Page 9 of Sweetheart

"Lots of people.The Banger brothers invited all the upperclassmen,think most of them showed up. Everyone knows they throw the best parties."

"I didn't know," I murmured.

"That's because you don't go to parties."

I sniffed. "Yeah, I do. I party all the time."

"Okay…"

"And how would you know anyway?"

Sam shot me a glance before turning back to the road. "I've never seen you at one."

Because the truth was: I'd never been.

To a real high school party.

My schedule was jam-packed full of private violin lessons, extracurriculars, applying for scholarships, trying to book performances, running my mentoring program, and completing homework.There hadn't been time for normal things like attending an event thrown by the Banger brothers.Actually, "Go to a party" was #15on my list of firsts. Not that I'd mentionit to Sam—or anyone for that matter.

The list was for my eyes only.

It was private.

It was personal.

It was important—which was why I carried it with me everywhere.

Shifting, I felt the edges of the folded up piece of paper dig into my chest right next to my heart.

I was determined to check off every first on the list before graduation.

That was the goal.

The only problem was some of them—okay, most of them—were romantic. And if I hadn't had time for parties, I definitely didn't have time for romance.

It was a tiny issue, really.

A conundrum I'd yet to solve.

Still, giving up wasn't in my nature.

I'd figure out a way to complete my list…somehow.

And anyway, despite Sam's assumption, I'd been to a few small parties—which yes, okay, most of those were for my family on their birthdays, organized by myself with only my dad, Charlotte, and mein attendance. I didn't think that would qualify as a"party" in Sam's eyes.

So, I just shrugged.

"Like I said, I've been to parties.Maybe you weren't looking hard enough," I addedthen asked my next question. "Back to you and Brisa.Did you break up with her, or did she break up with you?"

"Does it matter?" he said.

I nodded."Absolutely."

"The decision was mutual, I guess."

"Are you sure?" I said.

"Yeah."

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