Naomi had been calling me all week. I successfully kept Theo away by telling him I was on my period (in those exact words to incite the most fear). He dropped off a giant bag of peanut M&Ms and kept his distance.

Nothing worked on Naomi, though. At least she had the decency to not show up on my doorstep. But I was about ready to throw my phone out the window.

When Saturday rolled around I was a giant ball of mixed emotions. I missed hanging out with Naomi and Theo, yet I never wanted to see their stupid face again. Especially not if those faces were kissing on each other.

I spent the past few days in a cyclone of what ifs.

What if I told Theo how I felt as soon as I caught feelings?

What if I never told Naomi?

What if me pointing out how Theo had changed made Naomi want him too?

What if Theo was a girl and neither of us fell for her therefore not ruining our perfect trio?

The last text Naomi sent me last night asked about the book festival which, with everything else going on, I almost forgot about. She wanted to know if I was still going. I didn't reply.

"You didn't mention nothing about waking up at five a.m." Dad yawned his way over to the fresh pot of coffee I made.

I locked my phone and set it aside, amused by my dad's Captain America pajamas. I definitely got my nerdiness from him.

Being up that early didn't bother me. I was always a morning person. The still, quiet if the early morning was perfect. I could get cozy in Dad's recliner with a cup of coffee and a book and get lost for an hour or two before the day began.

Mom and Bryce were still asleep. It was weird sitting in the kitchen without all the usual chaos. The festival started at nine and I didn't want to miss a second of it, which meant missing our morning breakfast.

After Dad was properly caffeinated and changed into something less geeky we hit the road, stopping to get breakfast from McDonald's. On the way.

My phone buzzed with yet another text when we hit the freeway. I was surprised to see it was from Theo, wanting to know if they should meet me at the fair.

They? Naomi and Theo were a they?

Wait. Did that mean they were together? That early in the morning? Did she stay at his house. Maybe he stayed at her's?

Whatever. I couldn't let myself go down that thought spiral. I shut off my phone and buried it deep in my purse.

• • •

"Wow."

Wow was right. It was a few minutes until nine and there was already a line wrapped around the outside of the high school that hosted the festival.

Excitement bubbled through me as I thought about coming face to face with some of my favorite authors, having them sign my books and possibly getting free bookish swag.

"That's a...long line," Dad said, staring in amazement. Or fear.

"You don't have to wait with me."

He grinned at me then. "And that's why you're my favorite daughter."

I choose not to point out that I was his only daughter. "What are you going to do while I'm in there?"

"Don't worry about me," he said. "I have papers to grade, so I'll be plenty busy."

"Sounds like a riot."

He laughed at my sarcasm as I climbed out of the car.

"You got your phone?"

"Yes."

"Money."

"Yup."

"What do you do if a stranger offers you candy?"

I bit back a smile as I leaned in through the passenger side window. "Don't get in their van for anything less than chocolate."

"I taught you well," he started up the car. "Call me when you're ready to go."

I waved bye, then stood in the line that seemed to have gotten longer in the two seconds I had my back turned.

Standing in a line with a hundred other people and I never felt more alone. Naomi and Theo should've been there. Why did everything have to get so messed up?

• • •

I came to that thing completely unprepared. I wasn't expecting publishers to be handling out so many free books. Well, they were advanced reader copies for upcoming books, but still-free books.

Some of them I wasn't even interested in reading, but it felt wrong to decline. I had more books than I could carry. Fortunately, I also had a ton of free tote bags that I got from different booths.

I was rushing across the quad to get to an author signing when suddenly I was on my butt, my newly acquired books scattered around me.

"Shit! My bad."

I readjusted my glasses, that had been close to being knocked off, and looked up at the person who just knocked me down. It was a tall dark skinned boy in basketball shorts and a white shirt with the Nike logo on it.

He's eyes were wide, like maybe he thought he hurt me. The way he kept looking over his shoulder made me realize that he might've been freaking out for another reason.

Despite his obvious paranoia that someone was following him, he kneeled down to help me pick up my books.

As I quickly stuffed books back into tote bags I noticed the boy had froze. He held a book in his hand, one that was mixed in with the stack of books I brought with me to be signed.

It was Some Hearts Lie by Sasha Keaton. I was doing my annual summer reread of it. There was a slight smile on the boy's lips as he assessed the worn out paperback.

"You must really like this one," he said, handing the book out to me.

My cheeks burned, weirdly embarrassed by how damaged the book was. He probably thought I was a freak for reading the same book so many times that the pages were close to falling out.

"Uhm, yeah, you could say that." I took the book and dropped in one of the less stuffed totes.

He stood then held his hand out for me. I ignored the small jolt when our hands touched. Because it meant nothing. I was embarrassed. Flustered. My nerves were all over the place.

"Thanks," I said, dusting off the back of my shorts.

He brushed off my thanks, his eyes falling on the Some Hearts Lie again. It poked out from the top of my bag. "Personally, my favorite is Fall Anyway. Mostly for the food."

Fall Anyway was another Sasha Keaton book about two teens, a boy who worked in a deli and a girl who was doing a school project on small businesses. It was cute and described sandwiches in such great detail it hand my mouth watering.

I was about to say as much when it hit me.

"You read?" As soon as the question left my mouth I regretted it. Especially when he frowned at me. "No. That's not-I just meant, you don't look like you're-"

"Literate?"

Oh, crap. Why couldn't my brain gets itself together? "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I was just saying-"

The boy laughed. "Relax, I'm messing with you. I just wanted to see how many different shades of red you could turn in the span of ten seconds."

"Oh." I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling. "Well, I'm going to go be red over there," I said, pointing vaguely in the direction of the author signing booth.

He fell into step beside me as I started walking away. "This your first time at one of these things?"

I glanced up at him. "How could you tell?"

He turned to the three totes full of books I was struggling to hold on to. "First timers usually just take whatever is handed to them."

I took note of his empty hands. "You must be a veteran."

"Yeah," he admitted, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his shorts. "Haven't seen anything too interesting this year. I mean, no books anyway." He glanced at me, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

Was he flirting? He couldn't be. People didn't flirt with me. That didn't stop the furnace in my face from going full blast. I stared down at my purple Chuck's, focusing on them walking through the green grass as my face cooled down.

Why was he still walking with me? Not that I minded, it was nice not being alone. It just didn't make any sense. I thought maybe we were just going in the same direction and we'd soon part ways. But when I got to the line, he was still at my side, not a book in sight for him to have signed.

Should I ask? Would I sound rude? Instead I searched my bags for the book I needed signed. Everything was all mixed up now.

And I didn't just mean the books.

//

Writing the first meeting between characters is always fun!

What do you think so far of Waverly & Stephen?

I have some fun ideas for the next couple of chapters so stay tuned <3