Page 50 of The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.

I watched as the other boys continued toward the house, rolls of toilet paper in hand, then looked up to him.

“Yeah,” I said, feeling how bright my eyes were, how my hands tingled. “I can’t explain it. Even though I know the principal is okay with it, it still feels like we’re doing something illegal. Not bad illegal but fun illegal, you know?”

Colton snorted at that. “Fun illegal? I’ve never heard that before.”

“Glad I amuse you. Now, can we go? I don’t want to miss it.”

Colton nodded, and we joined the others. Decorating Principal Wexler’s front lawn was such a rush. As the toilet paper sailed from my fingers through the air, I couldn’t contain my smile. The other guys were having a great time as well, soundlessly jogging around, hefting the rolls up, letting them fly over and over again. Colton caught my eye at one point, his smile as wide as mine. And I could totally understand why the principal would let us do this. The paper was like streamers at a birthday party. The effect of all that white on the pitch-black backdrop of the sky was beautiful like art. We were done in few minutes, but it was fun and illicit and awesome. I felt the overwhelming need to thank Principal Wexler for giving me this moment that I would remember forever, so I scrawled a quick note and left it in his mailbox.

Colton drove Eric home first and dropped me off last.

“Did you have fun?” he asked as we parked outside my house.

“The most fun,” I said back, still feeling the excitement running through my veins. “Is this how you feel all time?”

“What do you mean?”

“I feel so energized. So alive.”

Colton grinned. “That’s what happens when you break the rules. Congratulations Sadie, you are officially woke.”

“What are we doing tomorrow?” I asked.

“I had a few ideas. I’ll come over early.”

“Can’t wait,” I said then not thinking about it, just doing what I felt, I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Coach.”

Colton stared back at me, his face unreadable. “No problem.”

“I’ll see you later.”

As I hopped out of the car, walked to the house, I saw that Mom’s light was still on, shining from her window. She’d stayed up like she promised, and I couldn’t wait to tell her everything. It had been the most exciting night of my life. I wanted to share it with her. Once I was in the house and had locked the door, I looked back, noticing Colton’s car was still there. He had waited for me to get inside before driving away.

Yep, definitely the most exciting night of my life.

When the doorbell rang at 7:15am the next day, I was surprised to find Kyle standing on my doorstep. He was carrying a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and an armful of DVDs.

“Hey stranger,” I said sleepily, “where’ve you been?”

Kyle put a hand on his hip. “I think I should be the one asking that question. My brother told me all about it, and I can’t believe you didn’t call me last night.”

“Sorry,” I said unable to hold back a yawn.

It was nearly 4:00am when Mom and I had finished talking—she’d listened to all the details of my night, and I’d enjoyed reliving every second of them. But after that, I’d crashed. Hard. I was still in my pajamas, for goodness sakes, and my hair gave new meaning to the term bedhead.

“I didn’t know if you’d have time to talk after working so hard on your project.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not,” he said.

“It was twenty percent sarcasm, eighty percent exhaustion. I’m going on less than four hours of sleep, Kyle. And besides school, I haven’t seen you almost all week.”

“I know,” he said, holding up the doughnut box and DVDs. “And because I’ve been such a crappy BFF, I brought a peace offering.”

I crossed my arms. “Those better be fresh.”

He opened the box, and I got a whiff of sugary doughy goodness.

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