“Of course your parents are flipping out. They’re from another time. Everyone’s been on a reality TV show these days. It’s like the Internet. At first, everyone online was a pedophile or a stalker. Now everyone’s got a computer and it’s the way to meet your soul mate.”

I giggle and press the phone closer to my ear. “I miss you,” I say, wishing he were here with me so we could take on my parents together.

“I miss you, too,” he says. “But we’ll be together soon.”

“No, we won’t,” I say, feeling a lump rise in my throat. Fuck. I hate this. It’s like I’m fine one second, and then something will remind me of Corey, or I’ll want to share something with him and I’ll feel like I’m going to start crying hysterically.

“Yes, we will,” he says. “I’m going to come up and visit you on Columbus Day, remember?”

“Columbus Day is, like, a month and a half away. That’s forever. It’s longer than some whole relationships,” I say, thinking of Grant’s last boyfriend, who he dumped after a mere seventeen days.

“It will go faster than you think,” Corey says. “I promise. And until then, I’ll watch you on TV every day, so at least I’ll get to see your beautiful face.”

WHY COREY IS THE
PERFECT BOYFRIEND (A LIST):

1. He always tells me I’m beautiful.

2. He always calls when he says he will, even when he’s busy. For example, he’s been at school for two weeks, and even though he has practice twice a day and his classes, he still calls every night at nine o’clock when he gets his free cell phone minutes, plus whenever he can during the day.

3. He always makes me feel better about stuff, like when Mariah Keats and I showed up at the Senior Ball wearing the same dress. To understand the seriousness of this situation, you would have to know what Mariah Keats looks like. Picture Blake Lively’s face with Scarlett Johansson’s body and you’ll get the idea. Needless to say, I flipped out when I saw her. I was wearing a Wonderbra and I still couldn’t compete with her in the chest department. But Corey told me I was the most beautiful girl there and that he’d heard from Mariah’s ex-boyfriend Brad Westcott that Mariah’s boobs were fake, a present from some guy at her dad’s office she was rumored to be having a scandalous affair with.

4. He always says things like “When we get married” or “Someday when we have kids.” How cute is that? Not that Corey and I are talking about marriage or anything. I mean, we’re only eighteen. But I know we’re going to be together forever.