The weather was nice for a weekend in late winter. Perfect for the annual carnival that the public high schools in town put on as a combined fundraiser. The air smelled like fried foods and cotton candy. Families and groups of teenagers wandered around, playing games run by cheerleaders and throwing baseballs to send the meanest teachers splashing into the dunking booth.

"I can't believe I agreed to this," Lou muttered.

She stood beside her best friend. She was glaring up at the sign she had painted earlier in the week. Kissing Booth was written in big letters with neatly painted hearts all around it. There was a sloppier dollar sign and number three that Xander had painted on in the corner.

"Come on, Lou. It'll be fun!" Xander exclaimed.

Lou gave him a side-eyed glance and muttered, "I doubt it."

As student council vice president, she had volunteered to build and decorate the booth, but she hadn't planned on signing up for a shift to run it. But Xander was the council historian and when names were being taken for shifts at the meeting, he had volunteered them both.

"It was fun for me," Xander said with a grin. He was wearing a Kiss Me I'm Irish hoodie.

"I'm sure it was," Lou said, rolling her eyes.

Each shift was one hour. Fifteen minutes into Xander's shift, he had already kissed more teenage girls than Lou thought was possible and the line was still growing. She had managed the steady groups of customers until the last ten minutes. During those final minutes, she had left for a bathroom break and to consider hiding out in her truck until her upcoming shift was over. When she had gotten back, his shift had ended and the line had cleared.

"At three bucks a kiss, I'm sure we've made more than enough to meet our booth's fundraising goal," Lou said. "And I'm pretty sure everyone here has already come by to kiss you, so we could probably pack it up."

Xander sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. He said, "Almost everyone. There's one girl I saw walk by earlier. I was sure she was coming over, Lou. But then she just smiled at me and walked away."

"Bummer," Lou said sarcastically. "Don't look like such a sad puppy, Xander. It's not like you didn't get a kiss from every attractive person we know from our school plus some people from other schools."

"This was different," he said. His eyes searched the crowd of people walking by in the distance, holding prizes from carnival games and sticks of greasy food. "She was like... the most beautiful person I'd ever seen."

"I guess I missed a lot in ten minutes," Lou replied as she pulled her hair into a ponytail.

Xander scratched the back of his neck and said, "Which is why I hope you don't mind if I go look for her?"

"What," Lou said exasperated, dropping her arms by her sides. "No way! I need you here to fend off chili dog breath and those jerks from the soccer team."

She couldn't stand half the guys on the boys' soccer team. Most of them were jerks that gave her trouble for being one of the only girls on the football team and the rest of them were annoying.

"I've seen you bench press your bodyweight, Lou. You don't need my help telling those guys to get lost," Xander said. But he walked around to the other side of the booth and sat down on one of the stools. "I've got your back, though. I'll stay."

Lou trudged over to his side and plopped down on the stool next to him. She knew he would stay for her. But she knew he was right, too. She could easily shut down any unwanted attention.

"Not if you're going to look all sad. Go, go. Find your mystery girl." She shooed him away from the stool.

"Are you sure?" he asked as he stood. "Cause I'll totally stay."

"I can't let you miss out on the 'most beautiful person you've ever seen'," Lou said with emphasis. "Dude, go. It's fine."

"Thanks!" He ran over to the other side of the booth. "I'll be back in an hour when your shift's over. Promise. I'll even text Evan to make sure he's here on time to take over the booth."

"Yeah, yeah, Romeo."

He yanked off his hoodie and tossed it across the counter to her. "Wear it for good luck," he said.

"I'll wear it cause I'm cold," Lou said with a raised eyebrow.

Xander gave her a thumbs up and then ran off to find his mystery girl. Lou tugged on the hoodie and sighed. She looked ahead to the rest of the carnival. The booth was set a little way back from the main walkway, which she hoped would help her keep customers to a minimum.

The first five minutes of her shift went by mind numbingly slow. No customers approached the booth. She took out her phone and scrolled through some cute pictures of farm animals.

"Hi, there. Excuse me," a friendly female voice spoke up. "I'm looking for a super cute guy who was here earlier."

Lou looked up from her phone to see two people standing at the counter.

The speaker looked down at the hoodie Lou was wearing and frowned. "Oh, you must be his girlfriend," she said in a sad tone.

"What?" Lou looked down and shook her head. "No! I mean, this is his hoodie, but I'm just borrowing it for the kissing booth." She pointed up at the sign above the booth.

Lou blinked. The person who had been speaking was gorgeous. She looked like wealth and beauty had a baby and then that baby grew up, married sunshine, and this was the person created.

"You must be the mystery girl," Lou said in slight awe.

"Mystery girl? No, I'm Emma," she replied.

"My friend, Xander, the guy you saw here earlier. He said a really beautiful girl walked by earlier but didn't come over to the booth. I'm his best friend, Lou. He's looking for you," Lou explained.

"He is," Emma sighed dreamily and leaned on the counter. "I told you, Ravi. He and I are meant to be."

Lou held up her finger and typed away on her phone. She said, "Just a sec. Let me see where..." Her phone dinged with a reply. "He's by the corn dog stand!"

"I know where that is!" Emma bounced on her toes.

"I'll tell him you'll meet him there!" Lou replied with a huge smile. Emma's excitement was contagious and Lou was naturally a joyful person.

"Ah! You're the best!" Emma said to Lou. She turned to the guy by her side and said, "I'll be right back, Ravi."

"You're just going to ditch me?" he said in disbelief.

She was already skipping away as she called over her shoulder to him, "I'll be right back!"

Pure happiness was what Lou felt as she stared off in the direction that Emma had run off to. Finding Xander's mystery girl had been the most exciting thing to happen to her all day. It made her forget how irritated she had been earlier.

"Great," she heard the guy Emma had left behind mutter.

She watched him let the giant bear he had been holding drop to his side. Lou didn't recognize Emma or the guy from around her side of town, so she knew they couldn't have been from another public high school in the area. Emma kept calling the guy Ravi. Lou thought that was a nice name.

"My friend bailed on me too," Lou said.

"Oh," Ravi said as if he was surprised she was talking to him. "Yeah, that's my sister, Emma. I'm Ravi."

Lou checked him out. He wasn't overwhelmingly gorgeous like his sister, oozing wealth, beauty, and sunshine. But he was good-looking. So much so that it made her aware again that she was still running the kissing booth. She felt her face heat up.

Ravi glanced at her hoodie and said, "Happy St. Patrick's Day, Lou."

She gasped and she didn't know why. She asked, "How did you know my name?"

"You said it like a minute ago to my sister."

"Right!" She tugged on the hem of the hoodie. She said, "Well, I'm not actually Irish. It's my friend's hoodie."

"Oh, so no good luck from you," Ravi said with a strained laugh at his weak joke.

"Huh?"

"Your friend's hoodie. That saying. Kissing you would be good luck cause you're Irish. Or cause your hoodie says the person wearing it is Irish, so kissing that person would be... good luck or something. I don't know."

"Oh, okay," Lou said with a sharp nod, though she had no idea what he was talking about.

There was a loud cheer from somewhere in the distance. Lou figured it was most likely someone getting dunked in the water tank. She could smell funnel cake batter from the booth not too far down the main walkway. She hadn't eaten anything, yet. Her stomach gurgled and then sounded off a loud, mortifying growl.

Ravi's eyebrows shot up and he looked at her.

"Don't judge me. I haven't eaten, yet," Lou said in a good-natured tone, trying to hide her embarrassment.

Ravi laughed. "I've heard. Your tummy was pretty clear with its message," he said. He lifted up the giant bear. "I'd offer you this, but I don't know how tasty synthetic fur and fibers are as a meal option."

"It's probably better for me than the fried bacon-wrapped corn dog dipped in chocolate that I was eyeing earlier," Lou joked.

He laughed and it made her smile. Her smile disappeared however when she saw five guys approaching behind him. Her mood soured again as the captain of the soccer team, Eric, marched up to the booth, munching on a chili dog. Some diced raw onion and chili splattered onto the ground from the messy hot dog. Lou grimaced. Ravi stepped to the side to clear the way to the counter, dragging the giant teddy bear with him.

Eric handed the remains of his chili dog to one of the soccer players, who munched on the greasy carnival food. He slapped three bucks on the counter, pulled his fingers through his stylish hair, and made it obvious that he was checking her out. He said, "Sup, Lou. Pucker up."

He obnoxiously leaned forward over the counter with his lips puckered. Lou shoved him away, not using all of her strength but getting the point across.

"Not uh," she said sternly. "You can kiss me on the cheek." She turned her head slightly and tapped her cheek. "If you must," she gagged.

Ravi snickered behind his hand, but no one noticed.

"That's a rip off!" Eric complained.

"Too bad," Lou said with a shrug.

She really wasn't in the mood to deal with Eric's crap. Most days he would take the hint that she couldn't stand him and leave her alone. But other days he would persist until she reminded him that she had access to dangerous tools from her woodshop class. He had an audience of four other soccer players today, so she knew he'd be a bigger idiot than usual if she didn't get rid of him quickly.

"My boyfriend doesn't want me kissing random guys, so either take what you're offered or hit the road," she said nonchalantly.

Eric hopped up to sit on the edge of the counter. He tilted his head to the side and gave her a skeptical look. "Come on, Lou. I know everyone at our school. You ain't got a man," he said.

The soccer players mumbled in agreement and chuckled. Lou kept her face neutral, but inside she was panicking. Of course, everyone knew everyone else at their small high school. The whole point of the annual winter carnival was to combine the resources of the public high schools in the part of town where district funds were tight.

"He doesn't go to our school, obviously," Lou lied. "Point is, my kisses are for my boyfriend. So, are you going to put your greasy hot dog breath on my cheek or not?" she asked and tapped her cheek again.

Eric sucked his teeth and said, "Are you serious? You're just gonna lie to me like that?"

Lou hated lying but she also hated the idea of Eric's mouth on hers. There was still dried chili in the corner of his lips. She glanced over at Ravi. He had been there during the entire conversation. She watched him prop the giant teddy bear against the edge of the booth. She smiled, crossed her arms, and leaned forward to speak loudly to him.

"Sugar biscuit, please tell the circus clown that you're my boyfriend."

Ravi blinked. "Uh," he said, completely caught off guard.

Lou watched all five athletic guys turn their attention toward Ravi. He was much smaller than them, but he didn't look intimidated. He mostly looked confused. Lou hoped the other guys didn't notice.

"Dang, I didn't even notice that dude," one of the players said.

"Me either," replied another.

Eric slid off the counter and stepped up to Ravi, whose height barely reached the soccer captain's armpit. Eric asked in a gruff tone, "What school do you go to?"

Ravi lifted his head high and looked Eric directly in the eye. He answered, "William Prep."

Now Lou understood why she'd never seen Ravi or Emma around.

"Whoa, Will Prep? Money," said one of the soccer players. He high-fived another player and they chuckled.

"There you have it," Lou said to Eric. "He's my rich boyfriend that doesn't want you slobbering all over his girlfriend."

All of his friends oh'd and chuckled, which Lou took as a clear sign that Eric had lost and would have no choice but to buzz off.

"Whatever," Eric sneered. He swiped his money off the counter, but one of the other players snatched it from his hand and slapped it back on the counter.

"One cheek kiss, please," the soccer player said enthusiastically.

Lou rolled her eyes and leaned forward. He was one of the less annoying members of the team. She let the guy give her a quick kiss on the cheek and was grateful that he didn't smell like onions.

"Really, Jamie?" Eric said in an annoyed tone.

"I don't care. You had your chance," Jamie replied with sass.

She sighed in relief as the team walked back to the carnival.

"Oh, thank goodness," Lou said, throwing her head back for a moment. "I thought they'd never leave."

"I thought I'd pass out. Does that guy not wear deodorant?" Ravi asked as he waved his hand in front of his nose.

Lou snapped her head forward. She fiddled with the strings of the hoodie she was wearing as she said, "Sorry about that."

"No problem. That guy seemed like a real jerk," he replied. "I assume he goes to your school."

"Ugh, don't remind me."

Ravi looked down at the grass as he said, "I'm surprised you needed my assistance, though. I can't believe you don't have a boyfriend."

Lou's face heated up and she reached to tuck her hair behind her ear out of habit. It was still in a messy ponytail. She folded her hands on the counter and shrugged when he looked back up at her.

"Do you want one of those bacon wrapped corn dog things you mentioned?" He asked, pointing his thumb behind him. "I could go get you one."

Her stomach didn't growl because it was full of butterflies. She almost nodded yes but she saw two other idiots from her school heading their way.

"Actually, I've got some more unwanted customers," she said blandly. She had an idea that made her smirk. "Could you be my fake boyfriend for the next," she glanced at the time on her phone, "forty minutes?"

His eyes lit up and he nodded enthusiastically. She motioned for him to step around to the side of the booth she was on and sit on the stool beside her. He sat down in time for Branson and his twin brother to walk up to the booth.

Branson opened his tattered wallet and said to Lou, "What do I get for twenty bucks?"

Ravi narrowed his eyes at the brawny guy and scoffed. Lou looked unbothered.

"A punch in the face from me and a laugh in the face from my boyfriend," she said, her voice was sweet and threatening.

Branson raised his eyebrow at Ravi. He chuckled lowly and said, "This twelve-year-old shrimp's your boyfriend?"

"I'm sixteen," Ravi said in offense. "Now, will you be taking that punch in the face or will you be leaving my girlfriend alone?"

Lou linked her arm with Ravi's and leaned into his shoulder. She smirked at Branson.

"You'll date this guy, but not me? Come on, Lou," Branson said in disbelief. He turned to his brother and added, "That's why I like old-fashioned chicks. They don't go for these lame city boy types."

"Leave 'em alone," his twin said in a bored tone. "Let's just go, Branson. I want cotton candy."

Branson tucked his wallet in his back pocket and glared at Ravi. "I hope you know she plans on going to college," he said like it was a bad thing. Then he and his brother walked back to the carnival.

"What was that?" Ravi asked as he carefully turned his head to look at Lou, who was still leaning into him with her arm linked in his.

"That was the worst. I actually dated him for like a week back when I was a sophomore. He really thinks girls are only good for cooking and raising kids. But he's the one that's never picked up a book a day in his life."

"Sounds like you made the right choice to break up with him."

Lou realized she was still clinging to the guy she'd just met. She smiled and let go. She said, "Looks like we got rid of another jerk by you pretending to be my boyfriend. I should've dated you years ago."

"I'm available," he said and she couldn't tell if he was serious or not.

They both laughed. Lou hoped they'd seen the last of the shady guys at her school. Thirty-five more minutes went by and Lou didn't have to kiss a single person. People who had started to approach the booth would change their minds when they saw how excitedly Lou and Ravi were talking with each other.

"Only five more minutes until my shift is over," Lou said happily as she looked up from her phone. She frowned when she saw a guy walking up to the booth from the corner of her eye. It was her last ex-boyfriend, Noah.

"Hey, Lou," Noah greeted her with a smoldering look.

"What do you want, Noah?" Lou asked in an irritated tone.

"You," he replied.

Ravi gave Lou a questioning look, but she was glaring at Noah.

"Let's see. You want me now? What's wrong? Can't find someone at the community college to do your homework for you?" She said in a biting tone. "We broke up six months ago. Move on."

"Well said," Ravi said with a nod.

Noah scrunched his nose and said to Ravi, "Who are you?"

"I'm her boyfriend. Bye now."

Lou couldn't stop her grin. She was so into the attitude in Ravi's voice that she had to remind herself that he was a stranger and not her actual boyfriend.

Noah took two dollars out of the pocket of his flannel shirt and put them on the counter. He pointed up at the sign, Kissing Booth.

"You're really going to point at the sign like I have to kiss you and you don't even have three dollars," Lou said incredulously.

He scratched his beard in a way that made him look rugged. He said, "I was hoping you'd give us another chance... and spot me a dollar."

Ravi couldn't help but burst out in laughter at the ridiculousness of it all. Lou chuckled too and it made her feel as happy as she had been earlier when she helped Xander and Emma find each other.

"I don't usually say things like this," Ravi started as he wiped a tear of laughter from the corner of his eye, "But you should probably hit the road, jack. You've embarrassed yourself enough. And Lou's obviously too good for you."

Noah folded his lips and grabbed his money off the counter. He turned on his heels and stomped away in defeat.

"You are the best fake boyfriend ever!" Lou cheered. She wrapped her arms around him. She giggled as they hugged.

"Wow, that's a compliment I never thought I'd get," he laughed as she let go of him. "I'm glad I could help. I had fun."

"Me too," Lou smiled. She scrunched her nose at the cash box and said, "I only raised three