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    “Thirteen-thirteen Massacre Lane,” Luke said with some amusement as he waited for me to unlock the door. “Wow. How do you feel about this?”
    “Not much I can do until college. Then I just won’t live here anymore!” I struggled to get my key out of the depths of my book bag.
    When I finally opened the door, we stepped in. Dad was on the couch in brown sweats, his nose in a new Writer’s Digest , his hand independently scribbling notes on paper. “Hi, Adonia,” he said without looking. “How was school?”
    “Okay.”
    “Mom called,” Dad said, still reading. “She’ll be back for a week next week. And I’ve been asked by the University of Arizona to be a guest speaker for four days later this month. They’re paying big bucks!” He dropped his pen and rubbed his thumb and index finger together in the air. Then he looked up, stunned to see a guy with me. “Oh.” He got up and paced toward us, his hand out for Luke to shake. “And who’s this?”
    “This is Luke. Remember, Dad, I told you about him?”
    “Of course,” Dad said, still shaking Luke’s hand.
    “Nice to meet you, sir,” Luke said.
    “Luke’s good at math, so I asked him to help me with my homework.”
    Dad looked perplexed. “Why didn’t you tell me you need help with math? I would’ve helped you myself.”
    “Daaaad…” I moaned.
    “Well, anyway. That sure is nice of you, Luke.” After looking Luke over for a minute, Dad said, “You know what, why don’t you two work in the kitchen? Best room in the house!”
    I rolled my eyes. The man clearly suffers from extreme paranoia.
    Dad told us to holler if we needed anything. And I walked Luke to the kitchen table.
    Luke sat beside me at the table. “Big house,” he breathed, looking around.
    I smiled nervously. I didn’t know what to do about not having any homework. I’d even hoped during math that Mr. Michaels would give us some, but he didn’t. He was too busy lecturing when the bell rang and he had no time.
    I couldn’t come up with an excuse by the time Luke asked what I had to do. “On second thought, he didn’t assign any.”
    He laughed. “Okay…” He looked around for a minute. Then he asked in a low, sexy voice, “So what do you want to do?”
    “I just wanna hang out, actually. Maybe in a while we can leave?”
    “Sure, that would be sweet.”
    “So, what did Jake say after lunch?” I pressed.
    “He didn’t say much.” After some silence he added, “You don’t believe that, though.”
    I shook my head no.
    He took off his coat and spread it across the back of the seat, revealing godlike arms, and a stunning chest. Then he smiled, like wondering what I was blushing at. Surely he had to know he’s hot!
    “He really didn’t say anything worth mentioning. I think he’s just pissed he lost you.”
    “Should I mention that Jake dumped me ?” I blurted.
    Luke looked dubious. “What guy would dump you? ”
    “One that hounds me, and gets sick of rejection.”
    “Oh,” Luke breathed. “Well if he doesn’t respect you enough not to pester you, he doesn’t have your best interests at heart.”
    And there it is—the sweetest thing I’d heard all day.
    Just then, Jake and Sullivan entered the kitchen and raided the fridge. Once they were done, they opened their sodas, held their chips and salsa and stared at us.
    “Is that your new boyfriend?” Sullivan teased. His hair was all messy, but by far cleaner than his tee shirt—he definitely had leftover lasagna and orange soda earlier. My brother’s about as clean as a pig at feeding hour.
    “Yeah, this is Luke,” I said cheerfully.
    Jake rolled his eyes.
    Sullivan cleared his throat after a sip of Sprite. “So Luke, what does my dad think you’re doing here?”
    “Oh. I’m helping your sister with her homework.”
    “Oh, the invisible homework!” Sullivan shook his head and hollered, “Daaaaad!”
    Jake snickered and I groaned. Sullivan’s such a tattletale, yet he hates when I do