didn’t waste another second messing around with the other kids or the advisers. She took off out of the room and to the parking lot, fishing her phone from her pocket on her way.
As she punched in the digits Stella had given her, her fingers started to shake. She’d had this elaborate plan to talk to Jenna, but that plan had fallen apart. Now she didn’t know what to do or what to say, and holy crap, she was freaking out already.
“Hello?” Jenna said from the other end of the line.
Ash froze. She opened her mouth but couldn’t speak.
“Hello?” Jenna said again.
“Hi, um… I….”
“Ash?”
Resume normal heart rate in three—two—one….
“Yeah,” Ash said a little breathlessly. “Yeah, it’s Ash. Um, Stella gave me your number. I hope that’s okay. She said you wouldn’t mind.”
“I don’t. I told her it was okay. I think she would’ve given it to you anyway. She has this silly idea that we’re supposed to hook up.”
Okay, forget that normal heart rate thing. It flat-out stopped .
“Why is that silly?” Ash asked.
“Well, I….” Silence. Jenna didn’t answer the question, and Ash couldn’t help being disappointed. It was silly because they didn’t know each other, had just met a week ago. “I didn’t think you were interested,” Jenna finally admitted. “The way you bailed Friday night, I mean—”
“That’s not why I bailed.”
“Why did you, then?”
There were a ton of great reasons why Ash left last Friday night, none of which she felt could be accurately portrayed over the phone. There were so many feelings and emotions that could be lost over the distance of air and space. No, Jenna needed to see her face when they talked about Ash’s life and why she didn’t think she was good enough for Jenna.
“Can you meet me for coffee?” Ash asked.
“I guess,” Jenna said.
“There’s a coffee shop close to the center. Will you meet me there?”
“Sure. I can be there in about fifteen minutes.”
“Great. See you then.”
Chapter Five
Jenna parked her sparkly silver import next to Ash’s poor little rust bucket. The sight of it made her smile. Most of the people Jenna knew wouldn’t be caught dead in a clunker like that, but much like Ash’s style, it had character, and Jenna adored that. The car represented the breath of fresh air Jenna needed in her life.
She spotted Ash’s fading purple hair through the glass door. Ash stood in line behind a few other people, and just seeing her there made butterflies flitter around in Jenna’s tummy. She didn’t want tonight to end like last Friday night. Whatever happened, whatever reason Ash had for bolting on her, Jenna didn’t want it to happen again.
The door chimed, and Ash’s head whipped around. The moment her startling blue stare landed on Jenna, her heart skipped and her lips curled into a soft smile. Ash had taken the nose ring out and her dark rocker makeup had been replaced with something much softer. She looked beautiful, breathtakingly beautiful. Jenna drew the edge of her lip in between her teeth as she stepped farther into the building.
“Hey,” Ash said. She tensed, licked her lips, and tucked her hands into her pockets.
“Hey,” Jenna responded. “Have you ordered yet?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Jenna reached in her purse and whipped out her wallet as the man behind the counter called for the next person in line. “Get whatever you like,” she said. “It’s on my daddy.”
Smiling, she laid down a Discover card with her name on it, but Ash didn’t look pleased with the situation at all. Jenna didn’t get it, but didn’t ask. She just wanted to see Ash smile again, wanted to know the night wouldn’t end the way it had before.
Ash ordered a twenty-ounce mocha anyway, then Jenna ordered her drink—a twenty-ounce caramel macchiato. She paid for their drinks, then both girls moved down to the end of the line.
“Thanks for buying,” Ash said quietly.
“You’re