“It doesn’t taste so bad,” I say with my mouth full. The burger tastes better than it did the last time we were here. I didn’t order fries so Ben wouldn’t steal all of it. He’s having pasta with a weird leafy sauce. “How’s your meal?” Giving me a thumbs up, he says, “Super.” Ben finishes eating before me, he throws his arm over his seat while watching me eat. My cheeks are rosy pink from all the staring. He doesn’t care to hide it even when my eyes widen in warning. I finish my burger and he passes me my soda. I have to finish it or else I’ll get a lecture about ordering what I can’t finish. I belch in an unladylike fashion, Ben rolls his eyes but I know he finds it cute. He finds everything I do cute. It goes both ways, really.The waitress who served us approaches our table. Ben and I pull out our wallets and bring out dollar bills. My boyfriend is glar

I didn’t tell my parents we would be arriving today. Their anger wouldn’t have stopped them from coming to get us from the airport. But I still didn’t tell them. Jonah, the eldest son of the family Ben is staying with, is on his way to pick us up.Ben nudges me with his hip. “Are you okay?” “I'm a bit nervous.” We are still in the waiting area because Jonah is an ass. He should have been here long ago. My parents wouldn’t have kept us waiting. People rush past us to hug family and friends while we watch and wait. Ben lets go of his box to draw me in for a side hug. “Don’t be, babe.” Ben draws my lip between his teeth and I make a throaty sound. “They will be too happy to see you to even care about that. I promise.” Not really. “Yeah.” Ben’s fingers rap on the handle of his box in a staccato that weirdly comforts me. I

I miss Ben. It has been nineteen hours since I last saw him. He left school earlier but he’s picking me up from Leah’s house to make up for yesterday. Leah’s parents are not home so we have the whole house to ourselves.There are three boxes of cereal in front of us. It’s a bit wasteful but we don’t really care as we empty the three brands in our bowls. Leah grins at Mira. They are sitting side by side. I am on the opposite side of the table and very much happy with the position.We are all laughing as we munch breakfast. Me. Mira. Leah. They are really cool minus all the kissing that happened last night. I could barely sleep. “Who do you think will win prom king?” Leah asks. She and Mira are part of the prom committee. Her girlfriend shrugs. “Don’t know.” “Probably Calum,” I say. Without an hierarchy, there are no favourites in our school but Cal

“Not that way, Mrs Mower,” Maria says. I tilt my phone on the dresser so she can have a better view of what Mum is doing to my hair. “A little more to the side will be perfect.” Since Maria won’t be here, she insisted on being part of the process. I sense her frustration when Mum lets my hair down against her instructions. It tumbles down in waves over my shoulders to frame my face.  “Well... You don’t look so bad.”  “She doesn’t look bad at all,” Mum retorts.  I laugh. These two. They cannot agree on the same thing. Mum thinks she knows what’s best for her daughter. Maria thinks she knows what’s best for her best friend who also happens to be in her age group. I flip my hair over my shoulder, loving the effects of the curling iron. Mum pins the hair to one side and sets the curling iron down. “I love it,” I tell her and she grins. Maria rolls her eyes. “I love you too, bestie.”  Her frown disappears and her game fa

We are not at Ben’s house. We are at Josef’s new house. The one with the amazing gym downstairs. It’s night but the streets are still busy and the lights are everywhere. I step out and pause to squint at my boyfriend. Ben hoists my bag over his shoulder. After a few words to the driver, the limousine zooms off.  This is suspicious. He offers me a hand. Placing my hands akimbo, I ask, “Where’s the surprise? And what are we even doing here?”  “It’s in the house,” he explains when I hesitate to take his hand. “This was the best place to keep it. Let’s go up. I’ll show you, I promise.”  That works. I push one foot in front of the other till we are in front of the door. Ben retrieves a bunch of keys from his pocket, he gives me one last look, then opens the door.  A switch goes off and the lights come on. Ben leads me inside. My feet waver. Everything is different. Different in a good way. The living room has been set up