Perfectly Messy

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author makes no claims to, but instead acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the word marks mentioned in this work of fiction.

Copyright © 2014 by Lizzy Charles

PERFECTLY MESSY by Lizzy Charles

All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America by Swoon Romance. Swoon Romance and its related logo are registered trademarks of Georgia McBride Media Group, LLC.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Published by Swoon Romance

Cover designed by Victoria Faye

Cover Copyright © 2014 Swoon Romance

“
Perfectly Messy
is Young Adult Romance to a kissable “T.” Lizzy Charles nails the butterflies, doubt, mistakes, and beauty of first love with exquisite ease in what is certainly a worthy sequel to
Effortless With You!
”

—Rebecca Yarros, bestselling author of
Full Measures

“A definite MUST READ!
Effortless With You
left me smiling like a doofus and hugging my Kindle.”

—Cassie Mae, bestselling author of
Reasons I Fell For the Funny Fat Friend
and
How to Date a Nerd

To my son, for being with me through all of this.

To my husband, for keeping things messy.

Lucy

A mousy-haired freshman darts out of my way as I take my first step out of French. I stop in the doorway. “Thanks, but you go ahead.” He blushes as I wave him forward. People behind me groan. They’ll just have to wait. He looks weary so I smile. There’s no reason he has to get out of my way. I’ll wait for the person in front of me just like every other human being should in this school.

Being on top is so different.
Strange
, really. Becoming Justin’s girlfriend placed me into high-school royalty, which makes sense, as he was just crowned Homecoming King. Immediate popularity is a nice perk, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to this sort of treatment. It’s almost sickening how fast I went from the kid hiding in the janitor’s closet to the girl who clears a path with a glance.

The guy finally takes a step from the wall, glancing back with a wave as he makes his way down the hallway. Good. Normalcy.

Laura taps on my back while clearing her throat.
“Maaa belle, s’il vous plaît.”
Long drawl, pronounced “s” and “t.” I stifle a laugh. When she combines her French with an accentuated southern accent, it’s nothing less than awesome. And horrible. That too.

She gives me a little shove, and I stumble into the hallway. “All right, all right. I’m moving.”

“So, what does Justin have on the agenda tonight?” she says, twirling a pencil around her curled blond hair and locking it in a top bun.

“Another surprise.” It takes everything in me to not squeal with delight. He’s so amazing with surprises. Last time it was ice cream while walking around the state capitol. The time before? A twilight game of one-on-one basketball, the winner choosing the type of kiss they’d like. I totally let him win, dying to know what way he likes me kissing him most. It’s crazy passionate kissing, melting into a long, careful kiss, where we start standing but I end up on his lap. Not that he told me this, but he basically showed me. I just can’t get enough of the way he—

“Earth to Lucy.” Laura pops up in front of me, fingers twitching like Martian antennas. “Man, you’ve got it bad. I don’t know if I ever got so lost over Luke.”

Shaking my head, I desperately try to rid myself of Justin-like thoughts. I don’t know why I try though. It’s impossible.

“It’s just, he’s so amazing, Laura. He’s beyond any guy I ever imagined possible...”

Laura rolls her eyes, placing her hand against my forehead. “Yeah, you’re definitely lovesick. Let me get you home before I have to take you to the ICU.”

“About that ride home…”

“Let me guess. Justin?”

“He wants to pick me up. We haven’t seen each other for a couple of days. We need time to reconnect.”

“Riiight.” Laura turns from me, wrapping her arms around her body and moving them up and down so it looks like she’s making out with someone in the corner. Some guy wolf whistles as he passes us. Nicely played.

I spin her out of the self make out session. “No, really. With Justin, it’s not only that. Talking to him is incredible. I could go on forever, he makes me so relaxed.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“AND?”

I throw my hands in the air. “Okay, and I like the kissing part too.”

“There we go!” Laura says as she wraps her arm around my shoulder and gives it a squeeze. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of, Luce. Let’s enjoy the hormone-driven roller coaster while we can.”

I pull her into a quick hug. “I’ll call you, all right?”

“Text. I’ll probably be getting my own make out session on with Lukester tonight.”

“
Okay
, never mind. Let’s catch up tomorrow, cool?”

“Great.” She winks as she walks away with the perfect amount of minimal, but classy, hip sway. Lucky. She owns her southern charm. If I tried that, I’d look like a penguin. A flash of blond from across the locker bay catches my eye. Marissa glares at me. My eyes dart away, refusing to allow myself to go down that hate road right now.

I stop for a moment, opening the door to the closet where I used to hide from my brutal teammates during my freshman year. Now that I’m finally a junior, I make sure to check it regularly. I’m keeping my promise to check in there often, in case someone needs help. I never want someone to have to use it as a shelter from torture again.

Only brooms, brushes, and toxic chemicals this time. Good. Maybe our school is changing.

I turn into the locker bay for upperclassmen. They’re larger, and near the snack bar. I fiddle with the combination before opening the door. It’s ridiculous that they’ve banned cell phones from everywhere but the locker. I used to keep the combination in my note app. Seriously, how do teachers expect us to remember all the passwords and stuff required to survive a school day without a phone?

The lock finally gives and, with a swift kick to the bottom left corner, the door pops open. A note flutters to the floor.

Hey, Lady. I’ll meet you in about forty-five seconds. Can’t believe I have
to
wait so long to hold you. Love, Justin.

I glance around at the empty hallway. There’s no way he’s got this timed that precisely. I laugh. The guy’s got to have limits, right?

With my French book slid in place on the shelf, I pull out my AP English homework and
Emma
. Mr. Tatem is giving me the chance to rewrite my
Emma
essay from last year to boost my GPA for college applications. Initially I refused, but he insisted. So here I am, facing a giant twelve-page rewrite plus the AP reading and a small three-page essay for the weekend. Hopefully, this is the only essay he wants rewritten. Redoing tenth grade Advanced English while dealing with AP English would end me via an agonizing, literary death.

A warm palm wraps around my hip and gives it a slow squeeze. I yelp, dropping the book as Justin’s laugh rolls through my heart.

“Hey, Lady,” he says, spinning me around and taking a step closer. He pins me against the locker, playfully touching his lips to mine.

“Sixty-two seconds,” I say when his lips pull away. Actually, I have no idea, but it’s Justin. Who am I kidding? It’s probably been exactly forty-five seconds since the note dropped.

Justin chuckles as he takes a step back, doing his signature hand pull through his gorgeous dark hair. His biceps pop and I bite my tongue. Holy crap. I can’t believe I used to hate when he did that.