much as I tried, I could not stop the wild flutter of butterflies in my belly. I gave up and
leaned back into the mirror to liberally apply mascara since it was the only makeup Mum
would let me wear. I had long fair eyelashes so no one could tell how long they were until I
started wearing black mascara. They were long and now that they were black they made my pale blue eyes even bluer.
Hopefully the mascara also made me look a little older because, even though I was tall, I
was still skinny with small boobs and had a smattering of freckles across the bridge of my
nose that made me feel about five years old instead of fifteen.
I had a date tonight. My first date. With Sam Smith who was a sixth year, meaning he was
two years older than me and he was cute and cool and I really, really liked him.
As much as I could like any boy who wasn’t Adam.
Not that Adam was a boy any more.
A knock sounded at my bedroom door as I ran a brush through my long hair for the
hundredth time. “Come in!” I called, somewhat agitated since I thought it was probably my
Mum, who seemed to be at once both more excited than me about the date, and also more
concerned.
To my surprise, the head that popped around the door wasn’t Mum’s but Adam’s.
My heart did this little flippy thing in my chest that it did every time I saw him and I
smiled brightly at him. “What are you doing here?”
He stepped inside and closed the door, his brows drawing together in consternation as I
stood up to greet him. His eyes travelled the length of me and I saw a muscle tick in his jaw.
I was wearing a white sleeveless shift dress. It had a modest neckline and I was wearing a
cardigan to cover my arms, and black tights to cover my bare legs, but I was guessing the
short hemline still pissed him off. The reminder that he thought of me as a little sister he
needed to protect pissed me off. I crossed my arms over my chest, and the movement brought his eyes back up to my face.
“Clark told Braden you had a date tonight. We both wanted to drop by for the momentous
occasion. Who is he?”
I rolled my eyes at his overbearing tone. “Just a boy.”
“And how old is this boy?” Adam asked softly as he took a few steps toward me.
“Where’s Braden?”
“Downstairs. Don’t dodge the question. How old?”
“Sam is seventeen.”
“What?” he inhaled sharply. “And Elodie agreed to this?”
He didn’t mention Clark, since Clark was far more laid-back about these things than Mum.
“She’s excited for me actually.”
“She’s chirping like a nervous chicken downstairs.”
“That’s because Sam will be here any minute.” I avoided his eyes, not liking that stubborn
tilt to his chin.
“Where is he taking you?”
“Cinema, then dinner.”
“You’ll be home before eleven?”
I grabbed my purse up off my bed and threw out an exaggerated sigh. “Yes-uh.”
“And you won’t let him touch you.”
It wasn’t a question.
I froze at his command and narrowed my eyes on him as he took the last remaining steps
toward me until he was standing right in front of me, so close I had to tilt my head back to
meet his gaze. “It’s a date, Adam,” I whispered. “Touching is supposed to be involved.”
“Not when you’re a fifteen year old girl. Not when you’re you.” I flinched back, taking
that as an insult and Adam immediately grimaced. “Els, I didn’t mean it like that. I just
mean… you’re not just some girl.”
“Look, Braden gave me this speech three hours ago on the phone.”
“Ellie,” Adam gave me a look that clearly said “shut up”. “You’re special. You deserve a
boy who understands that, and a boy who understands that won’t try any funny business
tonight, okay?”
“Funny business?” I raised my eyebrows at him. “I’m pretty sure Sam won’t try any funny
business.”
“Els, you’re a romantic, and you’re young. Boys his age… they’re not romantic. They
have one thing on their mind and one thing only. And the little swine isn’t getting it from
you.”
Annoyed at his suggestion I was some naïve little girl, I brushed past him. “Don’t you
have a comatose date waiting somewhere for you?”
“You cheeky little bugger,” he grumbled behind me as I walked out of my room and
started heading down the stairs. “I preferred you when you were wee and cute and didn’t talk
back.”
I grunted at that and then inhaled on said grunt, choking, at the sound of the doorbell.
“I’ll get that,” Adam announced determinedly, but I flung out my arms and legs in a star-shape, blocking his passage.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough limbs to stop Clark, who hurried out of the living
room wearing a glower the likes I’d never seen before.
Uh oh.
So perhaps Clark wasn’t as cool about my whole first date thing after all.
“Dammit,” I breathed, hurrying down the last few steps as Braden came out of the living
room with a bottle of beer in hand. Eyes wide at his sudden appearance and the darkening of
his expression when he saw my dress, I raced by him and collided against Clark’s back as he
finished greeting my date at the door.
“She’s right here,” Clark said as I stumbled around him, giving him a questioning look. He
was all glaring and intimidating. It was weird.
“Sam,” I breathed, feeling my butterflies explode into a flurry again at the sight of him.
Sam was as tall as Braden, although lanky and slim, and he had messy light brown hair that
seemed to have a life of its own. He was famous at school for that hair. All the girls wanted to be the girl who got to run her fingers through that hair. I was hoping after tonight that girl
would be me.
Sam finished eyeing Clark warily and then threw a dimpled smile my way. “Hey, Ellie.
You look great.”
“She does not.” Braden suddenly appeared behind me and Clark, and I closed my eyes in
actual pain after watching Adam squeeze in beside him. They were both trying to fry Sam’s
arse with the power of their eyeballs. “She looks fifteen. You remember that.”
Oh God. Kill me. Kill me now.
“If you touch her, I’ll make sure you lose all sense of feeling. Permanently,” Adam
warned darkly.
“What he said,” Braden growled.
When I dared to open my eyes, my heart in my throat, it was to find Sam’s face was ashen
as he stared at Braden and Adam as though they were Viking marauders come to cut off his
head.
“What is all this?” Mum’s voice sent a rush of relief through me. “Get away from the
door.” Adam and Braden were jerked backwards, followed by Clark, until my mum, Elodie
Nichols, was left standing alone. Tall and willowy, my mum was still gorgeous, and right
now she was an angel.
“Thank you,” I breathed gratefully.
She took one look at my expression and threw a dirty look over her shoulder at the
retreating men. It appeased me somewhat to know that when I left on my date with Sam, the
three of them would get a verbal tongue-lashing that would make their threats to Sam seem
like child’s play.
When she turned back she held a hand out to my date. “Elodie Nichols, it’s lovely to meet
you, Sam.”
“You too, Mrs. Nichols,” Sam replied quietly, clearly not recovered.
“Well, I’ll let you two get on.” Her eyes glistened as she tucked my hair behind my ear
and leaned in to press a kiss to my cheek. “Have a great time, darling. Be back before
eleven.”
“Thanks Mum.”
“You’ve got your phone?”
I nodded and quickly stepped out onto the front stoop, gently pressing Sam toward the