I tried not to think about the realization I’d come to the night before—the stupid one—but it was a lot harder to do than I expected. The only rationalization I could reach was: Who wouldn’t like Sacha? He was handsome, funny, kind and incredibly talented. Wouldn’t there be something wrong with me if I didn’t like him?

I could deal with a little crush. No big deal. I couldn’t browse the Internet without finding a picture of some attractive guy I would never meet.

And that was the story I was going to go with.

I mean, I could admire him from afar without it meaning anything, right?

“Good morning.” I smiled over at him as platonically as possible. Even with a bit of dried drool on the corner of his lips and part of his hair smashed against his scalp, he was a looker after waking up.

Then there were people like me in the morning. Once in my teens, I’d woken up to find the three spawns of Satan hanging out in the living room early in the morning playing video games. My brother had pulled one of our mom’s largest crucifixes off the wall and held it in the air at me while he hissed, “I banish thee!”

“Morning,” Sacha replied with a yawn. He blinked those sleepy crystal-clear gray eyes and long black lashes. “Are you going to the movies with us?” he asked.

“Morning, Mariah.” What movies was he talking about? I shook my head. “I didn’t know anyone was going to the movies.” Awkward.

He lifted a shoulder as he rubbed at an eye with a balled up fist. “I just told you. Come with us. After we grab a shower, Matt—” that was our bus driver’s name “—said he’d park at a mall with a movie theater.” When I didn’t immediately reply, he blew out a long breath of air directly into my face, making me wince. “I’ll even let you share whatever you buy with me.”

“I have a feeling that even if I don’t agree to share my stuff with you, you’d take it anyway.” I leaned back and asked in the nicest voice I could muster, “When was the last time you brushed your teeth?”

Sacha cupped a hand over his mouth, making it seem like he was blowing into his palm and breathing it in with a wince. “Your guess sounds about right, and I brushed them last night.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes playfully. “It’s time you brushed your teeth again, and you’re lucky that I don’t have a problem sharing as long as you wash your hands first.”

“I think it’s time you brushed your teeth again—“

I blew into my hand too. “My breath doesn’t smell,” I argued.

“And I’m very glad to know that you are willing to share.” I grinned at him, earning one back in return. “Just for you, I’ll brush my teeth now. Happy?”

I nodded. “Very.” I wanted to add that a hot guy with morning breath was a tragedy but I didn’t. Admitting out loud that I found him attractive would be terrible, embarrassing and pathetic in no particular order. Even though I had a feeling Sacha wouldn’t be one of those people who would make a friendship awkward after a declaration of that proportion, I wasn’t going to rely on it. Plus, with my luck and his goofy nature, he’d probably make fun of me for it. I sighed in my head and cast a glance at him. “What movie are we watching?”

* * *

Hours later, after we’d gotten off the bus to shower at yet another travel center, I’d convinced Eli via text message to braid my hair. I hadn’t felt like a real girl in what seemed like forever. Being around these guys who had witnessed me go through puberty, braces, the immediate effects of having my wisdom teeth removed, every bad haircut I’d ever had and came to visit me post-surgery when I was high as a kite, drove me to basically not give a single shit about my appearance.