Off-Limits

“I CAN’T BELIEVE she’s—yep, she got in Sean’s car.”Ashleigh, Poppy, and I watched as his car drove off with Peyton inside. Mom and Dad would freak if they saw her going with him. Sean Farrow wasn’t exactly a star student. But that was Peyton, always falling for the diamonds in the rough. She craved attention. I didn’t blame her though, she’d had a tough life.People often didn’t understand why we were friends. The wild child and the wallflower. Peyton Myers was everything I wasn’t. Beautiful, confident, and strong-willed. But she was also damaged. Damaged in a way only other damaged people could understand.I understood.We were different in all the ways society deemed important, but our souls were the same.She didn’t judge me or my issues just as I didn’t judge hers.“God, I wish I was as brave as her.” Poppy let out a soft sigh.“Oh yeah, Pops,” Ashleigh teased, “and which guy’s car would you be climbing into?” “No one’s,” she rushed out a little too quickly.“Wait a second.” My b

“Okay, okay,” Coach boomed. “Quit bitchin’. I want you changed and out on the field in ten. If you won’t listen to me in here, perhaps you’ll listen to me out there.” He stalked off, his anger rippling through the air.“What do we do, Thatch?” Bryan asked me.“You want to play football, Bry?”“Shit, yeah, but they don’t fucking want us here anymore than we want to be here.”“Suck it up, buttercup.” I slammed a hand to his chest and patted. “If you want Michigan to come knocking, you’re going to need to show them what you’ve got.”“I don’t know, Thatch… It’s their territory.” His eyes flicked over to where Monroe and his guys were changing into their uniforms.“Look. Forget about them and focus on the game.”“Yeah, I guess.”We got changed, reluctantly pulling on the white and blue jerseys one of the assistant coaches gave us. It felt wrong to be in their colors, but I guess we weren’t Eagles anymore.We were Raiders.And fuck if that didn’t feel like some kind of treachery.“RUN IT AG

It was senior year. My last year of high school. Did I want to spend it hiding in the shadows? “He’s so small,” I said, watching her bathe the kitten.“Someone found him behind a dumpster.”“I don’t know how people can do that, just abandon them.” My heart ached for the small, helpless animal.Mom’s passion was the rescue center she managed. I’d grown up in A Brand New Tail, sitting right at this counter, watching her work her magic. The kitten purred as she scrubbed his fur.“We’ll have him as good as new soon enough.” She smiled over at me. “Still thinking about following in your mom’s footsteps?”“Maybe,” I said around a small shrug.“You’ll need to make a decision eventually, Lil.”“I know.” But the prospect of college terrified me. Everyone said it was a chance to find yourself, to learn who you really were. But for someone like me, it was an unknown quantity that made my stomach drop just thinking about it.“You can stay local, sweetheart,” Mom said, as if she could hear my thou

“Sweetheart, can I come in?”“Sure, Mom,” I said, and she slipped into my room.“Still not dressed?”“I don’t know what to wear.”“Well, I think anything will be an improvement on that.” She glanced at the fluffy robe wrapped around my body and chuckled. “Jeans and a t-shirt will be fine, baby. You don’t want to give your dad a heart attack.”“Yeah.” He’d been in a mood ever since Poppy announced we were going to the party tonight. Of course, he’d tried to say no, but Mom quickly intervened and reminded him we weren’t kids anymore.“I’m proud of you, you know? This is a big step, Lily.” Mom gave me a reassuring smile and left me to get dressed.I pulled on a cropped, black t-shirt emblazoned with metallic stars and some cropped jeans. Pulling my hair into a loose ponytail over one shoulder, I braided the ends, and added a touch of lip gloss.“Here goes nothing,” I said, grabbing my purse and making my way downstairs.Peyton and Poppy were already waiting. “You look hot, Lil.” My best

“Now everyone’s here,” she announced, “I thought we could play seven minutes in heaven.” A chorus of cheers and some boos rang out around us.“That’s a kids game,” one of the guys protested.“Not the way we play it.” She winked at him, grabbing a bottle and moving beside the firepit. “The two people chosen have to go into the boat shed.” Lindsey motioned to the small building at the edge of the water. “Then you have seven minutes to… get to know each other. If you choose not to do it, you have to drink this.” She held out a cup and people started pouring a small bit of their drink into it until it was full.“That’s disgusting,” one of the girls said.“Consider it motivation.” Lindsey winked. “Ready?”It was lame, but it was probably her attempt at getting me in the shed. I hadn’t missed the way she positioned herself dead opposite me.She placed the bottle on the ground and spun it. “Okay, here we go.” It passed me once, twice, three times, finally landing on Bryan and one of Lindsey’