But Dare had me thinking maybe that was changing, and then he’d run screaming from my house. Okay, maybe not full-out screaming, but it might as well have been. I wasn’t letting him get away with it.

I stormed around the corner and out the school doors, fury pouring off me in waves. He’d skipped history where our group project was due at the end of next week. This sent Michelle into a near-convulsive state and I’d had to be the one to talk her down. At least he’d added his part of the assignment, but he hadn’t had the courtesy to let anyone know.

The humidity prickled my skin. We’d gone from winter to a swampy, murky mess in a matter of days. Overcast and dreary, the day was headed from bad to worse. A dot of rain hit my cheek. I’d better make this fast before I was caught in a downpour. Storming off didn’t have the same panache when you ended up looking like a drowned rat on the way back home, but the angry clouds served as the perfect backdrop to the chewing out I was prepared to give him. It was like I was using my superhero powers to sway Mother Nature.

This morning I’d waved, and he walked right past me like I was invisible again. Screw that. I’d gone over the whole thing multiple times playing both our parts, and there was no good explanation.

A huge semi sat at the end of the cul de sac. Was that always here? I’d never even been down Dare’s street, let alone gone to his house.

The lawn was overgrown and the screen door hung off at an angle. Our rental wasn’t palatial, but the landlord had given my mom a great deal on the rent. My mom had helped coach his wife through her labor after his head had whacked off the floor of the delivery room and he’d had to be awakened with smelling salts.

Steeling myself, I banged on the door. Silence. I shifted from foot to foot. I raised my hand again and the door flew open.

Dare’s expression shifted from anger to confusion and shock before sliding straight back into anger. “What are you doing here?” He closed the door behind him and stepped out onto the top step, crowding me.

“That’s all you have to say to me?”

“What the hell else am I supposed to say to you?”

“You ran from my house, dropped my bike off when you knew I wasn’t awake, and then you ignored me at school.”

“Now’s not a great time.” His body was tense with his hands clenched at his sides.

I peered around him and through the crack in the door before he blocked my view.

He had on jeans and a t-shirt, so it wasn’t like I’d caught him in the middle of Bang Town with someone else. He didn’t have anything on his feet, though.

No shoes, which wouldn’t have been possible only a week ago with the cold snap, when he’d shoveled our driveway and we’d shared a moment in my kitchen. And now he was staring at me with his arms folded over his chest like I was trying to sell him meat from my trunk.