I went on with my day as usual. I cleaned a little, then tried to focus on my homework. I was still thinking about Deon, and I honestly regretted not accepting that ice cream. I could’ve had a nice day out with him, but that was too late now.

I did not expect to hear from Beau. I tried to forget he even existed since I only seemed to get hurt every time I had something to do with him. So... When my phone suddenly rang an hour later, I got startled. I stared at Beau’s name on the screen for a long moment before I realized I was supposed to answer it.

I grabbed it and brought it to my ear, my mouth suddenly dry.

“H-hello?”

“Hey, I just wanted to make sure you still remember our date. I’ll pick you up at six at the store, okay?” Beau spoke like he hadn’t spent the day ignoring me.

“O-okay,” I muttered, unable to think of anything else to say.

“You sound hesitant?” Beau said, and I could almost hear him frowning.

“N-no! I was just surprised... I thought... You... You ignored me... And I thought... I thought you were mad at me...” I stammered and trailed off.

“What? Of course not,” Beau said. “Look, I need to go now. I’ll pick you up in half an hour, and I’ll explain everything. See you soon!”

And then he hung up. I lowered the phone and stared at the screen. Then I almost panicked when I realized I had only thirty minutes to get ready. I rushed to take the quickest shower ever and then tried to find clean clothes. I hadn’t washed the laundry in ages, so it took me almost too long to find a clean pair of black jeans – which were torn a little due to old age – a gray T-shirt, and a black hoodie.

I also tried to comb my hair and cursed the gray roots that were already showing almost by an inch. My acne had grown worse as well since I hadn’t cared enough to treat it. It still wasn’t too bad, but I was still mad at myself.

When I was finally ready, I had only five minutes left, but the small convenience store was close by. I dashed downstairs and hurried out the door before my dad or Allen could stop me, then ran all the way to the meeting point.

Once I was there, I leaned against the white wall to catch my breath. I felt dizzy again, and I broke into a sweat. My knees were shaking, my throat was burning, and I started coughing. I guess I forgot I was still sick...

Thankfully, Beau was running late, so I had time to recollect myself. The nauseated feeling subsided after ten or so minutes, and I could breathe again without coughing my lungs out. I felt weak, but if Beau really wanted to see me, I couldn’t let anything ruin this chance for me.

Especially myself.

I waited for almost ten more minutes, fearing he wasn’t going to show up after all, but I finally spotted his white car stopping on the other side of the road. I waited for two seconds, but since he wasn’t going to drive into the parking lot, I ran to him. I opened the door of the passenger seat and sat down, and the second I was in the car, Beau continued driving.

“Hey,” I said shyly.

“Hey, babe,” he said, smiling at me, and sped up. “I have to be back home by eight, but I know just the spot where we can go.”

“Okay,” I smiled and pushed my bangs away from my eyes.

I didn’t pay much attention to where we were going. I just stared at Beau, his amazing chocolate-brown hair, his piercing blue eyes and flawless skin. He was wearing a sky-blue hoodie and dark jeans, and his body looked stronger than I remembered. Maybe it was because I hadn’t seen him so close in a few months.

He looked good. He looked really good.

When he stopped the car, I managed to tear my eyes off him to take a look around. We were in a silent parking lot right between the park and the cemetery where my mom was buried. Beau and I had spent hours and hours in that place with our friends, back when everything was still fine in my life.

“Remember this place?” Beau asked.

“Uh-huh...” I turned to him. “Why are we here?”

Beau didn’t answer me. Instead, he suddenly pulled me into a deep kiss. He didn’t give me much time to recover from the surprise. He pressed his tongue against my lips, pushing it through into my mouth as soon as I parted them.

His hand was on the back of my neck, pressing our lips harder together, and sending me high above the clouds. His other hand landed on my leg, and he squeezed my thigh hard. I slowly relaxed and gave him the lead, trying to respond to his hungry kiss with the same passion.

“I missed you,” Beau breathed out against my mouth. “You turned out to be so hot...”

I felt happy shivers going through my body when he said that. In my hazy mind, I couldn’t understand why I’d felt so bad the first time he kissed me, because now it felt so divine...

Then, all of a sudden, he pulled away and moved his seat all the way back. Then he grabbed my hand and yanked it, gesturing for me to climb onto his lap. It was really hard in the small car, but I somehow managed to crawl my way on top of him.

He pulled me into another heated kiss, and his hands roamed my body wildly, touching me demandingly everywhere he could reach. I jumped a little in surprise and parted our lips when he squeezed my butt harshly, but he gave me a reassuring smile.

“You’re so hot,” he cooed and grabbed my hair, pulling me close enough to kiss me again.

I never thought he could be so eager, but he had his reputation with girls. I’d seen him making out with a few of them, but I never believed he would treat me the way he treated them – like I wasn’t a boy. It warmed my heart even more to realize he had no problem making out with a guy.

And I... I’d never done anything like this before, and I truly loved it. Being so close to Beau... Being this intimate with him... It was better than anything I’d ever experienced before. I really, really loved it.

And my feelings for him grew even stronger.

Later, when Beau dropped me off close to my home, I was still so amazed and mesmerized by him that I’d completely forgotten I was supposed to wait for Deon. Once I’d managed to sneak inside the house and up into my room without getting yelled at by my dad, I closed the door and tossed myself on the bed.

I stared at the ceiling for a very long time with a wide smile on my burning lips. The evening had been so wonderful. Beau had promised to call me tomorrow... I was already anxiously waiting for it. I wasn’t sure if I could get any sleep in that happy state of mind.

It was really weird to be feeling like that... To be happy. I couldn’t even put into words how happy I was. Beau and I were dating! My deepest wish had come true! Beau, the guy I’d been in love with for so long, the guy I thought hated me, was now my boyfriend! At last! My life had turned upside down in a matter of days, and I was finally happy.

I was finally happy...

I let out a short laugh with all those great feelings inside me. I almost couldn’t believe it. I had to believe it since my lips were sore from all that kissing. It really happened.

“Beau...” I whispered his name and turned on my side, curling into a small ball of pure happiness.

It took me a long while before I finally remembered Deon. My mood dropped a little because I believed he would just ruin my happiness with his grumpiness. But a deal was a deal, so I stood up and went to make a bed for him. I wished he’d find a girl to stay with, but lately he hadn’t had much luck with girls. I guess the rumors about him cheating on his girlfriends had finally spread throughout the school.

That last girl who dated him had treated him like garbage ever since their breakup. She was probably making sure the rest of them wouldn’t go out with him. Although... I’d seen plenty of them batting their eyelashes at him... Maybe he would find someone, after all.

Of course, I didn’t have such luxury. He called a minute after midnight, and I went to open the door for him. My dad was, as usual, passed out on the couch, but I had no idea if Allen was at home or not.

“Just don’t make any noise,” I hissed right after I swung the door open for him.

Deon put his hands up, took a step back, and smiled.

“You’re in a good mood,” he muttered sarcastically, stepping inside.

“And you’re drunk,” I said angrily. “I can smell alcohol all over you.”

“Well, that was the whole point for me to go out,” Deon replied and started to climb the stairs. He was wobbling more than the last time, so I assumed he was really drunk. He was making an excessive amount of noise, too.

“Hurry up!” I told him in a whisper.

“I’m going, I’m going... Geez...” he replied.

Seconds later, I managed to hide him in my room without my dad waking up. I watched Deon by the door when he tried to take his jacket off, but it seemed to be too hard for him. He couldn’t even stand up straight!

“You shouldn’t be drinking that much,” I grunted.

“I know, Mom,” Deon chuckled. “This jacket needs its ass kicked...”

I shook my head and sighed. I took a firm grip on the back of his jacket and helped him take it off. Next, he tried to undress his shirt, and since it wasn’t going any better, I had to help him with it as well.

“You’re like a big baby...” I muttered once his shirt was off.

“Shut up...” he murmured and sat down on the bed I had prepared for him.

I took a deep breath while he lay down, and only a couple of seconds later, he was snoring.

“Great,” I sighed and grabbed his duvet and tucked him in. “You’re going to be so pissed in the morning...”

If the old signs were accurate, he would have a major hangover. I sneaked out of my room to get some painkillers and a bottle of water for him. When I returned, he was snoring even louder, and I feared the sound would alert my dad. Then again, my dad was just as drunk as Deon, so he probably wouldn’t wake up even if there was an explosion in our house.

I placed the painkillers and the water next to Deon’s bed, and then I climbed onto my own. I listened to Deon’s snoring for a while, but then my thoughts trailed back to Beau.

The thought of him brought a smile to my lips, and suddenly, I was feeling a lot better.