Dear journal,
I thought I had missed my mom before, but nothing can beat the feeling of knowing you can never, ever, see her again. Knowing that it is physically impossible to be with her, in her presence, is awful. I barely know how to cope with it. My dad has been sad for the past week, Stephanie has been doing all she can to help him, so who is helping me? Kirstie? Not exactly. We went back to the things were before, apparently that means we can forget about everything that happened. Scott? What the hell is he going to do? Alex? I don't know what's wrong with Alex.
-M

--

I found Scott in art today. He never told me when he was coming back so it was a nice/weird surprise to see him again. We exchanged an awkward hug, and just like Kirstie, we went back to the same friendship we had before. He worked in his art, and I watched him as always.

"So, how was Brazil?" I ask. He looks over at me and smiles brightly.

"Amazing," he says in response. "It was so beautiful, Mitch," he explains. "And I got a new drawin' added to my book." I reach my hand out, meaning I wanted to see it. He chuckles before reaching into his backpack and handing me the small sketch book. Sure enough, a drawing of Batman Alley was added to the book. It was beautiful, as always. He never managed to make anything look bad. Including himself.

"Gorgeous," I respond and hand him the book back. He smiles at me. "As always," I finish. His face flushed a light shade of pink as he looked down at the table. "How have things been since you came back?" He shrugs lightly.

"Honestly? Kinda' a lot better than it was before," he chuckles. "Ain't gotta deal with Taylor anymore."

"You left her?" He nods. "Wow."

"You should'a heard the shit I got from Malory," he laughs loudly. "She's almost as crazy as Taylor."

"I thought Malory was the un-crazy twin," I respond. Scott smiles brightly.

"She makes everyone believe that," he replies. "It some magic wizardry shit I guess," I laugh quietly. A light layer of silence laid over Scott and I, a comfortable one. I didn't feel awkward and I don't think Scott did either. My phone buzzed a few moments later.

Alex: hey can we talk?

I thought about it for a moment, re-writing different responses until I settled on one short word.

Me: sure

Alex: meet me by the bathroom?

Me: yea

I excused myself from Scott, telling him I needed to go to the bathroom. He didn't mind, just nodded at me with his nice smile. I saw Alex waiting outside of the bathroom with his hands nervously fidgeting with each other. We both awkwardly smiled at each other before he spoke.

"I actually had a question?" He says softy. I nod. "Just think about it, okay? I had to work up a lotta will power to do this, so don't embarrass me please," he says. I nod in confusion, waiting for him to spit it out. "Wanna go on a date?" He blurts out. My eyes widened a LOT. I was almost speechless. Almost.

"I-uh, Alex, wow," I say. "W-what happened? I thought you were upset with me?" He shakes his head.

"No, I'm just an asshole," he responds. I mouth an 'oh'. "So...give it a try? It doesn't gotta happen again after this, let's just try it out." I thought about it slowly.

"So, you like me?" His face deepened a red color.

"Don't tease me, city boy," I smile gently. "Just give me an answer before I explode."

"Yes, Alex. I'll try a date with you," I say. He smiles and nods. "Just don't fuck it up, country boy."

"So, Friday night? Which I guess is tomorrow?" I nod. "7:00?" He suggests.

"I'll be ready," I say. We say our goodbyes before heading back to class, smiling as I entered. What just happened? The last time I checked, Alex wouldn't come near me, and now I'm going on a date with him? Jeez, I'd tell you what was happening in my mind if only I knew.

"What's got you all giddy?" Scott asks when I return. "You took an hour in the bathroom, and come back all giggly? Either you just took a fantastic shit or something good happened to you." I laugh loudly while I take my seat again.

"I guess I did something that made Alex want to talk to me again," I say with a smile. He lifted an eyebrow.

"And?" He asks.

"He-uh, I guess I'm going on a date now," I say quietly. He didn't say anything for a moment, but about five seconds later, he let out a laugh. "What?" He shakes his head.

"Your first date in Texas and you're goin' with Alex?" He questions. I nod slowly. "I ain't gonna be the one to judge that, kid. Just watch out, is all."

"Why?" He just shook his head with an upset-looking smile. "Scott, why?"

"Ain't no reason," he responds. "I hope you ain't one to kiss on the first date. He'll get attached real quick," he chuckles.

"And you know that how...?" I ask. His face turned a little red before he looked at me.

"I've heard some things," he responds. "Just make sure he don't fall in love with you after one night."

"And if he does? What is so bad about that?"

"Well, then you won't even give me a chance to fall in love with you," he says in a sarcastic tone. "Because I know you'll get a crush on me eventually, and what if I like you back?"

"You're an idiot," I say with a small smile.

"I only speak the truth," he says, throwing his hands up in surrender. "I'll get ya to fall for me someday."

"So I've been told," I say. He laughs. "I'll make sure I never fall for you, just despite you now."

"You won't be able to resist me! I'm irresistible, babe," he says with a wink and a smirk. I playfully smack his arm.

"In your dreams, hot shot."