Kayla’s chin hit the floor. “Hold it.” She whirled around right in the middle of the eleventh-grade corridor, then sputtered the ends of her blond pony-tail off her sticky lip gloss.

April stopped without looking up. She continued to punch out a text message on her green slider phone, her long brown hair hanging over her eyes. A wonder she could even see.

“Are you saying you’ll actually go to something at my church with me?” Kayla had been trying to get her best friend to come to church with her for years.

April’s eyebrows furrowed, and she looked up and laughed. “Well it’s not like we’re talking about some tent-revival meeting.” She squinted and tilted her head. “Are we?”

“No, silly. It’s exactly what I told you. An all-night lock-in—pizza, movies, games, stuff like that.”

“Well, count me in.” April slid her cell phone closed and whipped her hair back. “Kind of sounds like fun.”

“That’s great!” Kayla couldn’t believe she’d agreed to go.

April looked down at her comfy worn sweatshirt and favorite pair of faded jeans. “What should I wear?”

“Oh, anything. I’ll be wearing something like this.” Kayla gestured to her stylish dark-wash jeans, neatly tucked into her black boots, and her hot-pink chenille sweater. “Whatever you want.”

“Well, I’ll wear it, but I won’t look that good.” April rolled her eyes.

“Oh, come on, Ap.”

“So. . .is Matt going to go?” April’s blue eyes twinkled as she changed the subject to one of her favorites. Boys.

“How would I know?” Kayla rolled her eyes. “Besides, he doesn’t even go to my church much. So, I’d guess probably not.” Why did she always pressure her about Matt?

“When are you going to let him know how you feel about him?” April checked her phone. “I mean, don’t you think two years of waiting for a boy to ask you out is long enough?”

“I’m not going to do anything about it. You should know that by now. It is what it is.” Kayla looked her in the eye. “Just let it go. Please?”

“Alright, alright.” April looked down the hallway toward her next class. “I have to go anyway.”

***

“Hey. You look nice today.”

Trying to shove her books into her locker, Kayla stiffened at the familiar voice in her ear—one she’d been listening to since second grade. A textbook slipped from her trembling and suddenly sweaty hands.

“Here, let me get that.” Matt picked up the book and handed it to Kayla.

Shocks of electricity shot up and down Kayla’s arm when their fingers touched. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Friends for so long, how could he affect her like that?

“Cat got your tongue?” Matt winked.

“I like your shirt.” Ugh! Kayla wanted to crawl in a hole. She liked his shirt?

He looked down at his plain gray thermal t-shirt and laughed. “Uh, thanks.” After an awkward silent moment, he continued. “So, anyway, I wanted to ask you something.”

“What’s up?” Kayla took a deep breath, trying to slow her heart rate to a more comfortable pace. Trying to take her mind off Matt’s good looks, she stared at the chocolate brown wave that hung over his eyebrow.

“New Year’s Eve, there’s a big party at Paula’s country club. Her parents rented out the clubhouse for it.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard a lot about it.” What did this have to do with her? Only seniors could go.

“I want to take you as my date.” Matt grinned, his perfect white teeth gleaming.

Insides churning, Kayla tried to act normal. “Really? Wow. I’d love to go.” Could this really be happening?

“Cool! I didn’t know if you had other plans already.”

Plans? Oh no, she almost forgot about April. “Well, um, actually. . .”

What does Kayla do? She’s wanted to go out with Matt for years, plus it’s the party of the century. On the other hand, April finally agreed to attend a church event with her—something she’d been trying to get her to do for almost as long—and she’d promised April first. But the party with Matt would be so much more fun—something to remember for a lifetime. . .and April had been pressuring her to move things to the next level with Matt.

What does she do? What would YOU do?

Click HERE if Kayla turns Matt down and keeps her plans with April.

Click HERE if Kayla cancels her plans and goes out with Matt.