It was a fact at this point that Courtney was going to dent her cheeks from how much she smiled. Did she care? Nope.

Better yet, she knew she'd look even cuter with dimples. Could the world handle her with dimples? Maybe not. It might be too much cuteness but the fate of the world and how it handled her new dimples didn't do anything to dampen her smile. The world would simply have to deal with it. Her smile wasn't going anywhere.

"You seem cheerier today than normal," Ms. Reynolds said.

Cheerier. The correct word was exuberant. Maybe that was what dimples brought, an overabundance of happiness. Or it possibly came from knowing she'd see Micah in a matter of minutes. Yeah, definitely the latter in this cause.

"You would be correct!" Courtney said.

Dramatically, because everything right then felt ten times bigger to her, she stuck out her braced ankle in her polkadot flat. Oh, brace I cursed you and now I love you for being the source of my excuse for my exuberance.

"This girl can walk!" she announced.

In emotions, this girl could run the Boston marathon. But that was in a different state and so I won't attempt to prove my point.

Ms. Reynolds beamed. "I am happy to see that, Courtney. Have a good lunch."

"You too!"

Courtney restrained herself from skipping out of the classroom. It should be noted that it took serious willpower. When a girl wants to skip you know it's for a reason. But I will hold myself back. For the good of my ankle, I must. Maybe she could be allowed a twirl though. Laughing, Courtney spun once on her good foot.

"Bravo!" someone called out as others clapped.

Courtney curtsied to the passing group of guys.

"It's good to see you walking again," Ted said.

"Thanks! I have to admit I'm an exceptionally good walker."

The guys laughed and Courtney proved her point by walking with them towards the quad. When her phone rang, she stopped and waved them on as she saw the one person who made her smile pierce her cheeks again.

She leaned against the school building. After all, he might have given himself dimples as well. And if that was the case then there was no way her legs would manage to keep her upright. She answered and Micah's face appeared on her screen.

No dimples, which was better for her legs and heart. He was likely to give her a heart attack if he got any cuter.

"Hi!" she said.

I say hi and he blushes. Heart stay strong, we can't die now. Not when we just started living. Okay, mildly over the top but for today I'm over the moon so in comparison that was relevantly low.

"Hey," he said.

He said hey and in that way guys do. I will not survive this day if I keep going at this rate. Get a hold of yourself, Cory.

"I didn't know," Micah said. "What you wanted to do for lunch? My table or yours?"

Well, if ever there was a question to bring her back to the solidity of earth instead of being in orbit around the moon, that was it.

"If you sit at mine," Courtney said. "You will be attacked by questions. The same goes if I sit at yours. The squad would invade and I don't think your friends would appreciate that."

"Should we go out to eat then?"

"A parade of questions as we leave, possibly a chance of being followed, and an attack as we came back. And... I don't want to rub it in Aiden's face, we just figured out a neutral ground."

Micah nodded and tugged at his curls. Oh, sweet cotton candy that was the cutest gesture ever performed.

"I get that," Micah said. "We can take it slow with letting people know. Let's sit at our normal tables for today."

"Okay. But this afternoon," Courtney said. "We can hang out."

"My mom is with the twins and I said I'd take care of driving Isiah to a chess tournament after school."

Kind and brotherly, will he ever stop being so wonderful!

"How about this then? There's an away game, do you want to go together? Unless the tournament would last too long."

"That will work. I'll come to your house."

Courtney smiled. At this rate, my cheeks aren't only going to have dimples but some serious muscles to show off from all the intense workout they were getting. Weird image but who cares!

"Sounds good," she said. "You should know I'm not doing that stupid couple thing where we both refuse to hang up."

"Definitely not. We'll hang up together and that will solve that."

"On three?"

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

Neither of them hung up.

Courtney smiled wider. A feat that should have been impossible at this point. Micah grinned and together they ended the conversation.

You survived the phone call without collapsing on the floor. If that's possible, let's face it, world domination is simply another stepping stone. Thank goodness for the world she would be bored overrunning it. Though she did look good in a pantsuit. A backup plan if she didn't feel like finishing Lynn's homecoming dress when she got home.

"Courtney, you're walking!"

"What do you know, Antonio?" Courtney said, crossing the quad. "I am!"

"Our president is on her feet again."

"Which will mean my presidency will reach great heights, Shannon!"

"No crutches?"

"No crutches, Philip."

"Yay!"

"I feel the same way."

"I'm glad your ankle is better."

"Thanks, Jacquline."

As Courtney neared her lunch table, she searched for Micah at his. When she found him, he already sat watching her. At his smile and quick duck of his head, Courtney thought she might burst.

She stopped beside Lynn, who glanced up. At Courtney's smile, Lynn froze and narrowed her eyes. Courtney bit her lip and Lynn's eyes widened. Instantly, Lynn looked to Aubrey who cocked her head then looked to Courtney at Lynn's head tilt. Aubrey perked up then locked gazes with Rosa and Kimber, translating the message. As one, the four girls stood.

"Bathroom," they all said.

A few others glanced around but took the announcement in stride and returned to the discussion of the best superpower. Courtney led the pack out of the quad and to the sanctuary of an empty but shaded corridor. Courtney faced them, almost vibrating with her contained excitement.

"Micah kissed me!" she said.

Four mouths popped open in surprise. Before screams and happiness could ensue, Kimber held up her hand.

"Is this a kissed you like there-was-complete-consent-kissed-you or he-crossed-a-line-and-now-he-is-about-to-die kissed you? Both situations call for very different reactions."

Lynn smacked Kimber's arm. "Do you not see that fact that she's doing damage to her cheeks with that smile? It's a good thing!"

In unison, the girls screamed and grabbed each other's hands, hopping up and down. Courtney joined in on her functioning foot. When they stopped, Aubrey waved her hands.

"Details! All of them. Now."

"Where did it start?"

"When did it start?"

"Have you been keeping this from us the entire time?"

"He's not a rebound from Aiden, is he?"

"Oh please tell me he's not, he's too cute?"

"You're not trying to win the breakup game with him, right?"

"No! I like him. A lot."

"Oh good!"

"When did you start liking him?"

"He helped you when you sprained your ankle! Was it then?"

"Did he sweep you off your feet?"

"Come on, Aubrey."

"Sorry, bad joke."

"Rosa, why are you recording this?"

"Material! I'm a writer, you have to let me be who I am."

"No, put the phone away."

"But this could be the inspiration I need."

"You have spies in high school, this is not your source of inspiration."

"Can we please all shut up and get the story already!"

"Yes, everyone stop talking."

"That includes you, Kimber."

"Okay, I'm shutting up. Cory, proceed."

If Courtney already hadn't been able to contain her smile, her friends getting wrapped up in her excitement would have pushed her over the edge. They all watched her with bright eyes eager to soak up all the details.

And so for the second time in a matter of weeks, Courtney time traveled. She had to admit that traveling with her friends who enthusiastically responded to even the smallest of interactions was vastly more entertaining than traveling on her own. This time when she viewed everything she saw with a heart almost too full of happiness to accept more but it did.

Her celebration party and Micah's panic. The turning point for him though she didn't know it.

The thrift store moment. He'd almost told her then. What would have happened if he had?

Their closet color coordination date. Tripping over each other. Though not romantic in the moment got the biggest reaction. In fairness to them, Rosa was a writer and the rest of them had been her readers for two years now. It was understandable they would see it as such and not how painful it had been.

The shopping trip and seeing Max. He hadn't been hiding his emotions, there simply hadn't been any there to hide.

The ice cream shop and his way of trying to comfort her by getting his haircut. At this point, Courtney thought her friends were going to run out of ways to say awe but they continued to surprise her.

Visiting her after the Friday game. Lynn's birthday. The family dinner. Waiting for her at her house. Stopping by a second time and bearing through her father's talk. Then finally that morning, her rant and his response.

"And he kissed me," Courtney said.

The girls' screams nearly deafened Courtney but she didn't mind in the least. She felt again as her smile pierced dimples into her cheeks. Aubrey bounced up and down, flapping her arms, and Rosa and Kimber hugged each other, hopping in circles. Lynn alone remained planted on the ground but her smile matched Courtney's in width. She squeezed Courtney's hand.

"Oh my gosh!" Rosa said, freezing, eyes wide.

"What?" Kimber asked.

Rosa buried her face in her hands. "You've liked him this whole time! You must have hated me for talking about how cute he was and hanging out with him."

Moaning, Rosa hid herself in Kimber's shoulder, who rolled her eyes at Rosa's dramatics. Courtney tugged her friend back into the open.

"Rosie," she said. "You liked him for all the reasons I do, I can't blame you for that. Also, you didn't know I liked him. I never hated you."

"Really?"

"Not even a little. He's worth liking. Though try to go after him now and I'll transform into a cliched blonde and cut you."

Though Courtney would confess she didn't sound or look at all convincing since she still hadn't figured out how to remove the smile from her face. Rosa relaxed.

"I approve," Rosa said.

"Of course you do," Kimber said. "You're an author with an extremely violent nature. Now let's head back because I want to glimpse the man who has stolen our Cory's heart!"

"Yes!"

"Most definitely."

Stolen was too strong of a word. He was too nice for that. She'd willingly and unknowingly given it to him. One piece at a time.

As they headed back, Lynn linked her arm with Courtney's while both Aubrey and Kimber hugged Rosa to stop her from filling her phone with notes. She complained the whole time that it was her right as an author to draw inspiration from everything.

"You really didn't know you liked him early on?" Lynn asked quietly.

"No. I didn't even admit it to myself until a couple of days ago when I was sitting in the car with Miguel."

"And here I thought you were leaving me out of a conversation on solving all world's problems when Micah is a far more interesting topic."

"I like to think so."

"Come on! The closet scene is classic, I need to write this down!" Rosa yelled.

"No! Stick with high school spies," Kimber said.

"Oh! There's Micah!" Aubrey said.

Courtney scanned the quad and found him. He perked up when he saw her. Then his face turned bright red as Kimber, Aubrey, and Rosa waved excitedly to him. Kimber even blew him a kiss. He dropped his face into his crossed arms.

"He's a good one," Lynn said.

"He is," Courtney said, still watching as he hid.

A second later, she felt another gaze and saw Max sitting further along the table. Don't relapse on me, Angry Biker Girl. Your heart grew three times, don't make it shrink now.

"Do you need help with that?" Lynn asked, noticing Max's look.

"I got it. Can you get the girls back to the table without any more outbursts? Also, we aren't telling anyone for now."

"Aiden?"

"Yeah, I don't want it to be hard on him."

"Got it."

As Lynn rounded up the trio, Courtney motioned for Max to join her. Slowly, Max rose and crossed the quad. Before either of them said anything, Courtney led her away to a secluded bench. Tinges of pain in her ankle reminded her that standing for long periods of time was still unadvisable. At least her ankle didn't scream this at her, only politely told her to sit down.

"Did Micah tell you?" Courtney asked.

"No. I overheard him telling Juan and Damon."

"Have I reverted to the evil blonde cheerleader in your mind?"

Max stared at the ground and shook her head. "No. I judged in the beginning without knowing you. I'm trying to not do that now though it's a little hard."

Development. Aww, they grow up so fast.

"Thanks," Courtney said. Max nodded but didn't look at her. "It actually all started because of you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Micah liked you and asked for my help in getting your attention. That's why we even started hanging out."

At this, Max shook her head again but with a decidedly self-deprecating air. "And I fell for bad boy Blake instead of seeing him."

"Yeah."

Max said nothing only stared off at nothing. Courtney watched her. What's in that head of yours, Max? Thoughts of disappointment? Revenge? Will you still hate me for taking him?

"What happened today?" Max asked.

"You," Courtney said.

"Me?"

"You finally noticed him and I realized that I didn't want him to know that you noticed him. And well, there was a staple gun, a safety pin, a dragon of a column, a verbal storm, and... the rest is history."

"That made no sense but I don't think I want to know. Or at least I already know enough."

Yeah, hearing about us kissing might not help the situation. Though it is a kiss worth telling about. Just maybe not to the girl who started to like him and already had a history of being hurt by a cheerleader. Yeah, better left untold.

"Did you offer help with my cheerleading because of Micah?" she asked.

"Yeah. I figured if you two got together we should be on good terms. And I also thought I could make up for the jerk of a friend of yours."

"You're kind of annoyingly nice."

"I know, it's a big fault of mine. I'm also pretty and have a great personality. Life just isn't fair."

Max chuckled but then stopped, inspecting the ground. "Does that mean you won't help me since you and Micah are together?"

"I thought we just established that I'm nice to a fault? Of course, I'll still help you. For the redemption of wrongly represented cheerleaders everywhere. But mainly in teen fiction."

"That's a good reason." Max stood. "Uh...thanks."

"I appreciate you giving me a chance to explain. I don't want to be like your friend."

Ah! I see the tiny smile peeking out, Max.

"You're not. I know that."

As Max left, Courtney let out a breath. No relapse! What a triumphant day this truly is! The only thing that could make it perfect is my ankle not speaking but maybe it's quiet cries of happiness. Or smugness since it was one of the reasons it all started. Yeah, it's definitely smug, I can feel it.

When Courtney got to her lunch table, she slipped in next to Lynn who grinned at her, and Kimber who happily bumped her shoulder with Courtney's. Courtney looked over to Micah's table and found him gazing at her. When their eyes locked, a smile spread across his face. Courtney bit her lip, trying to contain her grin.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed a familiar silhouette heading towards her table. Aiden flipped his bottle of Gatorade as he walked but paused when he saw Courtney. He quickly glanced over to where Micah now had his head ducked, attempting to hide his uncontrollable smile. Aiden gripped the bottle, his expression startled.

Oh, shooting ducks.

Aiden headed away from the table and out of the quad. Ah, not part of the plan.

"Did he-"

"Yes," Lynn said.

"Could you-"

"I got it."

She climbed off the bench and followed Aiden's path. Courtney trailed her until she couldn't see her anymore then looked back to Micah. He wasn't smiling anymore but looked concerned. She sent him a reassuring smile but knew it wasn't a smile that would give her dimples.

**********************************************************************

Happy hiccups!

(Not sure that's a thing but let's face it when has any greetings I've given actually made sense. This seems on par with everything else so far.)

Are you happy? Are you going to give yourself dimples with your happiness? Or are you going to prematurely give yourself frown lines because I burst your happiness bubble at the end? Let me know. 🗯💬💭☺️🙁

Not going lie, this whole chapter was new territory for me. Usually in my books I torture you by having the slowest burns in the world. And I mean so slow you didn't even realize it was a burn until you look down at her heart and think 'oh wow is that a burn mark? When did my heart ever catch on fire?'

Might have taken that analogy a little too far. I'll walk it back. Or carry it, seeing how analogies don't have legs. Just kidding they're just super lazy and don't want to walk on their own.

Wow! I think Courtney's happiness has transformed itself to me and made me completely unintelligible. I find it amusing so I shall continue, keep up if you can. If you can't I ain't carrying you my hands are already full!

Friends! Courtney has friends to share the kiss with. Most of the time I write the kiss moment and my characters don't talk about it. Usually the book ends there because that's the completion but this book isn't ending.

You know what that means! Most likely you don't since I haven't made a lick of sense this entire author's note. Anyways it means put on your helmet! We're going off-roading! This is gonna be epic...or insane... or terrifying... Honestly knowing myself it might be all three!

So as the great Jungkook has said on multiple occasions: Let's get it!!!

Deng, Agahkişî, Pêketin (Kurdish)

What's the one book you stayed up late to read but realized the next day it wasn't worth it?