Front Page Face-Off Read Free Page B

magazines?”
    â€œIt is all about who you know,” agreed Jenner. “The student editor has a crush on Delilah and now she’s the lead—” She shrank back under my glare of indignation. “Sorry, but he has cake!”
    â€œA crush?” Major frowned and left the room, returning a moment later with a blue binder. “Who is this guy, Delilah?”
    â€œHis name’s Ben Hines, and Jenner and I are going to his house right now to talk about the paper.” I crammed the rest of the cake into my mouth and shot Jenner a pointed look.
    â€œJust a moment.” Major held up one hand while he flipped through the binder. “Hines, you said?”
    â€œYeah. Why?” I craned my neck and saw a page full of guy’s faces and names, all bordered by green, yellow, or red marker.
    I let out a horrified gasp. “Major! You cut up my yearbook?”
    â€œAt ease, Delilah. They’re just photocopied from your yearbook,” he said. “I don’t know your classmates as well as your mother, so I had her fill me in, and I made a few judgment calls of my own.” He tapped Ben’s picture. “Luckily, he’s in the green. I approve.”
    I just stared at the pages in disbelief. Only Major would categorize my peers by threat level. I was surprised every guy wasn’t outlined in red.
    â€œWhat happens if they’re yellow?” Jenner pointed to a picture of a kid I’d seen maybe a dozen times at school.
    â€œDelilah’s allowed to spend a maximum of two hours in their company, provided there’s an adult chaperone.”
    I made a face. “You’re so weird, Major. We’re gonna go meet Ben now.”
    â€œWhat about dinner?” he asked.
    â€œPizza!” I pulled Jenner out the door, cake still in her hand.
    â€œRemember,” Major called after us, “he may be green, but he’s still a teen!”
    â€œYou know, Ben doesn’t really look like his picture anymore,” Jenner said as we walked up the Hines’ driveway.
    I paused on the bottom step to their porch. “What do you mean?”
    â€œWell, he’s taller now, and I saw him at the beach whenhe got back from France. He’s pretty tan.”
    I tried to picture Ben soaking up rays on the beach, but all I could imagine was his mom hovering over him with an umbrella and yelling at him to put on sunscreen. “I still don’t think Major needs to worry.”
    I knocked on the front door and waited a few moments before pushing it open.
    â€œBen?”
    Something thumped on the second floor, followed by a rolling thunder of footsteps across the landing and down the stairs.
    â€œDelilah?” His eyes peeped around the edge of the staircase, and then his entire head appeared. “Hey! What’s up?”
    He bounded toward me, grinning, but I couldn’t respond. My jaw had reached the floor, and my tongue threatened to flop out.
    Either my standards had lowered, or Ben had gotten cuter over the summer.
    The tips of his hair were frosted, and his skin was a gorgeous bronze. His clothes—jeans and a polo shirt—were casual and, for once, didn’t look as if his mom had picked them out.
    â€œBen! You … you look awesome!” I sputtered.
    He laughed, and I noticed his voice had dropped an octave. “So do you. How was your summer?” He huggedme, smelling of hot guy and potential boyfriend.
    â€œHow was your summer?” I stepped back and gestured to him. “You look so different!”
    He chuckled again and blushed, the pink barely visible against his skin. “I had some help. My hair was starting to get out of control, so I had to tame it … and I spent a lot of time outdoors.”
    â€œWow. All I spent my time doing was …” Suddenly I realized how boring my summer had been. “Um … wrestling alligators.”
    Jenner pinched me, but to Ben’s credit, he merely smiled.