It’s a perfect May day. The sky is a vivid blue, the air dry, the lawn the color of green that tells you the heat of summer hasn’t yet taken a toll. Our stroll can’t take us anywhere all that amazing, considering we need to stay on campus, but just being here with a cute boy is exciting. I’m pretty sure this unexpected visit means he has started warming up to my presence, which makes me so happy, I find myself chatting nonstop until he asks a question.

“What did you do to piss off Leeza?”

Huh? I have no idea. I mean, she didn’t love my opinion of Mr. Buckman, yet we’ve hung out together since, and she seemed like herself—

No, she didn’t. She barely looked at me last night. But I was so caught up in the spell of the dancing that I just let it go. And I can’t say any of this to Chaz, in case he doesn’t know about the affair.

(Ew, I hate using that word for this.)

I shrug. “I don’t really know.” I look in his eyes. “What did she say?”

He rolls his eyes. “Something about you not being different than anyone else at this school no matter what you say.” This stings, and he can tell. He plays it off. “Sometimes, she can be a little dramatic. It’ll blow over.”

I’m quiet the rest of the way to the bleachers by the ball field. But Chaz is humming softly, and it makes me feel better. He’s wearing a The Wiz tee that he has cropped by hand and blue jeans that cannot have been easy to squeeze into. The sun hitting his face makes his forehead, cheeks, and the bridge of his nose glow. I feel that current again. Maybe this is the moment he tells the truth. Maybe this conversation will change everything for him, and maybe that means no fall from the Ledges in his future.

“I broke up with Tawny.”

Whoa. “How did she take it?”

“She said it was mean to do it before prom. I offered to still go with her but—”

“She has a shred of dignity and told you to step off?”

He grimaces. “Ouch.”

“I am not judging you. If she’s not the …” I stumble over the noun “… the one for you, she’s not.”

“You can say it, you know.” His voice is just above a whisper, even though the field is empty.

I don’t even pretend not to know what he means. “Okay … if she’s not the boy for you.”

Those violet eyes light up. “I can’t believe we’re sitting here having this talk. I’ve waited a long time …”