Chapter One: June

I sit down on the industrial blue carpet laid out in the dressing room and begin to untie my tattered pointe shoes. I tug at the tight knot at my ankle and sigh in relief when the flimsy but constricting shoe falls to the ground. It's kind of funny that ballet has been around for such a long time, but we're still dancing on paper and glue.

"June, are you coming to get coffee with us?" Adri, a girl from my class, asks. Adri is a waif. Her thin, mile long legs are cut in half by unbelievably knobby knees and her arms are simply bone covered in a pale layer of skin. For the longest time I thought she had an eating disorder, then I saw her eat. It's incredible to see such a tiny girl eat half a pizza then chase that with a couple of pieces of double chocolate cake.

"Sure," I say. "D.R., are you gonna come?" I turn to my best friend, Delaney Rose, who is putting on a worn Harvard sweatshirt over her lavender leotard.

"Can't," she says and shakes her long, blue-black hair out. "I have to go home and babysit Bella." Bella is D.R.'s little sister. They look almost identical, except for the fact that D.R. is five or six years older than Bella. They have the same long, pin-straight hair and the same sparkling, chocolate brown eyes.

"Where are your parents all the time?" another girl, Alexa, asks. "Like, are they ever home?"

D.R. rolls her eyes. "Hardly," D.R. says cynically. D.R.'s parents are both lawyers. They actually work with my mom, but I see my mom a lot more often than D.R. sees her parents. D.R.'s parents met when they were both studying law at Harvard. It would be a cute love story, but D.R. is always talking about how her parents basically hate each other now.

"Let's go," I jump up from the scratchy carpet and slip my feet into black, rubber flip flops. I sling my old, nylon dance bag over my shoulder and start towards the dressing room door. "Come on, girlies," I say to the room of dancers. "See you tomorrow, D.R."

Lucky for my bare toes, the chilly walk from our dance studio to Frosting & Foam is a short one. Bells tinkle above my head when I pull the glass door open. The three other girls file past me in their post-dance class attire, sweatshirts and yoga pants.

"Did any of you meet that new kid today?" one of the girls, Hanna, asks. "What's his name? Christian?"

"Yes!" I gush remembering the boy with the dark, curly hair and the dangerous leather jacket. "He's in my physics class. I could hardly even pay attention to Mr. Holt, because he's so adorable."

"I think I'm in love with him," Alexa giggles and flutters her big blue eyes. Adri sighs dreamily.

"He should be a movie star or in a boy band or something. He's, like, perfect," Hanna says. The two others nod in agreement.

"But then we wouldn't have a chance with him," I reason with them as we go up to the counter. "Don't you just want to run your hand through his curly hair?" I giggle, then start to panic a little when the girls' eyes widen.

"Um, June," Hanna says, but I already know what she's about to say. I whip around and find myself face to perfect face with Christian. I can feel the blood rushing to my face.

He has a devious smile on his face like he knows exactly what we were talking about. "What can I get you ladies today?" he asks. His green eyes have a playful glint as they flick across our faces.

"You," I hear one of the girls whisper behind me. The others giggle. Christian smiles and I'm positive he heard it too.

I clear my throat. Very attractive, June, I tell myself. "Um, I'll have a small vanilla latte and a banana nut muffin, please," I order quickly.

He punches some buttons on the cash register then gives me my total. I dig through my dance bag, searching for my wallet. I pull a wrinkly ten out of it and hand it to Christian. My hand tingles where his finger brushed it.

"Well, that was awkward," I say when we're all sitting at one of the mosaic-topped tables in the corner. I pull my legs up under me and rest my chin on my knee.

"It wasn't that bad," Alexa waves her hand in the air.

"He knew we were talking about him. That's bad," I say.

Adri rolls her eyes. "Get over it, June. He's probably used to girls talking about him. I mean, look at him."

"Hey, June," someone says right as I take a drink of my steaming latte. The hot liquid burns the inside of my mouth and hurts even more when I quickly swallow it. I look up from my cup and glare at the person who said my name, then I realize it's Teddy, my best friend.

"Oh, hi, Teddy," I smile.

"How was dance?" he asks, clearing off the table next to ours.

"Good," I say. "How's work?"

He glances at the counter. "Awful," he says. "All afternoon girls have come in here giggling about Christian. It's getting annoying."

My face starts to burn again. We were giggling about Christian. "Anyway, are you going to need a ride home? Because I get off in fifteen minutes. So, I could, you know, give you a ride home," he laughs at his own discomfort.

"Sure," I say with an encouraging smile. I never really understand how Teddy could be so awkward sometimes. He always did this around my friends, but when we are alone Teddy can be somewhat…normal.

Alexa, being the flirt that she is, pounces on the opportunity to flirt with Teddy. I don't see how she can possibly be charmed by him at the moment though. "So, Theodore," she purrs, wrapping a lock of her thick hair around her pinky. "Are you going to be at the football game tomorrow night?"

Teddy nods; Alexa's attempts to flirt lost on him.

"You should really play," she continues. "I'd love to see you score." She winks one of her green, cat-like eyes.

Teddy turns bright red under his golden blond hair. "Um, I have to go," he mumbles and hurries away, leaving his rag on the table.

"Let's go Huskies!" the cheerleaders chant at the home section the next night. The bright lights shine down on the green field. Our team is ahead by fourteen points despite our star player sitting due to academic probation.

"Woo! Go offense!" D.R. shouts in my ear.

I nudge her in the ribs. "We're defense," I remind her.

"I'm not even going to try anymore," she says grumpily. "This is a pointless game. I don't get it, and I'm freezing my butt off. Why aren't these stadiums indoors? It's only 47 degrees." She plops down on the steel bleachers which are probably colder than the air.

"There are only three minutes left until the end of the game, D.R.," I say. "I think you can handle it."

She glares at me, visibly shivering.

"Wanna share my body heat?" a burly senior asks from behind her.

"I would rather cuddle with a rabid bear than get any closer to you," D.R. sneers at him. A short ha escapes from my mouth, and my hand flies up to my lips.

"Hey, June," someone whispers in my ear and wedges their way between me and whoever was standing next to me. "Fancy meeting you here."

It's Christian. Butterflies invade my stomach, and my frozen cheeks thaw from the blood that suddenly rushes to them. "Hey," I reply breathlessly. I scoot a little to the side to make more room for him.

He pulls a flask from inside of his coat and takes a long drink. "Want some?" he offers the silver flask to me.

I don't even ask what's in it. I take it from him and take a swig. I've only ever drank once and that was just wine at a family party. This is a lot different. It burns in my throat and I can't help but cough. I pass the flask back to him, still spluttering.

"I take it you don't drink that often," he chuckles. The same playful glint from yesterday is in his eyes again.

I shake my head. "So why're you here?" I ask eager to change the subject. "I mean, like, you just started yesterday, so why're you here? No, I mean," I sigh, "who're you here with?"

He waits a moment for me to change my question again. "Asher and Mona and Corbin," he says. I roll my eyes. Of course Christian would be friends already with the most popular people in our grade. Corbin and Mona, the perfect couple, and Asher, the class clown. I'd gone to school with them all my life and probably spoken five times with all of them combined.

"Anyway, we're all hanging out after this, so you should come. D.R. and Alexa can come, too, if they want," he adds quickly.

I turn to D.R. and Alexa. "Do you guys want to hang out with Christian after the game?" I ask. I plead with my eyes.

Alexa shrugs. "Sounds better than going to the lame homecoming dance." D.R. nods in agreement.

Thirty minutes later I'm squeezed between Asher and Christian in the backseat of Corbin's huge SUV. The leather seats are warm under my frozen, jean-clad butt; my shoulder is equally warm under Christian's arm. Mona is shooting Corbin fierce looks from the passenger seat, probably because D.R. is crammed next to her.

Music rattles the car when Corbin stops at a keypad. He jabs in a code, and the wrought iron gate in front of us opens slowly. He turns down the music just slightly as we wind through the neighborhood of beautiful houses.

He turns the car into the driveway of a particularly large stone house. It looks completely empty. This is confirmed when Corbin says, "My parents are gone for the weekend, so no one is home. I hope that doesn't bother anyone."

Corbin lets us into his palatial house. The foyer is cavernous. An expensive-looking chandelier dangles from the vaulted ceiling and huge windows frame the door. A spiral staircase leads to the next floor, but three doorways lead out of the foyer as well.

"Hot tub?" Asher suggests.

"I didn't bring a bathing suit," Alexa says, kind of stupidly if you ask me. I mean, obviously, no one thought to bring a bathing suit to the football game.

"That's okay, honey. You don't need one," Asher winks. The other boys laugh. Mona glares at Asher, and Alexa turns bright red, definitely out of character for her. She must be nervous.

"I'm going upstairs," Mona says pointedly to Corbin then marches off in the direction we came from. Corbin shrugs, but doesn't follow her or anything. Not so perfect of a couple after all.

"So, hot tub," Asher reminds us.

"Right," Corbin says. He bends down behind the kitchen counter and resurfaces with a bottle of clear liquid. It takes me a moment to realize it's vodka. We all follow Corbin through a sliding glass door onto a slate patio.

Asher promptly starts taking his clothes off. Thankfully, he leaves his underwear on. Christian and Corbin follow suit, then climb into the bubbling hot tub. I glance at D.R. and Alexa. They look just as dumbfounded as me.

"Do you girls need help undressing?" Corbin asks.

I suddenly realize how strange it is to be standing here on Corbin Freeman's patio. I've known him since I was five, but this is the first time I've ever really talked to him, and now I'm expected to strip down to my underwear in front of him and two other boys I hardly know. I've never even been in just my underwear in front of Teddy, and he's my best friend. But I guess that would be pretty strange, too.

I take a deep breath, and then start to take off my jeans. I tear my fuzzy socks from my feet and drop them on top of my discarded jeans, then pull my shirt over my head. I vault into the hot tub and sink down under the water, until everything but my head is covered.

D.R. and Alexa do the same and quickly end up on either side of me in the warm water. Thankfully, I'm not wearing a thong, like Alexa. I'm embarrassed for her.