Will Always Be by Kels Barnholdt Page B

sniffing at the air around me.
    “Wait a minute, are you wearing cologne?”
    He blushes and pulls back from me a little bit. “No.”
    I grab his hand and pull his body close to mine again. “You totally are.”
    He sighs as a shy smile comes across his face. “Okay, so I know it smells totally girly but my mom bought it for me. I had to wear it. It would have hurt her feelings otherwise. Plus, if anyone smells it they’ll just assume I’ve been kissing you again.”
    This is exactly what I love so much about Austin. He’s nice. Like, not just for a guy either. In general, he’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever known. I mean, how many teenage boys do you know who would wear cologne they hated just because their mom bought it for them?
    I smile up at him. “Now that, Austin Givens, is what I call sexy.”
    He smirks. “Oh yeah? Well, I wouldn’t worry too much about what Melissa and her stupid friends say.”
    “Oh yeah?” I ask, pulling him even closer to me. “Why’s that?”
    “Because you, Ashley Livingston,” he says leaning in so close now that his lips are almost touching mine, “definitely have sex appeal.”
    And then he kisses me again.

Chapter Two
    “You know,” Alexa says as she takes a bite out of her sandwich, “for someone who says she’s over what Melissa and Abby were saying about her, you sure do keep bringing it up a lot.”
    It’s a few hours later. Alexa and I are sitting together during our lunch period. I just finished telling her how over the whole sex appeal situation I am. But then I have continued to, you know, like bring it up every thirty seconds.
    “Well,” I tell her sternly, “it’s because she said it in front of the whole entire class. Literally everyone was listening. She said it like there was no way in hell Austin and I could ever be having sex because of how totally unsexy I am.”
    “But you and Austin aren’t having sex,” Alexa tells me matter-of-factly.
    I sigh. “I know that, but it’s not because I’m unsexy. It’s because we’re waiting for the right time.”
    Alexa nods and takes a bite out of her apple. “I know that and you know that, so who cares what Melissa says? Plus, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think. I’m sure the whole class didn’t hear.”
    I breathe and try to let myself relax a little. Alexa’s right. Let Melissa and Abby tell people whatever they want. They have no idea what they’re even talking about. And Alexa’s probably also right that the whole class didn’t hear. And if they did, I’m sure people have better things to do than go around telling others stupid things like who does or doesn’t have sex appeal.
    “So,” Alexa’s little sister Karli says, slamming her books down on the table, “I heard you have no sex appeal.”
    “What?” I gasp.
    Alexa sighs and shoots Karli a dirty look. “Good job, Karli. I’d just gotten her to calm down.”
    Karli shrugs. “What? I’m just saying what I heard! Nothing wrong with that!”
    “Who did you hear that from?” I ask her.
    “Rick Warrington.”
    Rick Warrington? Is that a joke? Who the hell is Rick Warington? I’ve never even heard of him. How could he possibly know I have no sex appeal?
    “Who the hell is Rick Warrington?” I exclaim.
    “You know, my friend Rick Warrington. The one who dated Sarah from our Spanish class last year,” Karli tells me as if I should know who she’s talking about.
    Which I don’t.
    “Is that supposed to mean something to me?” I ask.
    “It doesn’t matter who he is,” Alexa says. “What matters is that you definitely have sex appeal. So who cares what anyone else says. Right, Karli?”
    Karli considers this for a second.
    Here’s the thing about Karli: she’s a little bit crazy. Not in, like, a bad or scary way. It’s more of a “I don’t give a fuck what you think of me, so hate on me if you want”
    kind of way. The thing about people like that, though, is that usually they’re really honest. And