"Will you two be staying with us tonight?" My mother asked River and me. It was a few minutes after the party had ended, and everybody was starting to leave.

"Yeah, if that's okay," I said. River and I were planning on staying the night and visiting with my family one more day before we had to go back to school.

"Okay, Lola and Faith are taking the guest room, so I guess we can blow up a mattress for River to sleep on and put it in your room."

"That's fine," I said as River agreed, and we headed upstairs.

"Woah," River said as he walked into my room.

"I know, I know."

"It's so boring in here."

"Yes, I know." I didn't have much in my room besides reading material and textbooks.

"There's no color."

"Correct. I didn't want bright colors distracting me from studying."

"And it's so lifeless."

"River," I warned.

"And dull."

"Okay, when you're finished insulting my room, we should get ready for bed."

"Okay, okay," He said, walking into the bathroom. As I changed, he got ready in the bathroom, and as he changed, I went into the bathroom.

"What's taking so long?" He said from his bed on my floor.

"Chill," I said, coming out and getting under my covers. There was something about being in the bed you grew up in that felt weird. It wasn't a bad weird, just weird. So many memories were made in this room. Granted, most of them were me reading or studying, but they still counted as memories.

"One of us has got to turn the light off," River said, realizing at the same time I did.

"Not it!" I yelled.

"Are you in first grade?"

"Respect the rules of not it."

"Fine," He groaned, getting up and turning off the light. As he made his way back in the dark, he tripped over a textbook. I laughed as he cursed.

We both laid in bed for a few minutes, but I could tell that both of us were having trouble sleeping. River was tossing and turning every five seconds, and that usually meant someone couldn't get comfortable.

"River?" I whispered.

"Yeah?" He said.

"Want to play our game?" I asked.

"Our game?"

"The get to know each other game."

"Sure."

"Okay. What are your parents like?" I asked. Now that he knew my parents, it was only fair that I asked about his.

"They are both pretty boring people. They spend most of their time working."

"Did you ever have any pets?" I asked.

"No."

"Were you ever lonely?"

He paused before saying, "Looking back, yes. My friends weren't real, and my family was never around. You wouldn't be able to tell on the outside, but inside, I was craving an actual friend. I got that when I came to college and met Nelson and Victor, and now I have you too, so I'm not by myself anymore. I have genuine friends."

"What about Harper?"

"I broke it off with Harper."

"Why?" I asked, relieved since, from the information I had heard about Harper, River deserved so much better.

"It just wasn't working out."

"Do you miss her?"

"It wasn't like that."

"What was it like?"

"We just hooked up. That was it—no emotional attachment. We weren't even friends."

"I don't know if I could do that. Sex means a lot to me."

"I know it does, and there's nothing wrong with that. I just live a different life."

"River?"

"What?"

"Are you going to go out with Quinn?" I asked. I told myself that I was going to forget about it, but I couldn't. I needed to know.

"I think so," He said.

"Why?"

"Because she seems nice, and I think I'm ready for a real relationship."

"What?" I exclaimed, sitting up. I didn't expect him to say that.

"Yeah, I think I am ready. I came to the realization that friendship isn't that different from relationships, right? And I haven't gotten bored with Nelson and Victor, or our friendship, so it might be a sign that I'm ready."

"Wow," I said, ignoring the mixed emotions I was feeling. All this time, a part of me thought River hadn't wanted to be in a relationship with me because of his commitment issues. Now, I learned that he was ready, and it was me he didn't want to be in a relationship with. It stung a little.

"I know."

"So, you're going to ask Quinn out?"

"Yeah. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Yes. What if you guys break up? I'll be caught in the middle," I said, even though I barely talked to Quinn. My reasoning was an excuse to express my dislike toward the idea of him with her without revealing my true feelings. Did I even know what my true feelings were? My mind was a mess.

"Okay, it's not a big deal. I'm not that attached to her, so I won't ask her out if you don't want me to. Anyway, it's my turn to ask a question."

"Go ahead," I said, relieved that we resolved the Quinn issue and that he wasn't already infatuated with her.

"Do you see yourself losing your virginity to Daniel?"

"Um," I said, taken aback by his blunt question.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want."

"No, it's not that. I just don't know the answer. I haven't gotten to know him enough. That's what I'm hoping to do in Hawaii."

"And you're for sure taking him?"

"If he can go."

River yawned before saying, "Okay, let's go to sleep. I'm tired now, and I need my beauty sleep. Plus, I need rest to keep up with Landon tomorrow."

"Good night, River," I said, laughing.

"Good night, Alani."

*****

"Time for family game day!" My mom shouted from outside my door, causing River and me to wake up.

"We'll be out in a minute!" I said before the two of us got up and brushed our teeth. We shuffled out of my room, still in our pajamas, and sat down on the living room couch, where my mom had gotten out a bunch of different games. Faith and Lola came in after us and sat down next to my dad. A few minutes after that, Landon must have heard the noise and came bursting out of his room. He plopped down next to River.

"Okay, now that we're all here, we can start," My mom said.

We played scategories, Pictionary, Apples to apples, and Candyland. All of which either Faith or Lola won. They were both great competitors when it came to family games. River pouted after losing to them. He was a good competitor too, but not good enough to beat the engaged couple.

"Time for cornhole!" My dad said as we all made our way outside.

"We will need teams of two. I will sit out since we have an odd number," My mom offered.

"I want to be on River's team!" Landon said, grabbing River's hand.

I ended up on a team with my dad. Lola and Faith were up against River and Landon, and the winner would play my dad and me.

To nobody's surprise, Faith and Lola won the tournament.

When we finished playing, River and I decided it was time to leave since we had school. After saying goodbye to my family, we hopped in the car and drove home.

I slept most of the ride, but River woke me up when we were almost back.

"Do you want to watch a horror movie tonight?" River asked as I read the time. It was nearing 9:00.

"It's getting late."

"That's the best time to watch a horror movie."

"Fine. Let's go," I said, refreshed since I had slept on the way back.

"What movie should we watch?"

"I don't care."

"Okay, let's watch Jigsaw."

"Is it scary?"

"It's more disturbing than scary."

"Okay," I said, curious to see what he meant by that. I had watched a scary movie before but wasn't fazed by it, so maybe a disturbing film would daunt me.

We drove to the theatre, parked, and walked in.

"You've been to a movie theatre before, haven't you?" River asked.

"Yes, but it's been a while, and I've never been for a horror movie,"

"Okay, good. Do you want food?"

"Is that even a question?"

"Okay," He laughed before buying us a large popcorn with butter on top.

"Where should we sit?" I asked as we walked into the theatre room.

"The further back, the better. That way, you can see everyone's reactions and don't have to look up to see the screen."

"Okay," I said as we headed toward the back. We had gotten there pretty early, so there weren't a lot of people yet, but as we waited for the movie to begin, the seats filled up.

As the movie played, I realized how disturbing it actually was. The mind games that were played on those innocent people in the movie flustered me. I was happy when it was over.

"Did you like the movie?" River asked as we walked outside.

"No. I think, so far, that is the one thing on the list that I haven't enjoyed."

"I loved it."

"You're weird."

"Do you want to get food? We haven't eaten dinner yet. Popcorn doesn't count."

"Okay. Can we get Canes?"

"Of course," He said before driving to a nearby Cane's location.

"Are you going to eat all that?" I asked as we ate our food in the parking lot. River hogged most of the popcorn during the movie, swatting my hand away whenever I reached for it at the same time as him, so I was still hungry.

"Why do you always do that?"

"I'm a hungry girl."

"That sounds dirty."

"It's not," I laughed, "Give me whatever you don't eat."

"Fine."

"By the way, I've meant to ask why in the world your car is so messy? There is way too much trash in here."

"I'm too lazy to clean it, so embrace the filth."

"This is actually disgusting," I said, picking up an old apple core.

"It doesn't bother me."

"You're such a slob."

"You can clean it if it bothers you so much," He said, taking a bite out of his chicken.

"I don't think so. You're trying to get me to do the work for you. Not going to work, River."

"Are you ready to go home?" He asked, changing the subject as he finished up his food. I had finished a few minutes before him.

I had always been a fast eater when compared to other people.

"Yeah," I said before we drove back to my dorm building, ending another eventful day.