Never Talk to Strangers Read online

  Sunshine: One of the high schools out here in Spanaway.

  Sk8erBoi: Oh, really?! I went to one of those, too!

  Sunshine: Hey that's cool!

  Sk8erBoi: Yeah, maybe we can hang out sometime? If you want.

  I bit my lip. I didn't know what the guy looked like. I clicked on his name at the top and his profile popped up.

  Damn, he was cute! Black hair and some amazing muscles that you could see because he was wearing a green tank top. Scrolling through, I found out that he also lived in Spanaway; and he was 18.

  I went back to the message thread.

  Sunshine: I guess. Sounds good.

  Sk8erBoi: Cool :) I can't wait to meet you.

  I bit my lip and blushed.

  Two

  Date Night

  “Have you found a date yet?” Emily asked, the next morning at school.

  I shook my head. “I’ve been talking to someone, but haven’t brought it up yet. Tyler said he’d find me a date, though.”

  “Yeah, maybe finding someone online is a bad idea.” Emily frowned. “Sorry I pushed you to do it. Can you hand me my math book?”

  Handing the book to her out of our locker, I took off my jacket, stuffing it in there. “It’s fine, but we really need to clean this out.”

  There were shirts in there that two girls had left at Emily’s house. They had just left without any word. She brought them to school after trying to contact them for a month; she told me that I could take whatever I wanted home with me.

  “Summer!” Tyler’s voice called from down the hall.

  “Who is that?” Emily asked all flirty.

  I looked at her funny. “Um, my gay brother?” I laughed at her.

  “No,” she rolled her hazel eyes at me. “Not him, the guy he’s walking with.”

  “Sam? His boyfriend.” Then I looked up to find a third person walking with Tyler and Sam – it was Nick.

  “Um, that’s Nick Wilson.” I told her.

  “He’s cute,” She whispered as they got closer.

  Tyler smiled at us. “Hey, Em. How are you?”

  “Good, thank you.” She told him, smiling.

  “Good,” Tyler said. “Summer, you remember Nick?” Nick was slightly taller than I was, on the thinner side and had dark curly brown hair, with gorgeous deep brown eyes.

  “Yeah, nice to see you, again.” I smiled at him. I had always thought he was cute, but he was my brother’s best friend, plus I don’t think he would be interested.

  His smile was charming. “Nice to see you, again, too.” He paused. “Can I have your number?”

  Maybe I was wrong.

  I blushed and chuckled, nervously. “Yeah, of course.” He handed me his phone, and I saved my number into it.

  “Thanks, I’ll text you.”

  I pressed my lips together, blushing some more, I nodded, “Yeah, okay. Sounds good.”

  The bell rang and Nick gave me a smile before heading off to class.

  “Oh, my, God!” Emily shrieked. “You’re going to the dance with him!”

  I rolled my eyes at her, but smiled. “We’ll see.”

  “No, you definitely are!”

  Shaking my head at her, I said, “Come on, let’s get to class.”

  “Summer and Nick sitting in a tree,” Emily sang.

  “Oh, shut up!” I laughed. “It’s just a dance.”

  “But it can be something magical,” Emily cooed at me.

  Fighting the urge to roll my eyes at her, we went off to class.

  It wasn’t until second period when I finally text Nick. I was so nervous about this whole thing and I didn’t even know why – maybe it was because I was worried about ruining his friendship with my brother.

  Oh, stop, Summer, I told myself. It’s just a dance.

  I was kind of surprised by how much we had in common. He liked reading, too – what teenage guy actually likes that? No one that I knew; not until now at least.

  Although I felt kind of bad talking to Nick and this guy online, I still wasn’t sure who I wanted to go with. I knew Nick most of my life and he seemed to be very interested in making conversation with me, but this Sk8erBoi was also very charming.

  Sk8erBoi: So what brings you to this site?

  Sunshine: Well, to be honest, I was looking for a date to my school dance. My best friend suggested I try here. I’m kind of awkward when it comes to actually talking to people.

  Sk8erBoi: Oh, have you found a date?

  I paused, growing nervous.

  Sk8erBoi: I’d love to take you if you haven’t found someone else.

  Sunshine: Thank you, but I’m not sure if I want to go…

  Sk8erBoi: So you’re just leading me on?

  What?

  Sunshine: No, I’m just explaining my situation.

  Sk8erBoi: Whatever. I’ll leave you alone.

  I didn’t even know how to feel. It was definitely odd to say the least. He didn’t message me for the rest of the day, which was fine, but something didn’t sit right with me…

  “Hey, you okay?” Emily shook me from my thoughts as we walked down the hall towards the cafeteria. The hallway was mostly empty since most students were in classrooms.

  “Hm? Oh, um, yeah.” I chuckled nervously. “Yeah, just –“

  As I was about to tell her about the odd conversation, I saw Nick smiling at me at the entrance of the cafeteria.

  Emily gasped, “I think someone is waiting for you!”

  “Hey,” I smiled.

  “Hey, mind if I join you?” He asked.

  I nodded, “Sure.” Sure? “I mean, um, yeah. Yeah, that’d be nice.”

  After getting our lunch, we took our seats when Nick asked beside me, “What book did you say you were reading?”

  “Oh, um, it’s kind of silly,” I chuckled, nervously. “It’s a, um, fantasy book.”

  But Nick just smiled, “That sounds pretty cool, what is it about?”

  I felt my heart flutter, but I went on to explain to him; and he seemed genuinely interested. He asked me a few questions about the characters and what my thoughts were on the storyline.

  “Nick!” Another senior had called to him, waving him over.

  “Hey, man!” Nick called, than he said to me, “I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay,” I smiled up at him as he got up, making his way over to his friend. Once he was out of earshot, I showed Emily the messages.

  “Red flag,” Em said immediately. “Major red flag. Stop talking to him.”

  “But maybe I was kind of leading him on?” I asked. “I mean, I didn’t tell him right away that I was looking for a date.”

  She gave me a puzzled look. “You cannot be serious right now. You didn’t have to tell him right away. You didn’t even have to tell him at all.”

  I frowned. “I understand that, but I do feel kind of bad…”

  Danny chimed in, narrowing his eyes at me. “He’s being a jerk, don’t feel bad, Summer.”

  As the day went on, I found myself feeling less guilty about the situation – Danny and Em were right, I didn’t owe him an explanation.

  ***

  “Hey, sis.” My brother walked into my room that night.

  “Hey, what's up?” I say, not looking up from my phone.

  “Get out of those pajamas.” He walked to my closet and started going through my clothes. “We’re going out.”

  “What?” What does he mean? “It’s a school night.”

  He turned around, holding up two sweaters. “Soft red or cream?”

  Getting up, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Where are we going?”

  “Just to dinner.” He then waved the sweaters in front of my face. “Which one?”

  “With?" I asked, dragging the word out, ignoring his question.

  He looked at the two sweaters. “You know what, you should probably wear red. It’s a good color on you.” Handing it to me, I took it. “Hurry up,” he said as he shut the door.

  I shook my head
at him as I changed into the red sweater and dark blue jeans. Looking myself over in the mirror, I suddenly felt anxious. What if I was meeting up with Nick? Wouldn’t Tyler tell me if that were the case?

  I quickly fixed my long, curly black hair then put on a little bit of eyeliner to make my green eyes pop. Then a light pink lipstick to make my lips appear fuller. I wrapped a light grey scarf around my neck that matched my boots.

  Opening my bedroom door, I found Tyler just about to knock on my door.

  “Now that I’m all dressed up, do you mind telling me what I’m doing?”

  “Well, Nick wants to ask you to the dance himself.”

  Crossing my arms again, I said, “Uh-huh, and you didn’t think to tell me this before I got dressed?” We had only been texting each other today, getting to know each other.

  “Well, I guess now I can tell you that he’s downstairs.”

  My eyes grew wide. I know he was supposed to be my date for Winter Formal, but that was weeks away. Plus, I've never been on a date before. What if I make a fool of myself? What if I ruin everything? What if I say something stupid? “Tyler, I don't know.”

  “You'll be fine!”

  I press my lips together, thinking. “But –,”

  “Summer, listen to me, it’s okay. You’ve known him like your whole life.”

  “Which is why this is a little weird. He’s your best friend, Tyler.”

  Tyler shrugged. “I don’t care. I know you like him, so why not give it a chance?”

  Letting out a long breath, I nodded. “Okay. So, how do I look?”

  “Beautiful!”

  “Thanks. You look nice, too.”

  Downstairs, we met the guys at the door.

  “Hey, babe!” Tyler gave his boyfriend, Sam, a kiss on the check. Tyler and Sam were really cute together. His hair was blonde, and he had hazel eyes.

  “Hi, Summer.” Nick smiled at me. It was almost like he was looking at me for the first time. He seemed to be in awe.

  I blushed and smiled back. “Hi, Nick.”

  “Mom! We're going out. We'll be home by midnight!” Tyler called over his shoulder.

  “Ten!” She called, coming to the front door. “It’s a school night, Tyler."

  “11:30?” He asked.

  She thought for a moment. “Eleven.” She then gave us a hug and kiss good-bye.

  “You know where we're going, right?” Tyler asked Nick, once we were outside.

  “Yup, meet you two there.”

  Tyler and Sam got into Sam's car and Nick was holding the door open for me, of his car. Smiling nervously, I got in his car, and he shut the door for me. Jumping in the driver’s seat, he started the car, already having the heat on.

  After leaving the driveway, Nick spoke up. “So, um, are you okay with this?”

  I looked at him funny. “What do you mean?”

  “Going on a double date with your brother and his boyfriend. We can go somewhere else, if you want.”

  “Well, my brother was really excited about this.” I felt butterflies in my stomach.

  He shrugged. “Okay.”

  I bit my lip. “Is that okay?”

  He glanced at me and smiled. “Of course, why wouldn’t it be?”

  “Well, um,” My voice trailed off, unable to think of the right words.

  “Oh, no!” Nick exclaimed. “I’m sorry, I’ve never been on a real date before, so this is new to me.”

  Mentally sighing in relief, I felt a little better. “I’ve never been on a date at all.”

  He glanced over, confused. “Really?”

  “Really,” I chuckled.

  We went to an Italian restaurant in South Hill, and were seated right away upstairs next to the railing. The few times I’ve came here with my family, I’ve never sat upstairs. We could see most of the restaurant from up here.

  Tyler and Sam had already been seated at a different table, which I didn't really mind it too much because we were actually having a great time. Of course I knew that we had some stuff in common, from texting, but I was surprised to find out that we actually had a lot in common – and a lot to talk about.

  “It was a pretty crazy night.” He laughed. “I know now that I will never go to a place like that, again.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, I prefer to watch ghost movies and stuff, but I definitely don’t want to experience that.”

  I was halfway done with eating when he asked me something that kind of shocked me. “Do you want to go somewhere?”

  “Like where?” I smiled, confused.

  “I want to show you something. Is that okay?” His blue eyes were full of excitement.

  “I guess so.”

  Adventures were fun, and it wasn’t like he was a stranger.

  He pulled out some cash and put it on the table. Then he gently took my hand and we hurried out to his car.

  He turned on the radio and we both started singing along. I was having such a great time, I forgot about everything else. He put his hand on the center console, with his palm facing up. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed his hand, twisting our fingers together.

  I felt his eyes on me and I looked up to find him smiling. I couldn't help but to smile back.

  We pulled into the park, and he drove down to the lake. It was way too cold outside, so we stayed in the car.

  “Wow.” I whispered. “I've never been here at night before.” The moon was shining on the water; it was the most wonderful thing I've ever seen.

  “I like to come out here sometimes, to clear my mind.” He said. I was in deep thought, but he snapped me out of it. “Summer?”

  “Yeah?” I asked, staring at the lake.

  He cleared his throat. “Will you go to Winter Formal with me?”

  I turned to him and nodded. “Yes. I will.”

  He smiled back and I felt butterflies as he leaned over to me. His lips were soft, and he started to pull away, but I pulled him back.

  The kiss deepened.

  I wrapped my hands around the back of his neck and held onto his brown hair. One of his hands was on my back, pulling me closer to him. He started leaning over, so he was almost in my seat.

  He pulled away suddenly. “Why don’t we get you home?”

  I kissed him again and smiled. “Okay.”

  Three

  Busted

  The drive home was kind of quiet, but it was nice. Nick was resting his arm on the center console. My hands were in my lap, and I glanced over at his hand. Taking a deep breathe, I slowly laced his fingers in mine. He brought my hand up to his lips, kissing my hand.

  I pressed my lips together. “I know my bother put you up to this, but you really don’t have to take me to the dance if you don’t want to.” I told him, softly. “I’m sure you’d rather go with someone else.”

  He glanced over at me, confused. “I’d rather go with you.”

  Giving him a small smile, I felt my face grow warm, and I turned away.

  “And as for your brother putting me up to this,” He paused, looking over at me, again. “I wouldn’t have agreed if I didn’t want to go with you.”

  We came to a stop and I looked up to see that we were at my house. He shut off his car and I looked up at him. He turned to look at me after a minute and then leaned over to kiss me.

  Breaking away, I smiled at him and he smiled back. Opening his door, he got out. While I was gathering my purse, he opened my door for me. He held his hand out for me and I took it. “Thank you.” I told him, as he helped me out of the car.

  Walking up the driveway, I noticed that the only light that was on, was the front porch.

  “Thank you for dinner.” I say in a soft voice at the door.

  “Of course.” He paused, smiling. “Thank you for coming out with me tonight.”

  My face grew warm, and I looked away. He chuckled, lifting my chin, he kissed my lips.

  He pulled away, giving me butterflies. “Goodnight, Summer.”

  “Goodnight, Nick.” I blushed.

>   I watched as he got in his car and drove off. Turning around, I was still smiling like an idiot when I walked into my house.

  The house was dark, and I didn't want to wake up anyone, so I went straight to my room. I plopped down on my bed and right as I pulled out my phone, to tell Emily and Danny everything, my bedroom light turned on.

  My parents were standing by my door. Dad's arms were crossed and Mom just kind of stood there. Both with unreadable expressions. I didn't think that I was late, so what was up?

  “Was I late? I shouldn't have been. We made sure I was home on time.”

  “No.” Dad said short, “You were home on time.”

  “Did I forget to do something?” I asked confused.

  "Yep." Mom said sounding angry. “You forgot about the rule.”

  Crap. “What rule?”

  “About the damn internet!” I felt the blood drain from my face as Dad yelled. “I went on your damn laptop to update it, and I found a whole conversation between you and some random guy online!”

  “He could be like 30 or 40.” Mom said.

  “I met him at my school. Like, today. He has my lunch.” I lied.

  They stared at me for a long time, probably trying to figure out if I was lying. “Well, I want you to delete that account.” Dad said and Mom nodded.

  I shrugged. “I don't care anyway. I have a boyfriend now.”

  “Who?” Mom asked confused.

  “Well, not really. But Nick asked me to Winter Formal tonight.” I blushed.

  “When did this happen?” Mom asked kind of soft, but I knew she was still mad.

  “Tonight, after dinner.” I told them.

  They looked at each other, then back at me.

  “All right,” Dad said.

  “But no more talking to strangers online,” Mom added, firmly.

  I nodded and they gave me a hug and kiss and left my bedroom.

  Pulling out my phone again, I started texting Emily.

  Me: Are you awake? I need to tell you something.

  A few minutes later, she replied.

  Emily: Yeah. What's up?

  Me: I'm going to Winter Formal!

  On my screen her name popped up. She was calling me.

  “Hello?” I answered.

  “With who?!” She asked happily.