Breathless by Scott Prussing Page A

a chance, and probably would have tried to inveigle their way up to her room, too. But Rave was different from other guys in every way imaginable, so why shouldn’t he be different in this as well? She would have to trust what her heart was telling her—that he liked her a lot, maybe as much as she liked him. And he had promised he would see her again soon. She could hardly wait.
     
    “You did what ?” Cali exclaimed.
    “It was just a walk,” Leesa said defensively.
    Needing to share her excitement with someone, she’d gone straight to Cali’s room after her walk with Rave. Cali sat cross-legged on the bed, wearing a camouflage tank top and tan shorts, a textbook open on her lap. She’d painted her toes in rainbow hues, Leesa noticed. The room’s lone window was open, and she could smell the night air. “Use Somebody” by the Kings of Leon rumbled from Cali’s iPod Dock.
    “Just a walk,” Cali mimicked. “All alone in the dark with a guy from some cult that does human sacrifices, for all we know.”
    Leesa hopped onto the bed beside Cali. “Oh, come on. You don’t believe that stuff.”
    “Well, maybe not that,” Cali admitted. “But those people are weird. You should be careful.” She shook her head and grinned. “Imagine, me being the voice of reason. What’s the world coming to?”
    They both laughed.
    “He’s really nice,” Leesa said. “We had a lot of fun. He didn’t even try to kiss me goodnight. Heck, he didn’t even hold my hand. I wanted to so bad I almost reached out and grabbed his.” She felt her heart begin to quicken at the thought.
    Cali laughed again. “See, I told you he was weird. Any normal guy would’ve tried to get a little tongue, at least. Just be careful, okay? I don’t want to have to find a new best friend.”
    Leesa wondered why everyone was telling her to be careful. Was Middletown, Connecticut, really such a dangerous place? Rave said be careful of Stefan; Cali said be careful of Rave…. Who would Stefan tell her to be careful of? Cali?
    Cali thumped her book closed and dropped it onto the bed beside her. “I’m tired of studying. Let’s go see if Caitlin and Stacie are up for some Guitar Hero .”
    Leesa got up from the bed. She could use a little distraction—was it starting to get warm again?

 
     
     
    13. FRIENDLY WARNINGS
     
    T he sun was slowly sinking into the deep green hills west of the campus as Leesa and her three friends waited on the sidewalk in front of the dorm for Uncle Roger to pick them up and take them to Meriden for a home-cooked meal. Leesa had been back for dinner several times since school started, but this was the first time she was bringing her friends. After a month of subsisting on dorm food, they were going to love her aunt’s cooking, and she couldn’t wait until they tasted one of her uncle’s pies.
    The Indian summer of a few days before was now but a pleasant memory, and the late afternoon had grown crisp. Leesa zipped her San Diego sweatshirt up against the chill. Cali had dressed down for the occasion—“rule ninety-nine: don’t make the relatives think I’m a bad influence,” she’d joked—wearing her pink hoodie with the checks on one sleeve, hip-hugger jeans with no rips, and a pair of gray Nike running shoes adorned with pink swooshes. Her “girly sneakers,” she called them. She had six or seven leather and bronze bracelets dangling from her right wrist to keep her from feeling “too plain.” Stacie wore a fuzzy, oversized powder blue sweater that hung below her butt cheeks like a short dress, with tight black leggings and gray Ugg boots, while Caitlin sported a black argyle sweater with gray and white diamonds in vertical columns down the front, dark gray pants and black flats.
    Uncle Roger pulled to the curb at precisely six o’clock, as promised. He left the engine running as he climbed out of the Expedition and waddled around the front to give Leesa a big hug. Leesa hugged him back, then pulled