I feel a nudge on my arm. "Earn," I hear Alex say. "Wake up."

I lift my head up. "Hm?" I was resting my head on his shoulder. I push up my glasses, and I sit up in my seat, my eyes still adjusting to the light on the bus.

"Our stop is next," he says.

"Oh... okay," I reply as I rub my eyes. The sky has a beautiful shade of orange which fades into purple which fades into a dark blue. The clouds are light pink.

I pull my phone out of my pocket to check to time, and I see that it's six o'clock already. We've been out for three hours. It seemed a lot shorter than that, but we probably spent most of our time walking in and out of shops. My parents haven't texted me or anything, which probably means they're not home from work yet. Their transit is long, almost two hours, but that's because they take public transportation.

The bus halts to a stop, and Alex and I get up from our seats and get off the bus.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Alex asks. We're standing right in front of the café where I work.

"I think I can walk myself home," I say. "Unless we're walking in the same direction." I point down the street where my house is.

"I guess we're walking different ways," Alex says. "Well goodnight, then. See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight," I say back to him, walking down my street. Alex crosses the road. I guess we really were going separate ways.

I walk home, and before I make it there, I see someone walk up onto the porch and ring the doorbell. But no one's home. The person waits there, and I try walking slower so we don't have to meet awkwardly. But they just stand there. Eventually, I make it to my house, and I see the person. I accidentally scrape my feet against the sidewalk, and the person looks in my direction.

"Do you live here?" he asks me.

I hesitate to speak, and I walk up to the door to him. The person's not as tall as me, and he's a little younger than me. But he is noticeably muscular.

"Y-yes," I say, answering his question.

"I'm here to see Rain," he says. I haven't heard that name in a while,"We met last week. I told her I'd be coming today."

My heart drops after he says that. This is Chester. My dead sister's boyfriend.

"Oh, um... I'm her—" I stop myself to think about this. "I'm her brother. Who are you?" I ask, even though I clearly knew who this was.

"I'm Chester. Me and your sister kinda have this thing going on, y'know?" Chester says as he scratches his head. This is so painful to see him like this.

I nod. "Yeah, I... don't think she's home now."

"She's not replying to any of my texts," he says. "Well okay. I'll come back some other day."

"Okay," I reply as Chester walks down the steps and down the sidewalk.

I take out my key and unlock the door. When I get inside, I swing my backpack, the one I've lugged around all day, off my shoulders onto the ground. I sit down at the dining room table after taking off my shoes (my mom's scared of germs coming into the house after an article she read online about it) and just stare at the table.

That was Chester. I feel bad for him since he's obviously oblivious to everything that has happened and doesn't know anything about what happened to my sister. And because my parents don't know about him, they won't tell him. And I don't want to tell him, since I can't take crushing someone's feelings. And it hurts to know that he's been texting her, and he's still waiting for her to reply. I'm sure her phone is in her room, but my parents don't want to go in her room for some reason. If they won't, then I definitely won't do that either.

The front door opens and my mom steps inside. I quick pull my phone out of my pocket and start doing something so it looks like I've been an it this whole time and not just staring at the table.

"Hi, Earnie," she says as she takes off her coat. "How was school?"

I put down my phone. "It was okay. Nothing really happened."

She has a forced smile on her face that eventually becomes a straight face. "I just wanted to let you know that... the funeral is tomorrow."

I look at the table again. "Oh," I say quietly.

"So you won't be going to school tomorrow since the service is at nine o'clock. Your dad and I decided that you just shouldn't go to school."

"Okay..." I say. I stand up and pick up my backpack, bringing it to my room upstairs. I'm not trying to avoid my mom, it's just that we always get into these awkward situations where she waits for me to respond and I don't know how to. But I guess I should start my homework, anyway.

My phone buzzes beside me at my desk, and I look down at the notification to see what it was.

Message from Alex❤️

hi earn, just wanted to thank u for coming along today! i had a lot of fun.

I may or may not have added that heart next to his name a few hours after he added his contact to my phone.

Me: Thank you for inviting me. I had fun too!

Alex❤️: maybe we can go out again sometime.

Me: Maybe.

Alex❤️: i can't wait until next time.

Me: I can't go to school tomorrow.

Alex❤️: why not?

Me: It's for my sister.

Alex❤️: oh, ok. i guess i'll see u on friday, then.

Me: I didn't mean to tell you last minute.

Alex❤️: it's fine, earn. it's for ur sister. i can't hold you back from doing that.

Me: Thanks for understanding.

Alex❤️: of course!

. . .

I put my phone on the nightstand, ready to go to bed. I'm already dress in my pajamas (well, it's really just a t-shirt and pants) and I crawl into bed. I look at my phone, and reach out my hand to pick it up. I think he should still be awake. It's almost eleven o'clock.

Me: Goodnight, Alex.

I wait for his response, but nothing happens. Not even the replying icon shows up. A few minutes pass by. Maybe he is already asleep. I put my phone back on the nightstand and turn off the light, take my glasses off, and close my eyes, eventually falling asleep.

Then I hear a buzzing sound, and I wake up. I'm a pretty light sleeper. The phone screen is bright, and I check the time: 12:19. I pick up my phone and lower the brightness to it's not blinding me in the middle of the night. I look at the text, and my heart flutters.

Alex❤️: goodnight earnest!❤️