You shine brighter than anyone
You got me
"Mikrokosmos" by BTS
Chapter 2: The Rules
Peter and Lara Jean's Contract
Peter and Lara Jean will practice kissing, in private.
Lara Jean will tutor Peter in English Lit and Writing at least three days a week.
Peter and Lara Jean will act normal at school.
Peter and Lara Jean will be honest with each other. No lies.
Under no circumstances will Peter or Lara Jean tell anyone the truth.
Lara Jean quickly scribbled down the five rules, reciting them out loud as she wrote. She looked up at him after she finished the last sentence. "Anything else?"
He had already asked her to put in the honesty clause. The last thing he wanted was for this get weird. He liked being friends with her again. "I'm going to let you take the wheel on this one."
She marked two x's and drew out two lines, signing one. She turned the notebook over to him. "Sign."
He signed it without reading. "So, why haven't you kissed anyone, Covey?"
"I guess I never really thought about it as a priority," she said with a shrug. "Plus no one's ever liked me like that."
"Lies." Peter said matter-of-factly. "I know that those are lies because I know for a fact Carlos Myers asked you to Spring Formal last year and you said no."
She huffed and retorted. "Are you keeping tabs on me?"
"Come on, Covey, talk to me."
Lara Jean debated how honest she wanted to be. She did just sign a contract saying that they wouldn't lie to each other. She sighed and said softly, "I love love. I love reading and writing about it but it all stays up here." She pointed at her head. "I've never experienced the real thing and I don't know. It's all a little-" she paused, not really knowing how to go on.
"Scary?" Peter asked.
"Yeah," she agreed.
He inched closer to her and cupped her face, saying quietly, "You don't need to be scared, Covey." And then his lips were on hers. She squeaked in surprise and tensed up, not knowing how to respond. He was insistent against her mouth, coaxing her to relax. After a few moments, she softened into it. His lips were so gentle against hers and this just seemed so easy when she stopped overanalyzing it. His tongue grazed her lips and she opened her mouth, letting him in. He tasted like peppermint. He ran his hand through her hair, brushing it away from her face. And she leaned into the touch. They stayed like that for several moments until he finally pulled back slowly.
"That was lesson one."
Her eyes were glazed over and she blinked a few times, finally returning to reality. "Wow," she said quietly. "I didn't know it could feel like that."
He smiled at her, "I'll take that as a compliment."
She bit her lip and he stared at her, watching her mouth, half tempted to kiss her again. Lara Jean seemed renewed with energy and pulled his attention back to their next English assignment. The small smile stayed on her face for the rest of the day.
The next day at school, Lara Jean and Chris were walking to their lockers when Peter suddenly appeared behind her, touching her lightly in the small of her back to get her attention.
Chris raised an eyebrow at this gesture. He immediately retracted his hand and said loudly, distracting her, "Covey, guess what?"
She looked up at him. "What's up?"
He flashed his report in front of her, waving it around spastically. "I got a B+ on the Macbeth essay!"
Lara Jean exclaimed, clapping her hands together and launched herself into him, giving him a big hug. "Congratulations! Well deserved and the first of many, I'm sure."
"I gotta run to practice but just wanted share the good news." Peter gave her one last smile before running off.
When he bounded off, Chris turned around to face Lara Jean. "Is something happening there that you're not telling me?"
Lara Jean was the picture of innocence, her eyes wide. "No, what do you mean?"
Chris watched her silently for a few moments before shrugging. "Alright, if you say it's nothing…" She trailed off.
"Want to go get milkshakes?" Lara Jean suggested.
Chris immediately smiled and threw her arm around Lara Jean. "This is why we're best friends."
Chris dipped some French fries into her strawberry shake, enjoying the blend of sweet and savory. Lara Jean scrunched up her nose as she took a sip of her cherry coke. "Is that good?"
"It's delish." Chris took a fry, dipped it into her milkshake and handed it to Lara Jean. "Live a little."
Lara Jean popped it in her mouth. Her eyes widened in surprise. "You know that's not bad actually. Kind of reminds me of salted caramel."
"Yes, exactly!"
They talked a bit more about how much they loved salted caramel, amongst other sweets, and Lara Jean suddenly had the urgent desire to try a new cupcake flavor. She was busy googling recipes that she could mix together when John Ambrose approached them.
"Hi LJ," he smiled and nodded at Chris. "How's it going?"
Chris and Lara Jean both greeted him. Lara Jean smiled back, suddenly wishing she hadn't worn her hair down today. Was it a mess? God, why didn't she check earlier? Did she have anything in her teeth? She clamped her mouth shut just in case.
"I just came by to ask if you were still going to do scholastic bowl this year. I'm team captain this year."
Chris shook her head at him. "You're doing Model UN and scholastic bowl? Isn't that a lot of extracurriculars?"
He shrugged. "I need to make my college application stand out. UNC is competitive." He turned back to Lara Jean. "So, what do you think?"
She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded weakly. "I think so?"
He smiled brightly at her. "Well, let me know if there's anything I can do to convince you. Our first practice is next Tuesday. I hope to see you there."
Chris and Lara Jean both stared after him as he walked out. Chris turned toward her. "I think that was an open invitation to jump him. Anything he can do to convince you, ehh?"
Lara Jean rolled her eyes. "Chris, you know John Ambrose isn't like that."
"Yeah, that's a good point. He's probably too proper for that, isn't he?"
"Why are you saying that like it's a bad thing?"
Chris made a face at her. "Lara Jean, you already play it safe all the time. You don't need a guy that's just going to do more of the same. That literally sounds like the most boring relationship. Probably boring sex too."
Lara Jean's eyes widened and she slapped Chris across her forearm. "Can we not talk about this in public?"
"Point proven."
When Lara Jean got back to her house, she immediately gathered the ingredients for salted caramel cupcakes. She decided to do a chocolate base topped with a salted caramel buttercream. She was just taking the cupcakes out of the oven for them to cool and whipping the buttercream when she heard the knock on the door. She rushed to the door, not bothered that her hair was probably a mess and that she had flour all over her face.
Peter looked at her in amusement. "What are you supposed to be, the Pillsbury doughboy?"
She narrowed her eyes, glaring at him. "No, I'm making cupcakes," she said shortly.
"Hmm," he let himself in when she moved out of the way. "It smells good. What flavor?"
"Chocolate and salted caramel."
His eyes lit up as he heard the description and he immediately went for the unfrosted cupcake, disappointed as Lara Jean shooed him away.
"They're not ready yet! They have to cool and I still need to frost them."
"Covey, those look ready to go as-is." He was inches away from it. So close.
"Patience is a virtue." She pushed him towards the chair, forcing him to sit down. She started fanning the cupcakes and motioned for him to get his books out. "You want to work on Macbeth or the poetry section in your writing class?"
"Anything but the poetry," he moaned. Begrudgingly, he admitted. "You know, I'm actually starting to like Macbeth. I mean, half of it still doesn't make sense to me but I'm kinda into it. It's basically like a thriller."
Lara Jean nodded and flipped to Act 2. "Wait until you see what happens next."
They took turns reading the passages aloud, pausing every so often for Lara Jean to translate the Shakespeare speak for Peter. She was pleasantly surprised at how he remembered little things that she mentioned in their previous sessions. She had mentioned off hand about how it was necessary for Shakespeare to still insert the role of a jester into his dramas because he needed to keep the crowd happy and entertained. When they got to scene 3, Peter pointed out how the Porter fulfilled this role.
"You know, I bet this would be good live."
Lara Jean nodded. "Oh totally! I'd love to see this performed live although apparently, a lot of stage actors think that there's a curse around Macbeth. Creepy things happen on set and bad luck befalls the actors and actresses that are involved."
"Really? So, like there's some sort of voodoo around it?"
"Maybe it's the witches." Her eyes gleamed mischievously. She jumped off her chair and started frosting the cupcakes, handing the first one that she finished over to Peter.
He took it without hesitation and bit into it. His eyes closed in delight. "Oh my god, Covey. This might be your best one yet."
"Really?" She asked, pleased. She licked a bit of frosting off first and then tried a bit of the cake, satisfied with herself. She didn't notice the way that he stared at her lips intently. "Hmm, I think I need to add more caramel to the frosting." She looked over at him and he had already inhaled one cupcake, starting on the second. "What do you think?"
"I literally just ate that first one whole."
"You're not a very good critic," she commented but secretly pleased that he seemed to enjoy her baking so much.
He smiled at her, grabbing a third cupcake. "I like everything you make."
She flushed and couldn't help but feel butterflies in her stomach. She leaned up and kissed him on the lips, slightly hesitant. He tasted like caramel and Lara Jean found herself lightly pressing her hand up against his chest as he kissed her deeper. They stood like that for a while, kissing in her kitchen, completely entranced with each other. He moved his hands to her waist, pulling her even closer. He made a slight moan of disappointment when she finally pulled back after several minutes.
"I think I'm getting better at this."
He kissed her lightly on the nose. "You were never bad, Covey. But, let's definitely keep practicing."
She smiled and cocked her head to the side. "Are you enjoying being a tutor?"
"When it's you, yes."
Lara Jean realized very quickly that she probably made a mistake when she decided to join the scholastic bowl practice. She wasn't fast enough with the buzzer and when she decided to switch tactics and just buzz in, she found herself flustered, not able to think of the right answer. John Ambrose still smiled kindly at her, switching her out with another player after 3 rounds.
He motioned for the other team members to continue practicing and went to sit next to her.
"You alright, Lara Jean?"
"I'm terrible at this," she said honestly.
"You're not terrible. It just takes a while to get used to the format. I'm sure you'll pick up on it in no time."
She looked down, not quite able to meet his gaze. He was so nice to her. Why did he have to be so nice? "How long did it take you?"
"Probably a few practices," he admitted. "It's really about being the first to buzz in that's the biggest skill."
"Are you going to make me study sports facts?"
John laughed out loud and shook his head. "I think you should stick to your comfort zone and just continue to master the literature and history questions."
"Oh thank god," she said, relieved. "I'm really bad at sports, both doing it and the history of it."
John Ambrose beamed at her and she felt her stomach do a flip. His attention went back to the practice and Lara Jean just stared at him when he wasn't looking, thinking about how cute he was.