Darkness Before Dawn by Sharon M. Draper

her sideways. She once had a boyfriend who was almost thirty. We heard she would sneak out of her house to see him until her mother found out and threatened to have the man arrested. But lately, Rita seemed to have been trying to turn things around. She loved running cross-country and had helped the team win several meets.
    I took a long, hot shower and arranged myself on my bed to study with a sandwich, a can of iced tea, and my physics book. Rita’s problems faded from my mind.
    Just as I opened my book, the phone rang. It was Rhonda. “What you doin’, girl?”
    â€œTryin’ to study for this physics test. You and Tyrone got it together yet?”
    â€œHey, that’s why I called. He is
sooo
sweet!”
    â€œLike candy, huh?”
    â€œI just want to eat him up! Let me tell you what happened after you left.”
    â€œSpill it, girl.” I closed my book and smiled at the excitement in Rhonda’s voice. I knew this was gonna be good.
    â€œWell, first he tells me that I am his dream, that without me he has nothing!”
    â€œI always wanted a dude to tell me that—and really mean it,” I told her.
    â€œThe air was smellin’ good and the colors were all bright and I felt like I was in one of those movies where the music plays violins and stuff while the lovers walk through the forest.”
    â€œCool. So it’s really love, Rhonda?” I asked her seriously.
    â€œYou know, I’m not sure if love is like they make it look in the movies; but if love is feeling happy and at peace when he’s around, and excited when I watch him walk across a room, and weak when he kisses me, then I’m in love for sure.” She paused for a bit.
    I asked her quietly, “So what happens now—that you’re sure?”
    Rhonda sighed. “I don’t know, Keisha. I know I don’t trust myself with him alone after dark. Because when I’m alone with him, I got no control. His kisses make me forget everything I ever believed in.”
    â€œWhat about him?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
    â€œHe feels the same way. Maybe stronger. He kissed me while I was leaning against a tree and it was like a whirlwindbegan. My heart was pounding, my legs felt rubbery, and my entire body felt all squishy.”
    â€œThen what happened?” I asked. I knew Rhonda was going to tell me every detail whether I wanted to hear it or not.
    â€œI reached up and touched his lips. Girl, so soft and delicious, those lips of his! Goodness! Then he kissed me again, and asked me what I was thinking. I didn’t ask him. I
knew
what was on
his
mind!” Rhonda laughed.
    â€œSo what did you tell him?”
    â€œI said, ‘Tyrone, I want to tell you this in the daytime, while the sun is shining,’ and he says, ‘Well you better hurry—it’s getting dark. Then he unzips his jacket and pulls me closer to him and asks me real tender, ‘What’s wrong, Rhonda?’ It was all I could do not to melt into caramel candy right there in his arms.”
    â€œGirl, this is heavy. Go on,” I said.
    â€œWell, I took a deep breath and I told him, ‘Tyrone, I don’t want to be like some of the girls at school—like most of them, actually. I don’t want to have sex just to see what it’s like, or to get pregnant because the dude makes pretty babies, or to keep a count of how many dudes I can sleep with before graduation.’ I said it real fast so I wouldn’t lose my nerve.”
    â€œWhat did he say?”
    â€œHe told me he’d hate to think about me with anybody, except him.”
    â€œWell, that’s good, isn’t it?” I asked.
    â€œYeah, but he had to understand. So I told him, ‘I know,but it’s you and me I’m talking about. You make me want you, Tyrone, but I want to wait. Do you understand?’”
    â€œI know lots of dudes who drop a girl when they say that and mean