Strong, Sleek and Sinful - By Lorie O'Clare Page 0,78

fuck up,” Dani hissed as she continued to type.

“Write about her.” Nancy poked Dani in the arm but grinned at Kylie. “Put in your paper that some teenagers are whacked and commit to boys they’ve never met.”

“I’m going to meet him,” Dani said, but then leaned back, pausing from her online conversation, and gave Kylie a furtive look. “We’ve got a deal that nothing we share with you will be repeated to anyone, right?” She stressed the word “anyone” while staring hard into Kylie’s eyes. “You’ve got to swear to that.”

“Your mom wouldn’t like Petrie?” Kylie decided to play ignorant and hear Dani say exactly what it was she didn’t want anyone knowing about.

Dani rolled her eyes and then returned to her conversation. Kylie turned her attention to the chat box as well.

This Friday might work after school.

Dani posed her fingers over the keyboards, not saying anything for a moment, and both of her girlfriends watched her with bated breath. Kylie held her breath, it hitting her that Dani and Petrie had discussed meeting in person prior to the chat.

Dani blew out a breath and typed: I’ll let you know. G2G for now.

She X’d out the box and quickly closed her chat program. Then pushing her chair back, she grabbed her coffee and stood, walking away from the three of them without saying anything.

Kylie watched her disappear into the other room, noticing she pulled her cell phone out of her backpack when she stood by the front door to the coffee shop.

Nancy moved into Dani’s seat and took over the computer. “She doesn’t want us to see her talking to Petrie,” she pouted.

“Have they been chatting on the computer for long?” Kylie asked, still watching Dani.

“Forever.” Mandy rolled her eyes and leaned forward, lowering her voice. “She’s scared to meet him but won’t admit it.”

“Do you all meet guys off the computer a lot?” Kylie asked.

“Oh, sure. All the time.” Mandy waved her hand in the air as though it didn’t matter. “But Dani’s uncle fills her head with crap about stalkers and rapists and bullshit like that who prey off poor little innocent girls like us.”

Nancy made a very unladylike snorting sound as she continued typing on the computer. Kylie watched her open the Facebook Web site but kept glancing past the girls to Dani.

“It’s not completely bullshit,” Kylie said, not focusing on either one of them. “Even I wouldn’t meet someone online without knowing a lot about them first. Or at least talking on the phone.”

“She talks to Petrie on the phone all of the time,” Nancy told Kylie.

Dani pulled open the door to the Java Cup and disappeared outside.

“Still sounds like she should be careful,” Kylie said, fighting the urge not to break into a serious lecture. All she would do was chase them away if she did that. “Where’s the bathroom?”

The girls pointed to the door leading to the other room. Kylie had spotted the restrooms when she first entered, but it was a good excuse to check on Dani without the others knowing. Neither girl offered to go with her, and Kylie left them hovering in front of the computer, not paying any attention to whether she went into the bathroom or not.

She slipped outside, hoping she hadn’t lost Dani. Kylie squinted against the late-afternoon sun at the teenager, who’d managed to make it across the street and leaned against the back of Kylie’s car in the parking lot. Watching Kylie approach, Dani repeatedly glanced at her phone in her hand while she text-messaged someone. Her frustrated expression didn’t fade when Kylie approached.

“Are all men assholes?” Dani demanded to know, and pressed her lips together as if she’d just swallowed something bitter.

“I don’t know all of them.” Kylie lifted one shoulder and shrugged lazily, then leaned against her car next to Dani. “Is it Petrie?” she asked quietly.

Dani nodded once. Her cell phone played a happy-sounding jingle and Dani held it in both of her hands, pushing the buttons with her thumbs, when she answered the text message.

“He’s going to meet Lanie Swanson. He knows I hate that bitch’s guts.”

“He sounds like a player,” Kylie offered, crossing her arms and staring at the Java Cup across the street.

“No. He’s not like that at all,” Dani assured her, shaking her head hard enough that her long brown hair fanned over her shoulder and shrouded part of her face. “Lanie is the player. She’s a little tramp. The only reason she’s chasing him is because she knows