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firmly.
    “No.”
    “You have to let me pay you back. Please.”
    “I don’t want your money.”
    “You’re impossible.”
    “Only to you,” he said, with a little laugh.
    “Then what can I do? I can’t just do nothing,” I said, uncrossing my arms and putting my hands on my hips.
    “For one, you could go home and stop coming to dark places at night by yourself.” He raised his dark eyebrows, waiting for my reply.
    We both stood there staring at each other without moving or saying anything for a few minutes. I’m sure we were both trying to figure the other out. That’s what I was doing anyway, and it wasn’t working. I’m not sure what he was thinking about, but my thoughts ranged from frustration to wondering what it would feel like to have him grab me and give me a big kiss. It was so cliché, and the thought made me blush. I had no idea what this thing was between us, but I liked it. I didn’t want my time with him to end, and I knew I didn’t want to have to check my emails anymore to communicate or wait to see if he would show up in the parking lot on campus.
    “So what now?” I asked, hoping for a solution.
    “Whatever you want.”
    “You won’t let me pay you back for fixing my car, so is this it, or will I see you again?”
    “What do you want?” he asked, shrugging his shoulders a little, putting the decision back on me. I hadn’t felt more shy or desperate in my whole life. I just wanted to walk away, but I knew that I would spend the next several days in my room wondering when and if I would see him again if I didn’t truthfully answer the question.
    I looked down at the ground between us. “I want to see you again.”
    “All right.” He was much more at ease than I was, and he casually stood up straight, as if to leave.
    “How will I reach you?” I asked, a little too quickly.
    “Do you have a number?”
    “Yes.”
    “Are you going to give it to me?”
    I looked at his empty hands. “Do you have a pen?”
    “I’ll remember it,” he said confidently, not making any movement toward getting a pen. I couldn’t tell if I was being blown off or if he was playing it cool, but I didn’t want to press it any further. If he wasn’t planning on calling, it didn’t matter if I wrote it or not, so I just told it to him.
    “I’ll call you.” He nodded, seeming satisfied, although he wasn’t concentrating too hard. “We should go home,” he added, tucking his hands in his coat.
    “Aren’t you warm in that jacket?” I asked, curious.
    “Not at all; I don’t like being cold. I’ll see you later.”
    He got into his car first, but he waited for me to get in mine and pull off before driving away in the opposite direction. As I drove home, I had a permanent smile on my face. There was so much I still didn’t know, but I at least felt there would be time to figure it out. One of the things still bothering me was how I was going to pay him back for fixing my car. It would be quite difficult since he would have to accept it, and I was pretty sure he wouldn’t. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I would have to try. In the meantime, I just accepted the fact that he had one up on me. I smiled at the thought and then reached to turn on the heat. It was a bit chilly.

Chapter 3
THE PRIZE
     
    I  really didn’t like lying to people, especially my mom, but Wes’ most recent stunt left me no choice. I had to come up with something to explain away the fact that my car had been fixed without either of us knowing. I wasn’t able to come up with anything remotely believable at first, so I backed in the driveway so she wouldn’t see that side of my Jeep unless she went out of her way to look at it.
    The next day, I called her while she was at work to tell her Wes got in touch with me again and offered to have a guy fix it, and that I agreed. She was fine with that, but she started asking more questions about him. I had to tell her he was only nineteen and that he was really nice. The