An hour later, Emily's father pulled into his cul-de-sac.

She recognized the generously sized, grey-shingled ranch with the front porch, from her brother's social media accounts. John's lanky frame, playing basketball in front with some friends, confirmed it was her father's house.

Emily's hands felt clammy.

He probably asked his friends to come over so I wouldn't talk to him about Mom... What should I say to him?

Her father pulled into the driveway. Emily got out of the car and immediately went to get her backpack from the trunk, turning her back on her brother.

She heard the basketball strike the ground behind her as John came over. Its hollow metallic ping made her ears ring and she cringed.

"Hey Em!" He hugged her over her backpack, one arm on his ball, while she patted his arm.

This is awkward... We're out of practice being in each other's company...

John took the backpack from her shoulder and led her to the edge of the driveway. He nodded at the three young men who casually lined up in front of her. "I want you to meet my friends. This is Donnie, Jerry and Kelly."

Emily stared at her brother's friends.

Donnie... Short with a stocky build, dark closely cropped hair... He's got a goofy, Cheshire-cat smile and a lot of laugh lines for his age...

The cat raised his eyebrows at John. "I see why you've hidden her from us for the past year. You probably didn't want to deal with all of us hitting on her in front of you."

Emily snickered but stopped laughing when John clenched his jaw. "Touch her and I'll kill you." He threw a hard chest pass to Donnie, who caught the ball with a grunt.

She looked at the next boy.

Jerry... Extremely tall and a little pudgy... Soft-looking, curly brown hair and a tiny mouth with thin lips... He looks like a gentle giant...

The giant waved at her. "Do you have another bag? I can help get it out of the car if you like."

Donnie shoved Jerry sideways. "You just want to get into her bedroom."

Jerry gave Donnie an icy glare. "I have a girlfriend, unlike some other people standing here."

Donnie tucked the ball under his arm, then raised his hands in a sign of surrender before backing up to continue shooting baskets. Jerry offered Emily a small reassuring nod before she turned her attention to the last boy.

Kelly... He may have a girl's name but there is nothing girly about him at all.... Well except for maybe his lips... Barefoot and shirtless... Lightly tanned lean chest and arms... Shaggy, sandy-blonde hair... Bangs grazing his eyes... Ocean-grey eyes... He looks like a surfer who is landlocked in suburbia... His name fits him perfectly...

Before she could stop herself, Emily glanced down to the bathing suit slung low on his hips accentuating his obliques.

Her mouth suddenly felt too wet. She swallowed and quickly looked back up to his face hoping he didn't catch what just happened.

Kelly didn't seem to notice. He barely looked at her and offered only the briefest greeting. "Hey."

He looks bored... Should I feel relieved or annoyed by this?

John handed Jerry her backpack to continue his game of one-on-one with Donnie. Jerry brought it inside while Emily went back to the car and leaned over into the trunk to grab her tote.

A breeze caught her skirt and started to lift it. Instinctually, she turned and reached behind to hold it down. To her surprise she found Kelly admiring her legs. His gaze travelled up to the hand holding her skirt down.

Kelly cleared his throat. He spoke low enough that her brother couldn't hear it over his game. "Nice uniform." With no offer or attempts to take the bag for her, Kelly continued to examine her.

"Thanks," she replied with a frown as she hoisted the tote over her shoulder. She turned to walk away.

Not very nice...

Before she opened the front door, she turned back to see that Kelly still watched her.

Once inside, Dad and Suzanne's two yorkies jumped up and down yapping happily for attention. Emily knelt to give them some pats and received some licks in return.

Suzanne smelled like herbs and soil when she gave Emily a big hug. "I'm so glad you came! I'm sorry we have so many plans. Let me give you a quick tour of the house."

Her stepmother led her from room to room, showing off the new furniture and fancy wallpapers. Suzanne took particular pride in showing off the pretty backyard, where she had spent her day off gardening.

When they went back inside, Suzanne handed Emily a post-it note. "Here's the wifi password. Go get settled in your bedroom. I have to get ready to leave. I'll see you in the morning." Then she headed toward the master suite.

Emily went into her room which felt like the furthest thing from that.

A blank, white box with a closet, a dresser and a daybed flanked by nightstands... No happy spring green walls, no Alphonse Mucha posters of Sarah Bernhardt and Artemis... No shelves full of my favorite books... No corkboard full of quotes and photos...

A large painful lump began to form inside of her, where her throat met her chest.

Stop before you get yourself really upset!

She opened her bag to unpack. First, she arranged all of her toiletries across the top of the dresser as close to the way she had them at home. Next, she put her clothes away in the drawers that correlated to her drawers at home. Then she hung her school cardigan in the closet and finally, lined up her shoes in the bottom.

Emily sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose at the new carpet's weird plastic smell.

I prefer the wood floor of my real bedroom...

She took out a bikini and a pair of cut-off denim shorts to change into, then grabbed her book and headed out to the back patio.

By the time she got outside, her father had taken the burgers off the grill and her brother and his friends were already making them disappear from the platter. Emily sat down to join them.

With a kiss on top of her head, her dad said, "Okay kids, I'm going to take off. Clean up after yourselves."

John called out, "Dad don't forget that I have that party tonight and I'm staying over at Kelly's after."

The boys looked at Emily, and then Jerry finally started some conversation. "So you go to an all-girl school huh?" he asked.

"Yep," Emily replied, chewing her burger.

"And how do you like that?" he further questioned.

Emily couldn't resist the opening. "Well I guess you could say that I like it a lot more than John liked going to an all-boy school. After all, I didn't leave Brooklyn to come here and go to co-ed school."

John winced. "That's not fair Em. You're different. You don't understand. You can't."

Emily raised her voice. "I'm not heartless and we certainly know I'm not brainless. Maybe if you even attempted to explain it one time instead of just disappearing, you would have found me sympathetic."

John grabbed another burger. "Everything is always so black and white with you, Emily. You won't get it." He picked up the ketchup bottle and pounded on the bottom of it over his bun.

Emily grabbed it from his hand and shoved a knife inside to ease the condiment out. "Try me!"

The other boys, unsure if they should keep eating or get up and leave, sat frozen. But her brother kept moving. He knocked over the salt and pepper as he reached for some lettuce. It clattered loudly on the glass table top. Emily flinched.

Then John bit his burger and pointed at her. He spoke with his mouth full. "See... You like everything to be perfect. You have this one track mind and you get it set on the way you want things to be... like... like a GPS! And when something happens or someone messes with your plans you can't recalculate and you freak out or freeze up."

He took another bite. "And besides that, you're not a guy. A guy needs their Dad. Mom was coming down so hard on me all the time. You don't understand the type of pressure I was under, always being told I was going to grow up to be like Dad... so I may as well run away and be like him, right?!"

She couldn't watch him chew his food anymore. Emily turned her head. "So I'm a GPS brain. Thanks."

He slammed his hands down on the table. Everything on top rattled. "Screw this! I don't need to explain anything to you." Then he got up and stormed off.

Emily lost her appetite and put down her burger. She heard John's bedroom door slam inside the house. The only sound that remained then was the whispering swish of the breeze blown leaves on the trees overhead.

Donnie broke the silence. "Well, that was awkward."

Jerry stood up and smacked Donnie on the back of the head. "C'mon Don, let's bring the dishes into the kitchen."

He turned to Kelly. "Tell John we'll meet you guys at the party."

Donnie and Jerry cleared the table and went inside. Kelly slouched back in his chair and silently glowered at her.

"What?" she asked defensively.

"You gonna swim?" He stood up and walked towards the pool. His voice was mild despite the severe look on his face.

"I think John needs some time to cool off and get ready for the party." He dove in headfirst.

Emily stood up and took off her shorts. She walked to the edge of the pool. Kelly's head emerged from the pool beneath her. He shook the water from his hair like a floppy dog.

"Is it cold?" Emily dipped one foot down toward the water to check.

Kelly reached his hand up toward her and she pulled her foot back. "Don't pull me in!" she squeaked.

He backstroked away from her. "Are you always this cautious? Just dive in."

Who is this boy that can make demands that sound like suggestions?

She hesitated as she stood on the pavers surrounding the pool.

Is it smart to put only water and lycra between myself and this confusing boy?

Then she made up her mind, took one step and jumped in.

The water was warm. Emily came up to the surface and smiled at Kelly.

"It's heated." He smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks Captain Obvious!"

She splashed him and he splashed her back. When Emily swam away toward the steps, Kelly followed.

They settled on the stairs with the sun sinking down further in the sky behind them. The air was cooler than the pool was, so they sat with the water up to their necks and stayed enveloped in its warmth.

Kelly slicked his hair back and sighed. "This is nice."

Emily chuckled. "Ignoring the emotionally charged argument I had with my brother a few minutes ago, yes this is nice."

He turned his grey eyes on her. "Your brother talks about you all the time. He knows he messed up with how he left things, but he doesn't know how to fix it. You're the one thing he misses most about his old life."

It's interesting that Kelly said "old life" instead of Brooklyn... Dad and John have indeed created entirely new lives for themselves... I don't know where I fit into those lives... And I don't know what to say to about that... I do know that it feels strange to speak about something so intimate with this boy I met only moments ago...

As she sat turning things around in her mind, John popped his head out of the patio door. "Yo, I'm ready to go," he called out.

Kelly yelled back, "One minute." Then he turned to face Emily again. "Don't tell him I told you that." Kelly walked out of the pool, wrapped a towel around his waist and left.

As Emily climbed out of the water, she realized she had not brought a towel out with her.  The evening air took away any trace of warmth she had known a minute ago, and she stood there for too long.

Finally, she grabbed her book and went into the empty house leaving a trail of wet footsteps behind her.

Once inside, Emily picked up her phone to see if she had any messages. "Nothing." She sighed.

Jenny's probably getting ready for the party right now. I'm not going to bother her with my family drama...

So Emily typed.

Have Fun!

"Somebody should..." she mumbled to herself as she pressed send.