“Macallan made brownies!” Stacey exclaimed. She held them out to Keith, who clearly had no clue what to do next.

“Relax,” Macallan said. “I didn’t poison them.”

He took a bite.

Macallan continued. “However, I knew you’d be eating them, so I put in a secret ingredient….”

Keith stopped chewing.

Macallan stood up and faced Keith. Every nerve in my body was on edge.

She shook her head. “Keith, I work too hard on my food to waste it on you. Plus” — she leaned in so she was only inches from his face — “you and I both know I don’t need to bake to do damage.”

She turned on her foot and went to the kitchen.

Keith was flustered. “Man, that girl. She just … I think I’d be madly in love with her if she didn’t scare me so much. But maybe that’s why I like her. Not like I like like her.” Keith gave up trying to make sense of what happened and walked away, first toward the kitchen, then thinking better of it and heading in the opposite direction.

Stacey laughed. “Wouldn’t they make a fun couple?”

I came so close to blurting out, Wouldn’t they WHAT? but stopped myself.

Apparently my disgust was evident without words. “Calm down!” Stacey’s eyes were wide. “I was just joking.”

The doorbell rang and Stacey excused herself, leaving me alone at a party that was in my honor.

I thought about what Keith had said. About how Macallan scared him.

I knew exactly what he meant. Because she also scared me.

She scared me because I loved her.

On a scale from one to ten, how much of a pain was I after my injury? And please be honest.

Do you think I would hold back on you?

Unfortunately, no.

On a scale from one to ten? Thirteen.

Fair enough.

Now I have a question for you. On a scale from one to ten, how annoyed were you that I was going to the dance with someone else?

Infinity.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

It’s funny how quickly your opinion of a dance can change.

I always thought the idea of a winter dance was silly. It was only three months after homecoming and three months before prom — did we really need another reason to fret over dates, dresses, and the drama that follows such occasions?

But when a cute college guy asked me to go? Well, who was I to stand in the way of tradition? Plus, we all know how much I loved my distractions.

Alex took me out to eat the weekend before the dance. It was a nice change to have a guy pick me up instead of my having to constantly take Levi around. While I was more than happy to help him out, it was still a chore.

I kept glancing over my menu at Alex. He was only a couple inches taller than me, but he was lean, with broad shoulders, dark hair, and dark eyes — almost the exact opposite of Levi. I couldn’t understand why he would want to hang out with me, a high school girl.

“Hey.” Alex smiled at me. “Do you remember when we were little and we went up to Door County with our moms?”

My heart warmed at the memory. Our moms had been really close. So, in a way, Alex was my first guy friend. My warm-up to Levi.

“Yes, but as I remember, you weren’t that excited to be hanging out with a girl. Ew!” I scrunched up my face.

“That’s because I was an idiot.”

I did remember that week in Door County when I was six and Alex was eight. We’d gone swimming, went for walks among the cherry trees, and picked our own cherries — our hands and mouths stained red, our bellies full.

“I remember your mom had this huge hat.” He held his arms out wide. “That hat was epic.”

That hat. I can still picture her in that black and white striped hat. It flopped nearly over her shoulders.

“Well, Mom and I have the same pasty white skin tone. Don’t you remember how burned I got?”

“Yes!” He shook his head. “Your mom took you outside and sprayed you with vinegar.”

“That stung so much! But it was better the next day.” I’d smelled for a bit, but once the vinegar had evaporated from my skin, it hadn’t been so awful. “Mom had some strange home remedies, but they worked.”

Alex looked at me thoughtfully. “Is it okay that we talk about her?”

“Of course.” I knew it would be a disservice if I didn’t celebrate the time I’d had with her.

At least that was the attitude I tried to have. I still would have my moments when I’d get sad. But I would’ve been worried if that hadn’t happened.

Alex got quiet. “I’m sorry we didn’t hang out much after.”

Alex’s mom had joined the parade of casseroles after the funeral. She’d come by every now and then to check up on me, but then life happened. People got busy.

A smile spread across his face. “I do remember being shocked the first time I saw you freshman year. It was like, ‘Is that little Macallan Dietz? She’s all grown up!’ ”

I recalled passing Alex in the hallway a few times, and how we’d smile and say hi to each other. But the first time we’d had a real conversation in years was when he spotted me in line at the grocery store.

Alex continued. “And then I couldn’t believe you had that boyfriend. What was his name — Lewis?”

“Levi?”

“Yeah, Levi. He’s a great runner. But of course, if your relationship ended badly, he’s the devil.” I had to hand it to Alex — he understood girls very well.