No Regrets by Kate L. Mary Page A

doesn’t have beer goggles.”
    I laughed as I wrote it down. “Good idea.”
    â€œWhat about smoking a cigarette?”
    My face scrunched up on its own. Gross. But it was her list, so I wrote it down even though I thought it was disgusting.
    Annie peered over my shoulder at the notebook in my hand, then said, “Just three more, then we’ll be done.” Three more would make it an even twenty, which sounded like a perfect number to me too.
    I tapped the Sharpie against my lips as I thought the whole thing through. What else could I benefit from? What have I never done?
    â€œYou could always put tattoo on there,” I said. “I’ll even get one too.”
    You’d get a tattoo, wouldn’t you, Julie? I bet you’d get a tramp stamp. Seems like something you’d do. A big purple butterfly right across your lower back. I can totally picture you showing it off at a party.
    A smile crept across my face just thinking about it. Maybe I needed to make my own little list. Things Julie would never get to experience. . .
    â€œOkay,” Annie said. “But we still need two more.”
    â€œHow about break someone’s heart?” I said, laughing. I had a feeling Chris was already halfway there, anyway. “Or better yet, get your heart broken? That’s a pretty normal teenage experience.”
    Annie gave a little laugh and I was pretty sure she was going to say no, but she didn’t. “Write them both down.”
    I wrote the final items, then turned the notebook toward Annie. She smiled, and just like that I felt better than I had in a long time. Like I’d taken control. Taken steps to right the past.
    We’ll do things right this time, Julie. I promise.
    Â 
    The next day Annie agreed to let me take her shopping, and Ryan and Chris were nice enough to tag along. I helped her pick out girly clothes and shoes, and she even got her ears pierced. It was awesome being able to tell her what to wear, and I was thrilled when she listened to what I had to say about fashion. I totally deserved my own reality show on the Fashion Network.
    For some crazy reason I wasn’t even close to understanding, Annie bolted out of the dorm almost the second we got back. She didn’t even stick around long enough to unpack her bags or have a fashion show with me, which was just plain rude.
    Luckily, I didn’t have a problem unpacking her things for her. I only hoped she got back early enough to let me dress her up and take her out on the town. She needed to show off some of these new outfits before they went out of style.
    I watched the clock while I put Annie’s new clothes away. The minutes ticked by, then an hour, and I started to get the strange feeling that Annie wasn’t coming back to the room anytime soon. Which totally pissed me off. She was missing a golden opportunity.
    She still wasn’t back by the time I had all her stuff neatly put away, and I took the opportunity to pull out my notebook. With a roommate it was going to be tough finding time to write to Julie, so I needed to squeeze it in whenever I could. For therapeutic reasons, or so I’d been told.

    Okay, so Ryan did take me out last night and it was super fun. We went to this awesome restaurant first, and Ryan’s friend Mitch bought me all kinds of drinks. He’s kind of an ass, so I’m not really into him, but that didn’t stop me from doing the most insane thing. You won’t believe it even when I tell you. I made out with him in the men’s restroom. Insane, right? It totally was not me. It’s more like something you would do, isn’t it? I still can’t believe I did it, but I was kind of drunk. Anyway, he was the worst kisser. Holy shit, Julie! I felt like he was trying to lick my stomach. It was just plain gross. I will not be doing that again.

    I put my pen down and read over the note. It was weird, because reading it made me sound happy. Like I