had.
One morning before class, I stood in front of the mirror at my locker. The most important question of the moment was whether I needed to add blush to my cheeks. I glanced at my reflection,and noticedhow washed out I looked. My thoughts were dispersed by a rough tap on my shoulder.
“Hey.” Carter pulled off his blackbackpack and slung it over his leftshoulder. “I caught you just in time.”
He’d grown at least five inches that summer, andI suppressed the urge to comment on his sun-bleached hair. It had a tint of golden blond due to spending the last few weekends at a community swimming pool.
“Are you heading to class this second?” he asked.
“No. What’s up?” I replied, taken aback by his eagerness.
“I just remembered someone’s having a birthday this weekend.”
I decided to play along. “Yeah? Does this someone have a name?”
“Oh, that’s top secret information,” he teased. “I’m trying to figure out if she has any big plans.”
I stuffed a textbook into my backpack and said, “No, not that I’m aware of.”
My birthday washonestlynothing to get excited about. When I was younger, Mom would throw me huge birthday parties, always with a carefully orchestrated theme linking all the decorations, napkins, cake, and games together. I invited all my grade school friends, oneof which included Lindsay Wells, butthe novelty wore offas I got older.For the past couple years, Mom and Dad just took me out to dinner and a movie. Then we’d come home, open presents, and eat cake and ice cream. I was quite pleased, however, that Carter joined us the previous year.
Carter moved in close with an earnest expression.“I was thinking maybe we could go somewhere.”
“And where would that be?” I asked, incredulously. “We obviously don’t have a car or money. Your mom would never drive us anywhere or let us be alone together.” I tried to dismiss the feeling that he was up to something.
“Yeah, but I was hoping maybe you could ask your mom if she could drive us, since my mom is going out of town this weekend,” he said as we strolled the hallway. “I have this favorite restaurant in Newport Beach called Chris Morton. Do you know it?”
I blinked, a bit bowled over. Anyone who’s gone to Chris Morton’s Sunset Grill knows it’s a pricey steakhouse—a place Dad took Mom only on special occasions.
An inadvertent chuckle escaped my lips. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you were making this out to be like some sort of date.”
“Yeah, so what’s wrong with that?” he asked, like I insulted him in some way.
I stared at Carter like a hypnotized zombie. A minute passed, and then another. It took a couple more moments for me to catch my breath. The sincerity in the boy’s placid greenish-blue eyes told me I wasn’t dreaming. My best friend just asked me out on a date. I had no idea how to react.
Before I could get a word out, Lindsay Wells strode right past us. I fixed my stare on her mini skirt that seemed to get shorter every school year. Word around campus was that she had dated nearly everyjock in school—and she was only fourteen. I can’t say I wasn’t envious. What I wouldn’t have done for her long sun-kissed legs and all that perfect bouncy hair. At times, I would have killed to have a spot in her social circle, complete with as many boyfriends as I wanted. But yet here I was just trying to survive the school year. Everything came to a standstill the second I caught her eyeing Carter like he was some blue-plate special on the cafeteria menu. I never expected one fleeting look to stir up so many emotions.
“Alexa—” Carter said, snapping his fingers in front of my face.
I shook out of my daze and said, “Let’s do it. I just have to ask my mom.” If I didn’t seize this
One morning before class, I stood in front of the mirror at my locker. The most important question of the moment was whether I needed to add blush to my cheeks. I glanced at my reflection,and noticedhow washed out I looked. My thoughts were dispersed by a rough tap on my shoulder.
“Hey.” Carter pulled off his blackbackpack and slung it over his leftshoulder. “I caught you just in time.”
He’d grown at least five inches that summer, andI suppressed the urge to comment on his sun-bleached hair. It had a tint of golden blond due to spending the last few weekends at a community swimming pool.
“Are you heading to class this second?” he asked.
“No. What’s up?” I replied, taken aback by his eagerness.
“I just remembered someone’s having a birthday this weekend.”
I decided to play along. “Yeah? Does this someone have a name?”
“Oh, that’s top secret information,” he teased. “I’m trying to figure out if she has any big plans.”
I stuffed a textbook into my backpack and said, “No, not that I’m aware of.”
My birthday washonestlynothing to get excited about. When I was younger, Mom would throw me huge birthday parties, always with a carefully orchestrated theme linking all the decorations, napkins, cake, and games together. I invited all my grade school friends, oneof which included Lindsay Wells, butthe novelty wore offas I got older.For the past couple years, Mom and Dad just took me out to dinner and a movie. Then we’d come home, open presents, and eat cake and ice cream. I was quite pleased, however, that Carter joined us the previous year.
Carter moved in close with an earnest expression.“I was thinking maybe we could go somewhere.”
“And where would that be?” I asked, incredulously. “We obviously don’t have a car or money. Your mom would never drive us anywhere or let us be alone together.” I tried to dismiss the feeling that he was up to something.
“Yeah, but I was hoping maybe you could ask your mom if she could drive us, since my mom is going out of town this weekend,” he said as we strolled the hallway. “I have this favorite restaurant in Newport Beach called Chris Morton. Do you know it?”
I blinked, a bit bowled over. Anyone who’s gone to Chris Morton’s Sunset Grill knows it’s a pricey steakhouse—a place Dad took Mom only on special occasions.
An inadvertent chuckle escaped my lips. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you were making this out to be like some sort of date.”
“Yeah, so what’s wrong with that?” he asked, like I insulted him in some way.
I stared at Carter like a hypnotized zombie. A minute passed, and then another. It took a couple more moments for me to catch my breath. The sincerity in the boy’s placid greenish-blue eyes told me I wasn’t dreaming. My best friend just asked me out on a date. I had no idea how to react.
Before I could get a word out, Lindsay Wells strode right past us. I fixed my stare on her mini skirt that seemed to get shorter every school year. Word around campus was that she had dated nearly everyjock in school—and she was only fourteen. I can’t say I wasn’t envious. What I wouldn’t have done for her long sun-kissed legs and all that perfect bouncy hair. At times, I would have killed to have a spot in her social circle, complete with as many boyfriends as I wanted. But yet here I was just trying to survive the school year. Everything came to a standstill the second I caught her eyeing Carter like he was some blue-plate special on the cafeteria menu. I never expected one fleeting look to stir up so many emotions.
“Alexa—” Carter said, snapping his fingers in front of my face.
I shook out of my daze and said, “Let’s do it. I just have to ask my mom.” If I didn’t seize this
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