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As if she’d read my mind, Michaela turned to look at me again, lips curved in a sly smile. “So… are you looking forward to spending the weekend with Paxton?”
My face warmed. “Yes,” I said. My voice came out in a nervous squeak, which only made Michaela smile even wider.
“Oh my god, babe!” She reached over and patted my knee. “You have to get these nerves out of your system before we get there. Otherwise the seniors are going to think we’re total babies.”
“Hey, lay off,” Tate said, glancing at her as we turned onto a winding road lined with thick forest. “Paxton is her first boyfriend. She’s allowed to be nervous.”
“He’s not my official boyfriend.” I swallowed hard. “We’ve just been hanging out.”
“You’ve gone on five dates with him,” Michaela said, nose crinkling. “That’s totally in the boyfriend-girlfriend zone.”
“I’m not sure if they really counted as proper dates.” I sighed and sat up straight. “The first three were just group hangout sort of things, with his friends from the team and some of the senior girls. So we just chatted about casual stuff with everyone else.”
“What about the other two?”
“Well, he took me to Plymouth to see a movie two weeks ago. But we didn’t really get a chance to talk much during that.”
“Ugh.” Michaela grimaced. “That’s why movie dates are the worst. You have to sit there in silence next to them. It’s so awkward.”
Tate craned his neck and looked at me in the rearview mirror. “What about last Friday? Didn’t he take you out to a restaurant?”
“Yes.” I cringed at the memory. “I was so nervous that I talked about Supernatural the entire time. I didn’t ask him a single question about himself. I barely gave him a chance to ask me anything, either.”
Tate stifled a laugh. “Not gonna lie… that’s not great.”
“I know. That’s why this weekend has to go perfectly.”
“It will!” Michaela put her feet up on the dash and giggled. “Thirteen drunk, horny teenagers at a lake house. What could possibly go wrong?”
We arrived in the closest town twenty minutes later. Tate pulled into a grocery store parking lot, and the three of us trudged toward the entrance, arguing about the best brand of marshmallows for s’mores.
“Oh, wait!” Tate stopped abruptly and patted his jacket pocket. “Before I forget… I got something for you two.”
Michaela raised a brow as he pulled out two small plastic packets. “What is it?”
I had a feeling I already knew what it was. He’d bought us matching charm bracelets for Christmas all the way back in seventh grade, and every six months or so, he surprised us with new charms to add to them.
“New charms for your bracelets,” he said, confirming my suspicion. He handed one packet to me and the other to Michaela. “I ordered them online, and they just arrived this morning.”
I peeled open the plastic. “Oh my god, this is so cute. Thank you!” I said, admiring the little silver sun pendant.
Michaela pouted. “Why does she get a sun?” she said, frowning at the much plainer circular pendant she’d received.
“Yours is meant to be the moon,” Tate explained. “I figured M for moon and Michaela. S for sun and Sienna.”
“Thank you,” I repeated, giving Tate a hug. “It’s perfect. I love it.”
He smiled. “You’re welcome. And I’m sorry, Michaela. I know yours looks a bit boring. But it was the closest thing they had to a moon.”
She shrugged. “Eh, it’s fine. I’m just being a drama queen,” she said, sticking out her tongue. Her phone rang in her pocket, and she grabbed it and grimaced at the screen. “Oh, god. It’s my mom. I have to pretend like I’m still at school.”
She dashed off ahead to take the call. I started walking faster so we wouldn’t get too far behind, but Tate grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “Hey,” he said in a low voice. “While we’re alone, I should probably tell you something.”
I furrowed my brows, puzzled by his suddenly-serious tone. “What?”
“I know you like Paxton, but you have to promise me you’ll be careful with him this weekend.”
“Um… what do you mean?”
