"Amber... Amber, wake up!"

"Ugh, five more minutes..." My voice trailed off as I slowly drifted off to sleep.

"No!" Grayson yelled. "Up, now! I'm making pancakes!"

"I'm not hungry, Dolly..." I mumbled.

"Everyone is hungry in the mornings. You're eating my pancakes whether you like them or not."

The truth is, I was pretty hungry. And pancakes sounded really good. It was just that after the night before, I didn't really feel like eating. I'd rather have stayed in bed to sulk, to be honest. And since my life was already hell, I didn't want to make it worse by getting fat. I didn't want pancakes.

"Grayson, I'm not hungry!" I yanked his blankets over my head.

"Stop lying to me, Amber. I know why you're saying no, and I'm not tolerating it. Let's go! Downstairs now!" He grabbed my hand and tried to pull me off the bed. I gave in and got up.

"Gosh, thanks dad..." I murmured.

"What was that?" He glared at me.

"Oh, nothing!" I smiled.

"Here, you can take a shower and put this on if you want." He tossed me another shirt and a towel.

"Pants?" I asked. Once again, he laughed and shook his head no. I rolled my eyes and walked into his bathroom.

After a quick but relaxing shower, I dried off and got dressed. I looked down at my bare legs. Really? No pants? Thanks, horny ass bitch.

When I reached the stairs, the smell of pancakes made me start drooling. Well, not really, but I felt like I would.

Grayson was shovelling pancakes onto our plates. He was still shirtless and wearing the same pair of sweatpants that he slept in. "It smells good." I said. I leaned against the counter. Noticing my presence, he turned around and eyed me up and down. I blushed, feeling awkward and exposed.

Noticing my blushing and awkwardness, he smirked and let out a small laugh.

He handed me a plate with two pancakes. "I'm okay with just one, Grayson." There was no way I was gonna eat two. He was lucky he was actually getting me to eat breakfast at all.

"Well too bad. Bambi is going to eat two pancakes, whether she likes it or not." He took his plate and sat down at the table, me following behind. He handed me the syrup. I poured a small amount on, because syrup is really sugary and I don't need to add those extra calories, but having none would probably seem suspicious.

"That was really good!" I brought my plate over to the sink. Without hearing a response, I turned around. "Stop staring at my butt, Dolly." I crossed my arms, facing him. "Sorry, I couldn't help it. You look cute when you're wearing one of my shirts." He smirked. I spun around quickly to hide the blush creeping up my neck.

"I was hoping we could just hang out all day, and when my mom comes home from work at 4:00 you can meet her." He said. I nodded. "What about your dad?" I asked. "He's on a business trip. He won't be back for another week." Grayson replied.

I followed him back upstairs to his room. "Tomorrow night there's a party. Come with me?" He asked, running his fingers through his hair. "I don't know... Parties aren't really my thing..." I'd only been to one other party, and it was with my ex-friend. She promised to stay with me the whole time, but ended up getting drunk and ditching me. She even left me there and I had to walk home. She moved after a while and we lost touch.

"Please? I'll stay with you the whole time!" He got on his knees and held his hands together, begging me. How could I say no to that face?

"Alright, I guess. But you have to stay with me unless I tell you otherwise!" I demanded.

"I will, Bambi."

*****

"Grayson, I'm home!" His mom yelled. He signalled for me to follow him downstairs, so I obliged.

"Mom, this is Amber. Amber, this is my mom," he introduced us.

"It's nice to meet you, miss Anderson. I smiled.

"Please, call me Julie." She turned to Grayson.

"Grayson, you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend!" She squealed.

And then I saw what no human had ever seen before. Grayson blushed.

"She's not my girlfriend, mom." He scratched the back of his neck.

"Oh, I see..." She winked at him and walked into the kitchen with a huge smile plastered on her face. I laughed.

"Shut up, Bambi!" He crossed his arms. What a child...

"Amber, will you be staying with us for dinner?" Julie asked.

"Oh, I'd love to! Thank you."

She smiled and returned to the kitchen.

His mom was really nice. It actually kind of upset me... I wished so badly that I had such a kind, loving, normal mom. I'd never know what it felt like to have a kind hearted woman cook me meals every evening, and actually be interested in my life.

"You okay?" He interrupted my thoughts.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I zoned out."

*****

Dinner went well, and I found out that Grayson's mom was a kindergarten teacher. Luckily, at that point Grayson had actually given me pants to wear, even though it seemed to disappoint him.