“What are you going to wear, Katie?” Penny wanted to know as I sat back on her bed while she and Emily crowded her vanity mirror, maneuvering their lip liners.

“Oh, um . . . this?” I was in my usual uniform of Dickies and a thermal.

They shook their heads and made me change into a baby tee that showed off my newly arrived bustline, made more impressive once Penny had replaced my sports bra with one of her push-up bras. They took my hair out of its ponytail and added a couple of strategic braids and pulled out tendrils to frame my face. They swiped my lips with gloss in a shade called Rum Raisin.

“I feel weird,” I said, looking in the mirror afterward.

“You look pretty,” Penny said. It was the first time she’d ever said anything like this to me.

“So pretty!” Emily echoed.

I figured I had no chance with Matt. I didn’t know then that a girl’s willingness is its own aphrodisiac. I’m sure I was mortifyingly obvious about my crush; nothing about me has ever been subtle.

We’d been at the party for a while, and I hadn’t seen Penny for half an hour when Matt found me outside getting some air. It was nearly October but the weather was still warm.

“Hey,” Matt said, strolling up to me and handing me a beer. I was stunned; it was as though he’d been looking for me. Had he?

“Hey, Matt,” I said, willing my voice not to trill with excitement. His considerable height made me feel almost dainty. I wondered if this was how other girls felt all the time.

“How’s skiing?” he asked. He knew who I was! I tried to remain calm. The only boys I’d ever really talked to were other skiers, and we talked about skiing, about which runs were good that day, how the snow was, the falls and epic runs. Matt was exotic, from this other high school world I wasn’t really a part of.

“It’s good. I’m hoping to make the U.S. Team next year.” It would be the C Team if anything and it was a long shot, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Damn, Cleary, that’s dope. You’re big-time.” The jocks at my school had a habit of calling everyone by their last name; it would have put some girls off, but it made me feel at home. In my natural environment, I was also Cleary, or Bomber to Luke and Blair.

I asked him how basketball was going, and he rattled off a litany of things he was working on to improve his game and his hopes for college ball. He seemed impressed that I didn’t glaze over. I was relieved; this was my comfort zone. I countered with my take on balance drills.