Well now we just have to find the house... Man was I lucky that this bus stopped was at the end of the block, the block where she lives. Well, I still had no idea why I remembered this girl or this large blue house- well practically a mansion. Thought what I did know was that I needed to understand these hazy pictures that were floating inside my mind.

I walked up the block, reading the house numbers. 3070... 3069... 3068... 3067... Wow... All of these houses are so darn large. I looked up ahead at the rest of the houses. They were all painted a plain blue, yet still looked quite expensive. The houses were at least 3,000 square feet or bigger each as far as I could tell. Plus there was like no traffic nearby either. Man do I wish that I lived here. 3066... This place looked almost deserted, except for the occasional car parked in the driveways. The birds chirped and the sound of my footsteps were the only audible noises around. Eerie, am I right? 3065. I'm here! I hope this is the place where that girl lives... and that someone's home...

I unlocked a white gate that I can easily see over. Honestly it seemed more like a decorative gate, rather than a purposeful one. The off-white streaked gate creaked as I pushed it out of my way and stepped into the yard. I looked up at the house, there was a mat at the foot of the door. It's illegible, but from what I can see, it seems welcoming. Leading up to the door is a path of seven round stepping stones. Down at my feet is where the path started. I can do this, after all I'm already on the first stone... Just 6 more to go. I can do this... Right?

When I finally reached the door, I just stared at the white door in front of me for a few seconds. Down at my feet was the shaggy welcome mat. It read, 'My house is your house, unless you're my ex.'. I stood there confused for a moment, glancing at the mat for a second, not really understanding it's meaning.

I eventually decided to ring the doorbell, after some pondering on what that mat even meant. I took a few steps back from the door and started waiting. I shifted impatiently and full of uncertainty.

After a few seconds of waiting, I began to pace around the lawn, trampling an oblong circle on the wet, misty grass. As the grass touched my white sneakers, I could feel the water slowly soaked my shoes, but that didn't worry me as I was too caught up worrying about who would answer the door. That is if anyone would at all. My pace slowly sped up, the grass lightly crunching under my feet as I got more enveloped in my own thoughts.

I clenched my fists, really wanting to scream as my second thoughts creeping through my mind. Why oh why did I decide to do this!?

I heard a small creek. I stop in my tracks, glancing around the empty area, trying to figure out where the sound came from or if I just imagined it. Nothing seeming any different from when I first entered the yard, other than the stomped on grass. As my gaze meets the door, I realized that it was now open and a tall man in his late thirties was standing there. "Umm... I'm sorry, I think that I got the wrong house..." I uttered embarrassed, as I began to walk away, staring down at my feet in shame.

The man looked at me, I could feel his confused, yet intrigued gaze on my back. "By chance, are you my daughter's friend?" He asks me, a hint of hopefulness in his voice, while I continued to slowly walk back towards the short white gate at the front of his yard.

I turned around slowly, giving him a questioning look. "You have a daughter?"

He nodded before speaking. "Yeah, have you met Kaylee?"

The name didn't sound familiar, but I knew that this is the right house, so I asked another question, "Is she a tall girl with brown hair and always wears cargo pants?" I described the blurry girl that I kept remembering. I smirked slightly, knowing asking this question would get me exactly the information that I needed.

"That's my girl." The supposed father of Kaylee gestured for me to come inside. "What's your name, kiddo?"

"My name's Aurora." I offered politely, placing my hand over my heart and bowing dramatically.

"Nice name," He responded before pausing thoughtfully to think. "Aurora... Oh! I remember you're the girl that my daughter always mentions is pretty!" He chuckled to himself, before continuing. "My name is Jack, by the way."

My cheeks flushed a bit and the complement put a smile on my face. "I never knew that she called me that." I replied, my joyfulness evident in my tone.

"You must be cold in just that short-sleeved shirt, Aurora, come in and have something to eat." I glanced down at my light blue shirt which was blowing in the wind. The wind rushed past me, and it felt like it was trying to blow me away. I guess that might as well go in. It is quite cold out.

I walked inside the house, marveling at the large open space and the polished wooden stairs to the right. The man closed the door behind me, I'm still a bit suspicious about if he's really the girl's father. Jack walked over to a table which has some cookies on them, they have an indent in the middle that looks to be filled with jelly. He offers me one and I gladly accept, though I hesitated to eat it until he takes a bite of his cookie first. They were delicious, filled with cherry jelly and chewy but crunchy at the edges.

My friend's father walked off again, this time over to a fancy kitchen opposite the table and past the front door. I'm quite surprised that I didn't notice it earlier. I continued looking around, I see that there is a flat screen TV and some armchairs, so I assumed that it's the living room. Part of the living room is hidden behind the stairs, I observed as I walked towards an armchair.

I sat on the armchair to the left of the tv, as I finish my cookie and ask interested, "How did you make these cookies? I'd never been able to make thumbprint cookies be chewy in the middle, but also have that crunchy edge before."

He chuckled before speaking. "Oh that? That was an accident. I personally prefer Husarenkrapfen chewy on the outside."

"A hus-ar-n-crap?" I asked, slightly confused on what Kaylee's father is calling the thumbprint cookies.

"Husarenkrapfen is what my daughter likes to call these cookies, her mom is German, and the name just stuck."

"Hmm." I reply with a shrug, looking out the large windows across from my chair and back at Jack. "I was going to ask you for the recipe, but since it was an accident, may I ask what you did differently on making them this time?"

"I added a fourth of a cup less water than usual." He replied, coming over to sit on a nearby armchair. Jack sits on the armchair to my right and I'm guessing that he is sitting in the best spot in the room to watch tv as it is on the wall directly in front of him.

I nodded, "That's quite interesting, maybe I'll try that sometime."

"Well, I'm certainly never doing it again." He replied with a chuckle.

I leaned back in the armchair, it's too short to support my head but man this chair is so comfy that I would sleep in it if I could just lay my head down. I chuckled along with him before letting out a long yawn.

"Wow, you must be tired." He stated as a light grin crossed his face. "Are you going to take a nap before Kay arrives?"

"Kay? Oh... you mean Kaylee." I replied a bit confused at first, though my tone changed to understanding really quickly.

He just nods in reply.

"When does she usually arrive here?" I asked, still leaning into the armchair, practically cuddling it at this point.

"In a few hours, after school ends. You're welcome to take a nap while you wait." He chucklesd softly at the end of his sentence.

I sat up. "Umm, no I'm good thanks." I replied, now slightly embarrassed. I looked down at the coffee table in between us and I grab another cookie, taking a bite of it to distract myself from the silence that I had created.

Jack walked off for a moment, seemly gone into the kitchen. "Would you like a drink?" He called from the distance, breaking the silence.

"Can I have a glass of water?" I hollered back, the embarrassment wearing off because of his kindness.

I heard some clinking of glasses and running water, before Jack eventually came back over and sits on the arm chair on the other side of the coffee table from me, where he was sitting before.

"There you go." He said, placing the glass on the coffee table between us, but closer to me than him. Then he took a sip from his glass.