While I’m eating my cheesecake, I notice that Whitney is watching Peyton and Camden, who are doing some very dirty dancing right in front of us.

Jake and Dawson finally make it back to our table. Jake is stumbling a bit.

“Where have you been?” Whitney yells at him.

He goes to sit down, misses the chair, and falls flat on his ass.

Dawson drags him to his feet and helps him sit on the barstool.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Mission accomplished,” he says. He slides a flask under the table to her. She openly chugs from it.

I give Dawson a kiss. I can tell he’s a little tipsy and I’m happy he’s not drunk like Jake.

I hand him my bottle of water.

He takes a swig and says, “We’re heading back to the hotel now. I just called the driver.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

“Jake and Whitney both drunk is going to get ugly. I don’t want them to ruin our night. I’ve had the best night with you.”

I give him another kiss. “I’ve had the best night with you too.”

He grabs my hand and says, “Come on, Jake. Let’s go.”

As we head out the door, Peyton and Camden follow us.

“Hey, bro, can we hitch a ride back to the hotel?”

“Yeah, sure,” Dawson says.

We all pile into the limo.

Whitney is swaying just sitting still. She’s looking from Dawson to Jake to Camden and it sort of reminds me of when I was standing in my entryway with Sander, Brooklyn, and Cush and wondering what in the world made me think having them all in one place was a good idea.

I guess at least she’s drunk.

Jake has his arm sloppily wrapped around her.

She whispers to Jake, but she’s drunk, so we all hear exactly what she says to him.

And I probably won’t be repeating it.

She tries to give both Dawson and Camden one of those looks that tell a guy that he doesn’t know what he’s missing.

Dawson and Camden laugh at her.

She ignores them, pushes Jake into a corner of the limo, and starts making out with him.

Dawson pulls me a little closer and says quietly, “I ordered us room service. It will be there when we get back.”

“Yum. What did you order?”

“Chocolate covered strawberries to go with the rest of our champagne and . . .”

“URRGGGG,” goes Whitney, and then proceeds to puke all over the floor of the limo, somehow, thankfully, managing not to get a drop on my leather skirt.

Got to give the girl points for that.

She wipes her mouth on Jake’s jacket then lies across the back seat of the limo and starts crying.

Jake slides away from her, holding his hand up to his mouth. Then he starts gagging.

I quickly reach over to roll down the window just as Camden gags and adds to the pile of puke on the floor.

Jake sticks his head out of the window like a dog.

Peyton leans over to me and says, “Is this awesome or what?”

Sunday, October 9th

Tigger with boobs.

1pm.

Dawson and I wake up late in the afternoon.

“I’m starving,” he says, as his stomach growls.

“Me too.”

We grab the menu, decide what we want, and he orders it.

When he sets down the phone, he attacks my neck and says something about how we have twenty-five minutes to kill.

While we’re eating, I hear my phone buzz.

I dig around the room, find my bag, and check my messages.

Katie: Where the HELL ARE YOU!!! I HAVE to talk to you about last night!!!!!!!

Dallas: Katie was making out with Tyrese last night after you left. Like we were dancing together, having fun. I come back and she’s making out with him. We’re done.

Me: Dallas! Are you okay? Are you upset?

Dallas: I’m more pissed than anything. Really, I feel used.

Me: Because you lost your virginity to her and she didn’t really love you?

Dallas: Ha! No. I’m pissed because I spent a bunch of money on her and then she does that. Although, really, we had no long-term potential. She’s way too high strung for me. It was like dating Tigger with boobs.

Me: OMG. She totally does bounce around like Tigger. Still, I’m sorry.

Dallas: I’ll survive. It’s not like we were going out. I’m still talking to other girls.

Me: Good. I’ll see you later.

Me: Dawson and I are in our hotel room. Where are you?

Katie: I’m at the dorm.

Me: Dallas told me you got drunk and were making out with Tyrese?

Katie: I think maybe it was more than making out. A lot more. I think we had sex. What if I get pregnant????!!!

Me: Oh, wow. Why do you think you had sex? Do you remember it?

Katie: Kind of. I remember thinking we were going to and then that’s it. I’m so embarrassed. And I’m FREAKING out. I think he was drunk too. What if we didn’t use anything?

Me: CALM down. It will be okay. Are you okay? Do you want me to come home?

Katie: No. But do you think maybe you could talk to him? I’ve been throwing up and I look like shit. Annie is here, but she doesn’t know what to do. She’s taking good care of me but, you know, she’s never done anything, so she doesn’t really know how I feel.

Me: Did he take advantage of you?

Katie: I wanted to leave with him. Would I have if I wasn’t drunk? No.

Dawson sees me frowning. “What’s going on?”

“Katie hooked up with Tyrese last night. Well, this morning, I guess, after the party. But she was really drunk and isn’t sure what happened. She’s freaking out because she’s pretty sure they had sex. Katie’s not on the pill or anything, so if they did it and didn’t use protection . . .”

“She’s been getting drunk a lot. It’s getting annoying.”

“I know. I talked to her about it. What should we do? Should I just call him and ask him if they did?”

He pops another French fry in his mouth, chews it while thinking, then says, “Let me.”

I give him a kiss on the cheek. “You are so adorably sweet. You know that, right?”

“I don’t think I do,” he teases. “Why don’t you show me?”

“Text Tyrese, then I will probably be needing a shower.”

“I was thinking we could stay here until almost curfew. Do all sorts of fun stuff. Enjoy the privacy.”

“That sounds like the perfect day. Room service and you.”

I lean back on the bed and stretch out like a cat while Dawson is texting.

“They did hook up. Twice. He says they may have used a condom the first time but not the second. He was drunk too.”

“That’s bad.”

He shakes his head. “It’s definitely not good. You know, he’s gotten at least two other girls pregnant.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“He’s not at all careful.”

I start to text Katie then put my phone down on the bed. “I can’t tell her this over a text.”

He studies my face for a second. “Tell her we’re heading there.”

“You are seriously the sweetest boy I have ever met,” I tell him as we’re packing up.

He sets his bag on the bed and pulls me into his arms. “I love you. And she’s your friend. You need to be there for her.”

“I know, but a lot of guys would say it’s her problem and to stay in bed with them.”

“Oh, trust me, I thought about it. But I know you won’t be able to stop worrying about her. And it’s not like we can’t come back here if we want. Or go to my room.”

On the short drive back to school, I text Katie.

Me: Dawson and I are on our way.

Katie: OMG!! I look horrible!

Me: He won’t care.

Katie: We did, didn’t we?

Me: Yeah.

Dawson sits on Katie’s bed and tells her what he knows.

Katie starts bawling, so Dawson pulls her into a hug.

I sit on my bed with Annie and swoon. Is he seriously not the sweetest boy ever?

I look at Annie.

She looks shell-shocked and I can tell what’s going on in her mind.

She mutters, “I’m never, ever having sex in high school.”

I grab her hand. “You’ve been an awesome friend to Katie. Thank you for that.”

“I don’t know what to do. I have no experience with stuff like this. What do we do? Just wait and pray she’s not pregnant?”

“Um, no. Hell no. We need to get her that Plan B pill.”

“What’s that?”

“The morning after pill?”

“Oh, I’ve heard of that. I guess I never really knew what it was for.”

“Basically, if your birth control fails, you can take it. But I’m pretty sure you have to be eighteen to get it without a prescription.”

“So we have to tell someone?”

“That or she has to call her doctor for a prescription.”

“She’s not gonna wanna do that.”

“No, I wouldn’t think so. Do you think boys can get it?” I ask, looking at Dawson, my eighteen-year-old boyfriend.

“Let me look online,” Annie says as she taps away on her phone.

“What’s it say?”

“It says that she needs to take it right away. They say the sooner the better but there’s a 72-hour window. Some things I’m reading say 17, others say 18. So I’m not sure. But definitely anyone, boy or girl, can get it if they’re over 18.”

I go sit down next to Dawson and Katie. She’s calmed down some. “Okay, so the first thing we need to worry about is pregnancy. You need to take the Plan B pill. Like right away.”

“I’m not calling my doctor. He’s friends with my parents!”

“Well, if you were eighteen, you wouldn’t need a prescription but since . . .”

Dawson interrupts me. “I’m eighteen. I’ll go.”

Like I said, the sweetest boy ever. And if I wasn’t sure before, I am now.

I am in love with Dawson.

Katie gives me a huge hug, then starts crying again. “I feel so bad. So guilty. So slutty. So stupid.”

“It’ll be okay,” I say, praying that it will be.

Dawson grabs my hand. “Ride into town with me?”

As we’re walking back out to his car, I ask, “Shouldn’t we make Tyrese do this? Shouldn’t he have to take some responsibility? I feel like we should make him. But I don’t want to embarrass Katie by involving him.”

“Tyrese is a friend. He’s fun to party with, but he isn’t respectful of women. To him, they are all hoes. I know for a fact that he won’t help. He got a girl from the dance team pregnant last year. Hers was one of the spots you tried out for. We’re better off taking care of it ourselves.”

Monday, October 10th

Putting it out there.

7:55am

It’s the typical Monday morning after a big dance. Half the people who went together don't ever want to go out with that person again and the other half are all lovey-dovey.

Riley is clearly in the lovey half.

"I think I'm gonna ask Ariela to be my girlfriend. What do you think?"

"I think if you want to be exclusive, that's a good idea. Are you talking to anyone else?"

"No! I stopped talking to other girls when I started talking to her. Is she still talking to other guys?"

“Um, I think so."

"Who!?”

"Remember when you first asked her to hang out and she was still talking to a guy from home?”

“Yeah. Has she hung out with him?"

“No. But I know they still text each other."

“That kind of pisses me off."

"I don't think it should. Have you told her she's the only one you're talking to?"

"No."

"Then I don't think you can be mad. Just talk to her."

"Now I don't want to."

"Don't be a brat. You survived Homecoming and don't hate each other,"

"What Katie did to Dallas was pretty shitty.”

"Yeah, it was. How’s he doing?"

"Well, he was still talking to other girls. So he hung out with one of them last night. And one of them is a girl that's in your math class, so next period should be interesting. Do you think Mr. Miremadi would notice if I sat in there, just to watch the fireworks?"

“He never takes roll and none of us ever sit in the same seat. He probably wouldn't notice."

“He doesn’t in our class either, and I have math the following period anyway. If he says anything, I’ll say I got confused.”

“Let’s sit in the back. I want to try and stay out of that mess. I feel bad since I set them up."

"And then she took poor Dallas' virginity."

"I know. And now I'm afraid he's going to feel heartbroken and used."

Riley laughs out loud. The teacher gives him the evil eye and he tries to stop, but he can't.

"What's so funny?"

"Guys generally don't feel that way about sex. We’re not girls,” he whispers.

We have to stop talking while our history teacher gives his lecture. He stops a few minutes before the bell is due to ring and allows us to talk quietly.

Riley says, “Speaking of Homecoming. We made it through without any kind of incident.”

“I know. I’m feeling better about it. You’re right. It couldn’t have been him. No way he’d wait this long. You can stop sleeping on my floor.”

“Does that mean I get the rug?”