*1 day later*

“Hey.” I stared at my phone and thought about if I should text her. Last night was a bit different than what we were accustomed too. She had never cried to the point where she fell asleep right after.

This morning was a bit awkward, for me anyways. She woke up minutes before me and jumped as soon as she realized that she fell asleep at my house, which woke me up in the process.

I finally pressed sent and walked out of my work to the parking lot where my mom was waiting. I tapped my foot against the concrete floor as I wait for both a reply from her and my mom as well.

“Hey. :) Home now?” I released the breath that I was holding as I read her reply. “No. Just got out. Still waiting for mom.” I quickly typed as I saw my mom’s car in the distance.

I was wondering what is up with her and Calum now as she hasn’t said anything about him the whole day. She left my house in a hurry in this morning and I didn’t even see if she checked her phone at all.

“Hi mom.” I greeted my mom blandly as I got in the car. “Skype when you get home?” I smiled as I read the text. “Aislinn again? Luke, you’re not dating, are you?” I looked at my mom wide-eyed as she talked so casually about it.

“Mom, no! We’re just friends and you know that.” I felt my cheeks burn up and I just sat there quietly, ignoring the looks my mom gave me and also my phone that kept vibrating.

The ride home was probably the most awkward car ride I’ve ever had with my mom. I appreciate the concern in my life but the way she approached it was too out there. “Just tell me if you two are dating so then we can come over their house and we can talk to her parents.” She said it so naturally that she made it sound like she saw this coming way before now.

“Mom!” She just shrugged my protests off and walked in our house. I quickly ran down to my room and shut my door. Thank God the stairs to the basement was right next to the garage door so I didn’t have to walk with my mom around the house longer and prolong the awkwardness that she started.

“Call you in 5 minutes?” I pressed sent and tossed my phone to my bed then changed to my house clothes. Right after I opened my laptop, my Skype rang right away.

“Hey, I told you I’d call you.” I furrowed my eyebrows as I was curious why she called first. “Dude, this can’t wait.” She sat down on her bed and adjusted the way she sat until she found the right position.

“What is it?” I reached for my phone while I was sat on my desk chair. My room wasn’t that big. It was just literally enough room for my bed and my desk, which were both in eyes’ sight when someone is standing by the door so everything was arm’s reach.

“Well, I don’t want to sound self-centered so I will ask first how your day went.” I chuckled at what she just said. She was really cautious in talking too much about herself but I didn’t mind at all. I loved how her voice sounded when she was excited and her voice whenever she’s sad cause it makes me feel something that I never felt: empathy.

“It was alright, I guess. You left in a hurry this morning. You didn’t even give me the chance to walk you out the door.” I tried to sound like I was down by what she just did to make her feel guilty a bit.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I honestly thought you were still sleeping. I didn’t even want to disturb you. I did, didn’t I?” She pouted then looked down. I chuckled at her ‘niceness’, one might say. She was too nice for her own life; honestly, I think I only saw her mad once because the boys in our group were being idiotic and even that, she apologized right after for screaming.

“You fell for that? I was just joking.” I laughed hard after that and she wrinkled her eyebrows and pouted even more. “I’m sorry. Hey! Don’t pout! You know that doesn’t work on me.” I was lying; it always worked on me. She showed her smile again and giggled a bit.

“If I can come over there, I would smack you on the head.” She crossed her arms and pretended to be mad. “It would feel like an insect bite. Also, you can’t even reach my head.” I stuck my tongue out and teased her more. Teasing her was one of my most favorite things to do with her.

“I am 5’5”, Luke, not three feet!” She tried to protest but she knew that she would never win against me. “Oh, look out then! We have a giant over here!” She just stuck her tongue out and laughed with me. I love the way we joked around with each other; it was the only time I can let my tough façade down and just be silly.

“Anyways, you’re getting distracted. What were you gonna tell me that was so important?” I put my arm on my desk and supported my head with it while I was waiting for her reply.

“Oh! Don’t judge me for this okay?” She raised her eyebrows while I just nodded my head in agreement. “Okay, uhmm, you know Calum texted me last night, right?” My eyes flew open as she opened with that statement. This can’t be happening right now; he can’t be serious, right?

“Yes, I remember.” I kept my voice monotone to make sure she knew I wasn’t panicking. “ Uhmm, he called to follow up on that question of going out.”

Notes