“Did you buy her a good present?” He leans in for another kiss, but I press my finger to his lips.

“Did you?”

He shrugs. “I got her a gift certificate for a spa treatment.”

“Wow. She’ll actually love that.” I’m impressed.

“What about you?”

“I got her those boots she’s been eyeing.”

“Nice. So, we’ll give her the gifts first, and then she won’t be so mad when we tell her we’re into each other.”

“You really think dangling presents in front of her is going to keep her from getting mad?”

He shrugs. “It worked when she was younger.”

“Maybe we should think about what we’re going to say, just in case she’s matured a little since then.”

He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer. “I’d rather talk about what you got me for my birthday.”

“Getting me as your girlfriend isn’t enough?” I pretend to be hurt.

“Good try, but I already have you as my girlfriend. You said yes the other night.” He presses his lips to mine.

I’m breathless when I pull away. “Okay, you need to stop playing dirty. We have to talk about this.”

“We have five minutes left in the period. Do you really want to spend it talking about Tori?” His fingers trace my collarbone, sending tingles through me.

“So not fair.”

“Then fight back.” He leans forward to kiss my neck, but I get to his first. He laughs, but it’s quickly replaced by a moan. The next five minutes fly by.

We leave the stage separately, just like always, but I run right into Meredith, who must have been waiting for me.

“What do you want?” I ask, picking up the pace and hoping she won’t follow. She does anyway.

“We need to talk. It’s about Saturday.”

“I think after the way you publicly humiliated Toby, you can consider yourself officially uninvited to his party.”

“I thought the party was for Tori. Or did you forget about your dear best friend?”

I stop and whirl around to face her. “What the hell do you want from me? I’m not in the mood for games.”

“Good, because I’m not playing around.” She grabs my arms and pulls me into an empty classroom.

“What the hell, Meredith?”

“I’ve been thinking.”

I cross my arms. “Then this should be good.”

She glares at me. “Shut up and listen.”

I drop my arms and advance on the door. “Forget it. I’m out of here.”

She blocks the door. “Not so fast. You need to listen to me.”

“What could you possibly say that is of any interest to me?”

“How about this? If you and Toby come clean to Tori, she’s going to dump your ass faster than you can blink. You think just because you’ve been friends forever that she’s going to let you date her brother? She doesn’t let her friends near him. I’m not sure how you got her to let him tutor you, but she’ll see this as a huge betrayal. Especially when I tell her how long this has been going on.”

“Why would you do that? You got what you wanted already. You got your precious little fan club back. You turned half the school against Toby. What else do you want?”

“How about my virginity back?”

I step back. I thought that attack was off the table. I thought Toby and I had been wrong about how evil Meredith was and the lengths she’d go to hurt him. “That was your own fault.”

“Let me know if you feel the same way after he steals yours.” She grabs the door handle, but I stop her, placing my hand over hers.

“I’m not you. I don’t throw myself at him. I don’t have to sleep with him to get him to date me.”

“Give him a few weeks. He’ll start getting bored, and I’ll bet you anything you do exactly what I did.”

“No.” I shake my head. “He never cared about you like this. It’s nowhere near the same situation.”

“You keep telling yourself that, but Toby Michaels is never going to change.”

I let go of her hand, not because I believe her, but because I want her to leave. I’m done listening to her lies. She’s bitter and hurt, and I’m not going to let her convince me that Toby’s a bad guy.

She walks out and the late bell rings. I head to trig, knowing I’m getting my second late in a matter of weeks. I may be getting my second detention soon too.

“Miss Daniels, nice of you to join us,” Mr. Rollar says.

“Sorry. I don’t suppose you’d believe I was held hostage in an empty classroom by the biggest bitch in school.”

Mr. Rollar glares at me and only then do I realize I said “bitch.” Out loud. To a teacher. Crap.

“I’m sorry to say that not only do I not believe you, but you’ll be spending this afternoon in detention for your poor choice of words.” He writes up the slip and hands it to me.

Wonderful. This day keeps getting better and better.

I raise my hand and participate as much as possible, trying to get back in Mr. Rollar’s good graces. But no such luck. When the bell rings, I’m still holding my detention slip, and Mr. Rollar is packing up for the day, not even looking in my direction. I go up to his desk and stand there, but he doesn’t acknowledge me.

“Um, Mr. Rollar, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I’m having a bad day, and I didn’t mean to say that word out loud. But I really was dragged into an empty classroom. Meredith Ackles had a mouthful for me, and she wouldn’t let me go until I heard what she wanted to say.”

“Be that as it may, Miss Daniels, I can’t lift your detention. This is your second tardy to my class and you used language that is not suitable inside school walls. The entire class heard you. What would it say if I didn’t enforce the rules?”

I should’ve known a math teacher would be all about following rules. That’s what equations are. Sets of rules to solve a problem. “I understand, and again, I’m sorry.”

“I appreciate that. Now you better go before you’re late for detention.”

I head straight for the detention room, afraid to stop at my locker first. I don’t want to end up in here tomorrow too. I take the same seat as last time. Only I’m pretty sure Toby won’t be stopping by to keep me company today. I pull out my cell under my desk and text him.

Becca: Meredith cornered me. Made me late. In detention.

 

Toby: That bitch.

 

Becca: That’s what I said. Aloud. To Mr. Rollar.

 

Toby: Hence the detention?

 

Becca: Pretty much.

 

Toby: Want me to pull the fire alarm or something? Get you out of there?

 

Becca: Pretty sure that’s a big offense. Not worth bringing in the cops.

 

Toby: Don’t say I didn’t offer.

 

I can’t help smiling. No guy has ever offered to bust me out of detention before. I’m about to text him back when Meredith walks in. She takes one look at me and rolls her eyes. How can she blame me for this? She’s the one who kidnapped me!

Becca: Guess who just showed up.

 

Toby: No way. Seriously?

 

Becca: Wouldn’t lie.

 

Toby: My offer still stands.

 

Becca: And I love you for that, but still no.

Oh, crap! I just said I love you. What have I done?

There’s a long pause, and every second that ticks by is like an eternity. I can feel my heart pounding in every part of my body, down to my toes. I scared him away. He wrote me that beautiful song and asked me to be his girlfriend, and I went and ruined everything by saying the L-word.

Becca: I didn’t mean it like that.

 

As I press send, his text comes through.