Free Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker

gosh, he wants to make out with you!” says Starla Joy.
    My mouth drops open and Tessa says, “Sarah Joyce Minter!”
    “Well, he must,” she says.
    “Um, excuse me,” says Dean. “I hate to break this to you ladies, but guys want to make out with girls. It’s normal.”
    “But they don’t talk about it outright like that,” says Starla Joy. “Oh, Lacey, that’s exciting .”
    “Starla Joy!” I say.
    “Will everyone stop saying my name in that shocked voice?” she asks.
    “I don’t think he meant it that way,” I say. But I can’t really explain the context since he was talking about how I wanted Tessa’s role in Hell House.
    Tessa smiles. “I’m sure he’s a nice guy,” she says. “But even so, be careful, Lacey.” I wish people would stop saying that to me. Tessa isn’t careful. Careful is boring.
    When I get home just before dinner, Mom’s taking tuna casserole out of the oven and Dad’s on the computer in the corner of the living room working on Sunday’s sermon. I flop down in a chair near him with my book, and I’m almost to the end of chapter eleven when I hear the rumble of an unmuffled engine in the driveway.
    Dad’s eyes swing to the front window as the beams of Ty’s headlights sweep through our living room. I hear his car door slam after the engine cuts off, and I look over at Dad. He nods. “Go see who it is,” he says.
    But I know who it is.
    “Hey,” says Ty, when I open the front door just as he’s about to ring the bell. “You left your sweater in my car.”
    I must have forgotten it when he drove me home the other night. I hadn’t even missed it. But I’m glad he’s here. Only I’m annoyed at his timing, because I can feel both Mom and Dad staring at the door. I swing it open wider so Ty can see them eyeing us.
    “Thanks,” I say, taking the blue cardigan from him.
    “Sure,” says Ty softly. Then he looks past me and waves at Mom and Dad. “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Byer!” he says loudly.
    “Hello, Tyson … Ty,” says Dad, with warmth in his voice as he corrects himself. He walks over to us, not inviting Ty in but meeting him at the door. “How are you adjusting to life back here?”
    “It’s nice, sir,” Ty says. “Especially since I get to see old friends like Lacey Anne.”
    My mother coughs in the background.
    “Yes. Well, that’s fine,” says my dad.
    Fine? They’re talking like they’re from some old sitcom. My parents are never this stiff. I look back at my mom and she’s doing that earring-twisting thing again.
    “Well, I’d better go,” Ty says, more to my parents than to me. “My aunt’s making dinner.”
    I know he must want to escape this awkwardness, and I feel bad.
    “Good night,” Mom says, a little too quickly.
    “Say hello to Vivian for us,” Dad says as he heads back into the living room.
    “I will,” Ty says. “Thanks.”
    I know if it were someone else—if it were Dean or Starla Joy or any other Youth Leaders member showing up on our doorstep—they would have asked them to stay for dinner. What do they have against him?
    I give Ty a shrug, and I smile in hopes of conveying that I’m sorry he walked into this predinner, parent-filled zone when maybe he planned to return my sweater and have an excuse to kiss me.
    Ty grins, though, so I know he understands, and then he walks back to his car and drives away.
    “That certainly is a loud vehicle,” says Mom. “What kind is it anyway?”
    “It’s a BMW,” I say. “They’re really safe.” I don’t know if that’s true but I have to try to win points for Ty where I can.
    “So you left your sweater in his car?” Dad asks, raising an eyebrow.
    “Yeah, I guess,” I say. My face turns red, although there’s no reason for it to. It’s hot out, so I obviously didn’t take off my sweater in his car, I just brought it along with me. But I wish I could control my blushing. “Dean says I should staple my sweater to my waist because I’m always leaving it