My pulse starts fluttering when he ends the call, says something to his friends without taking his eyes off me, then starts heading my way across the bridge that connects to the opposite sides of the second story.

Whitney is rambling on about Bryce, something about wanting to crush his nuts in a vise, but I don’t pay attention to her. He gets closer, his friends following a few steps behind him.

I can tell the minute that Whitney sees him because her voice trails off with a soft, “Oh, wow.”

“Hey,” he says when he stops a few feet from me. His eyes cut to Whitney and then back to me. While he doesn’t overtly check me out, I can tell he likes what he sees. I’m thankful for my most flattering jeans and my mom’s red heels I stole out of her bedroom before I left, hiding them in my large purse while walking out the door in sedate black flats. Those now reside in my bag and the red heels add four inches to my height.

“Hey,” I say back, my eyes cutting down to his bag. “Good shopping?”

He shrugs, and it’s very cool, I think. “Just killing time. We’re getting ready to head out to a party.”

“Cool,” I say, hoping I sound cool and not lame.

“I’m Dallas,” he says, and then nods to his friends. “That’s David and Blake.”

I turn slightly and grab Whitney’s hand, pulling her forward to stand beside me. “This is Whitney…my best friend.”

Dallas nods to her and his buddies turn away from us, both checking out their phones. Neither one of them looked at Whitney twice, which I don’t get. She’s really pretty with auburn hair and soft brown eyes.

But then Dallas makes me forget that when he leans in toward me and says, “Want to go to the party with us?”

“Where is it?” I ask casually, trying not to sound excited.

But I’m so excited. This is exactly what I was looking for tonight. Some type of validation that I’m interesting and worthy of a man’s notice.

“It’s over in Atherton,” he says. “Some rich dude’s house. My sister goes to college with him.”

The way he says “rich dude” leads me to believe that Dallas is not rich himself, but that doesn’t bother me. He’s very cute and he looks at me like he doesn’t see a kid.

“Sounds fun,” I chirp at him. “Right, Whitney?”

“Um, I can’t,” Whitney says. “My curfew’s at ten P.M.”

Bummer. My parents said I could stay out until midnight since it was my birthday.

“Excuse me a minute,” I say to Dallas, and pull Whitney five paces away. I lean in toward her and whisper, “Come on, Whitney. I really want to go. Call your mom and tell her you’re staying the night with me.”

She shakes her head and looks at me with worried eyes. “No way. Last time we tried that and got busted, I was grounded for a week. And besides…we don’t know these guys.”

My eyes cut over to Dallas, who is looking down at his phone.

So freakin’ cute. Way cuter than Bryce.

“He’s nice,” I say. “And it will be fun, and besides…it’s my birthday. The birthday girl gets to do what she wants.”

“No, Sela,” she says adamantly. “I don’t want to get in trouble, and you shouldn’t go off with strangers. It’s dangerous.”

Something deep in my brain acknowledges the truth of this statement, but I push it aside. I’m sixteen, a hot guy is interested in me, and I want to see what the night holds. I’m feeling adventurous and a little vindictive, imagining having fun on my birthday with Dallas and relishing in being able to show up at some function in the near future with him on my arm and Bryce being jealous.

“I’m going,” I tell Whitney resolutely. “And I really wish you’d come.”

“Sela, don’t,” she implores me.

Turning away from her, I tell Dallas, “I have to be home by midnight. I live in Belle Haven.”

“Not a problem,” he says with a charming grin, and it wouldn’t be. It’s only a few miles away, and if worse came to worst, I could always cab it. I had the cash that Mom and Dad gave me for my birthday celebration with Whitney and so far, we’d only bought an ice cream tonight.

“Last chance,” I say resolutely to Whitney with my head tilted to the side.

“This is not a good idea,” she warns me, but my decision is made.

Impulsively, I reach out and hug her. “I’ll be fine.”

She gives me a wan smile but it doesn’t really project. She’s worried and miffed I’m doing this, but I’m too filled with excitement to even care at this point. I turn toward Dallas and I’m beyond giddy when he takes my hand in his.

“Come on, gorgeous,” he says as we start to walk away. “This will be a night to remember.”

I totally know it will. Grandiose ideas fill my head of Dallas coming by my school to see me; maybe taking me to the spring dance. I swear I won’t strut too much as we walk by Bryce and his mouth hangs open in disbelief. I look over my shoulder to see Whitney chewing on her bottom lip with worry, and I wave. She doesn’t return it.

We all exit the mall to the upper-level parking garage, Dallas holding my hand while David and Blake walk ahead of us. They lead us over to a later-model Nissan that’s got dark tinted windows, multiple stickers on the bumper, and a huge dent in the rear quarter panel. Blake takes the driver’s door, David the front passenger, and Dallas and I crawl into the backseat.

“So, this party is supposed to be in some mansion or some shit; mostly college kids, but no one will say shit to us,” Dallas tells me. “We’re all eighteen.”

Not me, I think, but I’m not about to tell him that. He doesn’t ask, and I’m thankful.

Blake starts the car and a rap song I don’t recognize comes on.

David drums his hands on the dashboard in quick succession and yells, “Yeah…spark that owl.”

Dallas laughs and pops his hand on the back of David’s headrest. “Hand me a stick, man.”

I’m lost already, no clue what they’re talking about. David reaches into the glove compartment, pulls something out, and hands it over his head to Dallas.

He takes it, reaches into his front pocket, and pulls out a lighter. Then he puts a thin white joint to his mouth and lights it. I stare in fascination as his cheeks hollow and the cherry on the end glows bright. It’s not the first joint I’ve seen, because hell, the kids in my neighborhood stroll around in broad daylight smoking them, but it is the first time I’ve been in such close proximity.