I picked up my phone.

"I hope you're taking care of yourself. Sorry again :)" Andrew texted.

"Let me know when you loosen up," Jacob texted.

"Have you reconsidered going to the movies?" Ethan texted.

"Go fuck yourself" I typed to Jacob. I paused. Do I want to engage? I had two other people who were being a lot nicer to me. But, I wanted to stand up for myself and not swallow the pain. I deleted the message. "I know you're insecure but could you leave me alone? Otherwise, I'll tell the principal."

Three dots pop up indicating Jacob's typing. It disappeared.

"Sorry," he said.

I shook my head.

"Yeah, I'd actually really like to go to the movies," I texted to Ethan. "But I told my parents I am sick and can't leave."

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because then they'll be suspicious."

"Suspicious of what? I knew you dealt drugs."

"No, I don't know. They're just like that."

"You've got a window, right?" He asked.

"Yeah..." I said. No response. I waited thirty minutes. No response. "Why?"

A face appears in my window. I jumped letting out a small scream. Fucking Ethan stood there looking through the glass. He waved. Did he memorize where I lived? Sitting on my knees I tried to communicate through layers of soundproof material.

"Open the window." I could barely hear him say.

"I can't. There's a screen," I said. Putting his hand to his ear, he couldn't register. "There's a screen!"

"Bust it open."

"No, I don't know how."

"Meet me in your backyard." He walked off.

"What?" I watched him go. Oh, great. How do I get into the backyard without my parents noticing? My backyard door was located parallel to the kitchen.

I opened my bedroom door and heard out into the dining room and kitchen. I heard my Mom watching T.V. There was no way I could get by her. In a normal situation, I could just tell her I felt better and that I was going out, but my parents were weird.

Sneaking over to the door, I opened it up.

"Amber?" My mom asked, turning her head.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm meeting up with Alyxi."

"Kind of late."

"Yeah, we're going to watch a movie."

"Oh, okay. Well, you know where the keys are, right?"

"Yeah," I smiled. "Thanks."

As I walked out, Ethan played with my dog, a golden retriever mutt, to the left of my house away from the windows.

"Hey," I said as I approached.

"Hey." He said. "What's your dog's name?"

"Tracey."

Standing, he made a large gesture away from the backyard wearing a tank top with Nirvana printed on the front. It tucked into his black, ripped jeans, with a plaid shirt tied around his waist. For once, he didn't have a lot of makeup on. Expression kind, I wondered why he chose to dress down.

He took me to his car, an old pickup truck with its paint chipped off, and he took the keys out of his pockets.

"Ey! Ey!" I heard a booming voice from the front door. My Dad, in his boxers, shouted. Oh god, he must have seen us through the window. "Who are you!? What are you doing with my daughter!?"

To my horror, he started walking towards us, scraping his slippers on the concrete fake stone ground.

"Oh, shit!" Ethan said.

"Sorry, Dad. This is a friend of Alyxi's."

"What's your name? What are you doing on my lawn?" He asked.

Ethan opened my side of the truck and shoved me in. "Name's Ethan. Nice to meet you!"

He ran to his side and got in his truck. As quickly as he could, he turned on the truck and pumped the gas. The entire car veered forward as we took off down the street. Looking back, he made sure Dad wasn't following us. The last thing Dad said was:

"Hey! Hey!!!"

My phone started to ring. Too confused otherwise, I looked at it. It was my Dad. Ethan grabbed my phone and tossed it at the back of his truck.

"What are you doing!?"

"Don't answer it," he said.

"What are you doing!?!" I said. "He's going to call the cops."

"That's not the first time I've had the cops called on me," he said. "Don't worry about it. We're kids. Cops don't give a shit. Trust me." He strengthened his grip on the steering wheel. "So, where are we going?"

"I don't know. I am dead tomorrow."

He laughed. "Your Dad's not going to kill you, man."

"Yeah, he is."

Ethan didn't really get it because his Mom was cool, but my Dad was explosive. My parents didn't ground me, and they didn't have to. Dad would abuse me for the month.

"He'll get over it," he said. "Have you eaten?"

"No."

"Alright, I know this really good Sushi place.

Fishing my phone out of the back of his truck, between the seats, I got a few more texts. About twenty from my Mom, five from my Dad, a couple from Alyxi, and one from Andrew.

"I'm sorry about what I did to you. I thought we'd have fun, but I think I hurt your feelings. Can we talk?" Alyxi texted.

"Hey, are you free now? I just want to talk. Having a bad day again."

"It's okay Alyxi. We can speak tomorrow. "I texted Alyxi. I turned to Ethan. "Can my boyfriend join us? He's having a bad day."

"Three's a crowd," he said. "We're on a date, come on man."

"Oh..." I said. "I didn't know that."

Breathing, he stared at me. He contemplated for a moment and recognized my mental state.

"Alright, fine. Tell him we're at Haru Sushi."

Annoyed, he turned and entered the Japanese restaurant. Since it was Thursday, it was only somewhat crowded. Once inside, we both got seated near the back on sleek black booths surrounded by very modern designs and dim lighting. Ethan and I sat opposite of one another as the waitress gave us menus.

"Thanks," Ethan said, opening it.

"I've never had sushi before..."

His eyes widened. "What?"

"I don't like fish."

"You haven't had sushi at all?"

"No."

"Okay, well, there are a few beginner's choices. There's the California roll, the Philadelphia roll, and...the spicy tuna roll."

"What do you recommend–"

"Hello," a waitress interrupted us. "What can I get you to drink?"

"Coke," I said.

"Water is fine," he said and turned to me. "I recommend the California roll. It's only like crab."

"Are you ready to order?" the waitress asked.

Before Ethan responded, I did. "We're waiting for someone."

Ethan forced a smile. Another boy plopped down next to me. It took me a moment to register it was Andrew because he has light pink, messy hair. Trying to seem calm, he smoothed it out and took the menu. His fingers were stained with pink. Kind of like Ethan, he was wearing a very punk outfit – a long shirt with a skull on it and a black leather jacket.

"Hey, have you ordered?" he asked.

"Your hair is pink," I said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, just dyed it." He looked at Ethan. "Sup."

"Nice hair, bro."

"Thanks, man."

Andrew breathed in and out. Did he run here?

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, what are you doing? On a date?" he asked and split his chopsticks.

"Uhm..." I said. "So, you're having a bad day?"

"It's slowly getting worse."

"Sorry."

"We were supposed to have a private conversation? Maybe?" Andrew said.

"Sorry. I was hanging out with Ethan."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"Sorry..."

"My family is fucking insane. They started literally throwing shit at me today, and I don't fucking get it. My brother is a huge asshole, and you know what they do about it? Blame me. And for what? Nothing."

"Why?" I asked.

"I don't fucking know."

"I also had a bad day, so...I'm sorry."

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Why? I'm your boyfriend."

I made a face at Ethan.

"Her Dad caught us together, and we sort of took off on him," Ethan said.

"So, now I can't come home."

"I thought you weren't having sex with people," Andrew said.

"We're not. He caught us driving to the movies."

Andrew breathed. "I can't go home either, so..."

"What would you guys like to eat?" the waitress interrupted us again. With a pleasant smile, she waited.

"I don't know what I was – you guys go ahead of me."

"I'll have the California roll," I said.

"Shio-koji salmon.*

'Krab Salad Sushi," Andrew said.

"Thank you," the waitress said, taking our menus.

"Sleepover at my place then." Ethan smiled.

"Are you cool with threesomes?" Andrew asked us. I didn't laugh. Andrew said the stupidest shit.

"Why do you keep bringing up sex, my man?" Ethan said.

"I was just kidding."

"It's not funny."

"Amber and I are waiting to have sex anyway."

I guess this was right about when I thought I should tell him about Alyxi. Wow. I was truly the biggest slut in the world. But, telling him was the right thing to do since I already went behind his back and dated Ethan.

"Alyxi and I tried to have sex tonight. It didn't go well." Before Andrew could get mad, I continued, "I thought maybe we could practice for you guys."

"Are you fucking serious? I told you we could wait." Mad described Andrew lightly. Face red, I could tell he was fuming; he was just composing himself for Ethan. "Practicing? Why do you have to practice?"

Feeling stupid, I stared at my drink which the waitress brought not that long ago. I watched the bubbles fizz.

"It happens. It's okay," Ethan said.

"I'm not talking to you."

"I don't know. I wanted to conquer my fears," I said.

"Why couldn't you conquer it with me? I was going to talk to you about it."

"Yeah, but..." I said. "I wanted to do it with Alyxi. I wanted to try."

"You're strong enough to wait."

Ethan made a face.

"What do you mean she's strong enough? She doesn't need your validation, and she doesn't owe you her body." Ethan said. "If she wanted to have sex with Alyxi then why can't she?'

"She wants it to be perfect, so it should be perfect."

"Do you want it to be perfect?" Ethan asked.

"Yes...?"

"Was it perfect with Alyxi?"

"No...."

Ethan sighed and raised his eyebrows. "Maybe you shouldn't date Alyxi."

"No, she's really nice. We just didn't know what we were doing, and I panicked."

"What happened?" Andrew asked.

My phone blings. I got a text from Jacob.

"Sorry. I am autistic and sometimes I don't know what to say."

"So? I am autistic." I texted back.

"Stop texting people while we're talking," Andrew said.

"Sorry," I lowered my phone.

"Stop bossing her around."

Andrew sort of snapped out of it and withdrew. Our food is put down in front of us. A row of sushi presented itself to me on the plate, and it looked meh. Ethan got a legit dish, and I wished I had ordered something else. At least Andrew got something worse than mine. His looked disgusting.

"Can I have a fork?" I asked the waitress.

"Use your fingers. You're supposed to eat it in one go," Ethan said.

"Come on, you have guts of steel. You can take it," Andrew said.

I stuffed one in my mouth. Boy, this was a lot to munch on at once. A ball of rice is hard to swallow. The crab, avocado, and cucumber tasted fine, though. It didn't offend me as I suspected.

"Want some of mine?" Andrew asked.

He picked one up with a chopstick and put it on my plate. Okay, well, I guessed I had to. I try and eat it, and it tasted similar to mine. I nodded.

"It's good," I said with my mouth full.

"My family isn't a huge fan of me dating, and got so pissed that I went out."

"Same," I said.

"They don't think I actually like you. They think I am just using you."

"Your Mom and my Dad might be the same person."

"I might be trying to find a place soon."

They're kicking you out?" I asked.

"Yeah..." he said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That's horrible."

"Can I stay at your place?" Andrew asked me.

"I don't know. I don't think my Dad would let me. I can try."

"You could stay with me," Ethan said.