Later, when she was back in Arizona, he called her to apologize and had called her off and on ever since. Now that she was going to school here, he’d been a constant pest, asking her out, cornering her by her locker, insisting on walking her to class. After today’s incident, she hoped he’d back off.

She’d been talking to Sydney for about an hour when Sarah heard her other line click. She couldn’t tell who it was by the caller ID, but she was getting ready to wrap it up with Sydney anyway. She said goodbye to him, and clicked over to the other line.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Sarah, this is Mrs. Salcido. Listen hon, Mr. Salcido is going to have to work late Friday night, so, our plans are shot. We won’t need you to baby sit after all, but maybe next week?”

After she hung up, she sat there contemplating whether or not to call Sydney back. There was no need to call. She knew exactly what he’d say. She lay back on her pillow. What’s the big deal? It’s just a party, she’d been to plenty. She laid her hands that still gripped her cell phone on her pounding chest and stared at the ceiling. She could do this.

CHAPTER 3

They'd won their game, and were all in good spirits as they waited outside of the party. Eric was still sitting behind the wheel. Angel, who was standing outside of the car, leaned in the driver side window. “Pass me a water.”

Eric grabbed one from the ice chest and took one for himself.

“C'mon, let’s go in,” Romero stood in the middle of the street.

Angel made a face. As good as he felt about the way the game had gone tonight, he was tired and not really in the mood for partying. He’d never admit it to anyone but the only reason he was there at all was for the possibility of seeing Sarah. He’d been thinking about her ever since the day they had talked. Hell, he’d thought about her during the game. He kept glancing up at the stands every chance he got, prompting several disgusted hollers from his coach of, “Get in the game, what the hell’s the matter with you, Moreno?”

He hadn’t seen her at the game, but then she did say she had to work. There was still a chance she’d make the party. Looking across the street at the lights coming from the DJ in the backyard, anxiousness crept up his spine. “Hold on, give me a sec.” He downed some of his water.

“Just take it in with you,” Romero said. “I’m ready to get my groove on.”

Angel turned to Eric who shrugged. He took another long swig. “Alright, I’m ready.”

Romero did his famous violent pelvic thrust a couple of times. “Let’s do this.”

Angel and Eric laughed. Angel grabbed what was left of the twelve pack of beer in the backseat. “You’re a moron,” he chuckled.

They went down the long driveway and turned the corner. There were a lot more people than they'd expected. They started making their way through the crowd. Angel was just beginning to scope the place when he saw her. He had to do a double take, because he almost didn’t recognize her. The second he turned away though, it hit him. His body was suddenly overheating.

Angel gulped hard. Her long hair flowed more than halfway down her back. It was darker than he remembered, and it curled at the bottom. Her jeans hugged her body and she wore a pair of strappy heels. Her black blouse tied around her neck, and was backless except for the bottom part that draped delicately around the small of her back.

He reached for a beer and could feel how clammy his hand had become. For God’s sake she’s just a girl. He cursed under his breath. He intentionally placed himself facing Sarah’s direction. He took a short swig of his beer, but was careful not to drink too much. Romero was a perfect example of how he might act if he drank too much, and that was the last impression he wanted to make on her.

Romero had walked away for a while to talk to some of the regular girls. He came back to announce they had after party dates. Usually Romero got high fives all around, but tonight both Angel and Eric seemed out of it.

Angel just nodded his head and half smiled. Eric hadn’t even heard. He was staring out into the crowd but at no one in particular.

Romero frowned and tapped Eric. “Hey, man, did you hear what I just said?”

Eric quickly came back to earth. “Sorry, man. No, what was that?”

“I said Stacey and her friends are down for later tonight. We get dessert, and hey, Natalie is over there,” he winked.

Eric and Natalie had hooked up regularly last year, though not nearly as often as Angel and Dana.

Eric shook his head, “I’m gonna have to pass, I gotta get up early tomorrow.”

Romero’s eyes grew wider. “You’re gonna pass up a piece of ass ‘cause you have to get up early?” He was obnoxiously loud.

“Easy,” Eric looked around. “I’m right here. Lower your voice.”

Romero shook his head and turned toward Angel. “What about you? Are you in?”

“Well, yeah,” Angel lied, “but Eric’s my ride. How’s that gonna work?”

Romero kept shaking his head. “Unbelievable, hold on; let me see what I can do.”

Romero shot Eric a disgusted look and grabbed another beer. He walked toward the girls stumbling a little. “Dude, he’s getting wasted.” Eric turned to Angel.

“Yeah, he is,” Angel shook his head.

Romero put his arms sloppily around two of the girls.

“Who’s he kidding?” Eric chuckled. “He’s gonna be passed out in my back seat in an hour. How’d he get drunk so fast?”