“How are you holding up?” Natalia asked seriously when we were finally on our way back to my house. “You know, with Cris and all.” I tensed a little but relaxed quickly before she realized. “Please don’t lie to me.”

“I’m doing okay,” I said truthfully.

“Cris wouldn’t even look at me. He still isn’t talking, is he?” she asked sneaking a peak at me.

“No, but he’s getting better. He’s starting school tomorrow.”

“You know you can’t force-”

“I know dammit, but he wants to go, and I just want him to be his old self again,” I said louder than I had wanted to. Natalia flinched and fixed her eyes on the road. “I’m sorry,” I said softly, shifting my refreshed curls behind my shoulders.

“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have brought it up,” she said. After a few moments of silence, she said, “I’m moving in with my dad by the middle of the week.”

“Really?” I said suddenly happy for her. “That’s why you went shopping for so many new clothes.”

“Yeah, I may be eighteen, but I can’t live by myself right now. I most definitely cannot live with my mother anymore. I told her if she brought home one more of her druggie lowlifes, I was calling dad. I didn’t want to leave her, but I have to think about me first. She’s obviously not thinking of me when she pulls all her selfish stunts.”

“I’m sorry it had to come to that. I thought she’d be better at least for herself,” I said. Natalia’s mother was a serious addict that had been in and out of rehab numerous times. It got so bad that her father had to leave, but Natalia had chosen to stay with her mother.

“He wants nothing to do with her, but he made it clear he wanted me.” I saw her smile even though she wasn’t looking at me. “I’m just glad I have the chance to get away from my mom, you know?”

I didn’t know how she felt, so I didn’t bother pretending. My mother was someone I used to confide in all the time. We were so close; it was almost as if we could read each other’s minds. She knew immediately when I lost my virginity before I even got a chance to tell her. She was the first person I told when my ex, Joshua, and I broke up. I shared everything with her. We had no secrets. If she were still around, I wouldn’t have hesitated to tell her about Daniel.

When we got back to my house, a red-faced Leanne greeted us.

“I am not going to yell, but I need to talk to you about this disappearing act,” she said with clenched teeth. “You know you need to tell me where you’re going and not just leave the house whenever you feel like it, don’t you? Don’t just leave the house like that. Zayne and I were so worried.”

It had completely slipped my mind to let Leanne know that I was going out with Natalia. “I bought something for you,” I offered, and her face softened slightly. “Peace offering?” I handed her the small box of macarons.

She surveyed the contents. “You are half forgiven young lady,” she said taking the box from me. “The boys are in the living room.”

I walked into the living room to find all the male inhabitants of the house, who looked rather comfortable sitting on the couches and playing video games. What stood out was my little brother interacting with everybody. He was slowly coming out of his shell in the past week. Maybe going back to school won’t be such a disaster.

Zayne was the first one to see me. He nudged Cris when he did and said, “Your sister is back.” He immediately ran up to me and hugged me, causing everyone to turn to me and Natalia who had just been standing there. He didn’t look too well, and I was ready to take back my earlier thought. Was his social battery depleted already?

“Hey guys,” I greeted. “You okay, Cris?” I asked, pulling him aside. He shook his head, and a frown replaced the smile he had just a few seconds ago. “You want eat in your room?” I whispered. He nodded and ran up the stairs to his bedroom. I should’ve known. He hadn’t had this many people around all at once since our parents’ funeral.

“What’s wrong with Cris?” Zayne asked. “I told him he could go back up whenever he wanted.”

“I’m sure he was just trying not to be rude,” I said so only Zayne could hear.

“Oh, well Austin and I are headed out so I will see you later,” he said, and Austin shyly trailed behind, leaving me and Natalia in the living room.

“Where do you guys think you’re going?” I heard Leanne ask. “You’ve been cooped up in your rooms since Friday, and now you’re leaving? Nope. I’m cooking. Go back into the living room right now.” Seconds later, Zayne and Austin reappeared and fell back on the sofa with disappointed looks.

“Surprised to see you,” Natalia said to Zayne, breaking the silence. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here,” Zayne said. I could tell he was trying not to roll his eyes.

“And who are you?” Natalia asked Austin while twirling a lock of hair around her finger.

Now that I knew Zayne preferred guys, it was humorous watching other girls flirt with him. I wasn’t going to say anything though. If Zayne wanted her to know he didn’t swing in her direction, he would tell her himself.

“I’m going back to my room,” Austin said and got up, but Zayne held his hand to pull him back down. After a quick glance at a watching Natalia, he let go of Austin’s hand.

“Please stay,” he whispered then turned to me. “Nina, come here.” He opened his arms to hug me and pulled me down next to him leaving Natalia standing. Realizing her predicament, she sat on the other end of the couch beside Austin. “So, what were you girls up to today?”

“We went shopping,” Natalia said, waving her hand dismissively. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend, Zayne?” she asked, eyeing Austin. Austin shifted a bit and moved his hand to the space between his thigh and Zayne’s to hold his boyfriend’s hand. The two of them were so cute to watch.

“Austin, this is Natalia. Natalia, Austin,” Zayne said reluctantly. “She’s Nina’s friend.” He made sure to put emphasis on my name making it obvious that she was not his, but mine.

“Only her best friend,” Natalia gushed. “Austin, tell me about you. I’ve never seen you around before.”

“Oh, I’m uh Zayne’s b- friend. His friend,” he said shyly. “Nothing special about me, really.”

I just sat there watching him squirm under Natalia’s wide-eyed gaze. Natalia wasn’t going to drop anything until she knew more about him. “Anyone want to start a movie?” I asked and Zayne agreed to help me look for one we’d all like to watch.

“Oh, so how old are you?” Natalia asked Austin. Zayne mumbled something under his breath and squeezed Austin’s hand a little. Natalia never ceased to find a way to annoy him whenever she was around, and whatever she put her mind to, she was going to do it. Only this time, I didn’t think she was going to succeed.

“I’m in university,” Austin said, giving her a vague response. I was curious about his age now since he avoided answering the question.

“Ooh, I like college guys,” Natalia commented unnecessarily.

His face turned red and Zayne, who noticed, threatened to break the remote with how tight his grip got on it. I was sure Natalia flirting with his boyfriend only served to annoy him. I wasn’t sure if I needed to step in or not.

“Let’s watch a movie until the food is ready, shall we?” I said suddenly. Natalia gave me a ‘what do you think you are doing?’ look but I shrugged it off. No matter how much I loved her, she wasn’t doing anyone any good at the moment. In fact, she was causing a certain awkward tension in the air.

“Nina,” Austin started. “May I speak with you alone for a moment?”

“Sure.” I got up and he got up with me and followed me to the wall separating the living room from the dining room. “What-”

“Please stop her,” he said slowly, and I saw it pained him to say it. “I’m not comfortable and I don’t want to embarrass her so I thought I should speak to you first.” He was trying to voice his issue and be polite at the same time, but that was a little hard in this situation.

“I’m so sorry. I’ll talk to her. Zayne will probably throw the remote if I don’t. Please just bear with me until tomorrow morning,” I begged.

“She’s staying over?” He asked, eyebrows raised.

“She might.” Natalia didn’t usually come over to the house without staying over, even if it was a school night.

“I guess this isn’t my house so I shouldn’t be dictating who can stay over and who can’t, but please keep her away from me.”

“I will,” I promised.