I want him so much!

Suddenly, I hear the sound of a key clicking loudly in the lock, and we both bolt upright and sit stiffly side by side as the front door opens. Craig comes in, babbling happily to Tina as she follows behind him.

"...and that part where his ship just exploded for no reason? Awesome!" shouts Tina excitedly. "Such a G.o.d-awful movie, but so great!"

Tina nearly leaps out of her boots when she sees us staring at her.

"Oh my G.o.d! I'm so sorry," she apologizes, covering her mouth with both hands as she sees us sitting on the couch. "We didn't interrupt anything, did we?"

My hair is a sweaty mess, I'm gasping as if I ran a marathon and my face is bright pink. What does she think?

"No, of course not!" Owen and I blurt out in unison, and Tina bursts out laughing.

"Glad to hear it," she giggles, and she winks at me.

Now that the spell is broken, I suddenly realize that it's almost two in the morning. How on earth did it get so late? Time flew by while I lay in Owen's arms, and I wish I could turn the clock back and keep lying like that forever.

Tina hovers awkwardly for a minute before excusing herself and heads upstairs, and Craig lingers in the kitchen for a short while longer before going up after her. I groan and then start laughing.

"Are they going to... eew..." starts Owen, but his voice trails off awkwardly as he looks at the stairwell in amazement. I can't help but giggle at his reaction. It's so innocent and childlike for someone who, only moments ago, was wrapped in my embrace and touching me all over.

"I don't know, but I deal with enough of it from our other roommates, so I think I'm going to call it a night," I answer with a yawn. I don't even want to think about Tina having s.e.x.

"I had a really good time tonight," I whisper, and he flashes me a gorgeous smile before answering.

"I'm glad! I did too."

Tonight is the best night I've ever had. I have no words for how amazing I feel, so instead I let one last, long, pa.s.sionate kiss tell him for me.

Sat.u.r.day, March 9 9:30 AM.

Owen.

I feel Maria shaking at my touch, but she holds my hand tightly against her leg and doesn't let go. She wants so badly to try, but she's even more scared than I am. I press my lips against hers, tasting her, stifling her delighted moan as my hand runs delicately up her thigh. The lace beneath her skirt tickles my arm, and my heart skips a beat as my fingers brush against the soft fabric of her underwear.

Her body burns like fire against mine, and she gasps frantically for air as she breaks away from the pa.s.sionate kiss, trying to catch her breath. I've never wanted anyone more than I want her right now.

The alarm clock goes off, shatters my dream and yanks me back to reality. My heart races, I'm covered in sweat, and the sheets cling to my skin as I stare up at the ceiling. I promised myself that I'd work on my thesis today, but it's so tempting to just stay here in bed-to let myself drift off back to that heavenly dream and relive last night instead.

I've never felt more connected to someone than I did with Maria last night. Not one single girl I dated back when I was an undergrad ever made me feel like she does. The connection I felt last night as we lay in each other's arms was the most intense, intimate feeling I've ever experienced.

I'm grateful now that Craig and Tina interrupted us when they did. I don't know if I could have controlled myself for much longer. I wanted so desperately to take off her dress-to explore her body and experience everything with her-but I feel as if I'd be hurting her even if she wanted it too.

Why am I feeling guilty about something that didn't happen? Emotions are complicated and sometimes even the good ones only make things harder to understand.

I have to get up.

By the time I'm out of the shower and dressed for the day, my thoughts are finally back in order and I'm ready to work. I grab my coat, toss an apple in my backpack, and head out the door.

It's much warmer than I expected, and my coat quickly finds its way into my backpack when I stop to check the mail. The sun shines brightly in the clear blue sky-a rare occurrence in upstate New York-and I feel positively cheerful. I had the time of my life last night, and today's looking promising too.

My outlook on the day suddenly changes drastically as I see the letter from Mom, and my heart sinks as I rip open the envelope and see the bill inside.

My insurance company sent the bill for my broken hand to my parents' address instead of to my apartment. A yellow sticky-note with Mom's handwriting is affixed at the top.

"Got this bill. Your father said not to pay it, so I wrote a check from your account. Mom."

The bill is for eight hundred dollars. She drained almost my entire account.

My pulse pounds louder and louder in my head as I walk up the hill to campus, and I start to panic. I just paid my rent two days ago, and the check hasn't cleared the bank yet. When that goes through, I'll be wiped out completely! My next paycheck is on the fifteenth-how am I supposed to eat until then? I have no money left for food!

My mind keeps racing in circles even once I make it to the library, and I can't focus on my work. What if my bank balance had been just slightly lower? What if I'd gone grocery shopping early this month or used an ATM? Mom didn't even call me before writing the check!

Something else bothers me, though-something much bigger than the money-and it gnaws at my chest, growing more and more painful until I have no choice but to pay attention to it.

Mom got a bill for a trip to the emergency room, and she never even called to see if I was okay.

I knew Dad didn't care about me, but...

My eyes tear up and I can't make them stop.

"I don't matter," I whisper, laying my head on the desk as I feel myself start to wilt. "I don't matter at all."

Sat.u.r.day, March 9 10:30 AM.

Maria.

For the first time in as long as I can remember, I made it through the night without a single bad dream. The sun is shining in the window when I wake up, and it leaves a warm, bright rectangle on my bedspread.

I don't want to get up, but I don't want to go back to sleep either. What I really want is to go back to last night, to lie on the sofa and feel Owen's arms around me again. I don't know what happened last night, but it was magical!

I finally convince myself to get up, but I'm not getting dressed. It's Sat.u.r.day, I have lots of homework to do, and I have to remember to sign up for the spring career fair. Today is a day for flannel pajamas, I think.

The career fair is only two weeks away now, and it feels like I was a freshman only yesterday. Time flies, especially when you're finally starting to have fun.

Tina is meditating over her morning cup of coffee when I come down to the kitchen.

"Your English m.u.f.fin's already in the toaster," she mumbles sleepily as I rummage through the fridge, and I smile gratefully and call off my search.

"Thanks."

"No problem," she answers. "How'd you enjoy last night?"

"It was fantastic," I gush as I pour myself a cup of coffee. My m.u.f.fin pops up in the toaster, and I slather it with b.u.t.ter before joining her at the table.

"What about yours?"

She smiles slyly at me before answering.

"Are you sure you want those kinds of details?"

"Oh G.o.d, no," I stammer, shaking my head. "I don't want to hear it!"

The last thing I want to hear about is Tina having s.e.x. She's like a little sister to me, or maybe more like tiny, older sister. Either way, I don't want to hear about it! Not now, not ever.

"I thought not," she whispers. She sticks out her tongue at me before taking another sip and sighing contently into her coffee. A puff of steam floats out from her cup and slowly fades away.

My m.u.f.fin crunches delightfully as I take the first bite. Tina made the coffee super strong again, though, and it's so bitter that it feels like my tongue is shriveling up.

"You know... I'm really proud of you," she blurts out suddenly. "For last night, I mean."

I don't know what to say to something like that, so instead I take another bite of my m.u.f.fin and let her keep going.

"You have no idea how excited I was when I walked in and saw you kissing him! You've come so far and so fast," says Tina, and then she adds, "Sorry about walking in on you though, I didn't interrupt anything... big... last night, did I?"

I shake my head and I feel my face turn red.

"No worries-you didn't. I'm happy you came in when you did, though."

She raises an eyebrow and waits for me to elaborate.

"I... well, if you hadn't come in when you did..." I stammer, not sure what to say.

"You were losing control?" she asks, and I nod. I'm glad she can read my mind, because I have no idea how to express what happened.

"Everything just felt so wonderful," I whisper. "It was amazing, and I don't know if I could have stopped myself if we went any further."

She nods and purses her lips.

"It's like I was lost, kind of," I try to explain, grasping for whatever words I can find. "My brain was off in a haze, enjoying itself while it let my body do whatever it wanted."

She closes her eyes and smiles at me as if she knows exactly what I mean. She probably does, given how she spent the evening.

"So... mind if I change the subject for just a second?" asks Tina after a long silence. Her eyes are wide and excited, and she looks like she might explode if she doesn't tell me whatever it is that's on her mind.

"Go for it!" I answer with a grin.

She holds up a brown manila envelope with big red letters stamped on it. "INTERVIEW."

"The vet school!" she squeals happily, dancing in her chair. "They're interviewing me for admission!"

"Awesome!" I shout, and she high-fives me from across the table. "See? I told you they'd be interested!"

"They only take like fifty students a year and they want to interview me?" she gushes excitedly. "That just doesn't happen!"

"Congratulations!"

"You had any luck with your interviews so far?" she asks, and I shake my head.

"Oh well... you'll do great at the spring career fair," she tells me.

I hope I do. I haven't applied anywhere since January-not after panicking during the last one-and I'm running out of time before graduation.

We stare silently at each other until Tina finally breaks the ice again.

"So... anything else you want to talk about from last night?"

"I need to figure some things out for myself right now," I answer quietly. "A lot of my feelings aren't making sense, and I don't understand them."

I should be leaping for joy right now-maybe even racing over to Owen's place to kiss him again-but deep inside, I'm also a little nervous. I lost control of myself last night, and as wonderful as it felt, it was scary to feel myself do things I'd never thought I'd do.

"Welcome to romance, sweetie," Tina says, reaching out and patting my hand comfortingly. "Your thoughts never make sense when you like someone."

"Never?"

"Well... maybe they do eventually, but they haven't for me yet," she answers with a shrug. "When you're excited about someone and new to all of it, well... all bets are off."

I sigh as I listen to her. I'm twenty-two and only just now dating someone-how am I ever supposed to catch up emotionally to where I should be?

"Explore your feelings," she continues, and then quietly adds, "Just... please be careful, okay?"

"You've told me that a few times now. What do you mean?"

She hops up from the table and refills her coffee before answering me.

"Good feelings can make you do very stupid things," she explains, and now I get where she's going with her warning. I felt the beginning of it last night-how I lost control of myself to the warm, wonderful feelings and almost let myself go completely. Even more, I remember how Tina was during her freshman year.

After her mother forgot her, Tina did everything she could to make connections with other people and replace the family she'd lost. She went through guy after guy during her freshman, and she always told me about whomever she was sleeping with. I always thought she was bragging about her conquests and hated listening to her until the night she finally broke down and started crying up in her top bunk. She'd been screaming for help-begging for someone to care about her-and I hadn't been listening.

She's worried that I'll end up like she was.

Tina excuses herself to go study. I really should do the same, but I desperately need to take a shower. My hair feels gross and greasy, and I know I'll never be able to concentrate like this.

I let the water warm up while I grab my bathrobe and towel from my room and the air is thick with steam by the time I undress and step into the comforting heat of the shower.

I close my eyes and lean back against the shower wall, enjoying the mixed sensations of hot water and cold tile. My imagination immediately goes back to last night-back to memories of Owen's body pressing against mine and the incredible feeling of his fingers against my skin. I've never felt that good before.