lovely |k.k|

XXIII

Saturday was filled with jittery behavior and—you guessed it—piles of homework. I found myself drifting in and out of rooms, trying to get comfortable. To focus. To get anything done besides driving myself insane with ideas about the date Kevin would supposedly be taking me on.

Lara had offered for me to run errands with her during lunch, but I was in the middle of an essay by then. In an effort to avoid losing my spark of creativity, I stayed in. Now, as I sat on the living room floor trudging through trigonometry, I wondered if it was the wrong call.

After a few, long, hard stares at the notebook, I let out a sigh of defeat. Just as I prepared to give in and stop, the sound of the door opening caught my attention. I watched as Lara entered, hands filled to the brim with groceries. I stifled a giggle,

"Are you really a one-trip kind of gal? The car's parked just outside." Lara laughed, but seemed exasperated. I got up to my feet, stepping over and freeing one of her hands as a look of relief flashed across her face,

"Of course I am! And thank you." She smiled, eyes going over my face, studying it a moment before looking to the notebook and calculator strewn across the living room floor, "How's homework going?"

I trudged my way towards the kitchen, admittedly struggling with the groceries that Aunt Lara had been carrying with only one arm.

They were heavier than they looked.

I sighed out a response through the sounds of rustling plastic as I placed the bags on the counter,

"Good... But bad. I hate math." I bemoaned, and with a resounding sigh at my side, Lara placed her own bags down and agreed,

"I definitely don't miss that part of high school." With a scoff I looked at her, joining her as we began to put food away together. We worked in sync, and I knew it could have all been done in silence, but I'd had enough quiet for today. I asked in disbelief,

"You miss the other parts?" Lara smiled,

"Of course I did! Like making friends, meeting boys..." She teased, and I had to look away to keep from glaring,

"Don't even start." I began, unwilling to have another conversation about the boy next door. Yes, last night was sweet, Kevin made the perfect impression, but I'd spent enough of the day stressing over tonight's date. A date only my aunt had answers about...

"C'monnn, I think it's sweet. After everything you've been through, you found someone you jive with so well." I shook my head,

"First, please don't say jive. And second, he's not my soulmate or anything. Just a good friend. It's not that big a deal." I tried to argue half-heartedly. Lara raised a brow as she passed me the milk,

"Who said anything about soulmates?" I groaned in embarrassment as I turned to the refrigerator and opened it. I heard the sound of laughter, and after a few more beats of silence, my aunt spoke again,

"How about we go grab some coffee? You look exhausted... and your date is in a few hours. We still need to talk about what you're going to wear." Lara's sing-song voice did nothing to steel my nerves, but as I looked up and met her eyes, I already knew I'd say yes.

In Manhattan, Lara and I spend all of our time together at coffee shops. It was where we caught up when she started to drop by every few weeks. Where she'd ask how things were going. It's where I told her about what was really going on at home. Where we planned how to tell my mom about me moving in with her, and before... everything.

"Hello? Earth to Birdy." I blinked up at Lara, not realizing I had been dozing off. I forced a smile,

"Yes. Coffee sounds good. I'm clearly out of it from reading so much." I teased lightly, and her concern etched away. I saw a glimmer of her usual, maternal self, but she chased it away with optimism as she grabbed a box of cereal,