Ugh. I probably looked ridiculous—standing on my tiptoes just to hug her. Whatever. She's tall. Like what? 6'7. Whatever, I'm not her height. Deal with it.

I clung to her anyway, arms wrapped tight around her waist like I wasn’t the school's scariest cheer captain and president. She was warm, and she smelled like those vanilla hand creams she always carries in her bag. I pretended not to notice how fast my heart was beating.

When I pulled back, she was blushing. All shy and quiet. Couldn't even look me in the eye. Cute. Too cute. I had to look away before I did something insane—like kiss her on the cheek in front of the whole hallway.

“You better not run away last minute,” I said, trying to sound as firm as possible. I even stood a little straighter, which didn’t help much considering I barely reached her shoulder. “I’ll be looking for you in the crowd.”

She blinked down at me like I was a stray kitten trying to act tough. Rude. I squinted up at her, crossing my arms with full short-girl fury.

Then her lips parted, like she was gonna say something—but she didn’t. So I gave her that smile. That smile. Soft. A little lopsided. The one that makes my cheer squad whisper and lose their minds because, apparently, Amy smiling like that is terrifyingly rare.

“I’ll be wearing the red ribbons tomorrow,” I muttered, glancing at the floor like it owed me money. “You like those, right?”

She nodded.

God. I was so unbelievably, pathetically doomed.