forward to a walk again. 

I should be used to the push and pull he was doing now, but I was still surprised and upset that as I began to move, he took his touch away again.

"You shouldn't be missing precious class time," I muttered.

But Flynn just shrugged. "You can teach me everything I missed later... if the offer is still—"

"Of course I will still tutor you. When did you want to start, by the way? The sooner the better... we have two weeks to catch you up on."

"Two?" he exclaimed.

"Can you say with certainty that you remember a word of what Miss Fischer taught you since school started this year?"

Pressing his lips together, he went silent, eyes on the pathway ahead.

"My point exactly..."

"Well... when's fine for you?" he then asked. "And are you sure it's okay if I come to yours? Your parents won't—"

"My parents can shut it if they think they can complain about anything... let alone me inviting a boy over for studying of all things."

Flynn's brows shot up in confusion, but I merely shook my head at him.

"I'll tell you that story some other time. How about this afternoon?"

He let out a little shrug, then mumbled a sure. But barely any time passed before his eyes lit up again and he teasingly asked, "So... who do you want to cross of the list next? I was thinking I could start brainstorming—"

"Ashton," I cut him off quickly, feeling my cheeks flush a little at the memory of history.

"Oh my... why are we blushing again?"

"I'm not..." But I sighed.

It's only Flynn... he knows all the embarrassing stuff now so stop holding back, Callie.

And so I relayed the events of history, meanwhile the grin on Flynn's face got wider and wider.

"Fascinating," he said, rubbing his chin as he began to think. "That should mean all we have to do is get you two alone somehow... I'll see what I can arrange."

With a shake of my head at how easy it was for Flynn to want to help me, I said, "Thanks."

And then we both shared a smile.

I still felt a little strange being this close to him, with my eyes dancing over his face as I remembered how his full lips felt against mine. Or earlier when his hand touched my shoulder, remembering how nice it felt to have those same hands slipping under my shirt or caressing my thigh... It was much different from Fraser.

But surely it was just because we were both sober. Because Flynn was a great guy and only gave and took what I could handle compared to Fraser. 

I was sure, given his indifference to the weekend's events, soon enough, as time went on and we just continued being friends... surely I would overcome the slight flutter I still got in my heart when I looked at him. 

Because everything I was feeling was surely just because he was my first kiss.

When we finally arrived at our maths class and shoved our bags into the portrack, the eyes in the classroom were already staring at us. Heading in first, Flynn paused on the way into the room, blocking my way.

Crouching on the ground, he picked up a red ribbon before walking inside.

As Miss Fischer immediately turned on him to berate him, I snuck past to my usual seat up the front.

But Miss Fischer's scolding was cut short.

"Where did you find that?" she asked him, as Flynn still inspected the red ribbon.

"On the ground outside. Why?"

She immediately snatched it from his hand. "It's mine," she mumbled, then walked over to her desk, tucking it into her pencil case.

"Why is there a fish on it, Miss?"

"That's none of your business, Flynn. Go take a seat."

And just like that, somehow Flynn escaped a detention this time, somehow because of that random red ribbon he picked up... which was curious. Nevertheless, none of us pressed Miss on it... this time.

Turning on his heel, his eyes immediately sought me out. 

And, rather than walking past me to his usual seat, he started walking my way. Without a word, he pulled out the seat next to mine, sat down, and opened his book... like he had sat there all year. Like it was the most natural thing to be by my side.

Now too aware of Flynn's presence, it took everything in my power to keep my head down at lunch and not glance over to his table. But every now and then I failed, and as I looked up, sometimes I already found him staring at me.

Rather than looking away, he'd either shoot me a grin, a wink, or a wave, and then I'd hide my head again in embarrassment.

Further adding to my chagrin, it turned out Flynn was also in my bio class—a fact I never noticed until today when he pulled up the stool on the other side of me, much to mine and Sara's surprise.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"Taking a seat?" he replied.

"But... you're not in this class," I said back.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, before his eyes narrowed. "I've been in your bio class for all of last year and this year, Callie."

My eyes grew wide. "I've never seen—"

"I normally sit up the back by Zac and Jackson... I'll sit there again closer to us ticking them off. I'm really flattered you've never noticed me before Callie." But there was no venom in his comment, only humour, as his eyes sparkled while looking at me.

"W... why are you sitting with me now then?"

He shrugged. "You're my friend. My actual friend... so I want to sit with you."

And then my heart let out another glowy thud.

It will pass...

I will stop reacting this way eventually...

I just need to kiss more boys...

Right?

And besides... I like Noah.

Right?

Me with Positive: