I groan when I wake up to my parents arguing downstairs. I guess last night wasn't a nightmare. . .

I was hoping to sleep in today to avoid the inevitable discussion I will have to have with each of my parents. My dad's going to yell at me for dating Harry, and my mom is going to explain why she's moving home. . . And if I will be going with her.

The thing is, since the moment I found out we were moving here up until about a month ago; I would have begged to go with her. Today, I'm extremely conflicted between what I would do if I was given the choice. I've actually grown to like it here. I've met many new people that are now my friends, and of course, I've met Harry. He's reason enough to want to stay, but I also don't want to let a guy affect my decision. As much as I love him, we're so young. God forbid anything happens to us, but what if something does? I'll regret staying here simply for him.

I don't even know if I will be going back with my mom, so I need to stop thinking about all of this before I lose it. This is all too complicated. Simply too much for me to handle.

Reluctantly, I get my butt out of bed and drag my feet to the bathroom for a shower. After washing my hair and body and shaving my legs, I let the warm water rinse over me for a good fifteen minutes before it begins to turn cold. My intention was to postpone going downstairs to face my parents as long as I could, but it's going to happen sooner or later.


"Morning." I mumble and pour myself a cup of coffee. I'm going to need all the energy I can get; especially after getting just a couple hours of sleep.

My parents stopped their heated conversation when I appeared in the room, and they just stared at me in silence until I sat down at the table with them.

"Did you sleep well?" My mom asks, and I can only think about how weird it is to be having a normal conversation with both my mom and dad here. It's been a month since mom moved out, and I can't deny that I miss having a nuclear family-despite my parents constant arguing leading up to the day she left.

"Not really." I say without looking at either of them.

"Addie, I'm sorry for the way I acted last night. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I just worry about you." My dad says, his tone drastically calmer than last night. Definitely not what I was expecting when I came down here, but again; when has anything gone the way I had anticipated since I moved here?

I sip my coffee before replying. "It's fine."

"I'm not saying I agree with it, but I will allow you to see Harry. As long as you're keeping up with school work and following curfew, understood?" Hah! Like he was going to be able to keep me from him anyway.

"What?" My eyebrows knit together. Surely I heard him wrong.

"If you're happy and you believe Harry is a good guy, than I trust you." He nods.

"We trust you." My mom smiles.

"We also have to talk about what mom said last night-" my dad begins before my phone's obnoxious ringtone sounds.

"Sorry." I look at the phone to see Max is calling and I get confused. Why is he calling on a Sunday? "It'll be quick, I'll be right back." I excuse myself from the table and go up to my room for some privacy before answering.

"Max?"

"Hey Addie! Did you want to meet up and finish our project for bio? It's due Tuesday and I thought we could just get done with it today!" He beams over the phone.

Crap. I had forgotten all about that project. It might not have been so bad if Harry was my partner, but since Ms. Davis assigned it before Harry transferred into the class, I'm partners with Max.

"Uh, yeah sure. Where should we meet?" I ask.

"Doesn't matter, my house will work or we could go to that coffee shop by your house." He replies.

"Let's go to the coffee shop." I answer quickly. I don't want to be alone with Max at his house, and if we're at a coffee shop, there will be people around.

"Sounds good! Meet you there in say... Twenty minutes?" Max suggests. Well he's eager to get started with this project.

"Okay, see you in a bit." I tell him before hanging up.

Great. This is the last thing I need right now. I really don't want to waste my Sunday working on a project with all of this madness going on around me. At least my dad has agreed to let me see Harry.

"Sorry, I forgot I had a bio project and I need to go meet up with Max to finish it. Can we continue this later?" I say upon returning back to the kitchen.

"That's fine, get some work done." My dad says with a nod and gets up from the table.

I quickly run back upstairs to change into some jeans and one of Harry's sweatshirts. It's much too big for me, but perfect for this chilly weather. And I love that there's still a hint of his scent on it.

I grab my backpack and then return back downstairs to ask my mom for a ride to the coffee shop.


When we arrive, I thank her and walk inside to notice Max isn't there yet. I find a spot in the corner at an empty table and pull out my phone to pass the time.

Double crap, two missed calls and four texts from Harry. I haven't talked to him about any of this. I've been thinking about him, but I haven't told him anything about what happened last night.

I read through the messages, and I'm relieved when he's just asking me if I was okay, if I wanted to do something today. I should probably reply and tell him what's happened in the last twelve hours.


To: Harry
Hey, sorry I just saw your messages. Dad caught me last night, drama at home. I'm now at the coffee shop with Max. Hang out later?

I press send and set my phone on the table while looking around to see if Max had shown up yet. Nope.


From: Harry
Jesus, Addie! Are you in trouble? What's the drama? And what the hell are you doing with Max...


I smile as I imagine his harsh voice saying these words, even though I know I shouldn't be smiling.


To: Harry
Can we talk about it later? Kind of a lot to say over text


From: Harry
So you'll talk to Max about it but not me?


I roll my eyes at his text. He can't be serious.


To: Harry
We're just working on bio calm down. I'll call you later


I set my phone down again and pull out my biology binder and notebook from my backpack trying to pass the time until Max gets here. My phone starts to ring, and I expect it to be Max saying he's going to be late or something, but to my dismay; it's a picture of Harry making a funny face signaling he is calling me.

"Hey." I answer.

"What's going on?" He snaps.

"Nothing!"

"Come over."

"I told, you me and Max are working on a project." I respond, mentally rolling my eyes for the millionth time.

"I don't care, I don't want you to be with him." Here we go again. He's so up and down with Max. I mean I know he gets jealous, but I've explained to him time and time again that we are simply just friends.

"I'm not doing this again, I'm tired Harry and we need to get our project done. Can I please just call you later." I'm too exhausted to fight further.

"Whatever. I'll see you at school tomorrow." He says before the line goes static. You've got to be kidding me, my boyfriend just hung up on me? He sure does know how to piss me off. He can be so childish at times, and it makes me go crazy.

I open up my messages and decide to send him one more text.


To: Harry
I got in trouble for being out so late with you and my dad doesn't want me seeing you anymore. Oh, and my mom is going back to Wisconsin. I might be going with her.


I may not have told him the whole truth, but I guess I just sent it out of spite. I hate how he can be so rude to me at times. I guess I just wanted him to feel how I felt? Before I second guess myself, I shut off my phone and put it in my bag.

"Hey, sorry I'm late!" Max appears next to me with a big smile and two cups of coffee. "I hope you like coffee."

"Oh, thanks." I try to smile. "So how has your weekend been?" I ask, trying to make conversation. Max is my friend, I'm not going to push him away because Harry is jealous.

"Okay." He shrugs as he pulls out his biology things. "How 'bout you?"

"Good, well until last night." I shake my head. "Family stuff." I say before he has to ask.

"Oh sorry. . ." He says.

"That's okay, not your fault." I smile and grab the cup of coffee he got for me, bringing it up to my lips to take a sip.

"So how's Harry?" He asks and I almost spit the coffee out of my mouth. I feel incredibly awkward for some reason when he asks.

"He's good." I say, despite our small disagreement just minutes ago. He'll get over it soon enough and then we can go back to normal.

"Look, I know you've probably heard this a million times and it probably means nothing coming from me, but you should be careful Addie. I know Harry may seem like a good guy to you, but I've known him for a lot longer than you, and I'm just worried his intentions are ill-fated."

Oh.

"I think you're wrong, but thanks for your concern." I try to say in the least bitchiest way I can. I don't want to be rude, but I hate people trying to tell me Harry is a bad guy. I mean, he's my boufriend, I obviously know him well enough to not listen to the naysayers.

"I just don't want you to get hurt. Sorry if I sound like a complete ass, but you're my friend Addie and I care about you." He says with a forced smile.

A smile back before opening up my notebook. "Thanks Max. We should probably get going on this project." He nods and just as fast as our conversation about Harry began, it ended.

---

"Well thank God we're finally done." Max laughs as we finish our project.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow?" I ask and we both pack up our supplies getting ready to leave.

"Yeah, see ya Addie." He says, waving as he walks towards the door.

I turn on my phone so I can call my mom to pick me up, and am bombarded by dozens of missed calls and texts from Harry. It probably wasn't in my best interest to leave him hanging on that text I sent him earlier, but you get what you give, right?


"Did you finish the project?" My mom asks when I get into her car.

"Yeah."

"That's good. . . Addie, I know I said this last night, but I'm moving home soon. How do you feel about that?"

For the few hours that I was with Max, it was nice to escape all of my life's drama for a bit. I had completely forgot about my mom mentioning her move, but I probably should have thought about it.

"I don't really know." I answer truthfully.

"You know that it's something I wish I didn't have to do, but because of the circumstances, it's necessary."

"Am I going with you?" I ask the question that is burning in the back of my mind.

"Do you want to?" She answers with a question.

"I don't know. It's not like I want to leave dad here, but I don't want to live in a different country than my mother." I shrug. Is it supposed to be simple for me to just chose?

"Well your dad and I talked, we think it's best if you stay here. I feel terrible for putting all this stress on you, and you shouldn't have to keep relocating because of your parents. You seem to like it here, but if you really want to go home, we will understand."

So she's giving me the choice? Great. I was hoping they would just tell me what to do so I wouldn't have to make this tough decision on my own.

"Why do you guys think it's best for me to stay?"

"Well like I said, it would be overwhelming for you to have to move again and start a different school in the middle of the semester. And dad really wants you to stay. I mean I want you to live with me as well, honey, but you're dad promised me he would stay cool about Harry and take it easy on you if I let you stay."

So that's why my dad was so nice this morning.

"It's your choice Addie, but just know whatever you decide, me and dad are okay with it. We're sorry for putting you through all of this."

"I just need some time to think." I manage to say as we pull up to my house.

"I'll call you tomorrow after school, I love you."

"Okay, love you too." I hug her before getting out of her car so she can return to her apartment.


Even though my dad isn't mad at me anymore about showing up so late last night and accepts that I'm dating Harry, I feel even more bewildered than before. And to add to my frustration,

Harry is sitting on the step in front of my door. And he looks just as furious as I had expected he would be when I saw him, I had just hoped it wouldn't be until tomorrow.

Notes

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