But, as soon as I had the thought, I shook it away. I wasn’t that guy. I wouldn’t play those games. I’d wait Sierra out, and as soon as she was ready, I’d tell her how I felt. Flirting with other girls in the meantime would only push her further away.

Heather’s hand landed on my arm, and that’s when Sierra turned back and looked at me. And then at the hand touching me. I could’ve sworn that her lips curved down into a frown, and her eyes darkened for a split second as she glanced back and forth between Heather and me. Just as I was about to pull my arm away from Heather, Danny leaned down and whispered something into Sierra’s ear. She nodded, and with one last small smile in my direction, she tore her gaze from me and focused all of her attention on him.

“Jer…” Jenna’s voice pulled me out of the trance I’d been in.

I glanced up to see a frown on her face.

“It’ll all work out.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so, Jenna. Not this time. You were right. I was an idiot, and I was too late.”

She started to protest, but I put on my sunglasses and smiled so no one would know how much I was dying inside at the idea of Sierra dating anyone who wasn’t me.

“So, who has the booze?”

“Are you seriously going out with Danny Moyer?” Jeremy sounded incredulous, and I tried not to take offense that he sounded so surprised that the star senior quarterback was interested in me.

Jeremy’s mom had just dropped us off at The Breeze, the closest movie theater to us. Like Jeremy had told Danny, every year, we had gone to the movies the night before school started. Since I’d made Jeremy see Can’t Hardly Wait (holy swoon, Ethan Embry!) last year, it was his turn to choose. We were going to see something called The Sixth Sense, and I had no idea what I was in for.

We’d just settled into our seats when he’d turned to me and asked about Danny. I wasn’t all that into the guy, but when he’d asked me out, I’d wanted to say yes. I didn’t regret it, nor was I particularly excited. I just had to do something to keep Jeremy off my mind.

I shrugged as I popped a Junior Mint into my mouth. “Why not? Jenna says I need to put myself out there. I’m fifteen years old and I’ve never been on a single date. Don’t you think it’s time I do that?”

He frowned. “Why? What does age have to do with anything? I’m about to turn sixteen and I’ve never been on a date, either. You don’t see me saying yes to the first girl who asks me.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. We both know he’d been asked out many times.

“Yeah, well, what about Heather? I heard you two got pretty close this summer.”

His eyes widened, and he swallowed hard. He opened his mouth to answer, but the lights went down and the screen flickered.

I guessed that was that.

I wish I could say that our hands brushed in the popcorn tub or our thighs touched as we sat next to each other. But that would be a lie. In truth, we both moved to the opposite edges of our seats. It was uncomfortable until creepy stuff started happening on the screen and I leaned over, gripping his biceps for dear life.

“You didn’t tell me this was a scary movie,” I hissed.

He grinned down at me, his eyes full of amusement. And then he did the unthinkable. He closed the distance between us and kissed my forehead.

“Don’t worry, Sierra. I’ll protect you.”

My skin tingled where his lips had been. He turned back to the screen, and the rest of the movie passed in a blur. I remained attached to his arm the entire time. Ghosts freaked the hell out of me, and I knew I would have trouble sleeping that night.

When the credits rolled and the lights came on, my fingers were white with how tight I’d been clutching him. He tried prying my hands off him, but it was no use. My grip was like a steel vise and nothing could tear me away.

“Damn, Sierra. If I’d known it would take a scary movie to get you to feel my muscles up, I’d have made you watch a Friday the 13th or The Exorcist a long time ago.”

Okay, so maybe nothing could tear me away except that. My hands unlocked and I jumped up, looking down at him accusingly.

“I was not feeling you up!” I protested.

He chuckled as we rose and made our way out of the theater.

“You know how I feel about ghosts. Add in a creepy little kid and I’m done.”

His laughter was infectious as we got into my mom’s van, and informing Mom of my fears, causing her to laugh at my torment right along with him. I crossed my arms and huffed, ignoring both of them the whole way home. I was still scowling at him when we said our goodnights.

When I climbed into my bed, all I could see were the eerie ghosts. I was thoroughly freaked out, and the last thing I wanted was a sleepless night right before the first day of school. Next year, I was going to make Jeremy watch the cheesiest love fest ever.

Tink. Tink. Tink.

I pulled the covers over my head, squeezed my eyes shut, and started saying a bunch of Hail Marys. Or, well, what I thought were Hail Marys.

Tink. Tink. Tink.

Then a louder knock sounded and I realized it was coming from my window. That could only mean one thing. At least, I hoped it did. With hopeful trepidation, I slipped out of bed, peered out my window, and found Jeremy standing there. I quickly lifted the window.

“What are you doing?” I asked in a hushed tone, hoping not to wake my parents.

He held one had behind his back and ran the other through his messy hair. “Couldn’t sleep. And I felt bad that I made you watch a scary movie late at night. So I brought this over. Thought we could watch it.”

He held up a copy of The Fox and the Hound. I tried hard not to smile, but it was no use. I already was. So, without hesitation, I pushed the window up farther and stood back so he could climb in. Then I took the movie and put it in before settling next to him on the bed. He was already comfortable in just basketball shorts and a T-shirt.

“You have to be quiet,” I warned him, nodding towards my locked door. “I’ll get in so much trouble if they find you in here this late at night.”

He scoffed. “Your parents love me.”

“My parents love you during the daylight and not in their little girl’s bed with the door locked.”

He sat up and frowned at me. “I can leave if you want…” he said, trailing off and not sounding all that thrilled at the idea.

“No, it’s fine. I’m glad you’re here. I was getting a little freaked out, so this will definitely help.”

He grinned wickedly, and I instantly knew what he was thinking.

“You’re going to whisper about seeing dead people all the time now, aren’t you?” I groaned.

“Only when you least expect it,” he teased, his fingers finding my hair. “Now, be quiet and watch the movie.”

I rolled my eyes but did just that. I had to admit it did make me feel better, and I quickly forgot all about Bruce Willis and that creepy little kid. By the end of the movie, I was feeling more weepy than scared, and that’s when a drop of moisture hit my cheek.

What the heck?

I looked up to see a wet trail running down Jeremy’s cheek. He was blinking rapidly, as if he were trying to get something out of his eye. I shifted until I was resting my arm on his chest and peering up into his eyes.

Eyes that were looking everywhere in the room except at me.

“Jeremy?” I whispered, but I got no response. “Oh my gosh. Are you…are you crying?”

He sniffled in answer. After unsuccessfully trying to muffle my giggles, I heard a low growl and found myself flipped onto my back with Jeremy hovering over me. His face was illuminated by the glow of the television, and my breath hitched as I reached up and wiped the droplets off his cheek. It was entirely too endearing to see how the movie still affected him after we’d watched it five hundred times over the last seven years.