Chelsea Fine - Anew

But it wasn’t.

It was an awkward fumbling of bobbing heads and bonking noses that left Scarlet thoroughly embarrassed and grossed out.

The Kissing Festival: Worst. Idea. Ever.

After the boys moved on, Scarlet hastily wiped her cheeks while Heather sighed happily. “Don’t you just love the Kissing Festival?”

Scarlet choked on a cough. “No, I don’t. I think it’s weird…and full of potential mouth diseases.”

“Yeah, but you get to kiss guys like Aaron,” Heather said, staring after one of the departing boys.

Scarlet scrunched her nose. Heather had tried to set Scarlet and Aaron up a few times last year, all with disastrous results. Heather was always trying to set Scarlet up.

“He’s not my type,” Scarlet said.

“Who is your type, hmm? I keep trying to hook you up with these smokin’ hot guys and you keep shutting ‘em down. You’re missing out on some fabulous opportunities, Scarlet.”

“You mean like Aaron back there? The guy who kicked-off our first date by asking me how old my hot mom was? Yeah, golden opportunity he was.”

“In his defense, your mom is hot and looks like she’s twenty.”

“That’s because Laura’s not my mom , she’s my guardian, and she’s only thirty. But that’s not the point. The point is that I don’t want to date anyone right now.”

“Whatever,” Heather said.

“No seriously.” Scarlet sighed. “The whole amnesia thing makes dating…just weird. And I don’t feel like dealing with any of it right now.”

Or ever.

A moment passed as Heather looked Scarlet over thoughtfully. “I understand that you’re afraid to connect with other people. I just don’t want you to use your mysterious past as an excuse not to live your life, you know? You can’t just exist, Scarlet. You have to live .”

Scarlet slowly nodded at her friend’s words before sighing. “You’re right.”

As a general rule, Heather was all fashion and flirting. But every once in a while, she surprised Scarlet by saying something that sounded somewhat profound.

And while Scarlet loved Heather’s flare for drama and her insatiable thirst for boys, she was grateful for her friend’s ability to switch from Whimsical Heather to Wise Heather when necessary.

“But that doesn’t mean I have to date someone and get all attached.”

Heather nodded. “Yeah, it makes no sense for you to get involved with some random guy.”

“Exactly. No strings, no pressure.”

“I totally agree.” Heather wagged her eyebrows and stretched her arm out, displaying Freemont Park, the dead center of Avalon. “Thankfully, you’ve come to the right place. Booths full of hot boys you can kiss without any complications.”

Scarlet stopped walking and lifted her eyebrows.

The grassy park was lined with dozens of kissing booths. Twinkle lights draped back-and-forth between tall trees, making a canopy of stars above the red and pink tables below. People were lined up at each booth, applying lipstick and perfume as they readied for their purchased kisses.

Behind the booths stood a large white gazebo housing a group of musicians. As a love song filled the air, couples intertwined their bodies and swayed to the melody.

Here and there, children ran about wearing red hats and eating lip-shaped chocolates, while women waited impatiently for quickie makeovers under a flashy pink tent.

The park was littered with couples kissing behind trees and making out on park benches. And paper stars were everywhere; in trees, on the ground, above heads, inside mouths….

It was like Valentine’s Day.

On crack.

Scarlet looked at the kissing booths, shook her head, and smiled. “No way. You can do your spit-swapping thing and I’ll stay right here. I don’t feel like paying someone to stick their tongue down my throat.”

“They don’t French kiss you,” Heather said, smiling. “Unless you want them to.” She wagged her eyebrows again, pulling a short laugh from Scarlet.

“I’m still going to pass.”

Heather pouted her lips. “Pretty please?”

Scarlet shook her head. “Nope.”

Heather pouted for another moment, but Scarlet refused to give in.

“You’re no fun.” Heather straightened her hair, her bracelets jingling merrily. “I guess I’ll have to go without you.”

“I guess so.”

“But just so you know,” Heather pointed at Scarlet with one perfectly manicured fingernail and used her best authoritative voice, “I will get you to kiss—and I mean kiss —a hot boy this weekend. It will happen and you will like it.”

As she spun around and headed to the booths Scarlet smiled and called out after her, “Good luck with that!”

Heather’s only response was a flick of her hand.

Watching her friend walk away, Scarlet stood alone in the sea of kissing townsfolk and took a deep breath. The sun had completely disappeared from the sky, blanketing the park in a soft darkness contrasted by the many strands of tiny lights.

The warmth and stickiness of the summer day still clung to the night air as Scarlet let her eyes roam across the park.

The band beneath the gazebo switched from an upbeat song to a ballad.

Once again, her eyes caught sight of the black-shirted stranger and she felt the same stirring as before come to life in her chest.

This time the stranger was farther away, his gaze focused on the festivities rather than on Scarlet, giving her a moment to examine him privately.

There were no people near him; no one smearing kisses on him or dragging him beneath stars. His face still hidden in the shadows, he looked around the park.

He stood with confidence, his broad chest held high with his arms crossed in front. The dark hair escaping his hat curled a bit around his neck in the summer heat…reminding her of… something .

What was it?

She felt a memory inside her begin to rustle.

Suffocated and imprisoned, it struggled to break free. Maybe if she continued to stare at the stranger, it would surface….

He suddenly turned in Scarlet’s direction, and although she couldn’t see them, she was certain his was certain her eyes were fixed on hers.

She strained to see him more clearly.

Something about him was definitely familiar. As if the memory trapped within her was about him specifically .

Scarlet’s heart pounded as her mind started spinning. For a moment—for a wonderful split second—she felt as though she was close to unlocking the memory. That precious, lost treasure buried somewhere in the abyss of her mind.

She allowed her brain to tick and turn, roving her soul for something to grasp at.

It was there, she knew it. She could feel it.

It was piecing itself together…almost a complete thought…

So close…so close…almost there—

“A kiss and a treat?” came a cheerful voice next to Scarlet, interrupting her internal quest.

Just like that, the memory disappeared back into the oblivion of her mind.

Scarlet groaned inwardly. So close .

“Would you like a KissPop?” the voice asked. Scarlet glanced to the side to see a round woman with friendly eyes and rosy cheeks pushing a dessert cart. She held up a Popsicle shaped like a pair of lips.

Scarlet was really starting to hate the Kissing Festival.

“Uh, no thank you.” Scarlet tried to look friendly despite her frustration with the interruption. Once the cheery woman wheeled away, Scarlet glanced back to the stranger, hoping the sight of him would magically reignite her lost memory.

He stared at her for a long moment and Scarlet’s heart lifted at his gaze.