I was sitting in a classroom staring blindly at the board, and it took me a long time to realize that I was literally chewing on my own lips, probably looking for that softness and sweetness that I'd experienced a break ago. Well, if there was a trace of Leo's kiss on them, it better lasts for the rest of my life, because I absolutely could never get close to this boy again.

That was the strong, wise, down-to-earth part of me who thought so. However, the second part, more playful and silly, wanted to kiss endlessly, because, oh boy, what a paradise it was! We only lacked wings, so that we could rise above the clouds, as in some kitschy advertisement of marshmallows.

So for the first half of the class, I rhapsodized over the kiss, reflecting on how simple and natural it was. I didn't have to think about what to do to make it good. I left everything to my intuition as if I was making out on breaks every day. And Leo wasn't staying behind at all. I could honestly admit to myself that I'd never in my life believed that a kiss could taste so good. I thought it was just a pointless saliva swap that works more like marking the area. Kind of like dogs peeing on their favorite tree. Or a must, because all couples do it.

And I spent the other half of the period realizing that I'd had this opinion about kisses so far because of Jason, who in all the months we were dating hadn't given me as much pleasure as Leo did in those long few seconds.

I was the one who broke the kiss and started shaking my head to communicate my objection to him because if I were to do something with my lips again, it would definitely not be speaking. And when I realized that, I just turned around and ran away, leaving Leo behind.

Once I got out of this emotional bubble and returned to reality, I began to worry about another point. Or rather, two points. They started with the letters "T" and "S" and they were twins.

Oh god, has anyone seen us? Someone for sure. Not my brothers though, because otherwise by now I would've been in a coffin for a long time, buried hundreds of meters underground, but in this school, there is rarely anything that they'd miss, especially if it concerned our family.

Until the end of the day, I wondered if among the few witnesses to my kiss there would be someone "kind" who would tell them the details of my conversation with Leo. And as I headed for the parking lot, I got even more nervous. I remembered the guys' reaction to my meetings with Jason and well, I really didn't need repetition.

Shane was standing next to his blue Lamborghini with a girl accompanying him. The twins were often surrounded by the whole wreath of them, and the number of flirtatious glances they received in the hallways of the school probably equaled the worth of the Monet's fortune. But I've never seen any of my brothers take one of these girls seriously. Usually, they seemed to be like fancy additions for them, which were supposed to make their lives more pleasant, not complicate it. Like a branded bag for an elegant woman or a black leather jacket for a rebellious bad boy. This time, however, the girl's beautiful brown eyes were clearly puffed up from crying, the remnants of the mascara were flowing down her check together with her tears, and her lower lip was pouting pitifully. Shane wasn't really eager to comfort her, but he didn't ignore her either.

I approached them uncertainly, not wanting to accidentally end up in the middle of a drama. When the girl noticed me, she immediately looked to the side, as if escaping my gaze. It was then that I recognized her face from the photos Jason was trying to blackmail me with. Oh, poor thing. She kind of asked for it, because what normal person does it in school, but everyone makes mistakes, right?

"Wait in the car," Shane asked wearily, patting the roof of his ride. I was pleased to agree to the offer, but being inside, I could still hear what they were talking about.

"Please, Shane, please, fix this ..." the girl muttered along with another wave of tears.

"What do you mean, there are no more photos, take it easy," my brother sighed, apparently tired of this conversation.

"But my parents are called to school! They'll find out about everything! The principal will tell them! It's... it's a nightmare... " she lamented, and I saw her waving a white snotty tissue left and right.

"What do you want me to do?" Shane grunted. All I could see was his back, but I imagined him looking up at the sky.

"Can't you help me keep it from them? My father will send me to a boarding school!"

"And how am I supposed to do this?" Poor girl, she didn't seem to make any big impression on him.

Her lower lip trembled.

"I don't know, Shane..." she groaned. "The same way you managed to kick that stupid kid out of school. Please, you are partly responsible for this situation, please..."

My brother, who had been leaning against the car so far, now pushed away from it, and even though I still couldn't see his face, I guessed he was a little annoyed.

"Okay, first of all, I didn't even lift a finger, okay? It was my brother who talked to the principal and sorted things out. Not me. He stood up for you too, because you'd normally flunk out of this school together with that fucking Jaxon, or whatever his fucking name is. Second, don't bullshit me about responsibility, because you wanted to fuck as much as I did, I didn't force you to do anything. If you are so scared of mommy and daddy, you should've been a good daughter and not take off your panties at the first chance. What else should I tell you?"

The girl avoided his gaze and bit her lip, holding back another batch of tears.

"Why are you like this?" she squeaked indistinctly. "What if your sister was in this situation?"

Her finger automatically pointed to the car in which I was sitting. I stared at the tip of her long pink claw with my breath held.

Shane took an abrupt step towards her, apparently surprising her.

"Watch yourself, all right?" He growled quietly and said something else to her, which unfortunately I didn't hear.

"Okay, okay, sure," she muttered, staring at the ground, flushing a little.

Shane cleared his throat then, and he had half-turned to the car.

"I have to go," he muttered, then turned to her one last time. "It's just sex, Marge, it's gonna be okay."

Marge watched inconsolably as Shane got behind the wheel and started driving almost immediately, without a trace of remorse, leaving her with her problem. We didn't even wait for Tony. We rarely waited for him as there was no reason, but today I immediately worried, because I imagined the possible reason for his delay. Like, for example, taking Leo apart. Oh god, stop it, no. He wouldn't. There is no option.

I glanced at Shane, who was staring down the road, not very eager to talk. Did he know? And if he did, why didn't he say anything? No, he didn't know, come on, it was just a short kiss in a not too crowded corridor. He didn't know.

"Shane?" I asked, trying to sound cute and innocent.

"Hm?"

He wasn't looking at me, still half lost in his thoughts. I shifted in the leather seat I was taking and cleared my throat.

"Err... what's up?"

"Ok," he muttered, then glanced at me and added after a moment. "Sorry for Marge. She's such, you know, drama queen."

"I would be too if I were in her place," I shrugged and chuckled nervously.

Shane didn't laugh.

"Yeah, look, you won't be in her place, ever," he shot me a look again to emphasize his words.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Probably not," I agreed slowly. "I doubt I'd ever do something like that in school... But, you know, I could... I could do other stuff."

"Other stuff?" Shane muttered indifferently as if no other stuff existed.

"Yeah. For example... What if I were... hypothetically, kissing, for example?" I asked, playing with my fingers and wondering if I was brave or just stupid to bring it up.

One thing I knew for sure, something that I had just learned at various levels - my interactions with my brothers so far left a lot to be desired and created a lot of trouble for me. Maybe it's time to try something new. Honesty, for example. Of course, a controlled one. I can't tell everyone at once, and not everything at once. But Shane seemed like the right brother to explore what I'm standing on.

He rolled his eyes.

"Well, I'd hypothetically black this guy's eye, why are you asking?"

I sighed impatiently. Still the same.

"What if you hypothetically tried to give it up and let me live my life?"

He paused for a moment as if considering what I'd said.

"It's a rather stupid idea."

"Shane!" I groaned.

This time he laughed.

"What, little girl?"

"Don't you think it's not fair that you can do THESE things in the school's locker room and not suffer any consequences, and I can't even think about kissing someone?" I complained, folding my arms over my chest.

Shane thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"Well, no."

"Incredible," I grounded through gritted teeth, shaking my head to myself and looking sideways at the dense forest crossed by the well-known road to our home.

"Hey, don't get offended. That's just the way it is, you're my little sister. It's normal that I don't want to see you with any guys, especially at this age when I know they are dumb and mean," he explained gently.

I took a deep breath.

"Shane, I like you and you take a really high position in my ranking of brothers, but, sorry to say it, you're talking nonsense. Being my big brother doesn't oblige you to beat every boy I like."

"All right, all right," he sighed, raising one hand to blindly ruffle my hair. I shook it off before he made me look as if I had a nest on my head. Then he glanced at me again, an amused smile wandering across his lips. "Why are we even talking about this, huh? Is it because of Marge?"

"No. We're talking about it because I was kissing in school today and wanted to know if anyone had told you about it."

Shane immediately looked at me, alarmed, forgetting for a moment that he was the driver and it'd be appropriate to focus on the road. Fortunately, it was straight and empty.

"What?" He gasped, probably waiting for me to burst out laughing or something. Maybe the sentence I uttered actually sounded like an attempt to be sarcastic.

"So nobody told you," I muttered to myself, nodding my head.

Shane kept glancing at me every now and then but was quiet. We rode in silence, which I didn't even try to break, although I was frantically looking for some way out of this situation. I have to say something. I can't leave this conversation like this, because it's about to explode as soon as we get home, I'm sure!

It turned out that Shane was just waiting for the opportunity to pull out to stop at the side of the road. As soon as the car's wheels stopped moving, he turned towards me as much as the small space in the sports car would allow.

"Now tell me who's so stupid to kiss you?" he demanded, looking at me expectantly. Shane was usually the one brother who was laid-back, and I felt that I had good contact with him, but at the same time he was also one of the Monet brothers, and the name sometimes obligated him to be the overprotective idiot I was getting a sample of right now. His blue eyes, highlighted by a thick fan of long black lashes, stared intently at me. It was hard for me to take them when they were so serious, so I looked down at his black sweatshirt and thought of how much I wanted to wear it. Huh, a strange thought for the situation I was in, but I think I remembered how much comfort his red sweatshirt gave me after an argument with Vincent...

"I can't tell you who," I finally mumbled.

"Nah ah, Hailie, tell me everything I want to know now, or..."

"Or what?" I grunted, irritated.

Shane smirked and reached for his phone.

"Or I'm calling Dylan."

Oh no. It wasn't supposed to be this way. But okay, calm down, you're cool. Don't be intimidated, Hailie. It's just Shane, you'll get along.

I shrugged, planning to feign indifference when Shane unceremoniously pressed the green button next to the name of the most impetuous of my brothers. My eyes widened in no time and panic spread across my face.

"No!" I called softly, but before I could free myself from the seat belts two beeps passed and Dylan's careless "Hello" sounded on the phone. I climbed onto Shane's seat almost completely, almost laying on top of him and clenching my fists on that black sweatshirt of his, while he glared at me defiantly, holding the phone up against the ceiling of the car.

"Sup, Dyl, all goodie?" Shane asked friendly, putting the microphone closer to his mouth while still staring at me.

I shook my head, pleading with every cell of my body to keep him from talking. Man, that's not how it was supposed to go! I guess I should've thought it through better.

"You're bothering me," Dylan's voice grunted in the receiver. Ah, I can see he was in a great mood on top of that.

"Please," I whispered, almost inaudibly, only moving my lips. The gearbox was digging into my stomach and I was very uncomfortable, I had to look at least comical.

"Okay, fuck it then, see ya," Shane muttered into the phone, and hung up, lowering it.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I closed my eyes and rested my head against Shane's torso, which began to vibrate from his soft but diabolical laughter.

"Oh, did you hear him? I don't think he's in the mood. Better not to annoy him today, huh, little sis?"

I let out an inarticulate groan that was muffled by the fabric of his sweatshirt.

"So how will it be? Will you choose the easy way?"

Not hiding my dissatisfaction, I got of Shane, backing to my seat and rubbing my stomach where the gearbox pressed against it. For a moment I glared at my brother.

"Just don't tell anyone, okay? Please. Please promise me you won't."

"Well, it depends if..."

"No, Shane, tell me you won't talk," I asked, pleading, yet in a firm voice, looking at him intensely.

Shane held my gaze long enough until he finally gave up.

"Fine."

"Leo Hardy," I said almost immediately.

I saw Shane's eyebrow frown for the second it took to remember why that name sounded familiar to him. Then he narrowed his eyes and snorted, but in such a quizzical way.

"Are you fucking serious?"

I was sitting in an uncomfortable position in my seat, twisting my torso so that my whole body showed Shane how much I was begging him. I even folded my hands, kind of like for prayer.

"It was just a kiss and it was so sudden. I swear. Please let me sort this out myself."

Shane looked to the side and shook his head. He was a bit too tensed as for my taste.

"Hailie, you can't just tell me something like this and expect me to be quiet."

"Well, the point is, I can. I'm only telling you about it because I know that if you found out yourself, you'd probably do something idiotic."

Shane took a deep breath, then looked at me doubtfully.

"That boy got you in trouble once before. His brother owes us a lot of money. His family must hate us. Do you think he suddenly got so selflessly interested in you?" He shook his head again. "I don't know, Hailie, that sounds suspicious. What if he just wants to use you? What if he's driven by revenge and wants to hurt you? What if he figured out that by making you fall in love with him, Vince would finally absolve his family from their debt?"

I hid my face in my hands, sighing heavily, then dropped them down, processing his words.

"I know, Shane, you think I don't know? I know," I groaned. "I won't let him use me anymore. That's true, I don't know his intentions, but it doesn't matter because I'm not going to see him. It was just one kiss, very spontaneous. I guess we both just got carried away by the moment. In fact, I'm a little angry with him and don't feel like talking to him anymore," I explained, hoping I wasn't sounding too chaotic.

Shane was silent for a moment, then he leaned over to me and reached out with one hand to wrap my small back. He pressed me against his chest, which gave me a lot of pleasure. I loved such unexpected hugs.

"I don't want you to cry over him," he said softly, and I smiled. Oh, Shane.

"I won't," I promised.

We stayed in such a loose, lovely embrace for a short while, until Shane finally cleared his throat and removed his hand, sitting up straight.

"All right, it's over. We're going home."

I nodded, at last leaning back comfortably in my seat, and was about to relax as a new thought sprouted in my head and I hesitantly glanced again at my brother who had already started the engine and was back on the road.

"Shane, what if Tony finds out from someone?"

I saw the corner of his mouth go up in that wicked smile again.

"Then you're screwed."

This wasn't the answer I was exactly expecting.

"But will you stand up for me? Just in case?" I asked eagerly.

Shane looked at me as if I was possessed by a demon.

"Are you kidding? Tony would tell Dylan right away, he'd make a fuss and Vince would find out about everything too... There's no way I'd admit to them that I knew about the whole thing before," he protested, raising his eyebrows and shaking his head as if to emphasize his words. "I'm not telling anyone yet, but that's it. You have to deal with it yourself, little girl. And you should know that the ice you're walking on is very, very thin."

I shrank. He was right. As soon as Tony found out about my kiss, he'd start a war right away, and then settle back with the popcorn and watch Dylan and Vincent killing me.

What more could I do than to hope that my kiss went unnoticed?

As we parked in the garage, I unfastened my seat belt and yanked on the door handle to get out, but the door was locked. I turned to Shane to give him an impatient look as I met his eyes, one with one eyebrow raised.

"Not so fast," he muttered to me ominously. "You have one more thing to explain to me."

"Huh?" I frowned.

"What's with this ranking of brothers?"

I stared at him in surprise and opened my mouth because I never expected that he'd remember it. Until I finally couldn't stand his pseudo-serious look and just burst out laughing.

I laughed like that for a long moment, until I finally had to rub my eyes because of my tears that welled up.

"Seriously, Shane, let me out," I said, trying to be serious.

"What does that mean I'm in a "high" position. Then who is on the highest?" he continued.

I gave him a wry look, lowering my hand back to the locked doorknob.

"Will," I replied without hesitating as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Will, huh? And then?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"Usually you."

"Usually?"

"The ranking keeps changing depending on how you all treat me," I shrugged.

Shane stared at me for a moment, then snorted and shook his head, lazily pressing the button to unlock the door. As soon as the lock clicked, I ran away from him, only grinning at him for a goodbye, and heard him mutter something to himself that I didn't understand.