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way, and I appreciated that about her.
    “Put me out of my misery, sweet girl.” I covered my heart as if it hurt. “Let me take you out.”
    Her lips twitched with a tiny smile, and I knew I had her. She sighed as if she was aggravated, and looked up at the sky in contemplation.
    “Fine.”
    And just like that, my day went from eh to fucking awesome.
    “Fine?” I had to make sure we were both on the same page.
    “Fine. I’ll go out with you. But just once. After that you never make me late again, deal?”
    My smile hurt my cheeks.
    “Deal. I’ll pick you up Friday at seven.”
    “No!” The word burst from her lips a little too loudly. “I mean, I’ll meet you somewhere.”
    My high died just that quickly. She wanted to hide me. Maybe I was wrong about her. Maybe she was just like the rest of them. I was good enough to take a ride on, but never good enough to be welcomed into their world.
    I must’ve made a face because she reached out and touched my arm. The warmth from her fingers made my skin tingle. I looked down at her small hand, her unpolished fingernails, and then looked back up her, confused.
    “My father doesn’t let me go anywhere,” she clarified. “No way would he be okay with me dating. I have to sneak out.”
    She was being honest. I could see it in her eyes.
    My mood lightened again and I smiled. “Sneaking out, sweet girl? That’s kind of hot.” Her face dropped and I laughed. “Fine. Meet me here at ten. Is that late enough?”
    She nodded. “I can do that.”
    I walked backward as I moved away from her, my eyes devouring her and making her blush harder.
    “I’ll see you then, Little Doe.”
    And then I went into the school feeling as if I’d just won the lottery.
     
     

 
    5
    CHELSEY
     
     
    “NOT A WORD,” I said to Lynn as I watched Blaine walk away from us.
    I could feel her knowing grin against the side of my face. I’d given into him, not because he promised to never make me late again, but because I wanted to. I’d deny that until the day I took my last breath, but it was hard to say no to him when he was being so sweet and playful. Especially when the idea of being alone with him made me excited and nervous all at the same time.
    “Not a peep,” she said, throwing her palms up and laughing.
    I’d never been on a date before. Hell, I’d only ever been kissed once and that was by him. I knew in my gut that going out with him was a bad idea, but I was so drawn to him—the danger of him—the forbidden aspects. It wasn’t that I was bored with my life. I wasn’t. In fact, I was so busy with school and extracurricular activities I didn’t have time to be bored. But the excitement of him was addictive. I couldn’t deny that.
    I didn’t see Blaine again for the rest of the day. I figured he’d blown off school since he seemed to do that a lot. He was the regular bad boy through and through. He missed school, had what I was sure were bad grades, and I was positive he did drugs. All things that should’ve pushed me away, but didn’t. I was on a downward spiral, and I was enjoying the ride entirely too much.
    Over the next few days I put our date on the back burner and focused on school. I had a major project due in one class, and a five page paper due in English. On top of all that, I had a trip to Columbia University coming up soon that my mom arranged for me.
    Needless to say, Friday crept up fast. I found myself sitting in my room watching the clock beside my bed change time. The red, digital numbers winked at me, taunting me with its never-ending minutes. I gripped my fingers together, my palms sweating, as I thought about spending a night out with Blaine.
    What if he tried to kiss me again?
    I think I liked the idea of being kissed by him again. Still, I was freaking out.
    I’d taken my time to quietly get ready in my room. I wore a skirt instead of my jeans, as I’d promised Lynn, and lip-gloss on my lips. I’d even ran a tiny bit of mascara over my