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The sleepover at Marcy’s on Friday was pretty peaceful this time. We didn’t have any arguments with Jared because he wasn’t around, and Nathaniel had texted me on Friday night telling me that he was busy for the weekend so he couldn’t really talk. I didn’t have too much to do this time—none of us did. We all just sat around and watched movies, or I listened to Marcy and Kayti bitch, whine and moan about Amanda. When Marcy said something about Nick though, my head darted up from my science homework and I sat on my knees.

“What did you say about Nick?” I asked.

They looked over at me. “I was just retelling something funny he said to me in the hall today,” Marcy replied. “Why the sudden interest?”

I waved a hand in the air. “No reason. Do you guys have dates to the dance next week?”

“Well after the party incident, we’re not so sure if we should go,” Kayti said, nudging Marcy. “We don’t want her to pass out again and dragging her up her front lawn was not an experience I want to relive.”

“They won’t serve alcohol there,” I said, smirking.

“Someone might spike the punch,” Kayti said. “It might not be good if we take the risk.”

“Whatever. I already bought my ticket,” Marcy said. “Preston asked me yesterday after school if I wanted to go with him. We’re like this.” She hooked her pointer and middle fingers around each other.

“Oh,” I said, frowning. “So uh . . . so Nick didn’t ask you anything today?”

She looked confused. “No, why? Was he supposed to?”

I shrugged. “No, not really.”

“Not really?” Kayti asked. “Is something going on?”

I shook my head. “So you and Preston are good friends now?” I asked. Marcy nodded.

“Yeah, we are. He’s like my safety net in case I end up going dateless to a big event and I’m his—not that he needs it,” she said. Her cheeks went a little red now. “To be honest though, I would have rather gone with Nick.”

I grinned. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait, hold up,” Kayti said, lifting a hand. “So you like Nick?” She scoffed in disappointment. “This sucks. Everybody’s interested in someone they actually have a chance with and I’ve got a stupid crush on Andrew.”

“Really?” Marcy asked, folding her hands on her lap. “I always thought you and David would make a good couple.”

Kayti shook her head. “He’s got a girlfriend, remember? Nick’s cousin or something?”

“No, they broke up,” I said. “David told me a while ago that they both thought it wasn’t really going anywhere so they agreed to end it but stay friends.”

Kayti sighed and rubbed her forehead. “You know everything.”

I grinned.

“So how come you didn’t ask Nick to the dance if he was the guy you really wanted to go with?” Kayti asked. Marcy shrugged.

“I don’t know. I figured he’d say no, I guess,” she answered. “He doesn’t seem too big on dancers and I didn’t want to get rejected. Preston’s a good friend and everything but if Nick had asked me, I would have said yes to him in a heartbeat.”

“That’s really cute,” I said, smiling. “Talk to Preston, then. Tell him you want to go with Nick instead. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“Yeah, but what if Nick doesn’t want to go with me?” she asked.

“He will,” I said, nodding. “I guarantee it.”



Blade and I hung out a little bit on the weekend when I left Marcy’s house. Apparently Eric was home for a visit and was babysitting Isabelle because Blade’s parents got unexpected calls from their work at the exact same time. Talk about a horrible visit. But since Eric was home, Blade didn’t have to be the designated babysitter so he came outside for a bit to hang out with me. I didn’t have anything to do this weekend so I gave him a call and we arranged a time. Even though we planned to stay outside and just walk around, we headed back in the direction of his house and stepped inside. Isabelle sat on the carpet with Eric in front of her, his back to us. She grinned and popped the cap back onto whatever she was holding.

“All done!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands. Blade raised his eyebrows and slipped off his shoes. I took mine off too and hung my jacket up on the shelves by the doorway.

“Isabelle, what are you doing to Eric?” he asked, walking over. Eric stood up—he was shockingly tall with long brown hair and a thin build—and turned around to face us. His cheeks were pink, his lips were bright red and his eyelids were covered with green and blue eye shadow. In all honestly, he looked like a male clown prostitute. I wanted so badly to hide my laughter but it burst out of me. Blade smirked.

“You look good,” he said sarcastically. “I’m proud of all my family today.”

Eric smiled and told Isabelle to go upstairs and get changed out of her pajamas. She raced up the stairs and Eric grabbed a tissue, wiping off his face. Most of the makeup was new so it came off pretty easily but the eye shadow was putting up a good fight. He held up a finger to us and slipped into the bathroom. Blade nodded his head over his shoulder, telling me to come with him. I followed him into the kitchen and sat down on one of the stools pushed against the countertops while he opened the cupboards, looking for something to eat.

“I’ve never been inside your house before,” I said, looking around. “I like it. It’s really nice.”

Blade’s house was actually very nice. It had a nice homey feel to it but at the same time, you could tell by looking at everything that it was pretty expensive. When we stepped into, there was a step down into the living room and three couches covered the sides of the room, while the television was against the back wall. A small open hallway led into the kitchen that curved around the stairs to the second floor, and a doorway leading into the dining room. The dining room came out on the other side of where we stepped inside. It was pretty much square-shaped as far as the architectural design went, but it was very classy. It wasn’t too ritzy like the way Trix’s was but you could tell that if he had a party, it would be a pretty kick-ass one in a place like this.

“You’ve been in my house before,” he said, handing me a glass.

“I have?”

“Yeah, when you and Shane dropped by after the party,” he said.

“Oh yeah,” I said, nodding. I hadn’t remembered and I had never seen Blade’s house like this before because there was only the one light on when we came by that night. It was only the kitchen light and I didn’t even know that there was a living room where it was. I thought it was a pretty simple house but it was anything but simple. Blade passed me a jug of chocolate milk and I filled my glass with it. I handed it back to him and he put it in the fridge.

Eric walked into the kitchen, completely free of makeup. It was now very easy to tell that Blade and him were brothers. They looked so alike that it was insane. Eric was visibly older but the facial features and build were dead ringers.

“Isabelle’s going to be pissed with you when she sees that you wiped it off your face,” Blade said. “You know how she gets when her artwork is destroyed.”

Eric snickered. “Yeah, you certainly know what it’s like,” he said. Blade frowned and looked away. I turned to Eric with raised eyebrows. “When I’m not here, Blade’s pretty much Isabelle’s Barbie doll.”

I looked back at Blade and smirked. “Seriously?”

He grunted. “Unfortunately.”

Eric laughed and offered me his hand. “I’m Eric by the way—Blade’s older brother.”

“Christabelle,” I said, shaking the hand extended to me. His face lit up all of a sudden and his eyes flicked over to Blade quickly, but then he looked back at me before I had time to think about it too much.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said. “This isn’t your girlfriend, is it?”

Blade shook his head and leaned against the counter with his arms crossed.

“Okay,” Eric said. “I already like her better. I’ll be upstairs if you guys need me.” He shot me one last smile and turned around, heading out of the kitchen. I looked at Blade.

“He seems nice,” I said.

“Oh he’s perfectly nice,” he replied, nodding. “Major pain in the assbut he’s a good guy.”

I laughed. “Have you ever brought Amanda to your house?”

Blade scoffed. “No way. I met her family once and they were very . . . unique. Still, she’s not exactly the type of girl you’d want to bring home to meet your mother, you know?”

I smiled. “Yeah I know.”

Blade checked his watch.

“Crap, I forgot to tell you,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “My mom and dad are expected home around six, and chances are that Eric’s going to make a call to them. Then they’ll demand you stay for dinner so we can either escape right now or you can give your dad a call and tell him you’re staying for a while.”

I laughed. “Idon’t mind staying if you don’t mind having me over,” I replied.

He shook his head. “I definitely don’t mind.”



I helped Blade run over his lines for Romeo and Juliet for nearly two hours. He had told me before that he was good at improvising but he needed help with memorization. He stared at the page and sighed.

“Why does everyone in this play call each other ‘pilgrim’?” he asked, shaking his head. “I don’t get it. I mean, we don’t walk around the halls at school going ‘well hello there, Native’.”

“Is that a racist thing?”

Blade paused. “It probably sounded like it but I didn’t mean it that way,” he said, putting his hands up. “I swear.”

“Okay. Well I guess it’s just a Shakespearean thing,” I said, grabbing a pretzel and popping it into my mouth. He put the book down on his lap and opened his mouth wide, spreading his arms. I smirked and raised my eyebrows.

“You want me to throw one in?” I asked, to which he nodded. “You sure? Because this is a pretzel, man. It’s not popcorn. If I miss, it’s probably going to hurt.”

He just shrugged and pointed to his mouth. I laughed and grabbed another one, tossing it toward him. I threw it too high but he went for it anyway and almost flipped right over the other side of the couch. “Smooth,” I said, chuckling.

“You just suck at throwing,” he retaliated, laughing. “My turn.”

He picked one up and threw it toward me. It bounced off my nose and onto the floor. Blade started laughing again and I gave him a light kick.

“What?” I whined.

“I loved your face there,” he said. “So you can’t throw and you can’t catch either. You’re just the full package, huh?”

“Shut up,” I mumbled. “That was a really bad throw.”

“It was not!”

“Was too! You’re supposed to aim for my mouth, not my nose.”

“I did aim for your mouth,” he argued.

“You have no idea how wrong that sounds.”

Blade and I looked up at the top of the staircase, where a boy about two years younger than us stood. It was obvious just by looking at him that he had an attitude. He had his arms crossed, shoulders slouched and a bored expression on his face.

“Who’s that?” I asked Blade.

He frowned and picked up his Romeo and Juliet book again. “That’s Abbott. He’s my younger cousin.”

“He lives with you?”

“Not on a day-to-day basis,” he replied, flipping a couple of pages forward. “Just for the weekend. My aunt and uncle are here too.”

“Wow, full house,” I muttered. Abbott made his way down the stairs, his eyes narrowed into slits as he stared at us.

“Family reunion,” he explained. “I completely forgot until yesterday and then I forgot to mention it to you too. We’re going out for dinner so you’re going to get introduced to a lot of people tonight. I’ve got a huge family.” Blade glanced at Abbott and lowered his voice. “He’s kind of anti-friendship between genders. The idea of a boy and a girl alone in the same room together just pisses him off.”

I smiled.

“You know I can hear you,” Abbott said, putting his hands on the back of the couch. I leaned back and crossed my legs in front of me. “Are you guys allowed to be alone?”

“Abbott, it’s no big deal,” Blade said. “We’re friends, and we’re studying for school. Where’s Emily? Did she go into my bedroom again?”

“No, she’s chewing on Eric’s hair,” he replied. “Isabelle and Tarynn are playing with the dollhouse.” I was totally baffled about who everyone was. I had called my dad earlier and told him I was having dinner with Blade and his family, but I had expected that to just be his brother, parents and sister. I hadn’t expected cousins, uncles and aunts, nieces and whoever else was coming. It was certainly going to be one hell of a night.

Abbott walked into the kitchen to get Eric a Band-Aid because apparently Emily had missed his hair and bit his ear way too hard that it started bleeding so he needed immediate First Aid care. I looked at Blade, confused.

“Okay, what?” I asked. He laughed.

“Told you you’re going to meet a lot of people,” he said. “Okay so Abbott, Emily and Tarynn are siblings. They’re the kids of my Uncle Keene and Aunt Tania. Aunt Tania’s my dad’s sister. Abbott’s the oldest at fourteen, and then Tarynn, who’s nine. Emily’s only three. Oh, and then there’s my sister-in-law. Her name’s Shelby and she’s got her two little girls with Eric—Scarlett and Addison. They’re both turning three next month.”

“Oh, interesting names.” I smiled.

“They run in the family.”

“I’m never going to remember all of them,” I said, shaking my head.

“I don’t expect you to.”

“Anybody else?”

“Yeah. My dad’s name is Nathan,” he said, and my eyes went wide. He laughed. “I know, weird right? Anyway, his name is Nathan and my mom’s name is Jacy but no one calls them that so you don’t have to. Just call them Mr. and Mrs. Donahue. Oh, and then there’s my grandparents, and my mom’s brother and sister with their families. Oh, and my dad’s other sister . . .”

I rubbed my forehead. If I knew that I was going to meet every Donahue family member ever born, I would have brought a notepad.



Blade’s family took up practically the entire restaurant that we went to. There were over twenty of us and we had one long table to share that went ride down the center of the restaurant, very close to the door but everyone fit in okay. There were so many crying babies and screaming children though, that I thought my head was about to explode. Even at that, I was having a great time. Eric and Shelby sat across the table from me with Addison in a booster seat and Scarlett climbing on and off a chair repeatedly. She had progressed with walking and talking a lot faster than Addison had and it showed—Scarlett would always say please and thank you and she had a beautiful set of teeth growing in. Addison on the other hand, screamed and threw things when she wanted attention.

Eric and Shelby handled them really well though. Blade sat beside me for solidarity because if I was left on my own, I was guaranteed to die. Mrs. Donahue sat on the other side of me with Blade’s dad beside her. I knew that I had to be careful with them because Blade had told me some not-so-nice stories about them.

Blade gave me a light nudge and I looked over at him. “Is this a little too overwhelming for you?” he asked. I shook my head.

“No, I’m fine,” I replied. “I’m having a really good time.” He smiled at me. “Tell me something though. Who are the eighteen year old twins down there?” I asked, pointing down the table past him. He turned his head and then looked back at me.

“That’s Danni and Deanna,” he replied.

“Which one’s which?”

“Deanna’s the one that’s got the spray-on tan,” he said. “Danni’s the one with the obvious boob job.”

I smirked. “Okay. I’ll remember them that way.”

Blade laughed. His father leaned forward so he could see us. “It’s Christabelle, isn’t it?” he asked. I smiled and nodded. “Our son’s told us a lot about you.”

“Really?” I looked at Blade and he blushed, staring at his feet. Eric chuckled across the table.

“He says you’re a great friend,” Blade’s dad continued. “It’s nice for him to have someone like you.” I felt my heart melting a little bit. It was refreshing to know that Blade was talking about me to his family. It was the last thing that I had expected. “I have to admit though Blade, I’m a little surprised that you brought Chris instead of Amanda.”

“Dad . . .” Blade began, biting his lip and shaking his head.

“What?” he asked. “We’ve never met your girlfriend before. I was looking forward to getting to know her.”

An awkward silence surrounded our part of the table but conversation still raged around us. Blade cleared his throat and rubbed his hands on his jeans. I understood what he was trying to avoid; if he told his dad that Amanda had cheated on him, he would be compared to Eric about how he needed to find a woman worth his time or something along those lines. Blade didn’t need that tonight—let alone, at all.

“Uhm dad, Amanda chea—”

“Actually, Mr. Donahue, Amanda and Blade broke up,” I interrupted. “He and I are dating now.”

Blade’s eyes went wide, as did Mr. and Mrs. Donahue’s.

“You are?” he asked, seemingly shocked. I nodded. Eric looked up and rubbed his forehead.

“Oh my God, I can’t not look at this,” he whispered. Shelby shushed him and leaned forward. We all waited for a reaction from Mr. Donahue and when we got one, he grinned and clapped his hands.

“Well this is great!” he said. “I knew there was something special about you. I told you that, didn’t I, Jacy? I told you there was something about her!”

“Yes dear, you did,” Mrs. Donahue muttered, rolling her eyes and pulling out her phone to send a text message. I turned to look at Blade, who was clearly amazed. His shoulders dropped in relief and he looked at me, astonished.

“Thank you,” he said. “But why’d you do that?”

I nudged him with my shoulder and smiled. “You’ve had my back for months,” I said. “I’ve got yours too.”

He smiled and for the first time the entire night, he looked completely relaxed.



The night was fantastic with the exception of one part. When the news that Blade and I were dating got down the table to Grandma Donahue, she came up to me and gave me the official welcoming by pinching my cheeks and giving me a kiss. It was very awkward but at the same time, very sweet. Blade found it hysterical. He couldn’t stop laughing for nearly five minutes straight. When we were all finished dinner, I slipped to the bathroom with Shelby before everyone left. She opened her purse and pulled out a tube of lip gloss. One thing that I had learned about her tonight was that she was pretty much the definition of perfect. She was an absolutely gorgeous lady, extremely intelligent, and she had a heart of gold. She looked over at me and smiled.

“The Donahue family’s kind of insane, aren’t they?” she asked.

I laughed and nodded. “Yeah, they are but they’re awesome. They gave me a really fun night. It was a nice difference from my normal Saturday evening of sitting on my bed watching old television shows with my brother.”

Shelby chuckled. “They’re a fun gang,” she said. “So you and Blade, huh?”

I blushed and looked up at her. “You know we’re not a real couple, right?” She nodded.

“I could tell. But you’re a very good friend to him, Christabelle,” she said. “Not many people would do that and I know Mr. Donahue can be pretty intimidating. I also know that Blade’s position as the middle child isn’t the best. He’s always compared to Eric. No matter how much I try to convince my husband, he doesn’t do much to fix the situation. He really likes the praise and attention. I guess it’s a boy thing.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” I said, smiling. Shelby grinned.

“Take care of him, Chris,” she said. “Blade’s a great guy and you obviously mean a lot to him.”

I nodded and looked into the mirror. “He is a great guy,” I said.

She tilted her head to the side. “Do you have feelings for him?” she asked. “More than just friends.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I do,” I answered, sighing and leaning against the counter. “I don’t see anything happening with it, though.”

“Why not?”

“He’s dating Amanda,” I said. “Even though he knows she cheated on him, he only thinks of me as a friend and that’s all he’ll ever think of me as.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Shelby said, smiling. The bathroom door opened and in walked Grandma Donahue. When she saw me, she grinned and shuffled over with her tiny little legs.

“Well hello dear!” she exclaimed, pinching my cheeks again and giving me another kiss. I forced a smile. “God bless you!” she hollered before moving the rest of the way into the stall. Shelby looked at me and laughed as I rubbed my cheek. She put her hand on my shoulder and directed me to the restaurant again.

“If you ever join the family,” she whispered, “you’re going to have to somehow get used to that. She does it all the time.”

I laughed. Blade and Eric stood at the door chatting, waiting for us. Everyone else was beginning to get up to leave the restaurant and as I passed by with Shelby, they shared a simple “it was nice to meet you”, “I hope we get to see you again”, and “you’re a very lovely girl” over and over again with me. Blade’s family was absolutely amazing.

Blade had his hands shoved in his jean pockets as he waited at the door. Shelby and I approached them and Eric handed Addison to her. He was obviously struggling to hold two misfit children. They walked out of the restaurant with the rest of the Donahue family trailing behind while Mr. Donahue sorted out the bill. Blade and I stepped out into the fresh, cool night air after everyone else. The sun had set long ago and I checked my phone. I had three missed phone calls and I hadn’t even realized because I was having too much fun. They were all from my dad.

“Holy mother of crap,” I mumbled. “I’m going to get in trouble when I get home.”

“Do you want me to ask Eric to give you a drive?” Blade asked, rubbing his hands together. I shook my head.

“No, it’s okay. They’ve got the kids to take care of. I can just walk, it’s not too far,” I said, nodding down the road. It was about a fifteen minute walk home and the route was pretty straightforward too. Blade nodded.

“You’ll be okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I replied. “Thanks for tonight. I had a lot of fun."

He smiled. "Me too."

"Can you tell your parents thank you for me?"

He nodded. "Will do."

"Okay. I’ll see you on Monday, Blade.”

I turned but Blade grabbed my arm before I could take a step. “Wait, Chris—” he started. I looked over at him now. My arm was growing warm beneath my jacket where his hand was resting. “That thing in the restaurant . . .” He hesitated, and then let me go. “I really appreciated it. Thank you.”

I smiled. “It’s no problem.” Then I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. When I pulled away, his face was red and his eyes were wide, but a smile was growing on his face and the millisecond of panic that I felt when my stomach leaped into my throat because I thought he was going to push me off of him just simple melted away. I was relieved. I wasn’t sure if it was because the air was chilly or if I actually made him blush, but his face was pretty red right now. I could only guess that mine was ten times worse.

“Bye Blade,” I said, turning and walking away.

“Bye Chris,” he called.

As I headed home, I was practically giddy. Even that small action that I had initiated made my heart beat to a fervent drum and my blood boil. A broad grin spread onto my face, and my worry about getting into trouble with my dad didn’t seem even half as important anymore.