Elliott Soo had been my archnemesis for a long time. However, he was starting to grow on me. Once you got him away from his douchebag football friends he was actually an okay guy. Not the brightest crayon in the box, but still reasonably intelligent.

He'd accidentally walked in on me in the bathroom while I was changing last week. I instantly moved to cover up as he pulled the door closed fast. That was the first time anyone had seen me naked. Well, besides my parents as a little kid. I was embarrassed, but then I wondered if he'd liked what he'd seen. Since he was a member of the football team, a jock, surely he'd seen some action before. I was as inexperienced as they came. I'd never kissed a boy.

I was a little self-conscious of my body as most teenage girls were. I'd started sprouting breasts in 7th grade but I was still pretty small. Some of the junior and senior girls had amazing chests and the guys definitely noticed. Sometimes I caught myself looking, admiring. Did that make me a lesbian?

Poor Elliott was struggling a lot with algebra. I'd taken it a year early in 8th grade. Elliott was a year behind, taking it as a sophomore. He told me he currently had a C-. I would die if I ever had a grade that low. If I got a B on something I felt like shit for days.

I checked my phone. 10:32 p.m. Dad would probably be in to make me go to bed any minute. I opened up my mock trial materials. We had an event in two weeks and I felt like I was way behind. I didn't just prepare. I over-prepared. My worst nightmare was to be up in front of a group of people and get caught off-guard. I prepared for every possible scenario. Every possible counter-point the opposition would make. Lucky for me I had a lawyer for a mother.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door and predictably it was Dad. He was looking more and more exhausted these days. Jack and Alex were a lot of work. I tried not to cause him any extra worry.

"Time to hit the hay, kid," he told me, just poking his head in.

"Okay," I told him. "I'm just finishing up."

"Alright. Love you," he said. I mumbled back that I loved him too and continued. I knew he'd be back in ten minutes or so to check if I'd actually gotten into bed, so I found a stopping point and then climbed in. I turned off my light and waited for Dad to go to bed. I heard him go into Pippa's room.

Pippa was nice enough and I honestly didn't mind them being together. She was great with Alex and Jack. Her son could be a bit of a hellion but what teenage boy wasn't? I set my alarm to get an hour of sleep or so, then woke up to continue with my work. I felt a bit refreshed when my alarm went off at midnight. I got up and turned on my light.

The house was silent but a few minutes later I started to hear moans from down the hall. Gross. I put in my earbuds and turned my music up. I was surprised a while later to see the door push open and Dad stood there looking confused and unhappy. I took out my earbuds, biting my lip.

"What are you doing up?" he asked me.

"I forgot I have a test tomorrow," I fibbed, pushing some papers around. He stepped in and looked closer at my materials. "Daaaad."

"Mock trial?" he asked. "Joey, I knew this wasn't a good idea. Your work load is hard enough as it is."

"Dad, I can handle it," I insisted.

"This isn't handling it," he said. "This is overworking yourself. You want to give yourself a nervous breakdown like you did last Spring?"

This was still a sore subject for me. I hated when he brought it up, and he did whenever he thought I was doing too much. I'd gotten so overworked and overwhelmed at school that I completely lost it one day. I'd forgotten that I had a project due and when I realized it I started crying uncontrollably and hyperventilating. Dad had to come get me.

"Dad, you're overreacting," I said, crossing my arms.

"Pack up your stuff," he told me, kneeling down to help me. I didn't argue anymore and packed away my materials in my backpack. He zipped my bag up and then pulled back my covers for me. "You're going into school late tomorrow. You need sleep."

"Daaaad! No, I'm going like normal," I argued as I laid down and he pulled up the covers.

"We'll talk tomorrow," he said, turning out my light. He pressed a kiss to my forehead then he picked up my backpack to take with him. I guess he didn't trust me not to get up. Reluctantly I closed my eyes and soon fell asleep.

Dad must have taken my phone when he got up because I didn't wake up to my alarm. He pushed my door open around 9:30 and I awoke, feeling bewildered. Why was it so light?

"What time is it?" I asked groggily as he sat on my bed.

"9:30," he said, brushing some hair out of my face. "Do you feel better?"

Grudgingly I admitted that I did. Who had time to sleep 9 hours? There was so much other stuff you could be getting done.

"Good," he said. "I'll fix you waffles and then you can head into school. I'll write you a note."

I scrubbed my hands over my face and yawned as he left. I hopped into the shower, taking my time. It was kind of nice skipping the first few periods of the day. By the time I was out, the smell of waffles filled the house. Everyone else was gone besides Dad and Jack, who was bouncing happily in his little bouncy chair. I kissed the top of his head as I went to sit down at the breakfast bar. Dad passed over a plate of waffles and I poured on the syrup.

As I ate Dad made a phone call to the school to let them know I was running late. He hung up and began wiping down the waffle maker.

"So, how many nights have you been getting up and working?" he asked me.

I sighed and dipped my piece of waffle in the little lake of syrup I had in the corner of my plate. "Just a couple. I'm trying to stay ahead."

"You're plenty ahead," he said. "You're doing way too much."

"But I want to do all these things," I said. "It looks good on college apps."

"I know you're trying to beef up your college apps but you need to be reasonable," he said, glancing up at me. "Can you admit that if you're up at midnight working that it's probably too much?"

"I guess," I sighed, though I didn't really. Being smart just meant being busy more than other people. That's how Mom functioned. Heck, that's how Dad functioned a lot of the time.

"You're growing up," he said. "And I want you to make your own decisions. Smart decisions. So Mom and I are letting you choose. You need to give up one extra curricular."

I let my fist fall to the counter and he looked up at me, knowing I was going to challenge him on this. "Fine. I'll stop getting up in the night. Will that make you happy? At least I won't have to listen to you and Pippa doing it."

He looked away, embarrassed. "Sorry if you had to overhear anything," he said. "But I don't think you'll be able to just quit if you're not finished with something. You're too much like your mother. Take a couple days to think about it and tell me what you decided."

I picked up my plate to carry it to the sink. I let it clatter and then glared at him. "You can't make me quit an extra curricular."

"Josephine Luz Miranda," he full-named me, which still made my skin crawl. "First of all, watch your tone. Second, you will quit an extra curricular or I'm taking your phone. Now finish getting ready for school and check your attitude."

I huffed and stormed back to my bedroom, slamming the door. What a great way to start the day. Wouldn't most parents be thrilled their daughter was over-achieving? Elliott got grounded because of shitty grades and here I was with a 4.0 G.P.A. and mountains of other achievement being threatened with phone confiscation. It was bullshit.

I dried my hair quickly and pulled on my jeans and a nice top. I put on the little make-up my parents allowed me to wear and went to the kitchen.

"Where's my backpack?" I asked, my tone not friendly.

"Excuse me?" Dad asked, holding Jack in his arms.

I sighed and adjusted my tone to be more respectful. "Can I have my backpack please?"

"It's inside the door of my bedroom," he told me, walking around with Jack. I stormed back to his room and found it, then lugged it onto my shoulder. When I came back he was scribbling a note at the counter. He held it out for me to take.

"Have a good day," he told me. "I love you."

I didn't respond, just grabbed the note and left. As soon as I was out my earbuds were back in and I turned on some angry music. I stared at the floor on the subway ride to school and finally arrived around 10:15. I gave the front office my note and they wrote me a pass. Still pissed, I rounded the corner a bit quickly and ran straight into someone.

Because my backpack was so heavy, I fell backwards onto my ass. Wonderful. I looked up and saw Elliott holding out his hand for me to take. For whatever reason I couldn't be happier to see him in that moment.

I took his hand and he helped pull me up. "Dang, Joey. You need to drop a class or something. Your backpack must weigh twenty pounds."

I adjusted the straps on my backpack and looked down. "Sorry," I told him and tried to move around him.

"Hey," his hand caught my wrist to stop me. "Are you okay? Your dad said you weren't feeling well."

"My dad's an ass," I told him, feeling tears well up in my eyes. He gently guided me into the doorway of one of the custodian's closets.

"Hey, what happened?" he asked me gently. I wiped under my eyes, not wanting my mascara to run.

"He thinks I'm doing too much," I confessed. "He's making me give up an extra curricular activity."

Elliott laughed at me. "Damn, Joey. You're getting in trouble with your parents for being too good at school?"

He was smirking and that made me laugh, seeing the humor in the situation. I chuckled a little through my tears, still wiping under my eyes.

"You must be doing something right," he said. "My mom would sure like it if I did as well as you do."

"Maybe," I chuckled.

"Joey, maybe your dad's right, you know?" he said surprisingly. "You work your butt off. It's okay to take a step back and chill a bit."

"Yeah, maybe," I admitted. "But I don't want to give anything up. They're making me choose."

"Well, it won't be the end of the world," he said. "And it'll give you more time to tutor my sorry ass in math."

I laughed at that, feeling my mood improve. Who would've thought a month ago that Elliott Soo would put me in a better mood. He pulled me into a hug and I could smell his aftershave.

"Hang in there, Joey," he told me as we hugged.

"Thanks, Elliott," I told him, looking up at him as we parted. He was turning out to be a pretty good friend. We said goodbye and headed our separate ways. As I put away my mass of textbooks in my locker I thought about what he'd said. Giving up an extra curricular would give me more time to tutor him. Did he really want to spend more time with me? Did I want to spend more time with him?

I slammed my locker shut, pass in hand, and began to trudge through my day, trying to figure out the answer.