I hate that I don’t know if she’s thinking the same things I am or if the offer to borrow a dress is really just an offer to borrow a dress.

“Thanks, but I think Shannon’s right about the halter and jeans,” I say, my words coming out in a mumble. “Don’t wanna give him any ideas just yet, right?” I don’t know what I’m talking about anymore.

“Right,” Gia says. “Make him work for it. I wouldn’t even let Tommy touch my boobs for three months.”

“We know, G,” Kiki says on a huffy sigh, refreshing something on her phone screen. “We know.”

“What are you doing besides a movie?” Jasmine asks, resting her chin on her palm. “Are you going out to dinner too? Or just gonna make out in his car a lot?”

The other girls laugh, and I can’t tell if it’s mean-spirited, on her end or on theirs. I don’t know how to feel about any of this except that I want Jasmine to stop asking me stupid fucking questions about my date with Chase.

The truth is that I haven’t really thought about it. Despite a movie date with Chase being item number four on my high school bucket list, I’m not obsessing; I’m just plain old looking forward. I’d picked an outfit (yes, I’d already been planning on wearing the halter top and jeans before Shannon ever opened her mouth), and I’d let my mom know I was going out and might be a little late, but would text her before curfew.

It’s a movie. What more is there to say about a movie?

A lot, apparently.

Well, if that’s the game Jasmine wants to play.

“I’m pretty sure there’ll be plenty of making out wherever we go. Who’s got time for dinner when Chase Harding is on the menu?” I flash a sly smile and take a sip of my Diet Coke while the other girls whistle and laugh. I’m gratified to see Jasmine purse her lips a little bit, just enough to know she’s done with the question portion of our meal. “What are the rest of you doing tonight?”

In the end, I wear a short red skirt with a black-and-white polka dot top—neither Shannon’s suggestion, nor Jasmine and Gia’s—and I don’t give a damn what ideas Chase gets; I’ll do what I want. I also wear red lipstick, even though Shannon’s told me a million times that it scares guys off from kissing you, and the black leather sandals she once told me to burn because they made me look stumpy. (They make my legs look athletic, thank you very much.)