October. Age eighteen.

Liam wasn’t home when I got back from class. I dropped my backpack near the door and slipped off my shoes. I’d aced my history test that morning, and my English Lit professor had given me an A on my essay. That was a great way to end the week.

I’d been in college for almost two months, and already I felt like I’d finally found a place I belonged. It was so much better than high school. Granted, the last part of my senior year, living with the Harpers, hadn’t been all that bad. I’d had a stable, clean, safe place to live. The Harpers had treated me like part of the family. Dating Liam had made me untouchable to the Mean Girls, so no one at school had bothered me. For the first time in my life, I’d actually been happy.

It had been nine months since I’d seen my mom. She’d left that night, after Liam had brought me to his house. Her car had been gone in the morning, and none of us had seen her since. A week or so later, we’d seen the owner of the house hauling stuff out to a big pickup truck—probably getting the place cleaned up so he could rent it out again. But as far as I knew, Mom had never come back.

She hadn’t called either. I was torn between feeling relieved and rejected. She’d been a terrible parent for most of my life, but she was still my mother. Liam insisted that her leaving me was the biggest act of love she’d ever shown—that she’d known I’d be better off without her, and that was why she’d stayed away. I wasn’t sure if he was right, but I liked his version better than mine. It was nice to think that she’d left because she loved me, not because I hadn’t been good enough to make her stay.

After graduation, Liam and I had decided on a college—Arizona State—and made plans to move. He had a college fund his parents had started when he was little. Between financial aid and scholarships, I’d managed to scrounge enough to make college possible for me.

We’d found an apartment just off campus. There was so much freedom in having our own place. Freedom, and privacy. I was endlessly grateful to the Harpers for bringing me into their home, but they’d been strict with me and Liam. They’d made it very clear that I was to sleep in Olivia’s room, and they wouldn’t tolerate me and Liam sneaking around.

We had, of course, although not at first. I’d been too afraid of breaking their rules and getting kicked out. But it hadn’t taken long before the temptation had become too much to resist. What had started as snuggling and making out under the covers had quickly escalated.

No one had been surprised when we’d announced we were planning to get an apartment together after graduation. Neither of us could imagine living apart. We knew we were young, but that didn’t matter. Liam and I were great together. Comfortable. He made me feel secure.

Our apartment was tiny, but adorable. It had a bedroom, a little kitchen, and enough living space for a couch, TV, and a table that we mostly used as a desk. A big window at the front had the ugliest curtains we’d ever seen—olive green with a floral pattern—but they were so hideous, we loved them. I’d strung up twinkle lights and we’d bought some cheap but cute artwork to hang. It was all very college-student-chic, but it was ours.

On the biggest wall, right above the couch, we’d hung a huge world map. We’d decided that after college, we were going to travel. We brought home travel magazines and pored over websites, talking about where we wanted to go. Then we’d put pins on the map to mark the locations. The map was looking pretty full already.

I wondered if we’d ever make it to all those places. Despite having moved around a lot, I’d never really been outside the southwest. Even places like New York seemed exotic and exciting. I couldn’t imagine what it was going to be like to hike in a tropical rain forest or wander through a city in Europe.

I opened the fridge and laughed. Liam had obviously been to the store; the top shelf was fully stocked with peach iced tea. He had the weirdest obsession with it. He’d also bought more Coke, which was what I preferred. I grabbed one and brought it to the couch.

He was usually home before me on Fridays, but he’d picked up an extra shift at work. He’d been working so hard since we’d started school. Full load of classes, and he was planning to major in engineering, so it wasn’t like they were easy. Plus his job. I worked too, in a little café on campus. Work and school kept us both busy, but it was shaping up to be a great year.

I decided to shower before he got home. I hadn’t washed my hair that morning, and dry shampoo only goes so far, especially since it had been warm out.

After my shower, I toweled off and slipped on a clean bra and panties. I was looking for my favorite ASU t-shirt in the basket of clean laundry when I heard Liam’s key in the door.

Dressed only in my underwear, I hurried to the door, struck a pose, and pulled it open.

My eyes widened and whatever seductive line I’d been going to say died a swift death in my throat. It wasn’t Liam. Instead, I stood face to face with his sister, Olivia.

Her expression registered surprise and for a few seconds, we stood frozen, staring at each other in shock. Next thing I knew, we were both laughing our asses off.

“Oh my god, get in here,” I said between laughs. I grabbed her wrist and pulled. “I need to close the door before one of the neighbors sees me.”

Olivia ducked inside, still giggling, and I closed the door behind her.

“Wow, Brooke,” she said, looking me up and down. “That’s hot, but you didn’t need to strip for me.”

Maybe I should have been embarrassed, but Olivia had seen me in my underwear—or less—plenty of times. We’d shared a bedroom. And it wasn’t like she didn’t know I was sleeping with her brother.

I put my hands on my hips and batted my eyelashes. “I just wanted you to feel appreciated.”

She laughed again. “I love your guts. But put some clothes on, girl. I’m getting jealous of your boobs.”

I laughed again and grabbed my boobs, winking at her. She rolled her eyes and set her backpack down while I went into the bedroom. I found my t-shirt and slipped it on, along with a pair of shorts.

“I take it Liam didn’t tell you I was coming,” she said when I came out. “Sorry, I should have texted you.”

I sat down on the couch next to her. “He didn’t; he’s such a guy. But it’s fine. I’m happy to see you.”

“Me too,” she said. “I texted him yesterday to see if you guys were free this weekend. He said he was working later than usual today, so I figured I’d come early and keep you company.”

“Thanks, O,” I said. “Are you staying the whole weekend?”

“If you don’t mind,” she said.

“Of course not. This will be fun,” I said. “How’s school?”

She rolled her eyes. “Stupid. I can’t wait until I’m out of there.”

Olivia was a senior in high school and a little jealous that Liam and I had graduated and gone off to college.

“I bet the year flies by,” I said. “Graduation will be here before you know it.”

“I hope so,” she said. “I’m so over it.”

“Well, I guess I don’t know when Liam is getting home,” I said. “Should we watch a movie or something?”

“Sure. Oh,” she said, grabbing my arm, “we should watch that ghost one we didn’t get to before you guys moved.”

“Done.”

I turned on the TV and found the movie while she got up and closed the curtains. Olivia and I were both horror movie junkies. They scared the shit out of us, but we loved it. We settled in on the couch and turned on the movie.

It started out innocent enough, but it wasn’t long before the characters were wandering through dark hallways and creepy things were jumping out and scaring them—and us. The eerie music set the tone and I looked over my shoulder a few times, half-expecting to see a ghostly apparition hovering behind me.

I snuggled closer to Olivia and tucked my arm through hers. The movie was so much scarier than I’d thought it would be. My heart raced and I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen.

“Boo!”

Olivia shrieked and threw the remote. I clutched the blanket and backed into the corner of the couch. But of course it wasn’t a ghost in our apartment. Liam had crept up behind us. He stood next to the couch with a hand over his nose.

“Ow,” Liam said. “Damn it, O, you hit me in the face.”

“Don’t scare us like that,” Olivia said, clutching her chest. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

I pushed the blanket off and got up. “Are you okay?”

Liam touched beneath his nose and looked at his fingers. “Crap, I’m bleeding.”

“Oh, poor baby.”

“Serves you right,” Olivia said.

I led Liam into the bathroom and helped him clean up. He wasn’t bleeding much. When it stopped, I wiped his face with a wet washcloth. His eyes never left mine.

“What?” I asked.

“I was just thinking about how lucky I am,” he said.

“Lucky that your sister hit you in the nose with a remote?” I asked. “I’d say that was pretty unlucky. I don’t think she even aimed.”

He took the washcloth and set it on the counter, then cupped my cheek. “No, I mean lucky because I have you, Bee.”

I looked into his eyes and smiled. “I’m pretty sure I’m the lucky one.”

“Maybe we both are.” He placed a soft kiss on my lips. “I don’t know what it is, but I look at you and I just know.”

“You know what?”

“That you’re my future,” he said. “It’s weird because none of my friends feel that way, even the guys with serious girlfriends. Everything is temporary to them, like because we’re young it doesn’t matter.”

I nibbled on my bottom lip. Hearing him say that made my heart swell. He thought he was lucky? I was the luckiest girl alive. “You’re very philosophical tonight.”

He tucked my hair behind my ear. “Yeah, I know. I just saw a few of the guys today. They were all bullshitting about stuff, like usual. But it was weird—like I don’t know how to relate to them anymore.”

Liam had always been different from his friends. He was a deep thinker who liked to ponder big questions and find meaning in simple things. Sometimes I thought I was one of the only people in the world who really saw him for who he was. Most people saw a good-looking, athletic guy. His charisma had always made him popular. But there was so much more beneath the surface. I loved being the one to see it—loved that he shared his thoughts and dreams with me.

I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Maybe that’s just part of growing up.”

“Maybe.” He kissed my forehead.

“Is your nose okay?” I asked.

He scrunched it. “Hurts, but it’ll be fine.”

“Please tell me you guys aren’t getting it on in the bathroom,” Olivia called from the other room. “If you need me to leave for ten minutes, just say so.”

Liam smiled and banged his hand on the door rhythmically.

“Gross!” Olivia said.

I laughed and Liam grinned at me again.

“Should we go finish your movie?” he asked. “I’ll hold you if you’re scared.”

“Sounds perfect to me.”