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lashes.
    At nine, I crept out of my room, past my parent’s bedroom door, and snuck down the stairs. My heart was beating so hard. All I could think about was my dad catching me. I wasn’t sure what he’d do if he caught me sneaking out, but I knew it wouldn’t be good.
    Opening the front door, I slipped out and quietly shut the door behind me. Once I was free, I leapt down the steps and ran. I didn’t have a car, and while I wasn’t above sneaking out, taking my parent’s car wasn’t something I could bring myself to do.
    The school was only a mile away, and I knew I could get there before ten. I jogged, my shoes smacking on the highway in a steady rhythm. I wasn’t an athletic girl, and already tiny drips of sweat worked their way down my back.
    Attractive, not so much.
    Next time I’d be sure to make arrangements to have Lynn out front waiting on me.
    Next time?
    Was there even going to be a next time?
    I got to the school with five minutes to spare. Opening my purse, I pulled out my tiny mirror and checked to make sure I wasn’t a hot, sweaty mess. Once I gave myself a once over, I sat on the steps of the school in the pitch black and waited for Blaine.
    When ten o’clock came, Blaine didn’t. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but it was hard not to. I sat around feeling like a total idiot until eleven. By then my legs were cold and the darkness around me had gotten way too thick. Standing, I brushed off my bottom, and started the trek back home.
    I should’ve known better.
    I was a total fool, and the worst part was I knew. I knew I was a joke to him. He was being too playful—too sweet. I bet he was somewhere with his friends getting a good laugh at me. The girl he stood up. The girl who snuck out for him. The girl who sat and waited for him in the cold for an hour.
    It was funny. Even I had a little chuckle to myself just thinking about how funny it was.
    It was damn hilarious that I’d let my guard down even once. That I’d spent one night not thinking about school and everything that needed to be done before I went off to college.
    Never again.
    It was a lapse in judgment that would never happen again. I’d learned my lesson. I wasn’t that girl. Maybe once I was done with school and taking care of patients, I’d take some time out to be that girl. But until then, boys were off my list.
    Hurt and anger burned my eyes, but over my dead body would I let some stupid jerk make me cry.  He wasn’t worth it. Who cared if he was tall and beautiful? Who cared if his skin was the color of caramel, and I freaking loved caramel?
    Not me.
    Nope. I didn’t care.
    He wasn’t worth it.
    I walked twenty feet before I realized I forgot my purse on the steps. I chewed on the inside of my lip. I was tempted to leave it there, when I remembered my ID and the twenty dollar bill I shoved in there before I left the house.
    I speed walked back to the steps, stopping and looking behind me when I heard something off in the distance. I couldn’t see anything or anyone, but that didn’t make me feel better. Turning back around, I took off toward my purse once more, and ran face first into something hard. I held on for dear life, praying I wasn’t about to be murdered.
    My fingers dug into firm, warm flesh, and on impulse, I squeezed. My eyes easily found his in the dark, and his expression was all it took to melt everything I was feeling. The anger and hurt didn’t seem to matter because he was there now.
    My inner self called me an idiot. After all, he left me sitting on the steps of the school in the dark alone for over an hour. I found it strange that he appeared as soon as I left. I hadn’t wanted to believe I was a joke to him, but obviously I was.
    I backed away from him like he suddenly turned into a snake—a snake that was promising me the most delicious kind of sin with just one bite from his forbidden apple. My eyes moved over his dark form, before landing on my purse in his hand. I glared at him and