"Morning, pumpkin," Dad greets as I walk into the kitchen Monday morning. "How did you sleep?"

I mumble an incoherent response as I grab a bowl and spoon from the cabinets.

Dad chuckles, passing me the cereal when I sit down next to him. "I can see how excited you are to go to school today."

''Ha. Ha," I say flatly, pouring some Honey Nut Cheerios into my bowl. I grab the milk from Dad's hands and splash some over my breakfast.

"Just a month and a half until summer, Mia. You can do it!" Dad encourages before getting up to rinse off his dishes. "Oh, I almost forgot."

"What?" I ask, shoveling a spoonful into my mouth.

"Jackson is starting at your high school today and I need you to pick him up."

My jaw almost drops as I digest the information. "Why is he starting now? You and Lauren won't be married until July."

Dad shrugs, placing his bowl and spoon in the dishwasher. "All I know is what Lauren told me. So can I trust you to pick him up?"

"I don't know, Dad. Josh is driving. You know they don't get along well."

"Well he has to get there somehow and Lauren is already at work," he trails, giving me a pointed look.

I throw my hands in the air in defeat. ''Okay, okay I'll ask Josh. I can't promise he'll say yes, though."

He grins and kisses the top of my head. "I'll see you after work, Mia."

"Bye, Dad."

I quickly finish my cereal and put the bowl and spoon in the dishwasher before heading to my room to get ready for school.

As I pull a t-shirt and jeans from my dresser, I send a text to Josh.

So Jackson needs a ride today.

It only takes him thirty seconds to respond.

What?

I sigh and pull on my clothes before pressing the call button.

"What?" Josh answers immediately. "Why in the world does he need a ride?"

"Because apparently, he signed up at our school and needs a way to get there."

Josh sighs. "And he doesn't have a car?"

I shrug even though he can't see me. "I don't know, Josh. My dad just told me to ask you to pick him up."

"And if I say no?"

Laughing, I make my way back into the kitchen. "You would have to deal with my father's wrath."

He pauses, probably contemplating his decision. I wait for him to collect his thoughts by making my lunch for school. I grab a paper bag from a cupboard above the microwave before starting on the peanut butter and jam sandwich.

"Fine."

I try to keep my grin from showing in my voice. "Thanks, Josh."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I'll be at your house in like one minute."

I place the finished sandwich into the bag along with a package of Scooby-Doo fruit snacks. "I'll be here."

"Bye, Mia." I can hear his smile.

I smile, too. "Bye, Josh."

***

I've never been so relieved to be at school.

After Josh and I picked Jackson up, the entire ride was silent, including the radio since Josh broke it yesterday. Needless to say, it was the most awkward drive of my life. Every time I tried to make conversation with either of them, they answered with short, choppy words.

"Are you okay there?"

I let out a short, loud yelp that garners the attention of a lot of students around me. As I almost catch someone's eyes, I quickly drop my gaze and push the vision away. The day has barely started and I've already had to push one vision away.

I risk a glance up at Josh only to see amusement written all over his face and posture. "Are you okay?" He repeats, reducing his grin to a smile.

"Yeah," I lie before walking ahead of him towards my locker.

"Hey," he murmurs and grabs my hand in his. "What's wrong?"

When I don't respond beyond staring at him - or more accurately at his ear - he pulls me with him to the group of tables in the lawn.

Josh lets out a breath of air and sits down at a table.

"Can't you be honest with me? I know you're upset about something."

A stab of guilt impales my heart as I slowly draw my eyes to meet his. "It's not anything important, Josh. It doesn't need to be resolved right now."

He gives me a flat stare.

"We're going to be late for class," I remind, desperate to drop the topic. Besides, the statement is true. Since we had to pick up Jackson, it took us longer to get to school. I'm pretty sure that class starts in five minutes.

"Then you'd better tell me what's bothering you."

I throw my hands into the air and plop down next to him. "Fine. Okay, I'll tell you. I just, I just wish that you would get along with Jackson."

The words hang between us like I told him I hate him. His posture straightens as he flickers his eyes towards something in the parking lot. I follow his gaze to see Jackson slowly walking towards the front doors.

"I don't know why you guys can't get along."

Josh snaps his attention back to me. "Seriously? He likes you, Mia. Whether or not he's trying to stop, I can't tell. But he doesn't even care about our relationship."

"You can't assume these things, Josh."

"I'm not assuming, Mia. I know. He doesn't do a good job of hiding it."

"Well, regardless of how he feels, do you really think I would ever be with him? He's going to be my step brother. There's no way on any planet that I would date him," I declare, taking a risk and grabbing his hand.

I can't help a small smile when he focuses on our clasped hands.

We sit there, side by side for several minutes, just staring at our hands intertwined.

Only when the late bell goes off do we worry about the world around us.

Josh presses a soft kiss to my forehead before standing up and bringing me with him.

"I'll try to get along with Jackson," Josh promises.

"That's all I ask."

***

I kick my shoes off when I get to my room after school and I relish in the freedoms for my feet. I almost jump onto my bed, but I'm stopped when I see a quart sized zip up bag sitting on my pillow. It's filled with something red and has a note attached to it.

"What in the...?"

That wasn't there when I went to school today.

As I get closer to the bag, I almost laugh when I see what it's full of.

Swedish Fish.

I tear the yellow paper off the bag and read the note.

'Don't dig in too quickly. There's more to this than meets the eye.'

I immediately recognize the handwriting as Josh's, dispelling my thought that it was a gift from Dad.

On the other side of the little card there's eight more words.

'Out of all the fish in the sea...'

But what do his words mean? Don't dig in too quickly?

I open the bag and pull out a handful of the gummy fish. A hint of black appears on the backs of some of the candy. After looking through the Swedish Fish for a few seconds, I realize that there's a letter on the back of half of them. I sort the written on gummy candies from the regular ones.

A L O H G T W I E W P M S U J Y M T H I L O U O R O M ?

27 letters? Josh wants me to decipher a message of 27 letters and a question mark?

Against my wishes, I begin to think through the possibilities of what he might be trying to tell me.

After thirty minutes of trying with no success, I pick up my phone and dial Elizabeth.

"Wassup, Mia?"

"I need some help."

"Okay," she agrees like I knew she would. "I'll be over in five."

True to her word, Elizabeth walks into my room five minutes later. "So what can I do you for?"

"Josh left this bag of Swedish Fish on my bed - who knows when - but he wrote letters on the back of half of them and I'm trying to figure out what the message is." I reach over to my bedside table and grab the yellow note. "And this was stapled to the bag."

As she reads the note, a smirk grows on her lips.

"What are you smiling for?"

"I think I know what's going on, but let's figure this out first."

"What?" How does she have any idea what this is about?

Elizabeth doesn't answer me as she looks over the letters. "Okay. So there are letters that could spell your name and Joshua's name, but only if it's only written as Josh because there's only one 'A'."

"I've figured that much out, but how do we know if he did that?"

"We don't know until we finish it all," she comments, biting her lip. Then she gazes up at me. "Do you mind if I try something?"

I put my hands in the air and let her go for it.

She immediately begins rearranging the letters, starting with four letters right away.

My eyes zero in on the letters she separated. "Prom?!"

Elizabeth grins at me. "If it's what I think it is, then yes."

A smile fights to the surface and I try to wipe it away. Prom? Josh is asking me to prom?

"Done!" Elizabeth shouts, springing off my bed so she can bow.

I lean over the Swedish Fish and read the message.

'WILL YOU GO TO PROM WITH ME? JOSHUA'

"'Out of all the fish in the sea... will you go to prom with me?'" Elizabeth quotes. "Now isn't that just adorable?" She suddenly gasps. "Can I help you answer him?!"

I can only nod, my eyes still skimming the small black letters inked onto the candies.

I'm still staring at the message when Elizabeth hops back onto my bed with paper and a pen.

"I have the perfect idea on how to answer," she gushes. She begins to make notes on the paper. "We could use goldfish and make some blue Jello in a fishbowl! Then we place the goldfish on top and-"

"Elizabeth," I interrupt, laughing. "How about something a little easier?"

Without waiting for her to argue why her idea is better, I grab the pen and paper from her and draw my idea.

Elizabeth grins when she sees the finish product. "Now that's perfect."

***

"Are you just going to lay it on the ground?" Elizabeth asks as we pull up in front of Josh's house.

I shake my head before reaching back and grabbing my answer to Josh. "I'm going to place it on top of his car. I would put it inside his car, but that would require having his car keys."

"Good luck," Elizabeth whispers after me when I step out of the car.

My eyes skip to Josh's house where I see the lights on in the living and in Josh's room.

I keep my steps as light and fast as I can on my way to Josh's car. I cut off a strip of tape (one that I made sure wouldn't damage his car) and tape the wooden dowel to the top of his car so the little paper fish is hanging over the driver side window.

I take one last look at the words 'You Caught Me' on the paper fish tied to a string, which is tied to the dowel, before jogging back to my car.

Out of the corner of my eye I see the porch light turn on and I quickly start the car. My heart starts pounding in my chest as I drive away from the Meyers' house.

Just as I turn the corner, I see the front door open.

"That was so close!" Elizabeth whisper shouts, grinning like a mad man as the house fades from view. "Look, I'm shaking from excitement! We should do this more often!"

"What, get asked to prom and have to answer? It's not like that happens often," I point out, switching on my blinker before I turn.

***

"What's your favorite song?" Josh asks on the way to school.

I shoot him an uneasy glance, "That question is nearly impossible to answer, you know that right?" I clench my hands together, trying to stop them from shaking and/or fidgeting. Ever since I stepped foot in his car this morning, I've been waiting for him to bring up the paper fish I left for him on his car. We've been driving for nearly five minutes now and neither of us have said anything about it.

"How so?"

I almost scoff. "How so? Do you know how many songs there are in the world? How many I have to choose from? I could no sooner pick a favorite star in the sky!"

Josh chuckles, "Okay, fair enough. Can you name a song that you really like?"

What's he doing?

I keep a wary eye on him as I spew out, "When She Loved Me from Toy Story 2."

He lets out a bark of laughter and I vaguely notice him pulling into the student parking lot. When he gets the car parked, he gives me an 'are-you-crazy' look. "That song is so sad! How could it be a favorite?"

"Because it has emotion behind it," I declare. "Plus, it is sung by Sarah McLachlan and she's amazing."

Josh shakes his head before exiting his car. I follow him in silence as he directs me to my locker. Then, as I pull out my books, he leans against the locker beside mine.

"So," he drags out, waiting for me to catch his eye. "I found this thing on my car last night." I chuckle nervously at his statement which makes his smile widen. "You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?"

"What? Pshh. No way."

I place the last book in my backpack and close my locker as Josh laughs.

"So I'm assuming that that was your clever answer?"

I nod before starting to walk towards first period.

"I am actually impressed with how you answered," he utters. "I wasn't entirely sure what you were going to do."

"You doubted me?" I say with a smirk.

"No. Never." Then he wraps his arm around my shoulder. "Just you wait, Mia. Prom is going to be the best night of your life."

So I know this is all rough but I'm just trying to get this story finished before I leave Wattpad for 18 months. I'll probably make some tweaks when I get back.

Thanks for reading!