Sweet as Honey by Jennifer Beckstrand

Mary said.
    Lily took a bite of one of the doughnuts as she and Paul walked away. Pleasantly warm and deliciously sweet. “Mmm,” she sighed.
    Paul eyed her resentfully. “How can you learn to be humble if people like James Yutzy think you’re pretty? He shouldn’t be looking, and you shouldn’t encourage him.”
    Lily felt herself blush. “James is only sixteen. It’s kind of cute. I’m flattered.”
    The frown turned into a scowl. “Of all the stuff, Lily. Flattery is the seed of vanity, and you, of all girls, have to fight the temptation, especially considering what you used to look like.”
    The bite of doughnut nearly stuck in her throat.
    What she used to look like.
    She had been a hesslich, ugly teenager. Paul had looked past the glasses and the pimples and seen her heart. Now that her teeth were straight and her skin was smooth, she understood why he constantly admonished her about humility. Mary’s compliment had sent warmth tingling all the way to her toes. Why had she have let such talk tempt her?
    Paul looked on the heart, just like Gotte did. She’d never deserve someone so deeply good.
    She lost her appetite for those doughnuts. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have let them tempt me. I’m still so weak yet.”
    â€œI forgive you, Lily. It’s not your fault that your aunt pushed you to get the braces and then the contacts.”
    â€œThe contacts are better for my eyesight,” she said, immediately regretting it. It sounded like she was trying to justify her sin.
    â€œI hoped the glasses might help, but people see right past them.”
    Lily heard someone call behind her. “Well, if it isn’t Coke Bottle!”
    She turned and nearly groaned out loud. The last thing she needed was an encounter with Dan Kanagy while out with Paul Glick. And why wouldn’t he quit teasing her about her glasses? Paul liked them. Dan turned them into a joke.
    Paul stiffened beside her as if someone had rammed a pole down the length of his spine. There was probably no one Paul hated more than Dan. His dislike stemmed from the fact that Dan had been so mean to Lily in school. It pleased her that Paul was ever the loyal friend.
    Dan’s smile was as wide as Shawano Lake as he jogged to catch up to them. He carried a plastic shopping bag in one hand, which he held out to show her. His grin dimmed briefly as he gave Paul a furtive glance, but it came back with full force within seconds. “This is perfect timing. I just bought this for you.”
    Her heart fluttered. She felt torn between being charmed that Dan the Mean Boy had bought her yet another gift and sheer panic that Paul would find out about the whole reading-together thing.
    â€œHullo, Dan,” Paul said, his tone a taut wire of resentment.
    â€œ Gute maiya, Paul,” Dan said, without even looking at him. He kept grinning at Lily. “That dress brings out the green in your eyes. They’re so pretty, like looking into a lake.”
    Paul took a step closer to Lily so his sleeve touched hers. “Lily doesn’t care to be called ‘pretty.’”
    Well, she shouldn’t care to be called pretty.
    Ach. She attempted to ignore the thrill of pleasure that traveled up her spine. Pure vanity; that’s what it was.
    â€œIt’s too bad she is pretty then,” Dan said cheerfully, but almost daring Paul to contradict him. “She’s going to hear it a lot.” He gave up on the subject of Lily’s appearance and jiggled his plastic bag. “Can I show you the gift I bought you?”
    Lily glanced down at the half-eaten doughnut in one hand and the untouched doughnut in the other. Whatever the gift, she wouldn’t be able to hold it.
    She hadn’t thought it possible to hold her breath and speak at the same time. “Do you want one?” she said. It was rude to hog all the doughnuts for herself.
    Every time she thought