The Songs in Our Hearts: A Young Adult Romance(35)

CHARLIE: Yes or no?



MICAH: Ohhhhhhhhh, now ur pressuring me.



CHARLIE: Forget it!





My stomach churned and I looked away from the screen. For the first time, I had asked out a boy and he avoided the question. My phone dinged again, and I ignored it until it went off a second time.





MICAH: Is this a date then?



MICAH: Sure, I’ll go.





I reread the texts. Was it a date? It didn’t have to be. Certainly not if he didn’t want it to be. I tried to think quickly, in the haze of sleepiness and exhilaration.





CHARLIE: It’s doesn’t have to be a date.



MICAH: I’ll pick you up at 7.



MICAH: Night Charlie.





I put my phone on my nightstand. I was going to a dance and a bonfire with Micah on Friday. Two different events with him in one night! I pulled the comforter over my head and tried to force myself to relax. I was just too excited and couldn’t seem to erase the smile from my face. I knew full well if I didn’t settle down and fall asleep soon, I’d be dragging in the morning.





“Dangerously”

Charlie Puth





IT DIDN’T TAKE TOO MUCH to convince my parents to allow me to go to the dance with Rachel. But the bonfire took a little more work with my dad. He sat at the dinner table, fork in hand as he peered at me.

“Will there be drinking?” He twirled the spaghetti noodles around his utensil.

“I don’t think so.” Honestly, I had no idea what went on during a bonfire. I had never been to one. Most of the time, getting out of the house meant going to the movies, to Rachel’s youth group, or walking around the mall. A bonfire was something new to the list of Things-Charlie-Goes-Out-To-Do.

“I remember when I was young, people drank at bonfires. I’m not really sure I want you going.”

“I’ll just be hanging out with Micah,” I tried to explain. “We’re not even of legal drinking age, yet.”

“Do you really think that matters?” Josh spoke up from the other side of the kitchen, cupping his can of soda.

“No one asked you,” I snapped. “Dad, we’re gonna go to the dance with Rachel, and then we’re just meeting up with a few of his friends. They’re the ones who are going to build our sets.”

“I don’t know, honey. I don’t think your mother would be okay with it either.”

“I promise, if there’s alcohol, I won’t drink it.”

“You’re not the one I’m worried about,” Dad said sternly. “What about Micah? If he’s driving you there, he’ll have to drive you home. I don’t want him to drink and drive.”

“He won’t,” I insisted. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t.”

Dad gave me a dubious look. “If you really insist, Charlie…you can go. But if he drinks, call home right away. You’re not getting in the car with him.”

“He won’t, Dad,” I repeated. “But I promise, if I see anything, I’ll call home.”

“You’d better.” He took a bite of spaghetti. Watching him, I hoped I could trust Micah to make the right choices. I hoped I hadn’t just lied to my dad.





FRIDAY SEEMED TO ARRIVE ALL too quickly. Surprisingly, in my excitement, I kept the plans with Micah to myself. After school, I escaped into my room and took my time dressing for the night. All day, I had been thinking about the dance and what it would be like to go to the bonfire with him. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I hoped it would be fun.

“See you at seven,” Micah had told me before I got off the bus, making my stomach leap in anticipation.

As I stood in front of my mirror, looking at my reflection, I started to panic. Was this too much? Did I look too fancy? I had decided to wear my favorite black dress with pink and white flowers woven in the fabric, with a warm pair of leggings and boots. It wasn’t the normal clothing Micah usually saw me in. Maybe this could be a date. I was kind of treating it like one.

“Look at you, trying to be all snazzy,” Josh said from my doorway.

“Creep. Spying on me?”

“Hardly,” he snorted and came to sit down on my bed. I moved over to my desk, where a few selections of eye shadows and mascara awaited me.

“So you’re really going to this bonfire thing, huh? Are you and him a thing now?”

“No way. We’re just friends.”

“Right,” Josh said sarcastically. “Well, just be careful tonight.”

“I know,” I replied. “I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt, though.”

“He seems nice and all…but his friends are a little…” Josh made a face. “I don’t know, some of them are all right. But some of them….”

“Paul doesn’t seem all that bad.” I turned to look at myself in the mirror.

“I’m a guy and I know how guys think,” Josh reminded me. “You’re not an unattractive girl. You’d be surprised how many times I hear something about ‘your sister’ on the team.”