Will Always Be (6 page)

“Thanks for doing that for me,” I tell her.

Karli grins. “Stop thanking me. Trust me, it was worth the ache my hand has been feeling lately.”

I laugh as my eyes travel to the front of the caf where I see Austin standing, talking to a few of his friends. He’s wearing a pair of khaki shorts with this blue polo shirt I bought him for his birthday last month. I haven’t heard from him since that day in the hallway.

Seeing him there, though, in my lunch period, wearing a shirt that I got for him and acting like I was never anything to him, really gets to me. I can feel tears start to fill my eyes and I look away from him.

“Don’t,” Alexa says, looking at my face.

I force a smile. “I just need to get away for a minute.”

I stand up and walk toward the door, letting the tears flow freely down my face now.

“Ashley!”

I recognize the voice even before I turn around and meet Austin’s eyes.

He stops when he sees the tears in my eyes. A look of pain comes across his face.

“Don’t cry,” he says, taking a few steps toward me.

“I can’t really help it,” I tell him as I wipe my eyes with the sleeve of my sweatshirt.

The cafeteria starts to grow quiet and I can feel a familiar sensation start to creep over me.

“Everyone’s listening,” I whisper.

He grins. “Like that’s ever stopped me.”

“I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I swear I didn’t kiss him back.”

“I know,” he says looking at me. “Alexa called me last night.”

“She did?”

“Ashley,” he says, taking a step toward me, “I’ve spent the past few days doing nothing except thinking about you and missing you.”

“Me too,” I say honestly. “But every time we get into a fight you can’t just end it with me. You can’t just—”

“I know I can’t,” he tells me. “And I’m not ready to give up on us yet.”

“Why?”

“Because,” he says shrugging, “I love you.”

It’s the last thing I expect him to say. And I can feel tears filling my eyes all over again.

“I do,” he says, stepping forward and wiping one of the tears from my eyes.

“Somewhere along the line I fell completely and totally in love with you. And if I have to stand here in front of the whole school every single day and tell you, I will. I’ll do it for as long as it takes for you to believe me.”

Then he closes the distance between us and puts his lips on mine. After a second he pulls back and looks at me, “So what do you say, Ashley Livingston? Will you be my girlfriend again?”

I nod, and to my surprise everyone in the cafeteria starts to clap.

I bury my head into his shirt and laugh. Then I stand on my tippy toes and whisper into his ear, “I love you too.”

And with the whole cafeteria cheering us on, Austin kisses me again.

***

When I walk into Alexa’s house a few nights later, her party is already in full swing. There are kids everywhere, food crowding the kitchen table, and empty beer bottles scattered all around. It’s a good thing Alexa and Karli’s parents went to some conference in New York for the weekend or they would be flipping out for sure.

I glance around the house and shake my head. I know I’ll be helping them clean up all day tomorrow. But it’s worth it if it means my best friend has a good birthday.

As I walk into the living room I spot Alexa in the corner making out with Jake. I grin to myself.

“Guess she finally made her move, huh?” Karli asks, coming up next to me.

I laugh and turn my attention to Karli. “It only took her like six years.”

Karli nods and takes a sip out of her cup. “So rumor on the street is that your boyfriend totally blew off Carmen when she tried to hug him for getting MVP.”

“Wait, what?”

“You heard me,” Karli says, talking a little louder now. “She, like, tried to throw her arms around him and he totally pulled her off and walked away. You should have seen the look on her face. She was so mad and – ”

“No,” I cut her off, “did you just say Austin got MVP?”

“You didn’t know?”

“No,” I say, shaking my head.

“Oh, no,” she says as she takes off, “in that case I better get going.”

I turn and see Austin walking toward me.

“Let me guess,” he says, as he wraps his arms around me, “Karli already told you.”

I smile into his chest. “Congratulations. My boyfriend’s a superstar. I’m beyond proud of you.”

He runs his fingers over my cheek and looks me in the eyes. “MVP is exciting, but I have something way better than any award.”

“Oh yeah?” I say, playing dumb. “What’s that?”

He leans in and kisses me softly on the lips.

“I have you.”

And I have him.

THE END

Don’t miss Kels Barnholdt’s other books for teens, HOW TO HEAL A BROKEN HEART and LAST CHANCE SUMMER, available now!