I tried to turn my head, but it was too late. Our lips brushed against each other. Oh the humanity! A boy’s lips touched mine! I tried to stop it. And why did I feel a tingle?

Aaron grinned at me as he said, “Here’s the mustard.” He held it out for me.

I smiled weakly at him as I took the mustard bottle from him. I averted my eyes from his. Why does he have to be cute and why do I have to notice that? I said, “Thanks.” I squirted some mustard on my sandwich. Aunt Christine was grinning at me.

Sitting with his shoulder rubbing against mine, Aaron asked, “Are you here for the whole summer?”

I took a bite of my sandwich to avoid answering for a few seconds. I didn’t look over at him as I answered after I swallowed. “Just until my mom gets back from her honeymoon.”

Always ready to sabotage my existence, Aunt Christine chimed in with, “I don’t know if your mom had decided yet, but I know Me-Maw has asked to keep you all summer. Wouldn’t that be great?” She smiled at Aaron.

Looking at my plate, I said, “Nothing against Me-Maw and Pe-Paw, but I’d like to go home.”

Aunt Christine frowned and shook her head. “Just so you can watch those stupid Japanese cartoons.”

I scowled at my aunt. “They’re not stupid!”

Touching my arm, Aaron said with a expanding smile, “Hey. You can come over to my house. Pete and I have a huge anime collection. Old and new.” Why do I get a tingle when he touches me. Stop that!

Aunt Christine grinned. “There you go, sweetie. Problem solved. Pete lives two blocks over. You could ride your bike over there.”

Aaron seemed to be suddenly excited. “You have a bike? Cool. We could go riding!”

My world is suddenly spinning out of control. I smiled at Aaron. “That’d be cool.” Why did I say that?

Pete stood up and started picking up things. “I think it’s probably time to go. I don’t know about you guys, but I had a good time today!”

Aunt Christine stood up with him. “I know I did.” She leaned over and gave Pete a kiss. Aaron looked at me and grinned. I’m sure he wants a kiss too. I shook my head. Not until hell freezes over bucko. But the ninth ring of hell is ice. Sheesh.

I got up to dump my trash in the nearby trash barrel. Aunt Christine stepped next to me and smiled. “You like him, don’t you?”

I furrowed my brow at my aunt. “Like who?”

My aunt had a sudden frustrated expression. “Aaron!”

Shrugging, I said, “He’s nice, I guess.”

Aunt Christine shook her head at with a grin. “Together, you two are totes adorbs. I can tell he really likes you.”

I shrugged again. “Maybe.”

She again shook her heard. “I don’t get you. He’s really cute and seems like a nice boy. You need to chill out.”

I scowled at my aunt. “I’m only ten. Leave me alone.” She rolled her eyes at me and walked over to Pete to help him load the car.

I snatched a bag of chips from the box Pete was putting into the back of his SUV. I doubted my aunt would just drive off and leave me so I sat at the picnic table as I snacked on the chips.

Aaron sat next to me and deftly stole a chip from my bag. He laughed as he crunched on it. I just frowned at him. Grinning, he said, “I like you. You’re not like other girls.” That’s an understatement if I ever heard one.

I just looked at him a moment. My aunt is right. As boys go, he is cute. I smiled at him and stupidly said, “I like you too, Aaron.” He gave me a sappy grin.

He said, “I hope you get to stay with your grandparents this summer. We could hang out.”

Shrugging, I said, “Who knows. There’s still two more weeks of school. I don’t know what my mom is going to want to do.”

Looking at me curiously, Aaron said, “You never mention your new step-dad. Don’t you like him?”

I frowned. “It’s not about like. I just don’t want things to change. It won’t just be me and Mom doing things. It’ll be Mom and Oliver deciding things without asking me.”

Aaron looked down at his feet. “I think you’ll be okay.”

Pete yelled out, “Hey Sport. Let’s go. You can talk to your girlfriend later.”

Aaron’s face turned beet red. Oh my God! Pete didn’t just call me Aaron’s girlfriend did he? Holy shit!

Aaron frowned as he exclaimed, “Pete! Cut it out!”

Pete chuckled. “Just get in the car. Hey, Christine, I’ll call you later.”

Aunt Christine hurried over to Pete. “Hey buster! You don’t leave without giving me a good-bye kiss!” She threw her arms around Pete’s neck and planted a big sloppy kiss on him. As she disengaged, she looked at me and asked, “Don’t you want to give Aaron a good-bye kiss?”

Still mortified by Pete’s comment, I quickly said, “No!” Pete and my aunt laughed. Aaron gave me an odd look.

Aunt Christine held my hand as we watched Pete and Aaron drive off. She smiled at me and said, “Okay, squirt. Let’s go.”

I was sitting on the floor in the living room trying to watch TV while Aunt Christine was chatting with my mom on her cell phone, I wasn’t paying much attention to her half of the conversation until I heard her giggle and then “… Oh you missed it, Deeds. Today at our picnic with Pete and his little brother… it was so cute! Chrystal got her first kiss today. I’m assuming it’s her first. She was pretending she didn’t want it, but Petey’s little brother Aaron swooped in for a kiss. No. She let him. She even smiled. Oh yeah. You can tell she likes him though she won’t let on. I knew that tomboy shit was all an act. I know, right? That Aaron’s going to be quite the lady’s man. Chrystal even agreed he’s cute. Seriously girl. You should consider letting her stay here for at least part of the summer. I think she’d like it. Anyway, I’m glad you and Ollie are having a good time. See you guys Friday. Bye.” She disconnected.

Holy shit.

To be continued…