I hold the card to my chest, sighing. “Do I even want to know?’ Jessa holds her hand out for the card.

“It’s private,” I giggle, keeping it close to my chest.

“Come on, Sadie,” Jessa pleas.

“Fine.” I hand it over to her and she reads it. “Should have known a singer would write some romantic crap.” She hands it back to me. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?” She still believes he was with another girl Friday night.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I say with a smile, reassuring her. I put the note in my top drawer and go over to my closet to find something to wear.

“Where is he taking you?” Jessa asks, putting her book down and turning on the television.

“He never said,” I answer, continuing to sift through my hangers. I finally decide on a red dress that flares out at the waist in a series of pleats, paired with black heels.

I get in my matching panties and bra. Even though Brady will not be seeing them tonight, they make me feel sexy. I curl my blonde hair in waves that travel down my back, pinning the front part off my face. My make-up is a little darker than Friday, but I still don’t use the dark red lipstick. I will never use it again.

It’s five forty-five and I’m already dressed and ready to go. I sit down next to Jessa while she flips through channels and wait for Brady’s call. Suddenly there is a knock on the door. Jessa and I share a puzzled look and she gets up to open the door where Brady stands on the other side with his hands in his pockets, rolling back on his heels.

I might have actually stopped breathing for a moment. He is wearing a pair of dark jeans with a red sweater and black leather jacket. His hair is loose and free of gel, pushed to the side. He smiles over to me, making me melt in desire.

“You look even more amazing than I imagined,” he says to me while I get up and walk toward him.

“Thank you. You look great, too.” I smile back.

“Shall we?” He holds out his hand.

“Please, before I throw up,” Jessa answers my question, walking back to her seat in front of the television.

“Bye, Jessa,” I say, grabbing my clutch from the dresser next to the flowers.

“Bye, guys.” She waves her hand, not looking our way.

“See ya, Jessa. Hey, Robbie wants you to give him a call,” Brady shouts toward her before he shuts the door.

“Whatever,” she remarks.

When we enter the hallway I notice a couple girls milling around, obviously trying to check out who Brady is here to pick up. They quickly scurry like rabbits when we start walking down the hall, whispering to each other. Brady puts his hand on the small of my back and leads me through the door. His Camaro is parked outside with his hazards on, probably trying to not get another parking ticket.

“You could have called, I would have come out,” I tell him while he opens the door for me.

“Sadie, this is a date. I’m not about to be some shmuck who waits in the car for you to hop in.” He closes the door once I’m securely in the seat and I admire him walking around the front of the car before he settles into his own seat.

“So, where are we going?” I pull my dress closer to my knees. It seems completely too short now that I’m seated.

“It’s a surprise.” He leans over to me. This is it. He is going to kiss me now. Stretching his arm over me, he grabs my seatbelt, bringing it across me, and pushes it in the clip.

“Sorry, I forgot,” I embarrassingly admit.

“Don’t apologize. I quite enjoyed it.” He winks at me and starts the car.

I can’t stop my grin while trying to roll my eyes at him.

I notice we are driving into the city, away from campus. Being so close to two different cities had been a major perk for me when I decided to attend. Brady has a CD in that I have never heard of, but his fingers hit the steering wheel to the beat. His wrists are empty of the black leather bracelets tonight.

“Do you like tapas?” He asks me, bringing my attention back to the conversation.

“Truthfully, I’ve never had them,” I confess.

“Really? That surprises me,” he exclaims.

“Why does that surprise you?”

“I just figured I would have nothing new to introduce you to. That you have pretty much experienced…everything,” he responds, making me believe he had a hard time planning this date.

“You would be astonished what I haven’t experienced.”

“I think you will like tapas,” he assures me.

“I’m sure I will.” I smile over at him.

We pull up to a small and intimate restaurant. There are only about fifteen tables and a bar along one wall. The hostess seats us in the corner by the window, handing us the menus. Brady pulls out my chair and then takes his seat across the table.

A guy about our age comes over with two waters, informing us that his name is Sergio and he’ll be our waiter. He suggests we have sangria so I order one and Brady does too, but non-alcoholic.

“Do you see anything you like?” Brady asks me, perusing the menu.

“I think I will take your lead on this. How about something with shrimp?”

“You pick three things, I will pick three things, and we can share,” he compromises.

I pick a shrimp and two vegetables and Brady picks three meat tapas. After my first sangria, I switch to water.

As we sit back in our seats waiting for our food, I start drilling Brady with questions.

“So tell me, do you plan on making a go of it with The Invisibles?”

“Um…no.” He leans back, hesitant to answer the question. “I love music and I will miss it, but I don’t want it as my career.”

“Do the others know that?”

“Yeah, Trey and Hulk are enrolled in school, too. It’s only Robbie who seems to want to pursue the dream of rock ‘n roll. He left school last year with only a year left, and I have been trying to get him to enroll again for spring semester.”

“What is your major?” I ask him since he never told me, Grant did.

“Engineering. Yours?” he asks in return.

“What kind of engineering?” I dodge his question.

“Civil. Again, what’s yours?”

“Why Engineering?” I spit out another question.

“I love to build things. Always have,” he answers. “Now, what is your major?”

“Guess,” I say.

“Hmm…” he contemplates. “Education. No, that’s not it.” He thinks some more. “Design, no not that either.” He puts his finger to his lip, smirking over to me. “How about Psychology?” He smiles as though he already knew the answer.

“How did you know?” I ask, shocked.

“My secret. I don’t know what you want to do with it though.” His tone becomes serious again.

“I haven’t decided. I hate the idea of being in school anymore, but I would love to counsel people,” I reveal.

“So, you haven’t applied for graduate school yet?” He seems concerned.

“No, I decided to take a year off.”

“Where did you say you are from again?” he asks innocently.

I can’t decide if I should lie or start telling the truth. I’m not ready to tell him yet, but I don’t want to lie either. I’m thankful the food comes just as I’m about to spit the truth out. But Brady can’t be detoured. After Sergio leaves the plates and we start picking at the food, he asks me again.

“Um…I don’t care to talk about my past,” I honestly answer.

“I understand, you tell me what you want. If I pry too much, let me know. But Sadie?” He waits for my full attention. “At some point I want you to trust me enough to tell me everything, okay?” he says and I nod.

“I’m from Maryland,” I reply, divulging the truth.

“Huh,” he says, remembering I lied previously to him, but he lets it go. “Did you leave both parents behind?” He cuts up his meat.

“Yes, my parents are married, living in Maryland, and wondering what the hell I’m doing down here,” I confess, making this seem too easy to reveal my past.

“Why did you leave school with only one year left?” I can tell he knows this is a bad question, but he is trying to figure out how far he can dig.