“Do you like Jon?” I stepped in front of her, blocking her view.

“No.” She made a dismissive psh. “Of course not. I’m not macking on your guy.”

“First off, there is no macking. Second, I’d never think you would. And third, if you like him, you should ask him out.”

“Not when he’s obviously into you.”

“He said one nice thing. That hardly qualifies as being into me.”

She ran her hand over her shoulder, squeezing it. “I’ll think about it.”

“The next time I talk to him, I’ll steer the conversation in your direction and see how he responds.”

She peered at me. “You’d do that for me? You swear you don’t like him?”

I crossed my heart and held up my hand. “Swear. Let’s get you a date to the prom.”

I spent the rest of play practice thanking my lucky stars I hadn’t told her about my lemonade encounter with Dare. Piper grilled me on every syllable Jon had uttered, as well as his micro expressions, breathing patterns, and heart rate.

My ride home was blissfully free from a flirtation interrogation. With the sun gone, frigid air made the last hill less horrible than it would be once spring eventually arrived.

“Your chain’s loose.”

My handlebars wobbled. Straightening them out, I glanced at the car riding beside me. The mussed brown hair made an iconic silhouette. I swear, some girls at school were ready to get it tattooed on their asses. Just great.

“Are you stalking me?”

“Not like I live in the same neighborhood or anything.” He grinned, still cruising along beside me.

“Five streets up and take a right, if you’re lost.”

The slow, gravelly crunch of his tires and mine were the only sounds on the lamp-lit street.

He didn’t seem anywhere near as fazed as I was by the awkwardness of this situation. “Thank you for helping my mom.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Is there something else you wanted?”

He propped his arm on the window of his car and rested his head against his hand like he wasn’t driving a two-ton machine down the road beside me. “No.” He laughed to himself. “Catch you later, Bay.”

“Hopefully never, Dare.” I called after his muscle car complete with bright red paint.

Once home, I snagged the note off the counter.

I hope you had a good time at practice. Got extra supplies for you. They’re already under the sink in the bathroom. There’s meatloaf and mashed potatoes in the oven. Go easy on the cookies and save some for me. Be safe and don’t forget to lock up!

Love, Mom

I grabbed my plate, soda, ibuprofen and late-night provisions, including a dozen cookies and milk. Tomorrow, my period would be over, but it didn’t mean I wouldn’t milk the junk-food train for all it was worth, and I wasn’t coming back for multiple trips up and down the stairs. Why pretend I wasn’t going to eat a dozen cookies tonight? Walking downstairs once the house was silent always freaked me out, not that I could tell Mom that. It was another reason I loved going to the studio. Things were always loud and lively when people were creating. I knew it was time I stopped being afraid of monsters lurking in the shadows. My high steps up the stairs once I turned the lights on, however, said differently.