PJ

PJ has seen Hayley use opportunities like this to grab a date's butt, but PJ cannot bring herself to do the same. She can't help but wonder what would happen if she did, if one small but bold move on her part could actually get her what she wanted.

They've played every game the castle has to offer and take a seat by the koi pond to rest before driving back to Venice. Kyle slides in closer to her, his hand so close to her hand, like he might hold it. But he's not quite there yet. "Sometimes, I wonder how my life would be different if I didn't look like this, Kyle," she says frankly. She says it because it feels good to say it, to finally let out thoughts she's kept secret, fearing she'd be mocked if she ever uttered them, and she says it because when she made a similar admission in the arcade, Kyle hugged her. "My mother always said 'pretty is as pretty does' and she said it meant that if you're pretty, then everyone thinks everything you do is pretty & you can get away with murder," she says, wondering if she's making any sense. "I'm not like that & I don't want to be like that. But people expect me to be like that & treat me like I am like that. Even my friends. Especially my friends."

"You're not just pretty, PJ," Kyle says, his arm coming around her suddenly, his hand in her hair. "You're the kind of pretty that blinds people." PJ feels herself blushing deep red. His hand is caressing her neck as he speaks, "Your looks are hard to see past, PJ, but I understand...it's like, football. I love the game, but I don't want to live it. Just because I play well, I've always been pushed, do it for the school, for the team...I think I'm ready to be done with teams when I'm done with school, PJ, but everyone assumes I'm going pro, they'd think I was crazy not to. Maybe I am crazy...do you think I'm crazy?"

"My mother wanted me to be Miss America, she thinks I'm crazy to go to school instead," PJ laughs lightly, her heart beating franticly as Kyle hugs her again, "Of course I don't think you're crazy." Kyle holds her for a moment in an embrace that seems like a blissful eternity to PJ. "I've been wanting to kiss you," he murmurs, PJ feels herself melt into a pool of happiness. "Why don't you, then?" she answers quietly.

PJ has fantasized about this for a long time. Never did she imagine he'd kiss her next to a statue of a dragon in a theme park, but any setting is romantic enough when you've waited so long.

"PJ, are you still going to let me kiss you if I'm not the quarterback anymore?" he asks her. She squeezes his hand, "Kyle, can I tell you a secret? I don't even understand football, when I'm out there cheering, I have no idea why. I don't have a thing for football players over anyone else," she says, laughing nervously. "But, your father...," he says in surprise, "I thought for sure the daughter of a great running back like him would never date anyone but a football player." PJ never talks about her parents, her mother the former beauty queen, her father the former pro football player, but she's not surprised Kyle knows who he is. PJ leans her head against his shoulder & holds onto his hand. "I've always had to what my mother had done before me, beauty pageants, cheerleading...but I don't want to relive their lives, Kyle," amazed at how much she is telling him, having never spoken any of these thoughts, to be letting them all come out now. And it all makes a better impression on Kyle than any flirting or compliments ever did: his arm around her shoulder tightens.

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