"Hey," Ivy's voice creaked behind me.

"Hey," I awkwardly smiled as my stomach filled with butterflies. Confusion filled me. Can we pretend lunch didn't happen? Was she mad at me? Was I angry at her? Was I hungry? Did I remember my algebra book? It was all too much.

"So," she started again, "my mom's picking me up. Do you want a ride?"

"No." It came out sharp, and I immediately winced. "I already got a ride," I apologetically offered.

"Oh," she nodded, but her face dropped a bit.

"Thanks, though," I offered again. "Seth is going to give me a ride."

"Seth?" Confusion clouded her face, but was quickly chased away by the unmistakable look of anger. "Well, have fun with Seth," she mumbled as she pushed past me.

"Ivy..." I called out, but she didn't even stutter in her pace.

I was left watching her walk down the steps, wishing I could rewind and play the entire conversation over again.

"Hey," Seth said from beside me as he looked over the deserted curb. "What are we looking at?"

"Nothing," I mumbled.

"Cool, cool, cool. Well, if you're done with that, my car is this way," he ushered. "Hey, was that Ivy you were talking to?" He casually continued.

"I'm not sure if that was talking, but it was Ivy," I griped.

"Ah, so things are going well," he smirked.

"I don't even know what happened," I babbled. "One minute we were eating lunch, the next minute she's all mad at me... er ... or I was mad at her... I'm not sure," I admitted.

"What might you have been arguing about?" He pressed.

"Um," I scrunched up my face as I looked at him.

"What?" Let out a laugh.

"We may have been fighting about how annoying you are," I confessed.

"What? Ivy thinks I'm annoying?" Shock filled his face.

"Yeah, so about that..."

"You think I'm annoying? That's so rude."

"You're so rude, and I thought you were stalking me," I argued.

Seth looked at the surrounding air.

"What are you doing?"

"I was looking to see how many planets are orbiting you," he smiled.

"And this is why I think you're annoying."

"Okay, I may deserve that this time," he agreed. "I can't believe I'm the reason you two are fighting."

"I know. Talk about stupid things to fight about," I sighed.

"Right... wait... did you just call me stupid?" He asked as he paused by a beat-up Jeep.

"I didn't call you stupid. I called fighting about you stupid," I explained.

"I'm not sure if that's different. You're very confusing."

"Tell me about it," I agreed. "So about that complicated life I lead. Do you mind if we swing by my dad's before my mom's? I left my history notebook there." I gave him a sheepish grin.

"Wow, I'm clearly just a chauffeur to you."

"No, you're also my locker neighbor."

I smiled as Seth pulled out of the parking lot. I settled into my seat, focusing on directing him to my dad's house.

"Wait, is this Flat Duo Jets?" I stammered.

"Yeah, you know them?" Seth didn't mask his surprise.

"No, never heard them before," I teased.

"Sarcasm noted and not appreciated," he sighed.

"This is so killer. Do you like The Gun Club?" I pressed.

"Never heard of them," he admitted.

"You'll love them. I have the album at home. We can get it with my notebook," I blurted.

"Did you say album? Like an actual piece of vinyl?" Seth's brow furrowed at the idea.

"Yeah, music is so much better on vinyl. My Aunt V always says that listening to music alone is lonely, but listening to vinyl with the best way to practice solitude."

"Oh, well, that sounds wrong and pretentious all at once," Seth joked.

I had to laugh. "My Aunt V is called many things, but pretentious and wrong are not among them."

"Alright, don't dis the Aunt V. Got it," Seth nodded.

"Oh, that's weird," I murmured as my eyes fell on the driveway with both my dad's and V's cars parked in it.

"What's that?" Seth absently asked.

"That's my dad's house, the gray one on the right," I explained.

"And it's not usually gray, or it's not usually there?" Seth prodded.

"It's not usually filled with my dad and my Aunt V at three in the afternoon."

"Huh, I guess that would be weird then. I mean, a house with legs is like cool weird. This is just like thought-I-ordered-coffee-ended-up-tea mundane weird."

"Well, I guess you'll get to meet them," I shrugged as I hopped down from the Jeep and made my way inside. "Dad," I called out as I kicked my shoes off, but there was no answer. "That's weird. I'd have expected them to be watching the History Channel."

"That's extremely lame," Seth laughed.

"Mmhmm, that's my dad," I shrugged. "Dad," I called out again.

"Ollie," came from his room in a panicked voice. "Hold on; I'll be right out."

"Um, your Aunt? Is that like your mom's sister?" Seth awkwardly asked.

"No, she's..." But before I could finish, my dad's door flew open, with my flustered dad entering the hallway.

"Hey, you're supposed to be at your mom's today." My dad looked nothing short of disheveled.

"Um, I forgot my history notebook," I stammered.

"Hey, Ollie," V smiled as she came out of my dad's room as well.

"Ew," fell out of my mouth.

"Ollie, it's not what it looks like," my dad started.

"Really?" I shot.

"Yeah, it's pretty much what it looks like," V admitted while getting a glare from my dad.

"Great. I don't want to know any details, but I expect never to have to see Carrie again. Oh, and this is Seth; we'll be in my room," I continued as I paced by the most scarring scene of my young life.

"Seth... room... what?" My dad stuttered.

"Good talk," I shot over my shoulder before slamming my door behind Seth.

"So," Seth awkwardly began. "That's very... gross."

I slumped down on my bed. "They're not related. She's his best friend and my godmother," I explained.

"That's way better than what I was envisioning. So, you don't like her?" He continued.

"No, I love her. This is great."

"And you're mad because?"

I paused to think about my reaction. "This is exactly what I wanted."

"So the bitch act was because?" Seth flopped down on my bed next to me.

I shrugged. "I guess I'm just a bitch sometimes."

"Huh, maybe that's a newsflash you should share with Ivy," Seth offered.

"Yeah," I said as I sunk into my pillow, thinking of Ivy. I missed her. I didn't like her being mad at me or me being mad at her, whichever it was.