"What should we get?" Alani asked as we walked through the aisles of Target.

"Posters, bedspreads, photo frames."

"I don't have that many photos. I didn't have friends remember?"

"You have family photos."

"True," She said as we made it to the bedding section.

"What color do you want?"

"How about a purple theme to match my hair," She said, pulling on the curly strand of hair near the front of her face.

"Whatever you want."

"I like this one," She said, pointing toward a purple polka dot bedspread.

"It's your choice," I said as Alani picked up the large box full of bedding supplies. She almost dropped it three times on the way to our cart, and each time I laughed at her. I should have helped, but it was too fun to watch.

We continued to browse the aisles until we were all stocked up on everything. After purchasing the items, we got back into my car and drove to her dorm. We carried everything up to her room and began to decorate. Alani put up posters of purple photography and quotes as I put photos of her and her family into picture frames.

"How long have Faith and Lola been dating?" I asked as I secured a picture of Alani with the two of them.

"Since they were sixteen."

"Wow."

"I know. They are really lucky. I hope to have their level of love one day."

"You will," I reassured. Alani deserved to be loved by someone entirely. As much as I wished that could be me, it couldn't. Alani deserved so much better than me, and I wouldn't be able to survive if I ever hurt her.

"Maybe. First, I'll have to get a boyfriend."

"What about Daniel?"

"He hasn't asked me out on a date yet."

"Why not?" Who wouldn't want to ask Alani on a date?

"I don't know. I thought he liked me. Do you know why? You do live with him, after all."

"No. I don't interact with Daniel that much."

"Why not?"

"Because he doesn't have any interest in being friends with Victor, Nelson, and me. We've asked, but we stopped asking since he always said no." Most of the time, he was in his room or out with his friends anyway.

"Maybe he changed his mind but thinks you guys don't want to be friends anymore."

"Maybe."

"Will you try to become friends with him? For me?" She asked, looking up at me with puppy dog eyes as I realized I would do anything for this girl if she asked.

"Fine."

"Thank you!" She said as she got back to work on her posters.

Twenty minutes later, and the room was all done. We stood back and admired our work. Alani's side of the room looked like a purple monster. She had a purple bedspread, purple photo frames, and purple posters throughout her side.

"Now it looks like someone actually lives here," I teased as Alani rolled her eyes.

"We can cross this off the list," Alani said as she got out her notebook. As I glanced down at her perfect handwriting, I skimmed the list and watched as Alani crossed off "decorate room."

"We've done a lot of stuff," I said, noticing all the crossed-off activities.

"Yep. I don't think we'll be able to finish all of this stuff by the end of the month, though. The month is already halfway over."

"We can extend the time period. I think the concert is at the beginning of next month anyway."

"Okay. We have officially put an extension on our list," She laughed.

"We should probably leave for the drive-in movie soon," I said, looking at the time.

"Okay," Alani said before we walked out to my car.

By the time we got there, it was already getting dark. We lined up in our assigned parking spot, headed to the trunk, and waited for the movie to start.

"What movie is this anyway?" Alani asked as we sat down in the back of my car. I had brought blankets for us to sit on, so we used those for comfort.

"The Incredibles 2," I said.

"Why did you choose a kid's movie?" She asked, looking at me funny.

"It's the only one that wasn't sold out!" I exclaimed, shrugging.

We got quiet as the movie played.

Alani and I were sitting right next to each other, but we weren't touching. She sat crisscrossed as she ate her sour patch kids, and I sat with my legs out, eating Twizzlers. I wanted to wrap my arm around her, but that was something couples did, and that wasn't what we were at all. The urge didn't even make sense. It was probably because it was getting chilly out, or at least that's what I told myself.

The movie ended quickly. We packed our things and left before arriving at Alani's dorm building.

"Will you walk me up?" She asked.

"Of course," I said, parking and following her while carrying my Twizzlers.

When we got to the door, she opened it and leaned on the doorframe.

"Good night," She said.

"Good night."

"Wait! Can I have a Twizzler?" Alani asked, motioning toward my pack of candy.

"I don't know," I teased.

"River, give it to me!"

"Hmm. What do I get in exchange?"

"Me not hitting you," She said, reaching for the bag. When I wouldn't let her get it, she reached again. I kept dodging her hand until my only option was to run into her dorm. She came after me, tackling me onto her bed. We both laughed as she achieved her goal of getting the Twizzler.

As the laughter died down, I realized the position we were in. Alani sat, straddling me with her face inches from mine. Her legs rested on either side of me as her arms planted themselves on my chest. We stared at each other for a moment, realization settling in before Alani climbed off.

"Sorry," She said as we sat next to each other.

"It's fine," I reassured her, but the way I was feeling was anything but fine.

"Do you want to sleep here tonight?" She asked as my eyebrows shot up.

"What?" I asked. Did I hear her right?

"Nadia is with Jess, and I've gotten used to sleeping with someone else in the room. It'll be like a sleepover! Plus, it's late for you to be driving."

It did make sense, or at least I made it make sense. If Alani had gotten used to sleeping with someone else in the room, I would only be helping her sleep, and of course, I wanted to help her any way I could.

"Okay," I said.

"I have a spare toothbrush in the bathroom," She said before we both got ready for bed. Once we were ready, she got under the covers of her bed, and I grabbed a blanket and sat on the floor.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked.

"Getting ready to sleep?" I wasn't going to sleep in Nadia's bed since that would be weird without her knowing, so I figured the floor was fine.

"River, you can sleep in my bed with me," She said as I froze. I hadn't even considered that as a possibility.

"The floor is fine," I said. The last time we had slept in the same bed, we woke up cuddling, and I didn't want that to happen again. Well, part of me did, but it would be a bad idea.

"Stop being ridiculous," She said, scooting over to make room for me. Sighing, I got into her bed, mostly because my fear of having a sore back overtook any hesitation I had about Alani.

We laid face to face as we stared at each other. This bed was a lot smaller than the one at the motel, so we had no choice but to be smushed up together instead of having our own space like the last bed. Still, I stayed as far away as I could.

"Good night for real this time."

"Good night," I said as I watched her close her eyes and drift off.

I stayed awake longer than her, thinking.

Watching her chest rise and fall, being this close to her, and listening to her breathing, I was sure of it now and done denying it.

I definitely liked Alani as more than a friend.