Free The Devil and Danna Webster by Jacqueline Seewald

seemed to mean what he said.
    "You do? Why? I'm so ordinary."
    You're the only girl I've ever met who would say that even if she believed it. You know what first attracted me when I saw you in the library?"
    I shook my head.
    "You were concentrating so hard on that book, so serious, like it meant everything for you to understand it. I've never cared that much about anything in my entire life, certainly nothing having to do with school. So I started watching you, first out of curiosity, then out of real interest. You looked different from the other girls. Maybe it was because you weren't wearing any makeup and you really looked good without it, and you didn't flirt with me either. Girls always flirt with me.”
    "You've kept after me, because you thought of me as a challenge?"
    His eyes met mine levelly. "Maybe, but not totally. You're also very easy to talk to, and you listen, which is something few girls do."
    "I find it easy to talk to you too." It was true. I wasn’t just saying it to be polite. Kevin's attention made me feel good about myself. Kevin made me feel that he cared about me. I moved toward him. He continued to hold me in his arms, his heat surrounding me, enveloping me, and I found myself hugging him, squeezing his hard biceps.
    We held each other, clinging together. We didn’t say a word. We didn’t need to. I’d never felt so good, so right with anyone else before. It was mind-blowing. It was like for those few precious moments there wasn’t anybody or anything else in the world that mattered except us being together, united.
    I finally let go of him because I heard someone walk by the car. I looked out of the window and there stood my mother. She was on her way home from work. I hurried to release my seat belt and get out of the car. Kevin did the same.
    "Mom, Kevin drove me home from school today. I guess I ought to introduce you."
    She looked from me to Kevin. “I guess you should, at that.”
    Kevin, not the least bit shy, stepped forward and shook my mother's hand. "It's nice meeting you," he said, flashing his most charming smile.
    Mom's face was devoid of expression. Somehow, I knew that couldn’t be good.
    "Well, Danna, I'm sure you have homework to do. Why don't you let your friend go home and do his as well." Mom took my arm.
    "Just a minute, Mom. I want to say goodbye to Kevin."
    She turned to walk up the steps to the house. “Don’t take too long. I’ll need your help with dinner.”
    "Your mother doesn't like me," he said in a matter-of-fact way. "I can't understand it." He gave me a wicked wink, probably to demonstrate that it didn’t bother him.
    "I don’t understand it either," I assured him. "It's okay though because I like you. Maybe I shouldn't have told you that, but I'm not into games."
    "Good. I've played too many games with too many girls, and I'm tired of them. Listen, I want to spend some time alone with you. Let me take you out next Saturday night. I promise you it'll be fun."
    "I don't know,” I hesitated. “My parents probably won't approve."
    "I'll come in one of my preppie outfits. I'll go through the purgatory of shaking hands with your dad and being polite to your mother, and besides, you’ll have a whole week to soften them up toward me before our date. Now grab me while you can; this is my best offer."
    "Okay. You are irresistible."
    "Didn’t I tell you I was? Saturday," he said, as if it were a special promise. Then he jumped back into his magnificent car and drove away speeding down the street.
    I walked into my house feeling as I'd never felt before in my entire life. I don't think I could have stopped smiling even if I'd wanted to. It was like my face was frozen into a broad grin. I must have looked pretty goofy.
    Neither of my parents was in the living room which was a great relief because I really had no desire to talk to them at that moment. I went to my room and sat thinking about Kevin for the