Free Making Out by Megan Stine Page A

told you that was number six.” Graham snickered.
    Now you know how it feels, she thought as she watched Todd go.

Chapter 10
    Â 
    Â 
    Â 
    Â 
    â€œIt’s our first date after dark!” Marianna bubbled with excitement as she waited with Heather in a neighborhood coffee shop for Luke to pick her up for date number three.
    â€œI’m glad I don’t have to go on this one,” Heather joked. She hadn’t actually gone on Marianna’s other dates, but she’d driven her to and from them, so it almost felt like she had. “I get to leave when he picks you up, right? I’ve got so much studying for chem, it isn’t even funny.”
    â€œYou’re studying on a Saturday night?”
    â€œDon’t even ask.”
    Heather had been hinting lately that she’d been too distracted to do much schoolwork, and Marianna knew exactly how she felt. How could she think about her classes these days? All her energy was channeled into two things: thinking about Luke, and trying to keep her dad from figuring out that she was dating on the sly.
    Last week, she and Luke had had lunch at the mall and then went to his house for the big Ping-Pong playoff. Of course he beat her mercilessly, although there was a moment when she almost scored twice in a row because he was laughing so hard at her pitiful serve.
    Heather had played chauffeur for that date, too, driving Marianna both ways. What else are best friends for?
    But tonight was the real deal: dinner at a café with live music somewhere near Dupont Circle, which was Marianna’s favorite trendy-yet-historic-shopping-and-dining D.C. neighborhood.
    Heather was just keeping her company at the rendezvous point until Luke arrived.
    â€œThere he is,” Marianna said, getting up. She had told Luke not to bother hunting for a parking spot. Why waste time they could spend together? “Thanks—talk to you later!” she called to Heather.
    â€œSure,” Heather said. “I mean, call if you want. If it’s not too late.”
    Funny, Marianna thought. If Lisa Marie had been there, she would have said, “Call me with all the details when you get home.” For some reason, Heather didn’t seem to want to hear about it if Luke got to second base.
    She slid into the Volvo beside Luke and immediately smelled his aftershave. It was nice, so different from his sweaty smell in the mornings when they were running cross country.
    â€œKazanjian, you look amazing,” Luke said, staring as she crossed her long legs.
    â€œThanks. You smell good.”
    â€œI hope you like Thai food,” Luke said. “This place we’re going has a bunch of different Asian things, but the Thai dishes are really awesome.”
    â€œBasil rolls it is,” Marianna said happily.
    When they got to the café, the place was empty and quiet—the music didn’t start till later. Perfect, Marianna thought. This way they could camp out in the best corner booth, which was more like a tropical hut, draped with printed Thai silk fabrics and layered with red and purple spangled pillows. If the place had been crowded, they’d never have gotten such a prime location.
    Luke ordered an appetizer sampler platter, and when it came, he ate the prawn pancakes expertly with chopsticks.
    â€œI love watching you eat,” he said between bites. “You’re not like a lot of girls. They either won’t eat, or won’t admit they enjoy it.”
    â€œYou should see me eat a lobster with my bare hands,” Marianna said.
    â€œWith your bare hands?”
    â€œMy uncle Oscar taught me how to do it,” Marianna said. “You can even get the meat out of the claws with nothing more than a dinner knife, if you know how.”
    â€œSee what I mean? A girl who eats lobster with her bare hands!” Luke announced loudly to the neighboring tables.
    Marianna giggled. She would have been embarrassed, but the nearby tables