hear the front door open and I peek from over the couch, expecting it to be one of the guys only to find Colette and Sophie by the door.

"Guys?" I uncross my legs and get up. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at school."

"We were," Sophie answers. "Today's a Friday, we finish early."

"Right, I forgot."

The reason I wasn't at school with them is that I couldn't bring myself to go to school. I tried so many times, but every time I tried going, I just feel this random tug at my heart and I don't bother with it anymore.

Every time, I get ready, hoping that I'd go there and act normal. I start freaking out and I lose all hope in trying. I don't cry. I don't sob. I don't break down. I just stand there, feeling as if my heart is being weighed down. I try and I lose hope.

Fortunately, I'm starting to get better, kind of. After all, it has been only three days since dad's funeral.

"Well, what are you guys doing here?" I ask them.

"We came to spend some time with you," Lottie answers.

"Yeah, we realized that school is weird without you and we really miss you," Sophie says and I smile at her.

"I missed you guys too," I step forward hugging them and they hug me back.

I realize that they're still standing by the opened door. "Well, come in."

"We actually brought you a gift with us," Soph says excitedly.

"A gift?" I grin. "Where?" I try searching for something with them, but I find nothing.

"Right here." Then Riley's head pops from the doorway, smiling at me.

"Riley!" I basically scream and I run over to her, hugging her tightly and she hugs me back as hard as she could.

"Aw, I missed you! I missed you! I missed you!" She exclaims, squeezing the living hell out of me.

"I missed you too!" I choke out. For a tiny person, Riley can squeeze a soul out of a living creature with her hug.

She pulls away from me and my respiratory system starts working again. "How are you doing, baby?" She squeezes my hands.

"I'm okay," I smile, nodding.

"I'm sorry I couldn't arrive earlier, I had to convince dad into letting me go by telling him that I'll elope if he doesn't agree," she grins.

I laugh. "It's okay, I'm just glad you're here." I grab her in another small, quick hug before I let go.

"Well, this is a girls' day. Let's have the time of our lives!" Sophie announces and slams the door shut.

"Which is why we'll do nothing but spend countless hours with each other, talking about other people, you and Luke and how Brazil is starting to convince me to become a stripper," Riley lists.

"You better not become a stripper without me," Sophie warns her, walking over the couch and throwing herself on it.

"I'm not coming to visit you guys, if you do," Lottie decides, sitting on an arm chair, dangling her legs off the arm.

Riley takes a seat on the other smaller couch, lying down on it and she pats her stomach to me. I lay down on the other side, putting my legs on her stomach. It's how we always sit. I know I'm the tallest and I should get the longest couch, but Sophie is the 'oldest', so she's the one 'who gets the biggest couch'. I warned her before that it's my house and I can easily kick her out and she complained to mum. Mum smacked me with her wooden spoon and proceeded to tell me how Sophie is a 'guest' and 'guests shouldn't be treated like that'.

She's my best friend anyways, it's not like it matters.

"I'm not gonna be a stripper without you, of course. You're the flexible one out of all of us, so you'll get me the job," Riley tells Sophie.

"Exactly."

"How are things with Luke?" Riley taps my leg.

I immediately smile at the thought of him. "It's going okay. He's leaving in a couple of weeks for college. In Italy."

"But, you're going to Australia," she frowns.

"Yeah, long-distance relationship," I explain shortly.

"No way," her eyes widen. "You're going to do a long-distance relationship? You hate long-distance relationships."

"I know, but I'm willing to try for me and Luke. I can't just let him go like that," I shrug.

"Anna, you despise long-distances. Remember what happened with Anne and your dad? You hated long-distance because of what happened between them."

"Yes, I know that, but mum and dad managed to fix up what happened between them and I think Luke and I could make it work," I say confidently.

"Wow," Riley stares at me with shock. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're in love with the guy."

"Yeah, no shit," Colette snorts and Sophie nods her head in agreement.

I stay quiet because for some reason, declining that feels weird. "Maybe," I answer.

"Aw," Riley puts her hand on her chest. "I'm so happy for you, Anna. Luke is an amazing guy and you deserve the absolute best. Actually I now just remembered that Sophie was threatening him an hour ago."

"What?" I ask in confusion.

"Okay, yes, we threatened him-" Sophie starts.

"No, no," Colette disagrees. "You threatened him, we watched."

"Fine, yes, I threatened him but only because we wanted to spend time with you and he has been coming here after school everyday, so we had to tell him to give us some 'girls time'. Besides, it's not like I threatened to kill him," Sophie says.

"What did you threaten him with then?" I question.

"Running him over with my Lamborghini so I could kill him expensively," she replies.

I laugh. "You don't have a Lamborghini."

"Not yet, maybe," she differs. "But he actually took it very well and he laughed, telling us that we could have just asked him and he would have totally agreed...which now proves to me that he's a very good guy and I approve of your relationship."

"Soph, you already approved of us before," I tell her, chuckling slightly.

"Well, I double approve," she says, grinning.

"I bet he is in love with you though," Riley nudges my leg with her elbow.

"No way," I shake my head. "Luke and I are still in the beginning of this. We have been dating for like a month and a half now. There's no way."

"Yeah, but you and Luke know each other for seven months now. Who knows? Maybe he's starting to fall in love with you," Riley reasons.

"I doubt it, it may take us a year or something. It's still too early for that," I say.

"Well, it doesn't matter. I'm just glad you guys are together," she smiles excitedly.

"Are you going to do a going away party for him?" Sophie questions.

"No," I reply. "He said that he wants it to be just us before he goes away."

"Oh my God. Are you guys going to have se-"

"No!" I cut off Riley, basically screaming. "We're going on a date, a normal date. That I'm going to plan. That's all."

"Let me guess, your feminist ass gave him that idea," Sophie jokes.

"And what about it?" I respond. "After all, he's the one going away so I get to plan it."

"Damn, the amount of control that you'll have on him. I just love the idea of it already," Sophie grins.

"I know right? Anna will be walking all over him and he'll have no choice but to worship the ground that she walks on. You should buy him a statue of you so he'd be intmidated by you 24/7," Riley suggests and I laugh.

"Guys, I'm not that much of a control freak. I just think that there should be some times where I get to plan our hang outs," I say.

"And there's nothing wrong with that," Lottie tells me and Sophie and Riley nod in agreement.

"How's everything going in Brazil, Riles?" I ask her.

"You have no idea how many hot men I have encountered with. Seventy-five percent of them were sugar daddies and there was this forty-year-old who sent me five-hundred bucks because I told him to go fuck himself. I'm sure like three quarters of the male population there are just desperate at this point."

"He sent you five-hundred because you insulted him?" Sophie says. "I wonder what he will do if I punch him."

"I think he just thought I was flirting back," Riley shrugs. "Also, some Shakespearean-inspired dude sends me poems telling me how much he wants to sleep with me. I never thought 'thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit' could sound so dirty."

"What did you tell him?" I chuckle.

"To go and screwth himself," she smiles proudly and the rest of us laugh.

Riley goes on telling us about her adventures in Brazil. Some of the stuff are barely even unbelievable, but apparently this is just the normal in Rio. I think one of the craziest for me is the girls walking in the streets with bikinis. I can't even wear a one-piece swimsuit without feeling like a hairless cat on catnip.

The confidence that some women have is astonishing.

The rest of the day is spent with the girls. All we basically do is talk or eat or watch a movie. By the end of the day, I feel a bit better. Of course, I was not like I always was. The hyperactive, smiling, positive girl that I always am and the girls noticed, but it didn't matter. We're just glad that we got to spend time with each other.

| | | |

"Hey, honey," I hear mum's voice from behind me and I turn around, facing away from the mirror.

"Hey, mum," I smile at her.

"You look so beautiful," she leans on the door of my bedroom, smiling back.

"Thank you," I smooth down my dress, looking down at it.

"So, Luke's leaving for college tomorrow, hmm?" She steps inside the room.

"Yeah," I turn around to face the mirror once again, grabbing my earrings and putting them on before facing her again.

"Your father needed to give you something, but...you know," she tells me.

"What is it?" I frown.

She hands me a necklace, the most beautiful necklace ever. It's a Cygnus star constellation. As my thumbs runs over the cool silver, I remember that one day with Ana and dad.

"That's an Aries," Anastasia smiles, pointing up at the sky.

"Good job, Stasia," Dad ruffles her hair, smiling.

"That's a Cygnus!" I exclaim with a wide, excited smile.

"Exactly, Lyn," he agrees. "Do you remember what it means?"

"A swan," I reply, mesmerized by the star constellation. The nine apparent glittery dots of the constellation look like the reflection of the moon shimmering in the crystal clear water that captured all the midnight blue pigment from the sky, like a it's a lost soul only for the still water to be possessed by it.

"Yes, a swan," he crouches down beside me. "Do you remember the tale behind it?"

"That Orph-Orphe-Orpheiosus," I struggle to get out the name of the Greek mythology character.

"Orpheus," my father chuckles, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"Yeah!" I beam. "He was turned into a swan after he died so he could be beside his lyre."

"Good job, kiddo," he holds up his hand for me and I high five it with mine.

"A swan?" Anastasia tilts her head. "Anna, you were a swan too!" She turns to me, smiling widely.

"That was in a play, stupid and I was a swan princess," I tell her.

"Yeah, but you were still a swan," she says in a 'duh' tone.

I giggle. "It wasn't real though." I look down at my feet moving shyly.

"I don't care. You were a swan like the constellation," then her eyes widen. "That means you're like a star!" Anastasia starts laughing at that thought.

"What?" I start giggling like crazy with her. Ana has always been the one with the creative imagination.

"Yeah, you're a star. Everybody will just look up and think 'oh look, there's Anna'," she deepens her voice, putting her finger over her lips resembling a mustache, then she continues laughing and I laugh even harder with her.

Dad chuckles at our childish encounters.

"Yes, Stasia, Lyn is a star and so are you."

Ana and I look at each other, smiling before we look back at Dad with the same identical smiles on our faces.

"What about this?" Dad questions, pointing at the sky.

"That's a..." Me and Ana's excited voices pipe up once again, pointing, jumping and gazing.

That day, all that we did is stargaze, like we always did. It's our thing. Stars are our own thing. Always has been and always will.

I smile at the memory, feeling the back of my eyes burning, but I know I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry anymore, so I don't. I smile at every memory of me, my sister and my dad stargazing together. I smile at every memory of my sister squealing and telling me that 'it's you up in the sky!'. I smile at every memory of my dad reminding us that we're stars. I just smile.

I look up at mum and hug her tightly. "Thank you."

"Of course, baby," she hugs me back, then she pulls away to look at me. "Do you want me to put it on for you?"

"Yes, please." I give it to Mum and I turn around, holding my hair to the side. She clasps it on and I feel the cold chain on my neck before I put my hair back down.

Suddenly, the doorbell's ringing echoes through the house.

"I'm guessing Luke's here," Mum says.

"Yup, I'll go open the door for him." I grab my phone and go downstairs while mum follows me, then I open the door and Luke stands there with a smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, I think we're supposed to go on a date," he narrows his eyes in confusion.

"I know, you idiot. I meant, I'm the one who's supposed to pick you up," I tell him.

"Cherries, we literally live two seconds away from each other. I'm sure it doesn't matter," he leans in to press a kiss on my cheek.

"Well, that is very true," I nod, convinced and he smiles.

"Let's try that again, okay?" He suggests and I laugh.

"Hey, baby. You look stunning," he grins.

"Why, thank you," I smile at him. "And you look..." I just now realize how amazing he actually looks, he always does anyways. "Wow," is what I manage to utter out.

"Wow?" He teases.

"Oh shut up. You know what I mean," I roll my eyes playfully with a smile on my face and he chuckles.

"Thanks, gorgeous," he kisses me on the lips and I kiss him back before we pull away.

"Hello, Luke," Mum's voice suddenly pipes up from behind us and I jump in my place.

"Mum, you scared me," I put my hand on my chest, feeling like I just got a mini heart attack.

"You get scared from the smallest shit," she rolls her eyes.

"Not true," I mumble and Luke chuckles.

"Hey, Anne," Luke smiles at her.

"So, when are you bringing my daughter back home? Not too late, I hope," Mum questions.

"I have no idea. Lyn is the one who planned the date, not me," he replies with a shrug.

"Is that so?" My mother raises her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I thought I'd plan it since he's the one leaving tomorrow," I explain. "Ten is the maximum, I promise."

"Okay, good. Don't keep your phone on silent or mute. Keep the volume up the whole time and if you need anything, call me or text me. And please be careful. The both of you, of course."

"I will, mum. Don't worry," I give her a quick hug and she hugs me back.

"Bye, honey. I love you," she waves at me as Luke and I make it out of the house.

"I love you," I sing back, waving at her and closing the door behind me.

"Are you going to tell me where are we going or what?" Luke asks as we walk down the stairs of the porch.

"Nope, it's a surprise," I shake my head.

"How the hell am I supposed to know where to drive then?" He turns to me and raises an eyebrow.

"We're not going by car, silly. We're walking," I lock my arm with his as I lead him down the street.

"Cherries, are you fucking serious? You know how much I hate walking," he whines.

"Oh calm down, it's just a ten minute walk," I tell him.

"That's still a lot," he rolls his eyes.

"Well, I don't care. We're walking and when I say that we're walking, we're going to walk," I raise my chin in the air.

"Fine," he grumbles and I chuckle, pressing a kiss on his cheek, making him smile.

"How is your mum doing? She looks like she's a bit tired," Luke wonders.

"She's doing better. She's much more quiet and reserved now, but she's okay," I nod, smiling slightly.

"How are you doing?"

I turn to face him. "I'm okay, I guess. It's still hard for me because every time, I try to keep my mind off the fact that dad's gone, every memory with him keeps resurfacing. It's not easy, but I'm getting there."

"You know that I'm always there for you, right? No matter what," he brushes my hair to the side.

I smile at him. "I know and I'm grateful for that."

He places his arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer to him to kiss the top of my head. I wrap my arm around him as we walk further to our destination.

| | | |

"A rowboat?" Luke asks.

"Yup," I grin. "Come on."

Luke gets inside the rowboat, then he helps me inside. Once we're settled inside, Luke grabs one of the oars and I grab the other, then we start paddling down the still, calm oxford blue stream of water.

"This is different," Luke comments, smiling slightly. "A good different though, I like it."

"I'm glad you do," I smile at him.

"I almost forgot, did you talk to Jennie the day we fought?" He asks.

"Maybe..." I answer uncertainly. "Why?"

"Because she called me, threatening me, telling me that if I ever make you upset again, she'll fly over here and punch me, then go back to Korea," he says and I grin at him.

"She was just kidding...kind of. Actually, no, she wasn't. She just noticed that you really made me upset that day and she got mad," I tell him, letting go of the oar.

He chuckles. "It's crazy how Jennie's opinion on you changed so much."

"Yeah," I smile. "She's a great friend," I pause. "What's really unbelievable in all of this is that the both of you used to date."

"What?" Luke frowns in confusion.

"You and Jennie," I start slowly. "You were dating two months ago."

"Oh," he puts the oar aside and dusts his hands off. "Yeah, no, we weren't really together."

I beg your glittery pardon, is what I want to say but instead I settle for a "what?"

"Jennie and I weren't really dating. It was just an act to keep her mom away," Luke shrugs.

"I'm confused."

"Look, you know how her mom is living in Washington with this rich as hell dude who's basically a millionare, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Jennie's mom came to California about three months ago and she wanted to take Jennie and her brother back to Washington with her and she was willing to take Jennie's dad to court if they hadn't agreed," Luke explains. "The only reason that wouldn't let her mom take them back to Washington was if Jennie was dating or seeing somebody. Jennie and I were just friends then. Rememeber that time when Jennie and I hung out at the diner?"

I nod in response, too caught up with the story to reply in words.

"Well, she told me all about what happened with her mom, then we agreed on pretending to be in a relationship, just so she can be able to stay in California and not let her bitch of a mom take Jennie's dad to court."

"But you guys looked like you were dating everywhere," I tell him.