AT HOME, I SET THE timer for the lazana to bake, washing my hands in the sink and ripping off a paper towel to dry them. I narrowed my eyes and threw the crumpled paper towel at the garbage can, making it in.

"Still got it," I praised myself and remembered how my dad and I would play trash basketball. I know, it sounded kind of dumb and gross, but he made the game up so I'd help with clean up after dinner. It worked, that's for sure.

My mom was on the phone when the doorbell rang so I hurried over to open it, ready to greet Jamie when instead a tall man with no hair stood in his place.

Now, if Jamie suddenly grew about 5 inches and lost all his hair, I'd believe it was him. But I had no idea who this man was. My smile faltered until there was none left as I stared up at him. He gave me a grin and stuck out his calloused and raw hand. Immediately, I wondered what he did for a living.

"Sorry, I'm an artist. I'm actually the art teacher at the school your mom works at. It's Dan," his voice was deep, something I'd expect for a man his height.

"Finnley, don't be rude," my mom muttered through gritted teeth as she embraced Dan, giving him a hug and welcoming him into our home. just. like. that.

I always knew my mom would get back to dating, but I never thought she wouldn't discuss it with me. To be bombarded like this...it made my stomach twist and flip, my throat closing up. I couldn't speak anymore.

"Honey, this is Dan. I'm sure he already introduced himself but he'll be joining us for dinner," she smiled brightly, excited. She was practically glowing, and although I didn't want to ruin this moment, to be that kid, I just couldn't stand it anymore. I had to leave.

I grabbed my coat off of the hangar and rushed out the door, cutting my mom's voice off with a slam as I started to run away. I didn't know where I was heading, who I was going to, I just needed to run.

"Finnley?" I heard someone yell and I stopped, my lungs sucking in as much air possible, my chest heaving. I didn't even notice I'd been crying, shaking.

"Finnley? What happened?" I suddenly realized that it was Jamie, crossing the street. He must've been walking to my house for our project.

I tried to speak, but when I opened my mouth, nothing came out. I only cried instead. He looked so worried and unsure what to do, but when I started to crumple under the pressure, he grabbed me and held me up in his arms, hugging me tightly as I buried my head in his chest, probably getting tears and snot everywhere. I hoped he wouldn't mind.

My arms held onto him just as tight as I let it out, all the pain I'd felt today just releasing. It felt like nobody understood, but in this moment, the way he was holding me, felt like he knew exactly how I was feeling.

After a while, the sobbing subsided and I was only sniffing here and there. His chin was rested on my head as he rubbed my back, his chest rising every time he took a breath, and I noticed how we were in sync.

"Are you okay?" Jamie finally broke the silence, his voice soft and gentle.

"I don't want to go home," I murmured and shut my eyes. I knew my mom would be disappointed, but I couldn't go back there.

"We can go to mine," Jamie finally let go of me and held my hand as he walked with me back towards the school to his car.

"Are you sure you want to come?" Jamie asked as he unlocked his car, his hand clasped around the door handle of the passenger side.

"Yeah...I'm sure," Jamie gave me one more look before opening the door and letting me in.

I'd never been to his new house, nor his old one. I was going to Jamie's for the first time in my life, and instead of feeling nervous, I was relieved. He was giving me somewhere else I could stay, just for a while.

I leaned my head against the window for most of the ride, watching the urban middle class homes slowly disappear as we drove to the outskirts of the city, the houses growing in size. I knew Jamie was well off since his dad was a cardiac surgeon, but sometimes it always baffled me how different our lives really were.

Jamie pulled into the gravel driveway of a large house, the outside of it covered in stones. The lawn was a fresh green, the kind that looked almost fake it was so kept. To the left of the house was a large oak tree, a tire swing dangling from a thick limb, the slight swaying motion making me imagine little Jamie swinging on it.

"Home sweet home," he mumbled under his breath as he pulled into the garage, parking the car and turning the engine off.

"Come on, let me show you around," Jamie smiled over at me and I nodded my head, getting out of the car and following after him as he headed inside the house.

The house was beautiful. It was more traditional, cream walls with crown moldings. A large kitchen, homey living room...as rich as they were, they seemed to make this place extremely comfortable.

"I'll grab a snack and then we can head upstairs," I sat down on the couch in the living room as Jamie went to the kitchen, the sound of a door opening and closing making me wonder who'd just entered.

"Jamie! Are you ho-" a man in his late 40s entered the living room, his eyes falling on me. If I thought Jamie was handsome, his dad was 10x that. Mr. Thompson had a charming smile, his dark hair neatly styled with the same dark eyes Jamie had. His skin was tanner than Jamie's, giving him a younger appearance.

"Why, hello there," he seemed sort of surprised to see a strange girl in his home. Did this mean he wasn't used to Jamie bringing girls home?

"I'm Jamie's father, Mr. Thompson," he stuck his hand out and I stared at it for a moment before shaking it, saying, "Finnley McGowan."

"Nice to meet you, Miss McGowan. I'm just popping in to grab something before heading back to the hospital. Is Jamie around?"

"He's in the kitchen."

"Thank you," Mr. Thompson briskly left the living room, leaving me there alone again. I could hear some talking from the kitchen, but couldn't really decipher any of it.

"Hey, let's go," Jamie beckoned me with a jerk of his head. He seemed a little upset but I followed him up the stairs without asking what was wrong. It didn't seem like he wanted to discuss it by the way his jaw was clenching.

We turned down a hallway and came towards the end of it. Jamie opened the door and we walked into his bedroom. The walls were a dark blue, his bed sitting in the far left corner of his room. His room was simple, with not much furniture. Only a dresser, work desk, night stand, and shelf full of vinyls, pictures, and trophies occupied the large space.

We ended up sitting on the floor since the bed was too awkward and the work desk only had one chair. We sat in silence for a while and I started to pull at the loose strands in the carpet. I had a feeling we weren't going to be working on this project.

"Finnley," I looked up at him as his gaze stayed glued on the ground, "if you don't mind my asking...what happened?" I bit the inside of my lip. I knew I seemed like a very different person in front of him right now.

"My mom invited a guy over. Without telling me," I stopped pulling on the loose string, his warm eyes finally looking up to meet mine. He stayed silent, indicating that he would listen for as long as he needed to.

"You know, when my dad died, I had to take care of my mom. We were both grieving terribly, but she fell. Low. That was hard for a young kid to deal with. And after that, I never expected her to start dating again, because I thought she'd never want to go through that pain of losing someone a second time. So seeing her with a new guy without even telling me..." I swallowed, breaking from Jamie's gaze.

I'd only ever talked to Monica about this before, someone I trusted more than myself. So spilling all of this to Jamie, someone who made my head spin, was surprising and scary. I wasn't sure if I could finish.

"I'm sorry, Finnley..." Jamie reached out his hand, taking mine as he scooted closer to me. I let out a short chuckle and he furrowed his brows.

"What?" He looked so cute like that.

"Nothing."

"No, tell me."

"It's nothing."

"Tell me," he inched closer to me, my breath hitching in my throat as we were inches away from one another. I could feel the buzz, the energy, and I knew he could sense it too. Jamie's eyes flicked to my lips before returning to my eyes, his lips twisting into a small grin.

I felt my heart skip, the butterflies escaping from their cocoons they'd been trapped in as my stomach swirled. And before I could say anything to stop this, my body responded differently.

I closed the distance between us, kissing him. He cupped my face in his hands, slowly moving them to my hair. The energy I'd felt before was full on heat—blood pulsing through my veins as I leaned into him, parting my mouth slightly. This was uncharted waters for me. I'd never kissed like this before.

His lips tasted like vanilla, his body smelling like mahagoney and spruce. Jamie's lips were gentle as he deepened the kiss, pulling me closer to him, his arms firm and strong as they pulled me onto his lap, his hands returning to my hair, running through it.

This was such a bad idea, but I couldn't stop. The kiss grew more urgent, his lips leaving my mouth as he started to kiss my jaw, trailing down to my neck and finding their way back to my lips. I didn't realize what we were doing until Jamie started to lower me to the floor.

I pulled away, pushing my hands onto his chest, feeling his heart racing against my palms. Jamie's hair was disheveled, his brown eyes searching mine, wondering if we really did just kiss. My breathing was ragged, my body warm.

I'd just kissed Jamie Thompson. Again.

We were silent, our ragged breathing being the only thing that filled the room. I searched his gaze, my hands still firmly placed on his chest, but I didn't want to stop. I wanted to kiss Jamie forever— he was like fire.

Jamie seemed to read my mind as he bent down and kissed me again, biting at my lower lip. My whole body shivered as my hands slid under his shirt, feeling his muscles flex beneath my fingers. It was like unknown instincts took over me, my hands gripping the hem of his shirt and pulling it up.

That's when Jamie finally pulled away, his eyes flashing open as one of his hands flew out to grab my wrist, his lips red. I felt frozen in place, my mind completely blank.

"We shouldn't-" he stopped abruptly and let his head drop before getting off of me, allowing me to fully sit up.

"I'm sorry, I got carried away, I just wasn't expecting-"

"That." I finished for him in a daze, more dumbfounded than he probably was. I'd never done that before, ever. Frankly, I was quite surprised. If Jamie hadn't stopped me, how far would we have gone?

Together, we sat in his room, looking at one another silently, trying to make sense of this. But in what way could it possibly ever make sense? How could two people who barely knew one another suddenly become make out buddies?

But then he smiled at me, and I swear it was like my heart grew wings.