I buried myself deeper into him. “I wish I had more time.”

“You have all the time in the world.”

I exhaled and disentangled myself from him while climbing to my feet. “I’m going to head out. Thanks for letting me come over to do my homework.”

“Of course,” he said, and politely stood with me. “I love when you come over. I miss having you here every day.”

“Want to go for a run tomorrow?”

“Definitely,” he said. “Have a good night. Try not to worry about so much at once. Everything will work out the way it’s meant to.”

I smiled weakly at him. As I left with my backpack over my shoulder, I repeated what he had said to me in my head. Everything will work out the way it’s meant to.

On Saturday evening, I was alone in Nana’s house. She was out again (it was pretty bad that her social life was more exciting than mine these days), and my friends were all getting ready for prom. I, on the other hand, was already in sweatpants and a way-too-big T-shirt that I suspected may have actually belonged to Will and finagled its way into my laundry, and I was ready to fall asleep to a movie in my room. I was determined to go to bed early so I wouldn’t sit up all night thinking about what everyone else was doing.

Halfway through my movie, I heard a knock at the door. I ignored it for a moment, since I was not climbing out of my ridiculously comfortable bed-and-blanket burrito. There wasn’t an iceberg’s chance in hell that I’d move.

Another knock.

“Really?” I grumbled aloud to no one.

I gave in and climbed out of my little nest to turn off the TV and force myself downstairs to the front door. When I opened the door, my heart kicked in my chest. Will stood there in the doorway, dressed in a sleek tuxedo, a corsage in a plastic container in one hand and a long garment bag in the other. His tuxedo was perfectly tailored around his broad shoulders and his waist. His hair was neatly combed back, and it looked like he might even have had a haircut. He looked excruciatingly handsome and adorable all dressed up with a terrified look on his face. Parked behind him in the driveway was Marcus’s shiny black Maserati.

“Don’t be mad” was the first thing he said. He really was terrified, as if the most frightening reaper on the planet was no scarier than a mouse, and yet put him in a tux and it was the Apocalypse.

The noise that came out of me was some kind of freakish, embarrassing cross between a laugh and a sob. I could barely breathe and, as a result, could barely speak. “I’m not mad, Will.”

“It was my idea,” he rambled quickly and nervously. “So don’t yell at Kate, but she helped me a lot. She got two tickets for you weeks ago, because she knew you still wanted to go even though you told her you didn’t. She helped me to pick out a dress for you the day before yesterday, and she made sure I wore something that fit me. Honestly, she scares me a little. I tried so hard to do this right for you, so please forgive me if I did anything wrong.”

My lips and hands were trembling. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

His eyes were so bright and wide as he fumbled over himself. “Will you go, then? Will you come with me? Please say yes.”

Then the tears came. They were hot against my cheeks, making my eyes burn, and I had to cover my mouth as I cried. He gave me a worried look as I fell apart in front of him. I put down my hands and nodded, smiling at him from ear to ear. “Yes. I’ll go.”

His entire body seemed to relax at once, and he gave me a little smile. “Please don’t cry,” he said.

I wiped at more tears. “I can’t help it.”

He lifted the garment bag and held it out to me. “Go put it on,” he said. “I think you’ll like it.”

I took it from him, feeling the weight of the heavy dress in my arms, and I went up to my room. I hung up the bag on my closet door and unzipped it to pull out the dress inside. I climbed out of my baggy pajamas, pulled the gown over my head, and tugged it over my hips. The zipper was on the side beneath my arm, and I had no trouble with it. The dress fit like a glove. I stepped back and gazed at myself in the floor-length mirror. Kate was a genius. The rich, deep plum fabric gleamed, crisscrossing over the strapless bodice, and beneath an elegant, ruched empire waist, the folds of chiffon fell to the floor. I stood up on my bare tiptoes to see what it would look like in heels and decided that I looked rather silly being barefoot in this extravagant gown. I needed the right heels. I rummaged through the closet and tossed out unwanted shoes until I found a pair of strappy gold sandals, and I slipped them on. With the added inches of height, I nodded in approval.

Will knocked at the door. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” I answered nervously. “Come in.”

The door opened and he stopped dead in his tracks. I fought the urge to fold my arms over myself in embarrassment as he stared at me. He swallowed hard as he came into the room, each of his steps slow and careful. His lips moved soundlessly for a second before he finally made words come out. “You’re beautiful.”

My cheeks flushed as red and dark as my hair. “Thanks. I don’t have any makeup on and my hair isn’t done.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

The flush was only getting worse. I touched my cheeks and they were red-hot. “I don’t have a boutonniere or anything for you.”

He looked at the ceiling for a brief second as if he didn’t know what I was talking about. “Oh, right. Yeah, that’s in here.” He held out the corsage box. “Sorry, I don’t know how any of this goes. Kate said to give this to you and you would know.”