I lean my back against the bathroom door, breathing heavily. 

A bubble of guilt begins to build inside my stomach, but I don't know why. I mean, I've talked to Nolan about boys before, but that was always when they weren't real. As in, the possibility that they would approach me wasn't real. 

But when Mike kissed me. 

I'm pretty sure that was real. Like 94% sure. Like a crappy dollar store hand sanitizer. 

I reach down to my pocket to pull out my phone. I've been checking it nonstop but Mike still hasn't texted me. I feel like I'm in a disney middle school drama. 

But my phone isn't in my pocket. 

Crap, it's on the kitchen counter...where Nolan is. 

I burst out of the bathroom and sprint to the kitchen, and freeze. In relief as I see Nolan lounging on the couch, a bowl of popcorn in his hand and his mouth covered in stray butter. Phew. 

"What's up, Ducky?" I say, forcing my voice to be casual. I quickly grab my phone from the counter and  head over to the couch, plopping down on Nolan's shins. 

"Seriously? We have like three couches." He complains, but I just put more of my weight onto his legs, and he moves them apart slightly so my butt can rest on the couch. 

"Aw, but if I sat on those I wouldn't be able to bother you." I tease, pinching his nose. He picks up a piece of popcorn and chucks it at me, landing in my hair. 

Before he can retort back, I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket and I quickly stand up to see who it is. 

My heart sinks when instead of Mike's name, I see my mother's. I stare at it for a moment, my finger hovering between the "accept" and "decline".

"Answer it, Piper. You're going to have to answer her eventually." Nolan says, and I sigh, relenting.

"What?" I answer sharply, beginning to pace back and forth. 

"Piper!" My mother's shrill voice fills my ear and I wince. "I have been worried sick about you, you've been gone for like five days!"

"Three days, mom." I interrupt. 

"Well, whatever! You get home this instant! Jerry wants to apologize to you about how he-"

"Save it, mom. I don't want to see him again, so either he goes, or I go." 

Silence at the other end. 

"I can't believe you're imposing yourself on them! Do you realize how rude that is?" She shouts. 

"Give me the phone." I turn around to see Nolan hovering behind me, his jaw clenched tightly. 

"What-"

"Let me talk to her, Piper." 

Reluctantly, I hand the phone over to him and he places it to his ear. 

"Mrs. Reynolds? Yes, this is Nolan. Piper is always welcome here and she isn't imposing on us at all. And I can't believe that you are asking her to go back to that house with that man."

I hear my mother's muffled response vaguely. 

"Alright, goodbye." And he hangs up, handing the phone back to me. 

I just stare at him, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. I tackle him with a hug, knocking him back slightly but he regains his balance and returns the hug, placing a kiss on the top of my head. 

"Your hair smells like popcorn butter." He chuckles, and I scrunch my nose at him. 

"And whose fault is that?" I pout, placing both hands on my hips. 

"Hey, I'm not complaining." He turns around and grabs the popcorn bowl in his hands, his mischievous glint growing in his eyes. 

"Oh, no, don't even think about it- Nolan!" I screech as he dumps the popcorn over my head. 

I jump up and attack him, shoving popcorn butter onto his cheeks as we both hit the ground softly. 

We're too busy cackling with laughter and we don't notice as Nolan's little sister,  Claire walks in. 

"Nolan! You're wasting popcorn!" She whines, and Nolan and I both look up quickly, frozen. 

"Mom's gonna kill you if you stained the rug." She shrugs and walks away, her feet stomping as she makes her way up to her room. 

"Damn, your mom wasn't kidding, she is a moody teenager." I state, standing up and helping Nolan to his feet. We brush the leftover popcorn off our clothes and clean up the room, because even though Claire lies about most things, Mrs. H would have a cow if we left the mess on the floor. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Piper! Are you almost done in the shower? You've been in there forever!" Nolan shouts through the bathroom door as I'm finally washing the conditioner out of my hair. 

"Patience, my friend! This is a process that boys will never understand!" I shout back and I chuckle as I hear him groan in annoyance. 

I switch off the water and wring out my hair, wrapping a towel around my body. Moving over to the sink, I splash some cold water on it and begin to apply face wash when I hear Nolan's voice, talking to someone on the phone. 

"Melissa, how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me?" Pause for Melissa's response. "Well, maybe you should have thought of that- don't interrupt- You know what?" And I hear the sound of him hanging up. 

Good for him, that girl is nothing but a cold hearted (and annoying) bitch. 

I have no idea why he even started dating her, but they were the golden couple, the king and queen of school. They had everything, the popular status, the great bodies, the excessive PDA. 

But that wasn't enough for Melissa. 

"Piper!" I jump as Nolan shouts again, this time even closer to the door.

"Calm down, I'll be out in thirty seconds!" I say, quickly pulling on a pair of sweatpants and an old camp t-shirt. 

Still towel-drying my hair, I exit the bathroom, a cloud of steam flowing out of the open door. 

"Finally." Nolan sighs, dipping into the bathroom and shutting the door. 

I soon hear the sound of the shower, and a slight yelp. 

"Dammit, Piper, how many times have I said don't use up the hot water?" 

"Sorry can't hear you over the sound of the freezing water!" I shout back, an impish grin spreading across my face. 

Shoving the towel in the hamper, I grab my phone, hope in my heart as I turn on the screen. Nothing from Mike. 

I open up my instagram, which has gained several hundred new followers out of nowhere, from people who hadn't talked to me since second grade. 

And one of those was our very own Mike. 

Scrolling down my feed, I mindlessly double tap on pictures of outfits, puppies, and even a video of a boy flipping a water bottle onto the ground. 

And then my finger freezes over a post, hesitating. 

It's a picture of Mike, his arms around Florence, Melissa's partner in crime, both of them beaming with white toothed smiles. 

The caption reads, "It was lit with the side chick ;)". 

Okay, adding to the fact that he used a colon emoticon, he really does not have skills when it comes to rhyming. 

It's just a friendship picture, they used to be friends. I try and tell myself, beginning to scroll back the picture, but I scroll back up, sadness filling my heart. 

I couldn't help the jealous feelings in my chest, no matter how much I tried. 

"Hey, you okay?" I jump, quickly exiting the app and switching off my phone, looking up to see a freshly showered Nolan, looking down at me in concern. 

"Yeah," I lie. "I'm completely fine."