Page 192 of Boardroom Sins

Vehicle 1:2011 Honda Accord

Vehicle 2:2018 Freightliner (commercial)

Details:Head-on collision. V1 crossed center line. Icy conditions. Both occupants of V1 pronounced dead at scene.

The mascara wand trembled in my grip, leaving a dark smudge beneath my left eyebrow that made me look like Robert Pattinson’s Batman. I swore under my breath and grabbed a cotton swab, dabbing at the damage in the cloudy mirror that had hung on my childhood bedroom wall since I was twelve.

Tyler Brennan was picking me up in twenty minutes.

The.

Tyler.

Brennan.

Needless to say, this was a very serious situation.

I changed my top for the fourth—or possibly fourteenth; who’s counting?—time, yanking off the oversized sweater that screamedtrying too hard to look like I’m not tryingand replacing it with a fitted burgundy henley.

Then I changed back to the sweater. Then back to the henley.

I just wanted it to beright.Tyler was the type of guy who sailed through life on good genetics and family money, the lacrosse captain who’d never once glanced my direction during four years of high school. The fact that he was glancing my direction now was a Code Red emergency.

Something had shifted since I’d come back for winter break after my first semester. We ran into each other at the mall, then, suddenly, he was sliding into my DMs, calling me “College Rae” like it was an inside joke between us, texting at 2 A.M. asking what I was thinking about.

As if he knew I was thinking about him, my phone dinged.

TYLER BRENNAN (HOT GUY FROM HIGH SCHOOL)

headed ur way now. wear something sexy lol

My hands shook as I reached for the mascara again and finished my makeup.

My phone rang again as I was pulling on my jacket. Mom’s name flashed across the screen, along with her contact photo, a funny Snapchat screenshot of her from last Christmas, wearing that dumb light-up reindeer headband she was so proud of.

I was annoyed that she was blowing me up on what was clearly a huge milestone night in my life—the night I finally get rid ofthis virginity that’s been hanging around my neck like a chain for years—but I was still about to answer anyway. She was my mom, after all.

But then another notification slid down from the top of the screen.

TYLER BRENNAN (HOT GUY FROM HIGH SCHOOL)

im outside

That settled that. I silenced Mom’s call and shoved the phone in my back pocket, grabbing my house keys from the hook by the door. My reflection caught in the hallway mirror—flushed cheeks, amateurishly applied mascara, slightly manic eyes, burgundy henley.

I hope he thinks I’m pretty.

I was halfway down the stairs when my phone pinged yet again. Jeez, what part ofI didn’t answer the first timedid Mom not understand?

But this time, it was Gideon.

GIDDY BABY BRO

when r u picking me up???

Shit!I’d completely forgotten. Gideon was at his friend Simon’s house on the other side of town. I was supposed to grab him at nine.

My thumbs flew across the screen as I reached for the front door.