"You won't know until you try," Chelsea grins encouragingly. I could tell that that is what they wanted: my embarrassment. I scoff and look at the car beside ours. He's leaning on the driver's side door, talking to a group of people excitedly. A guy says something to him and he laughs, which is something I didn't think he was capable of doing. At least he's in a better mood. I glance at my cousin, who looks unrelenting. "Can't I wait until the crowd disperses?" "You have five minutes," she announces as she glances at her phone. Luckily for me, the group slowly thins out and instead of it being five people, it's only two: Maddox and a guy with blonde hair. I slowly walk around his car and approach him nervously. My palms begin to sweat so I rub them against my skirt. His friend spots me first and nudges Maddox in the side. He glances up when his friend elbows him and turns his gaze on me. He takes on a threatening stance as if I'm going to throw all the condiments in the world at him. His shirt is changed into a white button up, another uniform option. I wonder what he did with the black one that I wrecked. His friend mutters something to him before walking away and I let out a sigh of relief. The less people who see my embarrassment, the better. "Hey, I just wanted to apologize about earlier," I nod awkwardly as I stare at the floor. I feel his eyes on me and I nervously brush my hair from my face. I wait for a response but come up short so I look up, notice that he's staring at me, and immediately look down again. "I also have a question." I glance up at him and find him scrutinizing me. I look the other way and try to count the amount of seconds until my rejection. "You know what homecoming is, right?" He didn't respond so I sigh. "This is like talking to a brick wall," I mutter as I kick at the gravel beneath my feet. "Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to go to homecoming with me," I inquire as I glance behind him. I watch as my cousin and her two friends hold their hands over their mouths as they snicker and laugh. He peeks over his shoulder before looking back at me. My face is bright red and I can feel my palms growing sweatier and sweatier with each shaky breath I take. I really shouldn't stress it this much. I know he's going to say no. I don't want him to say yes. "Okay," he says in his semi-familiar deep voice. "Well, I tried," I mutter before I suddenly go rigid. "Wait, what did you say?" "I said okay," he repeats as if annoyed. "Okay as in...?" I ask as I quirk my eyebrows upward in slight shock. "Okay as in I'll go with you," he responds. I peek over his shoulder and see Vivica's eyes widen as Chelsea and Tracy turn to look at her. I simply nod a few times before walking around the car and back to Vivica, who looks angry. "Did he say yes?" she inquires even though she already knows the answer. I slowly nod, still shocked myself that he agreed. Her eyes narrow at the ground as her lips purse together. "Uh, we can't give you a ride home. We have cheer-leading practice at a nearby school," Chelsea states and I stare at her, slightly stunned. Like clowns, they all pile into the car and speed out of the lot. I swear under my breath as I take out my phone and dial my aunt's number. There's no response so I groan. I have no money for a cab, and even if I did, I don't even know the address. It's difficult to remember. My old one was simple: 12 Taverness Drive. This one has a list of numbers and I'm not sure if it's a lane or a drive or what. Rubbing my eyes, I sigh and prepare to go into the office to ask where my aunt even lives. "They left you?" a low voice from behind me asks. I turn around and nod, feeling embarrassed. "Yeah, they did," I mutter. He looks hesitant as he bites his lip. "Do you need a ride?" he asks, appearing unsure as to whether or not he even feels up to giving me a ride. I'm surprised at the fact that he asked me so I slowly nod. "Yeah." "Come on," he grunts as he kicks off his car and opens the door for himself. I shuffle over to the side and tug open the door, in fear that he'll leave me if I tell him that I have to run inside for a minute to get my new homes' address. As he starts the car, I grow curious. "Aren't you waiting for someone?" I wonder as I look back at the large building we were just released from. "Nope," he concludes as he backs out of the parking space and drives out of the lot. "We have to stop and get gas." "Okay," I nod at him. As we reach the gas station, he gets out of the car. Before he closes the door, he leans forward and looks at me. "Don't touch anything."