When we pulled into the mall's parking lot, I'd managed to salvage Bell's make-up job. My purse was full of the make-up she used on me and let me keep.

We were cutting it close, coming in only five minutes before the cut-off. There was a stage set up in the middle of the mall's lobby, where a man wearing a shirt covered in skulls, snakes, and rhinestones welcomed everyone and went over the rules.

The game was simple. We were in teams of two and had two hours to cross off as many items on the list as possible. The items on the list seemed pretty straightforward, minus a few that were riddles or names I'd have to google. After the man on stage made sure everyone had their lists and that we all signed in, the game began.

"Get tatted?" I read off the list. "How is that only worth one point?"

Romeo tapped the paper. "Temporarily."

"Oh," I chuckled. "Where do you even get a temporary tattoo?"

Romeo pulled up the mall's directory on his phone. I stood next to him, watching as he scrolled through a lost of the stores. "Wait," I said, pointing. "Here."

He groaned. "I hate that store."

I laughed, grabbing the sleeve of his oversized shirt, and dragged him to Claire's. There we found the tattoos, a jumbo lip balm, and candy bracelets. We paid for everything and left the store.

"We already have four points," I said, using water from the water fountain to apply a star tattoo to Romeo's wrist since he was too busy eating his bracelet. "Can we get everything from the mall?"

He pulled the list from his pocket. "Not everything. I got a pair of Heelys at my dad's house."

"Too far. Now hold still," I demanded. Taking his newly tatted wrist, I laid my arm next to his, my heart tattoo lined up with his star, and snapped a photo with my phone.

We continued around the mall, making our way through crowds of shoppers and others doing the scavenger hunt. We were up to twelve points after circling the entire mall. Most of those points were because of our new spray painted apparel. A shirt for me and a hat for Romeo. Both had our names on them. Both were expensive.

The thrift store was next. Most of the items on the list were old and that was our best bet. As we browsed the aisles of donated items, Romeo asked, "Did you mean what you said to Lamar?"

I froze looking through a bin of stuffed animals--we needed a Beanie Baby--and turned to him. "What?"

"Would you really be cool with him getting back together with your mom?"

Why was he bringing that up now? I picked up a small giraffe and checked the tag. "If he was serious about her, yeah. She still walks around in his sweatshirt. She's either harboring feelings for him or it's a really comfy sweatshirt."

Giving up on my Beanie Baby hunt, I faced him. "Why are you asking?"

He nervously scratched at his elbow, eyes trained on the glossy linoleum beneath our feet. "Because I meant what I said last night." He met my eye then. My breath caught in my throat.

When he hadn't brought it up, I thought we were going to pretend it never happened. Continue our relationship of being just friends. But there he was, ruining it. Confusing me because for years I thought he only viewed me one way. It hurt, unrequited love, but I learned to deal with it. Now he's changed the rules and I didn't recognize the game we were playing.

I didn't want to play. "No, you don't."

He blinked, stunned. Recovering with a slight smirk, he said, "You don't know my heart."

He was doing what he did best, resorting to humor when things got too serious. But I didn't find him screwing with my emotions funny. "Can we finish the scavenger hunt?" I started down the aisle, looking at our list and the few items we had crossed off.

"I know my timing sucks," Romeo said, standing beside me as I dug through another bin of stuffed animals. "But waiting for the perfect time is why it took me three years to tell you how I felt. I wanted to take back what I said the day you asked me to dance as soon as I said it. But the look on your face...I knew I messed up."

"Why now?" I demanded, staring up at him. "Why after I started talking to Andre? Because, to me, it looks like you're playing some toddler game. You didn't want me and now that someone else does, you're interested."

His mouth opened and closed, but he didn't have an answer. It was suddenly a million degrees in that store. I walked out, forgetting the scavenger hunt and Romeo. I sat outside on the edge of a large cement planter.

I didn't know what upset me more--his bad timing or how easily my heart wanted to brush everything aside and be with him. The thought of being with Romeo scared me. What if things didn't work out and lost my best friend? What if it worked?

It was a while before Romeo came to sit next to me, a bag in his hands. For a moment, we sat there, watching people and cars as they came and went.

"I tried to tell you." His voice was so low, it was almost lost in the wind. Slowly, I shifted my gaze to him, waiting to hear more.

"Before Andre was even in the picture."

"When?" I would've remembered something like that.

"On HALLZ." He dragged his eyes up to meet mine. "I'm LaterTofu."

I stared at him. "No, you're not," I sputtered.

"I am."

I hopped up from the planter. "No, you're not because Andre is LaterTofu."

He stared up at me, chewing at his bottom lip. He wasn't lying. I paced back and forth, picking at the little polish I had left on my nails. All those times I begged for his username. The times I stayed up late messaging with LaterTofu about art. It was Rome the whole time?

"Wait." I paused, stepping so close to him that he had to crane his neck back to look at me. "You told me you we Andre."

He sighed, scratching his brow. "He kept asking about you after Indy's party. He wanted to know if you were with anyone. When I told him you weren't--I knew he was going to talk to you. I wanted to know if you were into him."

"And that involved you catfishing me?"

"I think we've established that I don't make the best decisions when it comes to you."

"Clearly," I said, pacing again.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time. Better than asking you to your face and having to see you go all heart eyes because Andre Walker likes you."

I shook my head, frustrated. "I don't even like Andre!" As soon as it was out in the open, I realized two things. One--I meant it. Two--I was a crappy person for leading him on.

I could feel Romeo's eyes on me, but couldn't bring myself to look at him. "We should get back to the game."

He didn't argue, following me to the car. We put the confessions on hold, even though the scavenger hunt wasn't high on our list of priorities at the moment. We visited stores, found items, took pictures and repeat. We racked up points and kept talking subjects to safe topics: food, music, the scavenger hunt.

All I wanted to do was hit rewind.

How far back did I want to go? I didn't know. Before the confession? Before Andre? Back to when LaterTofu asked to meet in person? Why'd I say no to that? It wasn't like I thought he was a murder. He was a classmate. He was Romeo, apparently, wanting to tell me he liked me.

I guess, on some level, that's what made me hesitant. LaterTofu wanted more than messaging and I wasn't ready for that. Would I have felt differently if I knew it was Romeo?

We were back at the mall. Time was up and we only managed to cross off a little more than half the list. Once we had our list checked by the people running the scavenger hunt, we were going home. Even knowing my mom was there waiting to yell at me, the thought of my bed and a shower relieved some of the stress I had.

Our score wasn't the lowest, but it was close. We still got a prize--coupons to various stores in the mall and a disposal camera that Romeo attempted to blind me with as soon as he got it out of the box.

"Ready to go home?" He asked, preparing the camera for another picture, that time of the carousel to the left of us.

I sighed. "Let's get it over with."

● ● ●

When we got back to Bell's house, she was waiting for us. Mr. Hayward had called her and let her know that we kinda ran away for the day. Having to talk to her ex-husband always put her in a bad mood. The added lying made her furious. She was only a preview of what I expected from my mom.

When we got back into the car the sun was going down, like it didn't want to witness the trouble we were about to be in. I was watching the pink-orange sky fade into blue-purple when Romeo poked me.

"Here." He held his phone out, unlocked and showing a picture of me from last year. It was the first day of school. We were sitting in our usual spot and I had my tongue out as I stared into the camera.

"What is this?"

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Nervous energy that needed an outlet. "Read the caption."

I turned back to the photo, noticing, for the first time, that there were words beneath it.

My gaze darted back to him. He was going to tell me how he felt last year? Why didn't he? Romeo stayed focused on the road, but he looked stiff as a board.

I swiped, finding another picture of me from the same day. That time in my living room, a soda to my lips as I looked at the tv.

I kept swiping, kept reading. Caption after caption Romeo struggled with telling me how felt. When I got to more recent pictures, the captions were longer.

That last caption was on a picture of me at Indy's party. I was watching my sister dance and Romeo was watching me, planning to spill his guts.

Things I glossed over that night became glaringly clear. When he asked about HALLZ while we were in Indy's room, he probably just wanted to know if I was ignoring LaterTofu on purpose. Why he didn't want me playing seven minutes in heaven. The hurt on his face when I called him annoying.

He was going to tell me and I ruined it.

What Bell said to me while she was doing my make-up came back to me. I thought Romeo's feelings were new, brought on by seeing me with Andre. But he'd been struggling to tell me for years. Taking pictures and writing captions like they were journal entries.

There was a picture of me and Andre at the park on Valentine's day, me laughing at something Andre said. Romeo was there, after all. I was scared to read the caption.

His mom said he'd tear himself apart to keep those around him happy. That was exactly what he did. He kept his feelings to himself to avoid upsetting me. Even though it was hurting him.

The last picture in the album was of me, in my driveway with my overnight bag.

I read the words over and over again until they lost all meaning. Except the last three. I love her. A whirlwind of emotions passed through me. In all of his captions he never said "I love her", only I have to tell her. My own feelings were jumbled. I was angry that it took him so long to admit it. But happy that he finally did. Where my feelings would fall once the dust settled, I didn't know.

● ● ●

When we got to my house, Indy was standing next to her car in the driveway. She wasn't alone. Andre stood there next to her. All I could think about was how I shouted that I didn't like him earlier. There he was, probably worried about me disappearing overnight, and I didn't like him as more than a friend.

Indy seemed conflicted as I got out of the car. Like she couldn't decide between hugging or choking me.

Andre's eyes were narrowed at Romeo, who was right behind me. But when Andre turned to me, all I saw was hurt. My mouth opened, but what could I even say to him?

"Glad you're okay," he said, with the smallest of smiles. Then he was walking away. My heart sank.

Indy had her arms crossed. "I'd yell at you, but--"

The front door opened and my mom stood there, hands on hips. Indy didn't have to waste her breath yelling because my mom was going to do it.