Whoa, my mind is blown. I loved Noah's POV of the kiss and I definitely think there was no planning involved on his part to make it happen at the carnival, it was mere coincidence but he absolutely loved every second of it. A small part of me also thinks Lee is doing some behind the scenes work to make it happen because he has this gut feeling that he won't be able to prevent Elle and Noah from getting together, anyways. Lee knows it's Elle's first kiss and yet he makes her get into that booth with his brother ... hasn't that bothered any of you? Well, I was pretty surprised when I realized after my second read of the book so I explained it away like I did above. I am sure Lee knows that Elle is good for Noah and Noah is good for Elle. They deserve each other - but not in a hurtful way Lee's used in the movie. In a good way.

Alas, shall we continue?

Thirteen.

I had no idea how this had happened.

What had just happened?

Did I just really kiss my brother's best friend?

Worst of all ... I loved every second of it.

Here is something that I only realized in hindsight thinking about the night Elle and I had kissed. Although it had not involved any planning on my part and although I knew Elle had not intended to work the booth at all (given the not unimportant fact that she hadn't been kissed before), there were forces beyond our power and influence that had guided us up until the very moment our lips had touched. One of those forces being my little brother Lee.

See, I didn't realize it at that moment but Lee had had the biggest reservations against me and despite all those reservations and his apprehensiveness, he had pushed Elle onto that kissing booth stage knowing full well that I was the one next in line, the first person that got to kiss his best friend.

Of course, to not witness any of it, Lee had immediately retreated. It was getting more curious by the minute and I was thoroughly confused.

I could not stop thinking about that kiss Elle and I had shared. It had been unexpectedly passionate yet gentle and for her first kiss ... damn! Damn! DAMN! At first, she had been tense, careful, scared even but the longer we had kissed, the more open and trusting she got. She had followed my lead, eager to learn and boy a quick learner she was. I could not tell you when exactly a kiss had left me breathless ... or speechless for that matter.

There were a few things that I needed to investigate in the upcoming hours and days and the two most pressing issues were: How would I react when I saw Elle next and the more interesting conundrum I would be facing at home, interacting with my askance brother who had all of the sudden at least partially changed his mind.

Boy! Oh boy, this was going to be a bumpy ride.

The carnival had wrapped up and a few people had stayed behind to clean up. My football coach had 'suggested' I'd stay behind and assess the situation to find out if my help was needed and since his suggestion had an alarmingly exigent tone, I did what I was suggested to do.

After roughly another hour a very excited and out of breath Lee practically jumped me.

'Noah!'

'Lee!'

'Noah!'

'Lee?'

'Would it be bothersome for you to take Elle home after the carnival? See, there is this girl Rachel, that I really ... and I mean REALLY like and we wanna go see a movie but then there is no one to drive Elle home and it would take literally hours to go by bus and I know I've asked you quite a few favors recently but Noah I really like...' Lee gushed out a sea of words and for a moment I had issues following his thoughts that bubbled out of his mouth.

'Slow down, Lee, jeez, you act like you're having a seizure!' I teased and made him explain in a lower and calmer register. Once I had finally understood that he had ditched Elle for his date - a fact that he resolutely contradicted - and said Elle may need a ride home, I was absolutely ok with taking her home.

'You sure?' Lee asked.

'Yeah,' I answered, raising my eyebrow at him.

'Just asking since ... you know ... earlier ... and it could be awkward.'

'Oh,' I just said. Yeah, I was counting on awkward, 'you were trying to tell me that she hadn't had her first kiss but you were afraid of the consequences if she ever found out you couldn't keep your mouth shut, right?'

Lee blushed into a very cute beetroot colour.

Confirmed.

'No worries, Lee, I'm not planning on telling her you almost told me.'

'Good,' Lee let out a relieved sigh.

'Go have fun with ... Rachel!' I said, grinning as I saw his face lighten up. He was clearly smitten with that girl. Maybe that was why Lee understood how smitten I was...

Lee went ahead and rushed back to his - I assumed - girlfriend and I turned around the corner to see Elle playfully argue with one of the juniors, Joel.

'It's your fault, you know? Really, you owe me thirty bucks!'

'Why?'

'If you hadn't made it a smooch booth, guys wouldn't have been queueing up in the hope of a quick French kiss, so hand over my thirty bucks!'

Elle laughed and bumped against his broad shoulder.

'Not happening. And it wasn't my fault. Or do you, like, ohhhhmmyyyygooooosh, totally need to know every single detail of my first kiss?' Elle teased and out on a very girly-ish and excited tone. Joel feigned a look of pure horror, bumped Elle back with his hip and laughed.

'Okay, okay, keep your money! Spare me, please!'

I coughed. That was enough. I shot Joel a quick look, signalling him to get lost.

I indicated Elle to follow me toward the parking lot and she obliged.

'Lee said you were stuck for a ride so I should come and pick you up.'

'Sure,' Elle said and somehow she sounded surprised. Didn't she think I was taking every opportunity to see her? Weird. Because that was what I was doing.

'Wait!' she stopped in her tracks and I raised an eyebrow questioningly at her, 'you haven't got your bike, have you?'

'No,' I could not help but chuckle at the apparent panic in her voice, 'I took my car since you hated the bike so much!'

'Thank God,' she breathed out which made me chuckle even harder. In that instant, I realized that Elle and I were going to be alone, soon, in my car. My heartbeat quickened and my palms got sweaty all of the sudden. I discreetly wiped my palms on my shorts and continued to my car, Elle in tow. The tension between the two of us was palpable and I was genuinely wondering if only I was having a feeling of despair in regards to this. I didn't want our relationship to be strained by what had happened earlier but it looked like the damage had been done already. We weren't as happy-go-lucky as before which made me sad.

'Do you mind if I stop by my house on the way?' I asked her, suddenly remembering something. This would prolong the time that we were spending together eventually and for me, this was all that counted. Strained as the atmosphere may be, I wanted as much alone time with Elle as I could possibly get without raising suspicion.

'Huh?'

'My dad bought a video game he thought Brad would like. I'm supposed to give it to you.' This was only half a lie, really, because my father had actually told Lee to do it over dinner but given how preoccupied Lee was with his latest romantic conquest ... I might as well do it, right? Right?

'Oh sure,' Elle nodded, 'no problem.'

'Okay.'

We fell silent for a bit and listened to the local radio station. After a couple of minutes, I got curious.

'So ... how much did your booth raise in the end?'

'Six hundred and fourteen bucks.'

'Wow?!' I said and paid my tribute with a low whistle.

'I know. We made even more than the hot dog stand.'

Considering how much people liked hot dogs, this was a big thing to achieve, I thought. But then I realized that people must ... really like to kiss. The silence between us returned and Elle nudged the radio volume a little up in order to brush over the fact that the weird atmosphere had returned. It might not have left, to be honest. The music did not loosen us up, it did nothing to lighten the mood and I felt a little despair creeping up on me. What if it was going to stay this strained between us?

I tried to distract myself with the music and when a song came up that I really liked, I started bobbing my head ever so lightly to the beat of the music and concentrated on the road ahead. A few raindrops had fallen earlier and if you ever drove a car in Los Angeles, you knew, that even four to six raindrops a square foot would drive people insane. Everyone lost their shit and forgot how to drive.

I tried not to think of the kiss that we had shared earlier but the thoughts of it came back involuntarily. They sneaked up on me while we waited at a red light.

I can honestly say I never felt what I felt with Elle with any of the other girls I had kissed. It never felt as intimate, as passionate, as loving as any of the others and I did realize it meant I genuinely cared about Elle. Not that I had needed any proof of that ... I knew. The kiss further cemented me knowing that my feelings for her were as real as can be. She meant more to me than anyone had ever before. Passion had bubbled up in my insides and when my hands had glided down her back toward her petite waist, I could not help but wonder how she'd feel, how she'd taste...

Stop it, Noah! Focus on the road!

I still wanted to kiss her again. I mean, really wanted to kiss her again. I wanted a full-on makeout session, I wanted to run my fingers through her hair and have our limbs tangled together while we made out on my bed ...

Stop it, damn it, Noah! The road!

We finally pulled up at my house. The car ride had felt like an eternity. I had looked forward to spending time with her but we didn't talk much and kept our thoughts to ourselves. Lee had predicted the atmosphere may be awkward and he had been right. If only I knew if the kiss meant anything to Elle. If I meant anything to her. That would help me out here, thank you very much. Although I knew she thought I was hot and all, I had no idea whether she had liked kissing me or not. I just knew I wanted this on repeat for as often as she'd allow.

'I'll come in and get the game for Brad,' Elle said, 'I'll walk from here.'

I had the feeling that she needed to get some space between us and I could not blame her for that. The last thirty minutes in my car had been emotionally exhausting and I felt as drained as I'd feel after a full football practice.

'Sure,' I said, 'whatever!'

I opened the door and she hung around near the doorway while I rifled through a pile of papers on the counter. I was certain my dad had said he had left the game right there.

'Ha!' I thought when I finally retrieved it from under the pile of papers. I turned around and handed her the new Mario game. I was not even a whole foot away from her and I could smell the faint scent of cotton candy, her hairspray and ... her. I closed my eyes for a split second and inhaled.

Before I knew what was happening, Elle had gotten up on her tiptoes and kissed me.