After we finished our food, Asher dropped me off at school so I could take my car home. I thanked him for the meal and went on with my evening.

As I drove home, a small smile never left my lips. I couldn't help but replay the day's events in my head. Even though my relationship with Asher was fake and would never mean anything, we were still friends. Spending time with him and getting to know him was something that excited me. I longed to see what life was like from his perspective, and maybe let him into my own little world, piece by piece.

Pulling my car into the driveway, I sighed in content as I put the vehicle in park. Lugging my backpack and flowers out of the car, I strolled up the pathway and into my house.

"Hey," I greeted my sister, who was sitting at the dining table with a bowl of ramen noodles.

Olivia looked up at me through her lashes. "Hi," she said hesitantly.

Setting my belongings on the floor, I kicked off my sneakers and walked over to the cupboard to grab a glass. "What are you up to?" I asked, pouring myself a glass of water.

"Snack break while doing my homework," she responded monotonously. After a moment, she cleared her throat. "You're very energetic."

I shrugged, sipping my water. "Yeah, I'm in a good mood."

"I'm glad."

Finishing the rest of my drink, I set the glass in the sink and went to collect my things. "I hope your studying goes well," I wished as I exited the kitchen and walked down the hallway to my bedroom.

For once, a wave of sadness didn't overwhelm me as I passed my parents' room.

~~~~~

I didn't leave my room until all of my homework was complete and my stomach was rumbling, which was several hours after I had come home. Around seven-thirty, I unraveled myself from my cocoon of blankets and gathered up my papers before stumbling out of my room and to the kitchen.

After making myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I poured out a glass of milk and ate my meal in peaceful silence. Shoving the last bit of bread in my mouth, I stood and washed my dishes in the sink.

I walked out of the kitchen and passed the living room, where I spotted my dad sitting on the couch working on his laptop. Seeing me out of the corner of his eye, he looked up.

"Hey, Lindsey," he greeted.

I smiled. "Hi, Dad. What's up?"

He blanched. "Um, I'm working."

I rolled my eyes. "You're always working," I said, "be specific."

He looked at his screen for a moment before shutting the lid and giving me all his attention. "Nothing important," he stated. "How are you?"

I shrugged. "I'm alright."

"That's good," Dad said. "How has school been for you?"

"It's okay," I told him, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch from him. "It can be boring, though. I like my English and U.S. history classes the best."

He smiled. "Your mother was absolutely obsessed with U.S. history, you know. She would get so invested in her lectures that any interruptions caused her to get so annoyed. One time, I called her while she was at work because Olivia was sick at school and her tone when she first answered the phone was one I'll never forget. 'What do you need?' she had screamed at me. It was horrifying and frustrating back then, but looking back at it, I wouldn't have wished her to be any less passionate."

"True," I mumbled, standing up and heading towards the hallway. "I'll let you get back to your work, okay?"

"Okay, I will." Dad opened the lid of his laptop. "It was nice talking with you. I love you, kid."

I played with my hands behind my back. "I love you too, Dad, and I like talking with you. It's just hard to talk about her."

He nodded solemnly. "I understand. Just because I don't show it all the time doesn't mean I'm not still heavily affected by your mom's passing. Rachel was the love of my life, sweetheart, and I will never get over her. My job as a dad, though, is to help you deal with it, so please don't be afraid to talk to me."

"Alright, I'll try. Later, Dad."

With that, I rushed off and away from his line of vision. If I stood under his caring gaze any longer, I might have broken down into tears.

I hated how selfish I was. Not once in the two and a half years my mother had been gone had I thought about how it must have felt to be my father. To have the love of my life taken from me in death and still have to be strong for my two mourning kids. All I had ever been concerned about was myself. Me, me, me. I didn't have my mom anymore. I was sad. I was angry. And every time my dad tried to comfort me, I tossed his affection away. How dare I be so inconsiderate?

Just as I was about to go into my room to mentally beat myself up for the rest of the night, the door across from mine swung open. I wiped a stray tear from the corner of my eye as Olivia scanned me from head to toe.

"Are you on your period?" she blurted.

My mouth popped open. "Liv!" I hissed.

"What?" she exclaimed. "I'm just wondering. You've been very emotional today. You were at a complete high when you came home from school - an hour late, might I add - and now you look irritable and depressed. Are you smoking?"

"Liv!"

She rolled her eyes and grabbed me by the wrist. "Tell me what's going on," she insisted. "I'm your big sister. You're supposed to confide your deepest darkest secrets in me and I give you all of my advice and experience."

I scoffed. "What experience?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised." She plopped down on her bed, motioning for me to do the same. "Now spill."

I bit my lip, trying to work out all the details of what I wanted to say in my head before I blabbed out something I didn't want to share. "Well, you know Asher, right?"

Olivia squealed. "Did you kiss?"

"Let me finish," I teased. "But no, we didn't kiss. He did, however, maybe, kind of ask me out."  The pitch of my voice raised towards the end of my statement so it sounded more like a question.

My sister's jaw literally dropped. "Are you kidding me?"

I blushed. "No, he asked me out. He told me to meet him outside after school and when I saw him he told me about how his feelings for me have grown since we first met and then asked me to be his girlfriend. He gave me flowers and then took me out to this restaurant he always went to with his family as a kid. It was really sweet."

"That's awesome, Linds," my sister exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you. I'm really proud, to be honest."

I chuckled, brushing a strand of my blonde hair behind my ear. "Proud of what? My ability to be a normal teenager?"

She lightly shoved my arm. "This is a big step for you, even if you don't realize it. You may not know this but, as your big sister, I worry about you a lot. Watching you transition from this bubbly little girl to a desolate teenager all because of one traumatic event was terrifying. The fact that you're finally letting people in again makes me really happy, Lindsey."

"I..I didn't realize," I admitted, blinking hard to prevent tears from escaping my eyes. "I'm happy too, Liv."

She smiled. "Good." She cleared her throat. "Have you told Dad yet?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I'm kind of nervous."

"It'll be okay," she assured. "He's dealt with me bringing home guys for years. The fact that you're finally catching up will be a relief to him."

I scoffed. "One guy does not equal about twenty," I teased.

"Okay, rude," Olivia stated, but a big grin still rested on her lips. "We can go tell him now if you want."

"No, it's okay. I'll tell him later, by myself," I decided.

"Alright. Well, if you need any more big sister advice or have any more stories to tell, feel free to come and talk."

I nodded, standing up. "Same here, but replace 'big sister' with 'sane sister'."

"Fair point," Olivia agreed.

With that, I left her room and went back to my own, a large smile making my cheeks sore.

I grabbed my phone, which was plugged in on my nightstand, and checked for any messages. I noticed there was one from Asher, so I quickly unlocked my phone and read it. He sent a very forward message stating that he would be taking me to school the next day with no explanation. I narrowed my eyes and, after a lot of debate, dialed his number. 

He picked up after just a few rings. "What's up?" he asked.

"What's up?" I repeated. "Why are you taking me to school in the morning?"

"Because," he drawled, "that's what boyfriends do."

My face flushed. "You're really going to go that far with this whole thing?" I questioned.

"I'm treating this as the real deal, Lindsey. You're my girlfriend, and I'm going to act accordingly."

"Okay," I stuttered. "I didn't realize, but that's fine."

I heard some shuffling. "Great. Have you told any of your family yet?"

"Yeah, I just told my sister. I'll tell my dad later."

"That's good," he said. "Do you think he'll want to do a whole meet the boyfriend type of thing?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. On one hand, Olivia's had dozens of boyfriends and he never wanted to meet any of them passed the first three, but on the other hand, I've never had a boyfriend before so he might want to make sure you're the 'right guy' or whatever."

Asher coughed. "Well, whatever he decides, I'm okay with. My parents are never around, but if they do come home sometime soon, would you want to meet them?"

"Uh," I mumbled, hesitating, "sure. I don't see why not."

"Great," he announced. "How have you been?"

I smiled, relaxing back onto my pillows. "I've been fine. I did all my homework when I came home, so that was a big stress reliever."

"I just finished mine," he told me. "That English assignment was killer."

"I didn't think it was that bad," I admitted.

Asher scoffed. "Well, you are the smartest girl I know, so that makes sense."

"Really?"

"Yeah, duh," he said. "You barely even have to work for your grades which are at the top of our class. I have to study for hours just to pass."

My smile grew. "At least you try unlike all of the other neanderthals at our school," I teased.

"Did you just inadvertently call me a neanderthal?" Asher asked, a mocking tone coating his deep voice.

"A neanderthal who tries," I corrected.

He chuckled. "Wow, what a compliment. Love you too, sweetie."

My eyes widened. "I should probably get going," I stated, brushing over his joking statement."

"Alright," he said. "It was nice talking to you, Lindsey. I'll see you in the morning."

I nodded. "See you then," I agreed.

"Goodbye, girlfriend," Asher spoke in a kiddish voice.

I laughed. "Bye, boyfriend."

After pressing the red button to hang up, I set my phone on my nightstand and drifted off to sleep with a small smile still planted on my lips.