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“Hope?”

“Becca.”

I hear her sharp inhale. A few moments of silence pass as the two of us just breathe.

“I was about to joke and ask if you forgot your phone again,” she says in a quiet voice, “and then I realized you’re calling me on your phone.”

Her breathy laugh zings through my body, lighting me up.

“Knowing me, I really would think I lost my phone while calling somebody on it.”

She laughs again. “So to what do I owe this midnight call?”

“Um, well...” I look down at my feet and kick a little rock on the path back and forth between them while I try to work out what to say.

The longer the call stretches on, the more I realize this was possibly a shitty idea. It’s not exactly a chill move to show up outside someone’s window unannounced in the dead of night.

“So, I have a hypothetical situation for you,” I tell her.

“Intriguing.”

“Ha. Right. Yeah.” I kick the rock off into the grass and look back at her window. “Are you in your room?”

Her breath catches, and I feel the heat flare between my legs again. “Yes.”

“Like on your bed?”

“Y-yeah.”

I close my eyes. I can picture her there, her phone pressed to her ear, her long, milky white legs stretched out on the blankets.

“Okay, stay right there and answer this question.” I pause for a second. There’s no going back after this. “If I was hypothetically standing in your front yard right now, would you come down and let me inside? Or would you be really freaked out and want me to leave? Both are acceptable answers.”

The line goes so silent I start to think she’s hung up. Panic squeezes my chest.

Shit shit shit. Fuck. Bad decision.

I’m about to ask if she’s still there when the sound of her voice prompts me to start breathing again.

“If we’re talking hypothetically...” She trails off, and I can picture her chewing on her lip as she hesitates. “If you were outside right now, I’d come down and...fuck, Hope, I’d kiss you again. I can’t stop thinking about kissing you again.”

Now it’s me going deathly silent.

“Hope? I’m sorry. I—”

“Becca.” I’m gripping my phone so hard I’m scared I’m going to crack the case. “Come to your window.”

I hear her breathe out, and then there are some shuffling noises before a shadow appears behind the lacy curtains. One of them gets pulled aside, and I see Becca’s face framed by her hair hanging loose and wavy over her bare shoulders. She’s wearing a white tank top with thin little straps. I can’t see her freckles from here, but I can imagine them sprinkled along the tops of her shoulders and down her back.

I haven’t been able to stop imagining them since that day in the locker room.

“Y-you’re here,” she stammers. I watch her lips move high above me.

“Will you let me in?”

I brace for her to say no. She has every reason to say no.

“This is...probably a bad idea.”