Horrified, she mumbled an apology, got to her feet, and started running through the brambles and bushes for the relative safety of her mobile home.
“Lexi, wait!”
She ran into the mobile home and slammed the door shut behind her. Mia lay at her feet, singing a song from The Little Mermaid.
Lexi stepped over her best friend and peeked out from between the curtains.
Zach stood there a long time, staring at the closed door. Then he finally went back to his car and started it up.
It wasn’t until Lexi had brushed her teeth and put on her pajamas and crawled into bed with Mia that she let herself really think about what she’d almost done.
“You’re an idiot, Lexi Baill,” she said into the quiet.
“No you’re not,” Mia said; then she started to snore.
*
The next morning, Lexi stood at her bedroom window, staring out at the falling rain, feeling sick to her stomach. She couldn’t believe that she’d almost kissed Zach last night.
What an idiot.
What should she do now? Tell Mia the truth, throw herself on her best friend’s mercy and apologize for a moment of lunacy? But what if it ruined everything? And Zach would never tell. Or would he? Did he hate Lexi that much?
“I feel like crap.”
Lexi heard the mattress creak against the wood-slatted bed frame. There was a pinging sound as Mia maneuvered to a sit. Lexi turned slowly around, feeling a fresh wave of shame.
Mia pushed the tangled blond hair out of her eyes, which were a little dazed looking, unfocused. A red scratch marred one pale cheek. Lexi had no idea how Mia had gotten the injury. No doubt Mia didn’t either. “Man,” she said. “I got roasted last night.”
“You did.” Lexi went back to the bed and climbed in beside her best friend.
Mia leaned against her. “Thanks for taking care of me. I swear I didn’t drink that much.” She banged her head back against the wall. “God, I hope my mom doesn’t hear about this.”
Lexi couldn’t take it; the truth was corroding her from the inside out. She had to be a good friend to Mia. She had to be. “Speaking of last night. I did a really stup—”
Mia sat up suddenly. “Tyler asked me to the homecoming dance.”
Lexi stopped. “What?” She and Mia usually hung out together on dance nights. Neither one of them had been asked to any of the dances last year. She felt vaguely jealous that this time she’d be sitting out the dance while Mia was having fun.
“You can come with us. Really. It’d be a blast. We could triple date with Amanda and Zach.”
“Uh. No. And about Zach…”
“What about him?” Mia kicked back the covers and got out of bed. She stood there, a little unsteady on her feet, looking around the room for her pants.
“They’re in the dryer. You puked on them last night.”
“Gross.” Mia padded out of the bedroom and headed down the hallway. The trailer shuddered at the weight of her steps.
Lexi followed Mia, stood in the hall while her friend slipped back into her jeans. She was about to bring up Zach again when Eva came out of her bedroom.
“Hey, Eva,” Mia said with an obviously forced smile. “Thanks for letting me spend the night last night.”
Eva said, “You’re always welcome. Did you have fun last night?”
Mia smiled again, but it was ragged; her skin was a little gray. “We did. It was great.” She put an arm around Lexi. “I don’t know what I’d do without Lexi. She’s the best friend ever.”
Outside, a car horn honked.
“That’ll be my mom,” Mia said. “She texted me last night. We’re going to visit my grandmother today. I better go.”
Lexi followed Mia to the front door. In her mind, she blurted out her secret several times, and they laughed about it; in truth, she said nothing, just stared at Mia’s long blond hair.
At the front door, Mia hugged her fiercely. “Thanks, Lexi. I mean it.” She drew back, looking a little uncertain. “I’m sorry, you know. I shouldn’t have lost it like that. You’ll come to the dance with Ty and me, right?”
“Like I’m not lame enough already,” Lexi said.
“Don’t say that. We’ll have a blast.”
Outside, the car horn honked again.
“She’s so OCD,” Mia said, opening the door.
The white Mustang was parked out front, its engine purring, exhaust melting into the fog.
Zach got out of the car and stood there, staring at Lexi over the Mustang’s white roof. Rain pelted his face, made him blink.