“He smiled at my reaction, the stupid smile of his that was like he knew something you didn’t. And he knew something I didn’t pretty much all the time, so it was pretty much every smile on his face.”

“Tell you what," he said, noticing my stare. "I know you can't get a license, but I might be able to do something better.""What?"He smiled. "How would you like to come to school with me tomorrow and see a real, live locker?" I'm pretty sure I squealed.”

“I followed the sensation,thinking of Lend. What it felt like to hold his hand. Watching him draw.Those precious times when he got to be nothing but himself around me. The way he laughed. The look he got in his eyes when he was about to say something he knew was clever. The way he looked at while I talked, like I was all he had ever wanted in the entire world.”

“I nodded and smiled enthusiastically. "Party!""Lend'll whine.""He's cute when he whines.""There's something wrong with you," she said.There were a lot of things wrong with me, but loving Lend was definitely not one of them.”

“We sat down and Lend put his arm around me. Every single jaw at the table dropped."Man," John said, shaking his head. "All this time I was pretty sure you were gay.”

“Can I take a rain check? Weekends are busy for me."He shrugged, his perma smile back in all its dimpled glory. "You'd probably figure out a way to nearly get killed, anyway.”

“So who do you want to be?”I smiled, resting my head against his chest. “I’m not sure yet, but I’m looking forward to finding out.”