ASHLEY

My heart is slamming against my rib cage as we turn onto my street. I text Ryan, whose texts are still pouring in, to say we are on our way.

It’s bad, Ash. Dad is really pissed. Tell Todd not to come in.

My heart sinks. I know he won’t listen, but I have to try.

“You know what? Let me take the heat for this. You’re already in so much trouble with your parents. I can take this one.”

His eyes stay on the road as he shakes his head. “No way.”

“Please, Todd. Ryan says it’s not good, and you shouldn’t come in. I’ve never done anything like this before”—I smile to myself—“not that they know about at least. Let me take this one alone.”

“Not going to happen.” He emphasizes each word as he pulls up to my house where it’s even worse than we imagined—Mr. Hamilton’s car is in our driveway.

“Well, I guess my parents know, too,” he says nonchalantly, as if he’s talking about the weather. Meanwhile, I can barely hear him over the pounding in my ears.

“What do we do? We can’t go in there,” I say, one sentence flowing right into the next.

Todd gently grabs my face with both hands then locks our eyes. “Ashley, we have to. We’ll be fine because we’ll face them together.” The smile he gives me is so genuine, so relaxed, so sure. It gives me enough to hold on to, at least to get out of the car.

I turn to open the door, but Todd pulls me back.

“Wait one second.” He leans in and gives me the best kiss of my life. Our tongues dance around each other, and it makes me forget everything: the fact that we are soaked, that both of our parents are waiting for us inside, that I’m about to get into the biggest trouble I have ever been in. It all floats away.

I pull away just enough to ask, “What if they’re watching us?”

“I hope they are,” he says with a smile. I feel like I’m floating on a cloud. We are here, together, and that is all that matters.

After a few minutes of bliss, he finally pulls away.

“Okay, you ready?” He smiles.

“Um, I think I will be after one more kiss.”

His smile melts me, literally melts me.

“Let’s do this,” he says, intertwining his fingers with mine.

“What if I sneak back into my window and walk down the stairs as if I’ve been in my room this entire time and make them think they’ve all lost their minds?” I glance back at my front door and notice the curtains moving on the window that lines the door. They were watching. My pounding heart is back.

“Too late. Not to mention, how would you explain being wet and yet still in your dress?” Todd asks as he helps me out of the car.

My head is spinning. I see his lips moving, but I have no idea what he is saying. Feeling very lightheaded, I try to focus, but I can’t. Then his fingers squeeze mine, and it gives me a small bit of strength.

Before I know it, my dad is opening the front door.

I squeeze my eyes shut. God, I wish this was a dream—well, a nightmare. Either way, I would take it if it meant I could wake up and none of this was really happening.

“Good evening, kids.” My dad seems calm and collected.

The rain stopped or maybe it never rained here, because I see my dad’s eyes get wider as we step into the light, and he realizes we are soaking wet.

As we step farther into the house, I see my Mom and Todd’s dad sitting on the couches. Ryan is at the bottom of the stairs, a little winded, as if he just ran down them when he heard us coming in. He mouths, “Sorry. I didn’t know,” as he eyes Todd’s dad with the same horrified look we had when we realized he was here.

Todd raises his eyebrows to Ryan, as if he’s shrugging with just his eyes. They’re having an unspoken conversation from across the room. Then Todd turns to my dad.

“Mr. Taylor, we’re very sorry.” I feel Todd’s body brush against my elbow, making it clear he’s right behind me both physically and emotionally.

I notice the look on my dad’s face change the second he notices Todd’s black eye. I think he missed it initially because he was taken aback by the fact that we are dripping wet, especially Todd. At least I have his sweatshirt on.

“What happened to your eye, son?” My dad seems to have lost his original train of thought. He’s sidetracked, but in a bad way.

“It was a small misunderstanding, sir,” Todd answers.

“There seem to be a lot of misunderstandings lately.” My dad eyes me with a questioning look then turns and lifts his chin to Ryan. “Did you have anything to do with this ‘misunderstanding’?” He mock quotes the word, his calm façade starting to crack.

Ryan smiles and shakes his head. “Me? No. Well, maybe.”

Todd’s dad clears his throat as he stands up to join my dad.

“This is what I was talking about, Frank.” His eyes scan Todd with disgust. “This among other things.” Then he turns his full attention to Todd. “This is exactly why you weren’t supposed to be out tonight, but you couldn’t listen, not for one night.” Mr. H. is turning bright red. I have never seen him lose his composure like this.

I give Todd a nervous glance, which I hope he reads as “don’t say anything,” but he doesn’t.

“One night that happens to be my senior homecoming dance.” Todd raises his voice to match his dad’s.

I grab his hand and squeeze it.

“You should have thought about that last night.” The look his dad gives him completes the rest of his sentence.

Todd looks down at our hands locked together, his still bruised from the fight, and he takes a deep breath to calm down.

“I’m sorry, Dad. I know it was wrong. All of it,” he says more to the ground.

My dad reenters the conversation, this one directed at me. “Do you know what time it is?”

“Late,” I answer, digging my fingernails into Todd’s hand.

“Well, you can say that again, considering I picked you up at school at ten o’clock and thought you were in your room. To find out not only were you not in your room, you were not in this house … I had no idea where you were. Do you know how scary that was for me and your mom?” He looks over at my mom who won’t even make eye contact with me.

“No,” I say to the ground.

“You’re damn right you don’t!” he screams, losing all form of control.

With no idea what to say, I say nothing.

“This is my fault, sir. I’m sorry. Please don’t blame Ashley. This is all my fault, not hers.”

“Oh, I know,” my dad says with venom. “Ashley’s been making a lot of bad decisions lately, and there is one person to blame.” My dad doesn’t need to say who it is; his glare says it all.

“Dad,” Ry and I both cut in at the same time.

When Ryan eyes me, I make it clear I have this one as I step forward.

“Dad,” I repeat, “that’s not true. I made the choice to go. This is not Todd’s fault. It’s mine. Mr. H., Todd is an amazing person, and I know you know that. He was sticking up for me, and that’s why he got into a fight last night. So, if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. Mine,” I repeat, staring down my dad.

Todd’s dad gives me a small smile, but it’s filled with sorrow. He seems to be hiding something. Then Dad and Mr. H. exchange glances while my mom grabs the sleeve of my dad’s sweater, as if she needs it for support to stand.

“No.” My dad shakes his head. “It’s been decided. It’s done.” He looks back and forth at both of us, and then his gaze locks with mine. “It’s over. You two are good kids who make bad decisions together.”

I squeeze Todd’s hand so tightly I must be drawing blood with my nails, while I feel him stiffen next to me. I look at Ryan whose face must mirror mine, because it’s draped with shock. I need his help, someone’s help.

“This is crazy.” Todd is the first one to speak up. “You can’t make us break up.” He looks at me, his expression filled with disbelief, and then he quickly goes back to our parents. “We love each other.”