“—but were you drinking the other night? With that guy?” Brian says.

I shrug. “Does it matter?”

“You’re a teenager, you’re gonna do what you’re gonna do, but this isn’t like you. I mean, you’re a nerd, not a partier.”

I roll my eyes. That’s so something Brian would say, but really, he’s the last person who should be judging me considering he’s been going to parties since he was like thirteen. “Sounds like the pot calling the kernel black.”

“First of all,” Brian says, “it’s kettle. Second of all, I’m not judging you, okay? I just think it’s kind of concerning that you start hanging out with some guy you just met and suddenly he’s got you doing things you would never do on your own.”

But that’s the whole point! Drew’s getting me to branch out, to try things I’ve always been scared of doing before. That’s a good thing.

“I’ll be fine,” I say.

“Okay, I trust you,” he says, but he has that same but you better not let me down tone our mom always uses. “Anyway, how’s the curry?”

I shrug. “Not bad,” I say, and he smiles because he knows that’s about the highest praise I’ll ever give him. “Where’d you get the recipe?” I ask.

“From Mom.”

I freeze, the spoon halfway to my mouth. It was bad enough when he was throwing around all these Food Network recipes to please Maggie, but our mom’s recipe? Food is sacred in our family. She might as well have passed down the family engagement ring!

“I’ll clear out of the living room when your boyfriend gets here,” he says, grabbing his own bowl. “I don’t want to think about what y’all are up to.”

“We’re not like that,” I say.

Well, not yet anyway.

“Yeah, okay,” Brian says. “I totally believe that.”

But the truth is, I’m trying to take things slow. Or, well, slower than my body probably wants. The problem with building the perfect relationship is that the foundation has to be set before all the fun stuff can happen, and everyone knows what happens when you don’t let concrete dry properly before diving in. I have to carefully navigate us through the Trip if we’re going to stand a chance in the long run, and that means not rushing into anything too serious until we’ve both taken the plunge.