I feel so stupid. Ridiculous, actually. Three weeks ago, I didn’t even care about prom. Hell, I wasn’t even planning on going. But now every time I’ve pictured myself at prom, I can’t imagine the evening without Tucker.

I push the bar on the emergency exit door and am immediately blinded with sunlight. As my eyes adjust, I find myself at the edge of the school’s property with only an overgrown field and an abandoned dumpster in sight. Before the door behind me can fully shut, it swings open again.

“There you are,” Tucker says. He kicks a crumbling brick into the doorway to keep it cracked open. “You could have locked yourself out.”

“As long as I don’t get locked out with you,” I spit back at him.

He reaches for my hand, and I flinch, stepping away from him.

“Melissa and I go way back,” he says. “We promised to go to prom together after the breakup.”

“So you’re telling me not to be weird about you going to prom with your ex when you kissed me yesterday?”

“When I said I’d go with her, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I didn’t think I’d meet anyone—I never thought I’d have a chance with you, Waylon.”

“Well, you did and you blew it,” I say through gritted teeth. Stay calm, I beg myself. Stay calm. Don’t let him see how much you care.

Easier said than done. “You’ve dragged me along for the last two weeks and you never once thought to tell me that you already had a date for prom?” I let out a growl as my eyes begin to burn with tears. “I hate that I even care about this! This is so ridiculous! I hate you for making me like you. I hate you for making me care about something as sucky as prom. I hate you. I really, really do.”

“Waylon, come on. You don’t mean that,” he says weakly.

“Maybe I don’t, but I wish I did.” I shake my head in frustration. “What the hell do you expect me to think, Tucker? You let me find out onstage in front of the whole damn senior class. And God forbid I want to be your date to prom!”

“You do?”