Free How It Ends by Catherine Lo

ended up with a three-day suspension and a massive guilt trip from Dad. He made me promise I wouldn’t touch alcohol again until I’m nineteen. Rum. I grip the plastic cup hard, debating. It would be easy enough to set the cup down someplace and forget about it. Or I could just pretend to drink. I sneak another look at Scott, though, and think
Fuck it.
    I gulp my drink and feel it blaze a trail all the way down to my stomach. Booze and Scott Hutchins. This is going to be an interesting night.
    I lose track of how many times Scott refills my drink. I’m having a moral crisis, and the rum helps take the edge off. I know Jessie likes Scott, even though she swears that she doesn’t. So the whole time I’m flirting with him, I keep a running tally of pros and cons in my head.
    Basically the situation is this: Do I take Jessie at her word, or do I put my friend first and follow my instincts? I keep going back and forth. I love Jessie, but I’m pissed at her. I know she’s not being honest with me, and I’m mad that she refused to come with me tonight. She
should
have come just to be a good friend. She stayed home because she’s afraid of Courtney, but she won’t listen to me when I tell her that Court’s changed. And she’s mad that I won’t sacrifice my social life to join her in hiding, but I have just as much of a right to be mad that she’s not trying to overcome her fears to spend time with me.
    So when Scott leads me over to a couch in the far corner of the basement and starts looking at me like I’m dessert, I think,
What the hell?
I like him and he likes me. So what if Jessie has a secret crush on him? She’s not here and not going after what she wants. I shouldn’t have to sacrifice what I want . . .
    I close my eyes and let him kiss me. My God. His lips are so soft and my heart’s beating so fast and all I can think is,
This is what it feels like to have someone care about you.
    I never, ever want this feeling to end. I want to crawl inside Scott’s skin and never come out.
    His hand slips under my shirt at the exact same time my cell phone buzzes in my pocket. I don’t know which makes me jump more. Scott looks somewhere between puzzled and annoyed until I pull out the phone and hold it up by way of explanation. He smiles awkwardly while I squint at the screen. “My stepsister’s outside,” I apologize. He groans.
    When I get up to make my way to the door, I sway unexpectedly, and he’s there to support me. “I must have drunk more’n I thought,” I say.
    Sophie’s eyes are wide when Scott opens the door to her car and folds me inside. “I’m Scott,” he introduces himself, shaking her hand.
    We pull away while he waves from the driveway. Sophie gets all the way to the end of the street before she speaks. “Well, well, well.”
    â€œDid you have a good time tonight?” I ask, hoping to distract her from my current predicament.
    â€œNot as good as you, apparently! Now, talk! Who’s the hottie, and why do you smell like a bar?”
    â€œWha—”
    â€œDon’t even try to hide it.” She pulls over and swivels to face me. “You’re totally drunk. And you apparently have great taste in guys. Now, spill it, sister!”
    â€œOkay. I drank something with rum in it all night and we made out and he’s really cute and I like him a lot.”
    Sophie’s laugh bounces around the inside of the car. “Good for you! Now let’s get you home and into bed before my mom and your dad see you.”
    â€œWhy are you being so nice to me?” I mean for the question to come out in a joking way, but it’s absolutely stark in its seriousness.
    Sophie goes still, her laughter gone. “I know this all sucks for you. I know my mom can be a bitch sometimes and that I’ve been kinda rough on you. I just . . . I get so frustrated with you for