Free Girl Meets Ghost by Lauren Barnholdt

going off in my stomach. “That could be cool.”
    â€œCool,” he says, letting out a breath in one big whoosh. Is it possible he was nervous about asking me to hang out? “So, um, can you ride my bus home with me?”
    â€œYeah,” I say. “I’ll just have to ask my dad.” He’ll say yes, right? He has to!
    â€¢Â Â â€¢Â Â â€¢
    He does. Say yes, I mean. The only problem? He has, like, five million different conditions, including the following:
    He has to pick me up before dinner. Which is actually fine with me, since I don’t really want to have to eat dinner with Brandon and his family. I mean, that would be kind of awkward, wouldn’t it? I’d be so nervous! What if his mom didn’tlike me? What if I left and she was all, “Brandon! I cannot believe you brought that girl home. I think my son can do a lot better than her. She had some sort of ridiculous chopsticks in her hair!” And then Brandon would be like, “Mom, you’re right. I think I’m going to ask someone else out, someone with more normal hair who’s smarter at math.”
    My dad has to be able to call Brandon’s parents to make sure it’s okay with them and that they’re going to be home. Which is actually a little bit insulting, because there’s no way that I would lie to my dad about Brandon’s parents being home. But I guess since I lied to him the other day about being at the library, he’s kind of suspicious of me. And I guess I deserve it. The good thing is that Brandon doesn’t even care that my dad wants to talk to his parents, and he texts me his dad’s cell number so that my dad can call him. Yay!
    My dad called Cindy to ask if she thought it was okay for me to go to Brandon’s. (This one isn’t actually a condition, but it should def still be on the list since it is a problem.) Luckily, it sounded like Cindy was all for it and told my dad it was perfectly normal for me to be interested in hanging out with boys and blah, blah, blah. I’m glad she said yes, but I really do not want my dad to check in with Cindy every time I want to do something. And her getting involved in my love life, even if she is on my side, is a little too close for comfort.
    â€œWhatever you do, don’t kiss him first,” Daniella says to me on the way out of school. I almost choke on my Jolly Rancher.
    â€œWho said anything about kissing?” I say. “There’s not going to be any kissing. We’re just going to be studying!”
    She gives me a look like That’s what you think , which starts the fireworks in my stomach all over again.
    â€œWhen are you going to be able to go back and talk to Jen again?” she asks as we walk through the crowd of kids in the hallway. Luckily, it’s so loud and crazy that no one notices that I seem to be talking to myself.
    â€œI don’t know. Tomorrow, maybe? Oh, no, wait. I can’t tomorrow. Ellie has a dance recital, and I promised her I’d go.” I shift my bag onto my other arm. “And let’s get back to the kissing, please.”
    â€œA dance recital?” Daniella says, obviously so self-centered that she can’t focus on the more important issue, i.e., the potential kissing that could take place at Brandon’s. “Kendall, my moving on to wherever it is I’m supposed to go is more important than some stupid dance recital.”
    â€œIt’s not stupid,” I say. “And besides, I need to give Jen a cooling-off period. She thinks I’m psychotic.”
    â€œShe doesn’t need to cool off!” Daniella says. She puts her hands on her hips. “You need to do something! You know, this isn’t very fair, you just taking off to hang outwith boys when you could be helping me. You’re pretty selfish, Kendall.”
    â€œNo, I’m not,” I say, keeping my voice steady, even though all I want to do is