she asked him-and herself-again . her black hair fell in a tangled mass all the way to her hips . i helped her to the door and was gon na see her on up to her bedroom , but he came down the steps , so i just left . '' he wanted to make this as easy as possible and as smooth as he could . one slip and all will be lost . could he really mean what he says ? bailey sat beside me in math , and we 'd been friends since junior high . 