Free Skater Boy by Mari Mancusi

It’s morning and I’ve been out all night. I’ve never, ever stayed up all night before, never mind stayed up dancing and making out with a cute boy.
    Life is definitely looking up.
    Eddie drives us back to the cemetery. We say our good-byes—Sean gives me the most adorable peck kiss on my nose—and head back to Starr’s house.
    â€œThat was so amazing,” I say, twirling around in the early-morning air, unable to stop babbling. “That was like the best night of my life.”
    Starr smiles at me and squeezes my shoulder. “I’m glad you had fun,” she says. “Sean seems like a really nice guy.”
    â€œHe is. Really, super nice.” I wonder if this means Sean is now my official boyfriend. How delicious. I have a boyfriend. A sexy, wonderful, cool, skateboarder boyfriend. Woot!
    A nagging thought tugs at the back of my brain, pestering me with reality crap that I don’t want to think about right now. Namely, what will The Evil Ones say about Sean?
    One, I’m not even supposed to be dating yet. Not until I turn sixteen next month. And two, even if I did meet their puritanical age prerequisite, Sean’s not exactly the type of guy they’ll be expecting me to bring home. A bit too diamond-in-the-rough for their tastes, I’d say. And not Brent Baker the Third, whom they’ve been dying to pimp me out to since my diaper days. In other words, they want me with a guy from a good family who has a mapped-out future like they have for me.
    A punk skater from the wrong side of the tracks who may not even go to college is not an option for me, in their eyes. They will never let me date him. Not in a million years.
    But I can’t not date him. Not now. I adore him. He’s like the best thing ever. I can’t bear to lose him just because of their stupid rules. I’ll just have to be careful. And then try to figure out how to break it to them eventually.
    Like, by sending them the wedding invitation in the mail?
    â€œI can’t believe it’s morning,” I say, glancing at my watch and then releasing a yawn. I’m so tired it’s not even funny.
    â€œYeah, well, I’m totally going to sleep all day,” Starr says with a laugh. “Sunshine is way overrated.”
    â€œLucky. I’ve got to be at the nursing home in two hours for my volunteer work.”
    â€œCan’t you call in sick?”
    â€œNo way.” I shake my head. “The Evil Ones would like never let me stay over at your house again if I did that.”
    And since staying over at her house is the only way I’m going to get to see Sean, I’m so not burning that bridge. No, I’ll manage to stay awake. Somehow.
    My future with Sean depends on it.

Chapter Ten
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    â€œDawn, dearie, wake up.”
    â€œFive more minutes, Mom,” I murmur, pulling the covers over my head.
    Except there are no covers.
    I jerk up and look around. I’m not at home. Not in my bed. In fact, I’ve evidently fallen asleep in Mrs. McCrery’s rocking chair at the Sunnybrook Nursing Home.
    â€œSorry, Mrs. McCrery. I had kind of a late night last night.” I grin ruefully as I reach down to the floor to retrieve the paperback I’d been reading aloud to her.
    â€œIt’s okay, sweetheart,” she coos. Mrs. McCrery doesn’t have any living relatives and has taken me on as her adopted granddaughter. I could probably apologize for stealing all her Vicodin and selling it on the black market and she’d forgive me for that, too. (Um, not that I’d do that, obviously.)
    I glance over at the sweet-faced woman sitting primly in her nursing-home bed. She’s ninety-two and doesn’t get out of bed much these days, but always insists the nurses dress her each and every morning. Heaven forbid she be asked to greet guests wearing her nightgown, she always says.
    I shouldn’t have even come today. I’m so tired I feel sick