Outside the day is warm, but not oppressive, and I can’t help thinking that it will be perfect weather for a date with Carter. A date. This is absolutely insane.

“What did Coach want?” Kara asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Huh?”

She hitches her backpack up higher on her shoulder. “I saw you talking to Coach Carter. Just wondering what he was talking to you about.”

“Oh,” I say, and I stare at her for a second, trying to think of an explanation for why we were speaking. Then I realize that I’ve already been silent for way too long. “He was just complimenting me on my form.”

Kara raises an eyebrow at me. “Really? Seemed like it was more than that.”

“No, that’s it.”

“Okay,” she says, in a tone of voice that tells me she doesn’t believe me at all, but she’s going to let it go for the moment. “We should do something tonight since we skipped out last night. Maybe pizza and binging that show you’ve wanted to start?”

Both of us were exhausted yesterday after try-outs were finished, and we still had homework. We had our celebratory smoothie, but it didn’t really feel like a celebration since we worked the rest of the evening and went straight to bed. I should have known that Kara would want to plan something for tonight, but I already said yes to Carter. Damn.

“I wish I could,” I say. “I…I have plans.”

“Oh. That’s okay, with who?”

There’s really no way for me to say this without sounding like a liar, and if there’s one thing I don’t want to do to Kara, it’s lie. More than I already am. “I have a date.”

Kara’s face lights up. “Really? With who?”

She knows that I haven’t dated many people, and that going out with someone here so quickly is weird. “Just someone,” I try to be coy. It’s not lying.

“Well, don’t forget the pact,” she says, unlocking the door to our dorm. “Definitely don’t have the lobster.”

I roll my eyes. “It’s a dinner date, Kara. He’s not going to throw me on the table and take me in the middle of the restaurant.”

“Well…no.” Her face goes bright red, and I feel a little bad for embarrassing her. Saying things like that always makes her blush. She grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and flops down into one of the chairs. “Are you sure you can’t tell me who it is?” Her smile is conspiratorial.

“Umm…well…” There’s a knot of anxiety in my stomach, and in a second I imagine the worst: that Kara will disown me and stop being my friend because I’m going on a date with our coach. “It’s Coach Carter.”

Water flies across the kitchen as Kara spits out every drop of the sip she just took. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah.” I try not fidget, uncomfortable with the way she’s studying me.

Kara bursts out laughing, “Why?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, why is the coach of the cheerleading team asking out someone on the squad?”

I shrug, ignoring the memories of his lips on mine. “He said he wanted to get to know me.” Not a lie.

“That actually makes me feel a lot better. No way the coach is going to sleep with a student, so I guess you’re in the clear.”

I’m filled with a sudden annoyance at her, at why my status as a virgin is so important to her. But that’s only going to lead to a fight I don’t want to have. I know that she’s just trying to look out for me, even if she’s deeply wrong about his intentions and whether or not he’d sleep with a student.

The rest of the day seems to pass in a blur. I do some homework that’s due tomorrow. I shower. I put on a dress that I really love—it’s a deep blue that makes my skin look great but isn’t too formal. Carter didn’t say where he wanted to take me, and I’m not exactly sure what to wear. This dress can fit in at most places, I think. I add a pair of heels, because Carter is tall and I want to be able to hold my own with him.

The closer it gets to the time I’m supposed to leave, the more nervous butterflies I get in my stomach. After two weeks of doing nothing but thinking about him, I finally get the chance to be with him. Sit with him, talk with him, maybe even touch him. Even though we’re walking a fine line—and we are, in spite of what he thinks—I’m excited. If Carter and I had met under different circumstances, if he’d still been the assistant coach or just someone who lived in town, no one would blink an eye at this date. I just have to hope that no one will blink an eye now.

I put the finishing touches on my make-up and grab my bag, hoping that I can sneak past Kara without her seeing. But of course, she spots me as soon as I step out of our room. “Let me see!” She makes me do a turn. “Very pretty and tasteful,” she adds with a wink.

“Thanks. I’ll see you later?”

“Maybe.” She waves. “I want to get an early run in so I may be asleep when you get back. Have fun!”

“I will.”

I hope I will. I know I will.