She loved it, but as dust in the wind, twelve o'clock struck and their magical moment was over. She pivoted slowly on a foot, twirling the pink silk with cool resolve. Devin stood like a statue, his jaw tight with annoyance. So, he was watching her the whole way back, resolving how to ask her that, how she might respond, how to like her without feeling like he was cheating on Candice.

As enchanting as the moments with him were tonight, she could not date Devin. The line was barely there as it was between them.

"Because you're in a relationship." Trechial pitched the first excuse like Babe Ruth.

Devin scoffed and shook his head. "I call bullshit!"

"Because you're my best friend, Tae!" Trechial breathed out, anger rising within her. What little they had together was good. She knew their friendship had about one lifeline left, but she would do her best to hold onto it the best she could. Though he held the scissors to it, ready to cut away.

His laughter turned cold, rendering her motionless. "Are you kidding me?" He strolled up to her, making her shrink back. "I am not your best friend, Trechial Winters."

Her bottom lip began to quiver, her strong resolve was yanked from beneath her.

"What?" she whimpered. Just a moment ago, he was her prince charming. Now, he was the root of her aching sadness and simmering rage.

"We barely spoke the whole school year. You only came over to the house to see Mom or do assignments. You avoided me just to avoid me not once did you care about how that made your so-called best friend feel." He combed a hand through his hair and blew out a hard breath, glancing away for a second. Returning his attention to her, his face became hard as stone. "Let's keep it real, Maylee may be your best friend, but I'm for damn sure am not. And you're not mine."

She swallowed the lump in her throat, not understanding what transpired between the dance and the walk back to provoke him to maximum overdrive rage.

"Why are you being like this all of sudden?"

"No, why are you like this, always? Dismissive of my feelings for you?" Devin shouted, his breaths puffing out heavily. He drew his hand back through his hair, pulling the dark strands away from his face, his eyes glistened with outrage. "You've liked three guys this year alone and dated Leandro. He's supposedly your best friend, too, yet, I'm the one getting hit with your cliche excuses."

She took a deep breath massaging her throbbing temples. It was obvious Devin wanted to pick a fight, so she met his straightforward gaze with one of her own. "Do you really want to argue with me, Tae?"

His jaw flexed in response.

"Fine." She curled her fist into a tight ball at her sides. "I dated Leandro because I liked him, and unlike you, Leandro liked me for me and not because of a promise he made to a dead man." Each word came out calloused like they'd been worked over a hundred times in her mind before spilling onto a pile at their feet.

Devin narrowed his lids, his face darkened with frustration. "That's your father, Trechial. Show some respect."

Trechial exhaled instead of replying, trying to get a hold of her anger before she said anything that she would regret. Her eyes found the bright glow of the moon and the glittering stars.

She wiped her damp palms against the pink fabric of her dress, taking a moment to cool down as the muffled tune of Bone Thugs N Harmony's Crossroads taunted the silence between them.

"Tell me, Trechial," Devin said, cocking his head, "what am I to you? Why do I not deserve a chance to be with you?"

Trechial lowered her head, unable to meet his eyes. She didn't want to have this conversation now. What good would come out of it? She was upset that he didn't consider her his best friend. As shocking as it was, he was right, and it hurt like a dog bite. It was not like they could go back after all this, so the only thing to do was go forward with as much honesty as possible. And so she did.

"I like you. As a matter of fact, I like you a lot, Tae," she said. He started to speak, but she put her hand up to stop him. "So what?" she continued. "Are you going to break up with Candice and date me? I'd rather you not because I still have no plans on dating you. Teenage love lasts about as long as the flavor in Fruit Stripe gum, and I'm not willing to chance our 'whatever it is now' over passing feelings. You may not have considered me as your best friend, but I thought of you as mine." Her voice cracked at the word mine, and tears adorned the rim of her bottom lids. She desperately willed them to not fall from her eyes.

He blinked at her, his brain attempting to compute her words.

When he didn't say anything, she turned to leave, her hand was on the door when she was suddenly grabbed by the arm and pulled into the dark shadows nearby. A startled yelp broke from her when her back collided with the wall. Devin pinned one of her wrists to the brick wall and cupped the side of her face with his other hand claiming her lips as he owned them.

An electric jolt spewed through her veins. His lips were softer than she'd imagined.

She clutched the back of his shirt, relaxing against the wall for support and ignoring the voice in her head that warned her to stop.

But she couldn't break it. Instead, she parted her lips, permitting Devin's kiss to deepen. The taste of green Jolly Ranchers settled on her tongue, and her lips curled. He loved Jolly Ranchers.

He was kissing her. She was kissing him. They were kissing––her and her best friend. It was both new and familiar at the same time, to have the lips of the boy she'd looked at for three years but known forever. The lips that she'd seen warp with sobs and stretch with over a decade of smiles––they were on hers, and they were made for each other. They had grown up together. They had spoken secrets to each other, sung to each other, and now, they were kissing each other. Candice could never have that with Devin, even if she tried. Because Devin and Trechial were best friends, and kissing your best friend is different than just kissing a crush. It's like kissing your entire past and future all at once.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she watched as their lips pressed and moved together. She admired his dark lashes against his creamy skin, and she'd never seen it so up close. Sensing her lack of participation, his eyes opened to meet hers, a gaze so molten hot that it could put lava out of business.

Steadily, a sly grin crossed Devin's lips.

Maylee's voice suddenly rang out: "Hey, Trechial, you out here?"

He brushed his lips ever so gently against hers before stealing a final kiss, resting his forehead on hers. "Wǒ zhēn de hěn xǐhuān nǐ." I really do like you.

He left her with a kiss on the forehead, and she remained against the brick wall, panting in disarray on weak-kneed noodles.

As Devin passed Maylee, she stuck her hand out at her side and he slapped it. Trechial could feel his smirk permeating the air as he disappeared into the gym.

Had she just been set up?

"Should I pretend I didn't see you and weird-eyes playing tonsil hockey deep in the misty shadows?" Maylee said with a wide smile, wiggling her eyebrows.

Trechial slowly stood on her weak knees and began smoothing the wrinkles out of her dress. A tingling sensation swept up the back of her neck and across her face as the thought of Devin's lips crashing into hers. She side-eyed Maylee with a serious face.

"You should not only pretend you did not see it; we should never speak about it again."

Maylee burst into a fit of laughter, looping her arm through Trechial's. "Girl, we are talking about this for the rest of our school careers!"

Trechial lowered her head with a faint smile as they headed back to the gym.