"hey mother." i put my backpack down and take my shoes off. "hi daughter." she puts down her half empty wine glass. wine can only mean one thing. "bri! my favorite daughter!" riley's mom comes out of nowhere. "liz!" i get excited and i hug her as soon as i saw her. "i knew you were here." i say letting go. "what gave it away?" my mom walks up to us and i give her a hug too.

"the wine. my mom only drinks when you're around." i say gesturing towards the bottle. "she's not lying." my mom shrugs. "what are you doing here? is riley here too?" i put my hair up in a quick bun. "your mom is a wreck and no she's at home... i think... she better be."

i love rileys mom, she's like the cool older cousin that gives you alcohol at family parties. i take a good look at liz, riley looks just like her. i envy both of their long, straight, blonde hair and dark blue eyes. "we all know moms a wreck, what's new?" i say starting to go upstairs. "watch it!" my mom snaps.

"has dad texted you? when is he coming back?" i ask from the top of the stairs. it's been three months since he left for his stupid business trip. "yes he texted this morning, he's still working babe." my mom looks at liz then finishes the rest of her glass. "anyways, your mom and i are going out. want us to bring you back anything?" liz grabs her things and so does my mom.

"no, can i have the rest?" i point at the wine bottle on the kitchen counter. "don't even think about it." my mom grabs it and puts it in the fridge. she blows me a kiss before leaving with liz.

well now what do i do?

❀

my room door opens and i take my earphones out. "hey... where's mom?" noah asks coming in. "somewhere with liz." i close my textbooks. "yikes." he has the audacity to sit on my bed.

"get off!" i try to shove him away. "i just came from practice, i'm tired." noah lays down. "don't care, get off!" i hit him with a pillow. "fine." he goes to my desk and sits in the chair. i neatly place my pillow back on my bed. "how was your first day?" he asks. "i don't know, it was a regular school day. what about you?" i realize i shouldn't of asked him. "glad you asked,"

ugh here we go.

"it was perfect. coach already told me that i'm still on varsity, girls were all on me and all of my classes are easy this year." i cringe at his cockiness.

"you haven't even tried out." i say moving my glasses up higher. "exactly, i'm the best soccer player in the school." i shake my head. "yeah yeah, anyways... do you know anything about parker grey?" i say nonchalantly. my brother rolls his eyes.

"nothing really other than him being my competition, why?" he raises a brow. "you have no competition, the only girl that wants you is natalie." i raise a brow. "why do you want me and natalie together so bad?" he throws his hands up. "because i know you like her, plus i want her to be my sister in law one day."

noah scoffs. "no i don't." he spins in my seat. "then why can you barely talk to her." i half-smile teasing him. "shut up. you've liked parker for four years and you've never talked to him." he says making my eyes wide. "how did you know that?" noah laughs gets up and walks towards my door. "you really should find a new hiding space for your diary."

he runs out of my room and i chase him down the hall. he slams his door shut and locks it. "i hate you and i have talked to parker! in fact, i sit right next to him in first period!" i yell.

"and it's not a diary! it's a journal!"

maybe i should throw it away, i am seventeen now. i walk back to my room and grab my phone off of my desk to text my dad.

a moment later my phone vibrates.

❀❀❀

i put my earphones in my ear and i press shuffle on one of my playlists. i walk straight to my locker. noah and i always go our separate ways when we walk into school.

it's not like we don't associate with each other, we just hang around different people. i hang out with riley and natalie while he hangs out with his soccer friends and everyone else.

i snap out of my daydream as i see parker walking up to me. i take my earphones out and put my glasses on top of my head. "good morning bri." parker smiles. i blink to make sure i'm not still daydreaming. "hey, good morning." i'm caught off guard. "ready to learn?" he asks.

am i imagining this conversation or are we actually talking?

about learning...

"who is ever ready to learn?"

he laughs and i feel content. i made a hot boy laugh. "well for some reason i'm looking forward to anatomy today." he smirks. is he flirting with me? he looks good too, so so good. "i hope i'm that reason." i flirt back. "you are." he says. holy shit.

who knew he could be so... direct.

i look into his light brown eyes, then at his facial structure. my eyes make its way to his curly head of hair.

i imagine running my hands through his hair and almost zone out.

damn, i have good taste.

"bri?" he snaps me out of my trance. "what's up?" i must've missed something. "what are you doing after school?" parker asks and my mouth drops a little. "nothing really, why?" i look around and see people staring at us.

i feel so weird. it's like i'm not hot enough to be talking to him. "would you like to get ice cream after school with me or something?" he asks and i pause for a slight moment. this can't be real. "you want to get... ice cream?" i question. "isn't that what girls like to do? get ice cream and talk?" he laughs and so do i. "is that what you think i do as a girl?" i try to hold in my laugh. "i'm not sure, i don't know you that well yet." he looks me up and down. oh my god.

"yeah, ice cream's cool." i readjust my bag. "cool, what's your number so i can text you."

"my number?"

he just asked for my number!

he pulls out his phone then taps on it a few times. "here." he hands me it and i type in my phone number. i contemplate what i should put as my contact name. should i be bold or funny? i smile to myself when i come up with something stupid instead.

i give him back his phone. the bell rings and inside i die. "hot girl from anatomy?" he looks at me. i just nod. "accurate. i need a contact picture now." he holds his phone out.

"oh please no." i cover my face. "stop... you look beautiful." parker says lightly and i uncover my face. he just called me beautiful. what the fuck is going on today? "smile." he says and i shake my head. "please?" i shake my head again. "i'll buy your ice cream."

that does it for me. i smile for him but only for a second.

"got it!" he smiles at his phone. i bet it's ugly. "let me see." i go next to him to see the phone. he actually got a really good candid of me. "wow, i think i'm going to make you my personal photographer." i play around. "i wouldn't mind that." parker says and i look at literally anything around me to hide the fact that i'm blushing like a damn fool.

"we need to go to class." i say and he agrees.

❀

"where were you guys this morning?" i ask my friends. "i woke up late." riley says drinking her water. i laugh. "it's the second day." i point out. "shut up."

"what about you nat? what were you doing?" i ask and she starts to play with her food. "you know, chilling in the halls." she says and riley and i stare at each other. she's obviously lying.

i look around and i make eye contact with parker. he immediately smirks and waves. i wave back. "who are you waving at?" riley asks and i look away. "nobody." i lie. "liar, you're waving at parker." she says and waves at him. he waves back. i feel natalies eyes on me. "i think i'm going to talk to him." riley gets up. "what?" my eyes widen. i watch as she walks up to him and sits next to him.

"oh...why don't you just tell her?" natalie says and i look at her. "what? no! riley must never know i like parker."