Page 41 of The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad

It was time for me to take back control of my list—and my life.

With a nod, I wrote the last of my choreography notes then shifted my focus, opening my list and skimming the paper. There had to be something on here that I could do right now. I spotted it almost immediately.

9) Sneak out of the house.

My eyes shot to my window, and I bit my lip. Mom was in her room, probably reading, far enough away that she wouldn’t hear anything. It was a small neighborhood and late enough that I shouldn’t run into anyone outside. Tree climbing was not a skill I’d mastered—but I’d seen it done a ton of times in movies. Peter Parker (aka Spiderman) made climbing things look easy. And he did it wearing a spandex unitard. If I was careful, I was sure I could make it from the second story to the ground.

Pulling on a cardigan and my Corner Street Ballroom jacket, I put my phone in my pocket (after I checked my messages one last time. No, Colton hadn’t called. I kinda hated myself for checking.) and opened my window.

Man, it was dark out there.

Kinda cold, too.

And had the second floor always been this high up?

But Spiderman wouldn’t let that stop him, and I didn’t either. Swinging both feet over the ledge, I eyed the tree that’d always been just outside my window, took a deep breath—and jumped. Or at least I tried to jump. To be honest, it was more like a controlled chest/belly bump with the wood, and all of the air left my lungs in a whoosh.

Okay, so yeah, tree climbing? Not as easy as it looks.

I was gripping the trunk of the tree with my hands, feet, thighs, and I was sprawled out like a great big X, going nowhere fast. Basically, I looked like a sloth. Just not as cute. It took me forever to even move, but my muscles were starting to ache. Inch by tortuous inch, I made my way down. It was slow going. The worst part was when my foot slipped near the bottom. I fell the last three feet to the ground, and I gasped, stumbling to regain my balance.

“Holy smokes,” I breathed, looking back up to my room as I fished the paper out of my pocket. I couldn’t believe I’d done it. It hadn’t been graceful at all, but still. I couldn’t believe how awesome it felt to mark off another item on my “Carpe Diem List.” One I’d completed all by myself, thank you very much.

The sound of applause had me whipping around.

“Wow,” Colton said grinning, appearing seemingly out of thin air. With one final clap, he put his hands in his pockets. “That was awkward as hell, Sadie. What did that tree ever do to you?”

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I told you I’d call when I was done. I was about to text when I saw you leap from your window.” He cough-laughed. “It seemed like a bad time. You were struggling, and I didn’t want to startle you.”

He was right on that one. If Colton had texted me as I was shimmying down that tree, I would’ve probably ended up on the local news:Good girl, Sadie Day, tries to sneak out, breaks tailbone instead, leaving her mother heartbroken. A witness, Colton Bishop, says it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen.

“Humph,” I said, crossing my arms. “So, you’re telling me you just got finished with your so-called ‘job’ at the garage? It’s after midnight.”

“Yeah,” he said, brows contracting. “We had to get all the cars done by Saturday, so it was all hands on deck.”

“Oh,” I said. He didn’t sound like he was lying. It was a legitimate excuse, but he still should’ve called. “I didn’t appreciate waiting around all night with no word.”

“I didn’t know we were going to be this late.”

“And you couldn’t have called?”

Colton looked like he was gritting his teeth. “I would’ve if I’d known spending quality time with me was so important to you.”

I stayed silent. Jerk.

“Sorry,” he said after a beat. “You’re right. I should’ve called.”

“It’s fine,” I said with a sniff. “Turns out I didn’t need you anyway. I snuck out of the house all by myself.”

Colton nodded. “I saw. Now, are you going to stay pissed at me, or do you want to go mark something else off?”

Ignoring the way his lips twitched, I shrugged. “I guess that would be alright. It’s midnight, though, so not a lot of things will be open. What did you have in mind?”

“Sadie, it’s the weekend,” Colton said, tugging on my hand and leading me to his car. “Everything’s open. The night is young.”

Rolling my eyes, I got into his car and pulled out my phone.

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