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minutes to pick you up!”
    I grabbed my overnight bag and followed her timidly into the house. “I don’t know about this, Marissa.” The apprehensions of taking my first drink starting to outweigh the nervousness of my first date.
    “Come on,” she urged. “You won’t even taste the alcohol. You love diet coke, try a little of that along with my friend Jack.” She handed me a glass she had just finished concocting. I looked at her dubiously and then took a small sip.
    She was right. I could hardly taste it, so it must not include much alcohol, right? Plus, after four or five sips, it was already relaxing me. I was starting to feel great.
    While we sipped on our drinks, she helped me get ready—as in change my clothes and put on makeup. She had a closet full of clothes that were tight and short enough to give my grandma a heart attack. I felt foolish wearing them, but Marissa explained that I at least needed to look as if I had been on a date before. Once the glass was empty, I no longer cared about the black that lined my eyes or the shirt that revealed the top of my bra.
    The doorbell rang and I nearly jumped out of my skin. My nerves began to kick back in as my heart pumped faster and I started to giggle.
    “Pull yourself together!” Marissa ordered. “You only had one drink, so you aren’t drunk. Go use some of my mouthwash so you don’t smell like booze.” Both of Marissa’s parents were self-proclaimed alcoholics, so she knew all the tricks of the trade. They would never even notice if any of their alcohol were missing. They would probably come home super toasted later.
    I ran to the bathroom and my heart was pounding so loudly in my chest I thought for sure he could hear it all the way to the front door. I quickly swished the Listerine, round and round, and then spat it out in the sink. It burned the inside of my mouth and I winced until the sting dissipated. I smoothed my skirt, one last time, ensuring that my ass wasn’t hanging out of the back. I took a deep breath and then opened the door and walked to the living room.
    “You look beautiful, Sarah,” Mr. Champion complimented and I blushed. His eyes moved from the borrowed heels on my feet to the curled hair on my head, slowly scanning every inch of me. It made me feel as if every cell in my body had been lit on fire, torched.
    People always told me how gorgeous I was and went on and on about my porcelain skin, big brown eyes, and thick wavy hair. But I didn’t believe it. I knew they only complimented me because they felt sorry for me. My family had always been poor and I could not remember one time when I had a new outfit from a store. I always received second-hand items or went thrift store shopping, which made it feel even more awkward to have been wearing Marissa’s designer clothes.
    “Nice to see you, Mr. Champion,” I said shyly and looked down. He was impeccably dressed in a pullover sweater. It was beautiful and looked so soft I instantly wanted to cuddle up to him. Under the sweater, I could see a dress shirt and tie peeking out. He looked regally handsome.
    “Please, call me Ben, since we’re out of school now,” he commanded with his deep, soothing voice.
    I looked at him with big eyes and nodded. He was allowing me to call him Ben! I felt giddy!
    “Shall we?” He gestured to the door.
    “Be good, you two!” Marissa exclaimed with a devilish look as she hugged me goodbye.
    I was so excited, this was my first date ever and it was New Year’s Eve! New Year’s Eve?! Why didn’t I think of that before? He would be expecting a kiss. I tried to put that fact to the back of my mind because the possibility of kissing him made me feel like fainting.
    He held the car door open for me and I nearly swooned. It made me feel so adult that a guy actually held the door of his car open for me.
    “I’m taking you to a restaurant that’s a favorite of mine, I hope you don’t mind that I took the liberty of picking something for us?”