Well, I guess it's technically not screwed up now. In fact, my love life is going pretty freaking great, for once in my life.

Ty stands beside me, and I grab his hands. Together, all of us take off towards the water.

And it's fucking cold.

1 a.m.

Indecent exposure.

I am sitting in the back of a police car, wet and cold.

At least I have my clothes on now.

Bright side.

Apparently the beach that we went to wasn't as secluded as I thought. And somebody called the cops on us. Just as we came out of the water, a cop showed up. We were arrested for indecent exposure, even Andrea, who was in her underwear.

Ty, sitting beside me, is grinning while shaking his head at me.

"Was getting arrested on your bucket list too?" he asks.

"No," I answer. "Though, it will be a great story to tell our kids someday."

"Our kids? As in the ones we have together?"

"Yep. All ten of them," I joke.

"We can have as many kids as you want."

"I'm not having ten kids," I quickly say. "I was just kidding."

"Thank God," he says. "I was an only child, so I have no idea what I would do with ten kids."

I laugh.

Hard.

"Why are you laughing?" Ty asks.

"We're in the back of a police car, talking about how many kids we're going to have. What is wrong with us?"

"It's not like your dad won't get us out of this mess," he says, shrugging. "This is not my first offense, and I've definitely gotten arrested for worse."

"Like what?" I ask.

"Well, once I got arrested for doubling the speed limit," he says.

"So what? I double it all the time."

"It's a felony," he says. "Also, I was in a sixty speed zone."

"You were going one twenty?" I ask.

He nods. "I was handcuffed for about five seconds before the cop gets a phone call. Next thing I know, he's undoing my cuffs and apologizing to me. Apparently they frown upon cops arresting the senator's son."

The door opens suddenly.

"Kihanna?" the cop says.

"Yeah?"

"You and your friends are free to go," he says. "Sorry about the mix up. Mark Evers cleared everything up."

Fuck.

I didn't want my dad to know. I'd almost rather go to jail than have him know that I was caught in public naked.

"Thanks," I say, getting out of the car.

A few minutes later, we are all surrounding my car, fully clothed.

"Great idea, Kihanna," Andrea says. "Let's go skinny dipping."

"Whatever, it's not like you got in trouble," I say.

"Thank God, I didn't. My mom would kill me if she knew what I did," she says. "Especially since I was with a bunch of guys."

"Speaking of parents, I'm going to call my dad," I tell them. "Do you guys mind waiting in the car for me?"

Because, I need this conversation to be over.

They all nod, getting in the car, and I pull up my dad's number. I pace back and forth by my car, waiting for him to answer.

"Hey," Dad says, like all is right in the world.

"Hey," I say back. "Umm... thanks for bailing me out of almost jail."

My dad laughs.

"It's not funny, Dad," I say. "I almost went to prison."

"You went skinny dipping. That's hardly an offense that would send you to prison," he says. "Next time, don't get caught."

"I'll try," I say, feeling relieved. "I really thought you'd be mad."

"Naw," he says. "I went skinny dipping with your mom when we were your age. If I remember correctly, it was that night that we conceived you. I can't be mad at you for doing the same thing I did."

"Ew," I say, laughing.

"Maybe next weekend, you can come visit me," he says.

"I will," I say. "When I come home I will be there through Thanksgiving."

"Perfect," he says. "We're going to New York City this year."

"I've never been there."

"It'll be fun," he says. "You'll love the city."

"I will," I say. "I guess I should get off here. We're going to drive back to campus now."

"Have fun and be safe."

"Love you."

"Love you, too," he says.

I hang up the phone and get in the car.

I pretty much have the coolest dad in the world.

Sunday, November 14 10 a.m.

I am happy.

When I wake up on Sunday morning, I am in a really good mood.

And why shouldn't I be? Life is great.

I stretch out on my bed.

And then I jump when I open my eyes.

Brian Asher is sitting at my desk.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up," he says.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"You went to our spot last night," he says. "The spot that I showed you."

"How do you know?" I ask. "Oh, right. You stalk me, that's how."

"I'm not stalking you," he says.

"No, just your extremely mentally ill sister," I say. "Why would you cover for her? She's sick. She needs to be locked up, getting help for her illness."

"When my dad was dying, he told me it was my job to look after my little sisters. Brandon was married with a couple of kids of his own, and I was the one left in the house," Brian says. "Olivia had so much ahead of her. She had a full ride scholarship to UCLA. I wasn't going to let anything stand in the way of her and the future."

"Yet, she still ruined her future," I say.

"I don't know where Olivia is," Brian tells me. "After she got kicked out of UCLA, she fell off the map. I can't find her. That's why I came here. I figure that if she's going to blame anybody for ruining her shot at UCLA, it would be you."

"Why me? I didn't do anything to her."

"After our dad died, Olivia had a really bad time. Lily was the one who helped her through it. When Lily died, something inside Olivia snapped," he says. "A year later, you came into town. It so happens that both of Lily's boyfriends were into you. I don't know why, but Olivia fixated on hating you. When Mike Newman saw just how much Olivia despised you, he offered to pay her money to make your life miserable."

"Well, she definitely did that well."

"Enough about Olivia," Brian says. "I want to know why you and your friends went to the spot that I showed you."

"And I want to know why you followed me there."

"You first," he says.

I roll my eyes, but decide to answer anyway.

"I'm tired of living my life in fear," I tell him. "I don't want to focus on the fact that there is somebody stalking me and that there's a pretty good chance I'm going to die young. I guess I went there because I have good memories there. Even though you're not the guy I thought you were, I'm not going to let that tarnish every memory I have of us. We had a lot of good times."

"We did," he agrees.

"Part of me wishes that I had meant more to you than Olivia did," I admit. "I know that sounds selfish, but I wonder how different things would be now."

"Me, too," he says. "I try to convince myself that what I did was for the best, but I know it wasn't. I regret what I did for her. I regret not staying with you."

I don't say anything, because I don't know how to respond. He fucked up, and he knows it.

"I thought Olivia was going to do better. She promised me," he says. "I'm sorry."

"I don't know what you expect," I say. "How can I ever accept your apology or forgive you? If it wasn't for you, Olivia would be in prison right now and I would be safe."

He frowns.

Probably because he knows I'm right.

"Why did you follow me?" I ask.

"A few reasons. The number one reason is to keep you safe. I feel responsible for you," he answers. "I mean, it is kind of my fault you're in this situation. Also, I followed you because I am hoping to find Olivia. I want to talk some sense into her."

"I don't understand why she's doing this to me. I thought she was my best friend. What did I do to her to deserve this?"

"It's not anything you did personally," he says. "Olivia is sick. She saw you move to Mountain View and basically take Lily's old life. I mean, you did take both of her ex-boyfriends. I guess something inside her just snapped."

"Ty and Lily were never in a relationship," I say.

"No, but Lily wanted to be," Brian says.

Part of me wishes I had gotten the chance to know Lily, but the other part of me is glad I didn't. I don't think we would've gotten along.