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“Any color preference?” Cassie asks, heading straight toward her bed.
“Not really. Which one are you wearing?”
“Mine’s hanging up there.” Cassie gestures toward her closet door, where a light yellow dress is hanging. Tiny crystals are sewn to the fabric, making it sparkle. “These ones are all for you.”
I figured I’d be looking through one or two choices. There are at least a dozen dresses laid out on the bed. One is a muted shade of pink with a flower pattern, which I decide against. The next option is purple and lacy, which I also skip past. Red, shiny fabric catches my attention, but I decide against that, too. I’m not sure I can pull such a bold color off.
The fourth dress is a darker shade of blue, almost navy. It’s strapless, made of a soft, silky material than I can’t help but touch. The bodice is covered with lace the same color as the rest of the dress.
“I like this one.”
“That’s the one I would have picked for you,” Cassie tells me. “Come on, let me do your makeup before the rest of the girls get here.”
She leads me over to her vanity. I don’t protest this time. If ever there was a night to wear makeup, this feels like it.
I lose track of time as Cassie rubs and paints and sprays my face.
“Okay, you’re done,” she finally announces.
I open my eyes. They widen when I catch a glimpse of my reflection. “Wow.”
My under-eye circles have disappeared, along with every blemish. She lined my eyes, making them look greener than usual. My lips look shiny and pink. Kissable.
“Thank you, Cassie.”
Cassie smiles as she hands me a tube of lip gloss. “Keep this. You’ll have to reapply after we eat dinner.” Her smile turns sly. “Or after a certain guy sees you.”
“You heard about that, huh?” I knew it was naïve to think Cassie wouldn’t hear about the camping trip dare. But she hasn’t mentioned it, up until now.
“The whole school heard about it, Lennon.”
I rub a finger against the side of the lip gloss. Ironically, the shade is calledNever Been Kissed.“It wasn’t the first time.”
“What?”
“Kissing Caleb. I’d kissed him before then. Kissed him a lot, actually.”
Cassie gapes at me. This might be the only time I’ve seen her speechless. “Didn’t see that coming,” she finally says.
I huff a laugh. “Yeah. Me neither.”
“So, you like him.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it matters.” Cassie pauses. “He stares at you in English, you know. I noticed it all year.”
I say nothing.
“So…what happened? Why’d youstopkissing him?”
“He’s leaving. I’m staying here. That doesn’t equal us working out.”
“You never know, Lennon.”
“Idoknow. I’m not enough for him to come back to, Cassie. And I know that sounds pathetic. I don’t mean it like that. I don’t thinkanythingis enough for Caleb to come back. He hates living here. He’s going to go off and become a famous baseball player, and that’s what he should do. That’s not the life that I want. If we actually tried, it would just hurt us both more in the end.”
“Or you could end up married with kids one day.”
