Soul Kiss (13 page)

"And you're happy now?"

I smiled. "Yeah, I am. But how did you read that story? You weren't even here then."

He looked down at the computer keyboard. "After we, you know, started dating, and you told me you were on the magazine, I went back and read the old issues."

That would have freaked me out more if I hadn't known how fast Daniel could read. "That took you all of what, ten minutes?" I asked.

He nodded. "I only read what you wrote. The rest was crap. Except for a couple of things Kate wrote. She's smart."

"Don't get any ideas about her, brain-boy. She doesn't need you kissing her and spreading around your brain cells."

He looked up and smiled at me. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"So you don't want me kissing any other girls?"

"You're probably losing brain cells all the time," I said. "Just looking at me. I can almost see them falling out of your ears."

"Then we'd better study." He opened his history textbook, and we started asking each other questions.

When we were finishing up, I said, "Has your mother said anything more about having any injections when she was pregnant?"

He shook his head. "I know she's hiding something. But I'm going to wait until the right time to ask her again."

"Maybe when we have the results of our experiment this weekend."

"She's always been cagey about stuff in Cuba. She'll talk about growing up and meeting my dad, but anything after that, until we got to the States, she doesn't say."

"Weird."

"Yeah. Parents. Could they be any weirder?"

I had to agree with him on that one.

As we were filing into AP history for our midterm, Chelsea went up to Mrs. Becker. "I just think you should know that Mr. Iccanello had some concerns about Daniel and Melissa cheating, so you might want to separate them," she said.

I jumped up and hustled up to the front of the room. "The only reason he had any
concerns
was because you told him you thought I wasn't smart enough to do well on the exam," I said. "You're just a jealous bitch."

"Melissa," Mrs. Becker said.

I turned to her. "It's true. Daniel and I have been studying together, and we both got all the answers correct on our math test. Chelsea just wants to make trouble because she wants to go out with Daniel."

Chelsea turned bright red. "Are you kidding? I wouldn't want to date that freak."

The whole class was mesmerized. I was so mad at Chelsea I wanted to pull her hair or spit on her or something. Poor Mrs. Becker looked like she was some kind of chaplain parachuted into a war zone without any training.

"Both of you take your seats," she said. "And not that I believe any accusations without proof, but I would appreciate it if you and Daniel wouldn't sit next to each other, Melissa."

"I could sit out in the hall and still do better than Chelsea." I stalked back to my desk and picked up my crap. I glared at Mindy, even though she was only an innocent bystander, and she jumped up and switched chairs with me.

I was so angry my hand was shaking as I picked up my pen. I swear, I wanted to kill Chelsea Scalzitti. I forced myself to focus on the exam, and with relief I saw that the first question was one that Daniel and I had discussed: "Analyze the ways in which other European monarchs reacted to the French revolution."

I knew from our reading that the other kings in Europe were freaked out by it. They worried that the same thing could happen in their own countries, so they tried to stay neutral, even though they had family and trade connections with the Bourbon kings. I started writing, and the words just flowed through me, about uncertainty in the face of change and fear of the unknown. I realized I was writing out how I felt about dating Daniel, in a way, and that inspired me even more.

The other questions weren't as exciting or interesting, but I had answers for all of them. Halfway through the period I looked over at Chelsea and saw her chewing on the end of her pen. Good for you, bitch, I thought. Let's see who's the smart one after this exam is over.

I finished the exam before anyone else, even Daniel. I read my answers through one more time, correcting a couple of grammatical errors and adding support to one point. Then I gathered my stuff, stood up, and carried my paper up to Mrs. Becker.

"I'm sorry I got upset before, Mrs. Becker," I said, lowering my voice as I handed her my paper. "Chelsea has been having a lot of emotional problems lately, and I know that I should be more supportive of her."

I saw her eyes dart over to where Chelsea was staring vacantly into space, then look back to me. "I understand," she said.

When Daniel finished the exam, he joined me in the hallway. "What was that about?" he asked. "With Chelsea. You don't think she really wants to go out with me, do you?"

"Don't flatter yourself. She's just jealous that I'm showing everyone that I'm smarter than she is."

"I'm worried about you, Melissa. You're starting to sound just like Chelsea."

He was right. "Yeah, I know. I'll have to work on that." I kissed his cheek when we got to the bus dock and said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

That night, I couldn't wait to tell my parents about the history test. "I aced it," I said, as we sat down to dinner. "It was all stuff that Daniel and I had studied. It was like the idea for each answer just came to me and all I had to do was write it down."

"Since you're doing so well in school, maybe you could tutor your brother," my mother said.

I couldn't tell her that I thought I had gotten smart because I kissed Daniel, nor could I suggest that as a way for Robbie to improve his grades. Fortunately he groaned and said, "Mom. You know I have a disability. You're not supposed to make fun of me."

"No one is making fun of you, Robbie. I'm just suggesting--"

"You're suggesting that I'm not trying hard enough," he said, assuming a martyred air. "That hurts, Mom."

"Would it be okay for me to go out with Daniel tomorrow night?" I interrupted. Hit the parents while they're on the defensive--always a good strategy. "We're just going to go to the bookstore and read. Maybe get some fast food or something."

The Big Mistake snickered, and I shot him a murderous glance. I was getting him out of trouble, didn't he realize that?

"Daniel is certainly having a good influence on your grades," my father said. "Caroline?"

"Fine. Go out with Daniel. Pass the pot roast, please," my mother said.

It was funny--I was all caught up on my homework, but I still spent most of Saturday reading, just for fun. I read three books that I had been wanting to, including
Northanger Abbey
, the Jane Austen book Daniel had related to. I kept stopping during my reading to think about Daniel and what he had said. I knew I was behaving differently, but I hadn't thought I was turning into a bitch like Chelsea, or like some of the snotty people in Austen's book. I would have to watch myself to make sure I didn't become a total jerk.

That evening I picked up Daniel when his shift finished at ComputerCo. As soon as he got in the car he leaned over and kissed my cheek, and I turned my face so that we could kiss for real.

When we finished, I leaned back. "Yesterday, during the test, it was so weird. I just had to look at the question, and right away I had this answer forming in my head." I put the car in gear and backed out of the parking space. "Is that the way it is for you?"

"Pretty much. Like with that question about the other kings of Europe and the French revolution, I immediately thought of Marie Antoinette and how her parents were the emperor and empress of Austria, and how terrible it must have been for them to have their daughter killed and not be able to get too upset about it. I just went on from there."

I told him the way I had approached the question, and he said, "That's good. So our answers won't be too similar. We don't want Mrs. Becker to start asking us questions too."

It was interesting, I thought as I drove, that even though we had read all the same stuff, we still had different ideas about the answers. So maybe I wasn't going to turn into Daniel, but maybe just some new and improved version of Melissa. That is, unless I didn't turn into Chelsea.

It was the beginning of November, and it was too cold to hang around much outside, so I drove us to the mall. We moved around from store to store, looking for an out of the way place where we could kiss.

We ended up in the optical department of one of the big department stores. It was in a corner of the store, and the grill had been pulled down in front of the counter, but there were a couple of chairs where we could sit, hidden from the crowd.

What can I say about kissing Daniel that I haven't already said? His lips were chapped from the cold, but they warmed up as we kissed. "I like the way your lipstick tastes," he said.

"I didn't use to wear it," I said. "But it keeps my lips moist."

"Is it strawberry?"

"Uh-huh."

"I like strawberry."

We kissed some more, since he liked it so much. I didn't feel those electric flashes, the way I had the very first time, but instead I felt this warmth that welled up inside me. It felt so good kissing him. Of course, since we were in public we didn't do anything more than just hold hands while we kissed.

"You think that's enough?" Daniel asked, backing away from me.

"Maybe a little more."

Finally, though, we did go over to my house. My parents were both home, my mom in the living room, my dad in his study. The Big Mistake was, for a change, not glued to the sofa and some creepy video game. He was having dinner at a friend's house, some other game geek.

Daniel and I went up to my room, keeping the door open so my parents wouldn't come snooping. He had picked out a pair of books from the library. One was on the causes of World War I, the other a science text on learning disabilities. "I thought maybe we could learn something about your brother with this one," he said.

"Like learning that he's a jerk? I already know that."

Daniel frowned, as if he knew I could be a better person. I sighed and took the history book from him while he read about kids as weird, or weirder, than my brother. It only took me about forty-five minutes. Then he started asking me questions about the book, which he'd read the night before.

"Who was Franz Ferdinand?" he asked.

"Easy. His assassination triggered the first world war."

"Not an answer to the question. Who was he?"

I pouted. "He was the
Archduke of Austria-Este, a prince of Hungary and Bohemia, and next in line to the throne of Austria-Hungary." I looked directly at Daniel. "He married for love, even though his family disapproved."

He shifted in his seat. "What were his political views?"

"He favored granting autonomy to the different ethnic groups in Eastern Europe. Looks like he was ahead of his time in that."

My mom stuck her head in my bedroom door. I was sprawled on my bed, Daniel next to me on a floral-print armchair that used to belong to my grandmother. He had the book on his lap.

"How are you guys doing?" my mom asked, clearly noting the separation between Daniel and me.

"Okay," I said. "We're talking about the origins of the first world war. Do you think if Franz Ferdinand hadn't been assassinated the war wouldn't have started?"

She looked surprised. "Well, I took European history a long time ago, but I think his assassination was only one of the triggers that started the war."

"Good answer," I said. "Daniel, any more questions?"

"Let me know if you need anything," my mom said, turning away before we could quiz her on anything else.

I answered more of Daniel's questions until we were both satisfied that I had understood the whole book. Then we went out to a fast-food restaurant for fried chicken, giving my brain a chance to relax before the next book. When we walked in, we saw Mindy sitting next to Brandon on the same side of a booth. As soon as she saw me, Mindy scooted away from Brandon.

We ordered a bucket to share, and while it was being put together I walked over to talk to Mindy. They were on their way to see a movie, a dumb teenaged comedy about a brother and sister who switched bodies and had to learn how to live with each other. The very idea of being inside the Big Mistake's body just grossed me out.

"What are you guys doing?" Mindy asked.

They called our number, and Daniel went to fetch the bucket of chicken. "Just hanging out," I said. I didn't want to tell her we were spending Saturday night with Daniel quizzing me about reading books. That was just too geeky to share. And the kissing part wasn't Mindy's business.

"You guys should totally come with us to the movies," Mindy said, though I could tell from Brandon's face he didn't like that idea.

"Thanks, but I'm not in a comedy mood," I said.

"You need to lighten up, Melissa. Have some fun now and then."

"I'll keep that in mind. Enjoy the movie."

I left them and joined Daniel at a table across the room. Mindy and Brandon held hands as they walked out, and she waved good-bye at me with her free hand, already slotted into a mitten with a happy face painted on it. Good grief. And she was trying to counsel me on my life?