We ended up going to McDonald’s instead of heading home first. I wasn’t entirely sure how we got on the subject, but the next thing I knew, we were parked in front of the building. I got out of the car, closing the passenger door.

            Caden met me on the other side, falling in step with me as we walked in.

            The place wasn’t entirely deserted, a few guys lingering around the TV’s to watch the games. The workers behind the counter weren’t paying attention as we walked up, goofing off.

            Caden cleared his throat, getting the attention of the heavily acne-scarred boy at the register.

            “What can I get you?” He asked in a bored tone.

            Caden looked up at the menu above, debating “I’ll have a number two with a large soda and whatever she wants”

            “I’m fine, dude” I said, my face flushing. I didn’t want him to feel like he had to buy me something.

            “Get something, Pumpkin” He said “I’ll pay”

            “No Caden really…”

            “She’ll have the same” Caden said for me. I crossed my arms.

            “Medium please, not large” I corrected.

            The boy shrugged, plugging the information into the register. He told Caden the total, and Caden handed him a twenty. The boy set out a tray, getting the chance.

            “You didn’t have to get me anything” I said, not looking at Caden.

            He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, “You’re welcome”

            Caden took the tray to a table while I filled up our sodas, returning with napkins and ketchup. I sat down across from him in the booth, taking my quarter pounder in my hands.

            “You’re going to have to explain to my mom why I’m not home on time. ” I said before taking a bite out of my burger.

            Caden smirked, looking down at his. His hair fell in front of his eyes, hiding them from me. Caden took a bite, chewing slowly.

            “I will”

            “I’m grounded too, so good luck”

            He snorted “You’re grounded? What for?”

            “Because I slept over at Jason’s house Friday night”

            He raised an eyebrow “How’d you get there? I dropped you off at your house”

            “Jason drove. He’s a junior, Caden, he can drive too”

            “Why’d you go over there?”

            “Can I not spend some time with my boyfriend?”

            “Pumpkin, just answer my question”

            I sighed “Well after you uh… left dramatically, a few hours later, Mom came home drunk so I called Jason and told him to pick me up”

            I left out the part with her bringing that sleazy guy into our house. I didn’t think it was any of Caden’s business to begin with, but he did know about my mother’s drinking problems.

            “So you’re in trouble sleeping at your little ‘boyfriend’s’ house?” He asked, motioning air quotes on ‘boyfriend’

            I rolled my eyes “Yes”

            He chuckled, taking another bite.

            “Why can’t you just believe that maybe there’s another guy in my life that I really like” I argued, crossing my arms.

            “I’m sure there is, Pumpkin, but I don’t think its Jason”

            “Whatever” I huffed.

            A silence fell upon us as we ate. I avoided eye contact, staring at my food. I finished my burger, poking at my fries.

            “Caden we have to talk” I said finally.

            “About what?” he asked curiously.

            “Friday night” I whispered.

            “Oh”

            “Yeah” I said, setting down the French fry in my hand. “That’s twice now.”

            “Only twice?” He asked.

            I frowned “Shut up”

            He smirked at me “I’m just teasing, Pumpkin, yes I know. Twice. What about it?”

            “Look, this can’t keep happening. I have Jason and you have Shelley. And Friday night, we cheated. Plus, there’s got to be something illegal about this.”

            Caden laughed “I’m only 17. I don’t turn 18 for a couple months. Its not illegal yet”

            I rolled my eyes.

            “So is this your subtle way of telling me you didn’t like it?” He asked.

            I blinked “What? No—I mean, it was uh… nice.—No! I uh… Yes—No—Ugh!”

            Caden laughed again “You’re so cute when you don’t know what to say.”

            I opened my mouth, finding that I couldn’t make any sound. I could feel my cheeks reddening from embarrassment. He called me cute.

            Caden shoved a fry into my still open mouth.

            I spat it out onto the tray “What the fuck”

            “You were drooling”

            “No I wasn’t!” I said, whipping the corners of my mouth just to make sure. Caden grinned, eating a fry.

            “Sure, sure” He shrugged “Whatever floats your boat”

            “Caden, shut up”

            He grinned at me. I smiled back slightly.

            “What was that?” He asked, becoming serious. Caden leaned over, looking at my intently. I cocked an eyebrow, leaning back “Was that… a smile I saw? A smile on Joanna Johnson’s face? Oh my Lord the apocalypse has come!”

            I laughed, unable to hold back a huge grin that spread across my face “Shut the fuck up, Caden!”

            He laughed with me. “What can I say? You never smile”

            I rolled my eyes, standing up. “I do too.”

            Caden grabbed the tray, walking over to the trash can “Not around me you don’t”

            “You’re such an ass” I laughed. Caden held the door for me as I walked out into the chilly air. I crossed my arms, walking over to his car.

            “Alright, let’s head to your house” He said, pulling out of the McDonald’s parking lot. I glanced at the clock on the dash board, gasping as I read the time.

            “Holy shit Caden, its quarter after five” I groaned, leaning my head against the back of the seat. He glanced over once he was on the main road.

            “What’s so bad about that?”

            “Mom’s going to kill me”

            “Don’t worry about it, Pumpkin, I’ll handle it”

            I snorted “She’s just going to call me a bigger whore. Don’t even bother. Could you just drop me off and leave?”

            “I’m not doing that. Its rude”

            “I don’t give a fuck. Just listen to me for once”

            “Stop worrying!”

            I groaned, crossing my arms and slumping down in the seat “Fine”

            He smirked triumphantly “Thank you”

            I stared out the window as we drove down, heading to my small house. He pulled into the townhouse development, driving past all my neighbors. I bit my lip, suddenly incredibly self-conscious of where I lived.

            He’d been here before, I tried to remind myself. I wanted him to drive past and not realize I was some poor girl with an alcoholic of a mother and no biological father.

            Caden parked, turning the car off. He glanced over at me. “What’s wrong?” 

            “N-nothing” I stuttered, unbuckling my seatbelt.

            He stared at me for a moment longer before brushing it off “Uh… alright then. Let’s go”

            “Seriously, just stay here please?” I begged

            He smirked at me “No”

            I opened the door, hurrying over to my house. I pulled out my key, walking in quietly. I could hear Mom in the kitchen, talking to someone on the phone. Mason was blabbering to himself in the living room, playing with his toys.

            Caden walked in behind me, closing the door rather loudly. I flinched slightly, knowing my mother heard.

            She stopped talking and walked out into the doorway where she could see us.

            Her eyes narrowed “Nevermind, Cody, I found her”

            She ended the call, putting her cell back into her pocket. Mom walked over to us, stopping a few feet away with crossed arms.

            “Care to explain where you were?” She demanded.

            “Mom, Caden took me home from school” I tried to explain.

            “School lets out at three. Its nearly five-thirty now”

            “I know, he was uh… helping me with homework”

            She rolled her eyes, clearly not believing me.

            “Ms. Johnson” Caden said, stepping in. I stepped on his foot trying to get him to shut up “I thought I would take Joanna home since I was headed that way anyways, but there was an accident that backed up the highway. We had to take a detour and I didn’t know where we were. Joanna didn’t think you’d buy that one, so she tried to make up the homework excuse. But ma’am, its true”

            I kept my face neutral, pretending as if that really happened.

            I was amazed. That seemed incredibly believable. I was fairly far from the school and accidents happened all the time. It seemed incredibly likely.

            Mom glanced between us, trying to see if we were lying. Her stature lightened up as she sighed and said, “Joanna, if you’d just tell me the truth sometime, you wouldn’t always be getting in trouble. Thank you Caden for taking her home. I appreciate that.”

            “No problem” He smiled politely.

            “Would you like to join us for dinner? I’m afraid its not done yet, but you’re welcome to eat with us” Mom offered.

            I held back a groan. Caden and I had just eaten dinner. I wasn’t in the mood for more food.

            “I’d love to”

            Damn you, Caden.

            Mom smiled “Its chicken parmesan”

            “My favorite” He said. Mom laughed at that.

            “Alright. It’ll be ready in about twenty minutes” She turned around, walking back into the kitchen. “Oh and Joanna? You’re father called”

            “What did Cody want?” I asked.

            “Uh… not Cody. Chase called”

            I raised my eyebrows “Pardon me?”

            My biological father called? I could only think of one reason as to why he would call and I don’t think Mom would tell me if it was for bail money.

            I frowned, walking into the living room. I sat on the couch looking off into space. Caden sat down next to me and sighed.

            “Hey little man” He said to Mason.    

            “Hey big man” Mason smiled back

            “What’re you doing?” Caden asked

            Mason picked up a red car “This is you”

            Caden laughed “Really? I get to be the cool car?”

            “No” Mason smiled innocently. He picked up a smaller black on “This is me. This is cooler”

            “Oh wow, that’s a really cool car, Mase! I’m jealous”

            “This is Go-ey” Mason said picking up a yellow one. Caden made a face which caused Mason to giggle.

            He took the yellow and red car in each hand, banging them against each other.

            Caden laughed “What are they doing, buddy?”

            “You and Go-ey don’t like each other so you’re fighting” He said. He slammed the yellow one against the red, making sound effects to go with it.

            I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to hold back laughter. Mason was too cute to be mad around. I loved my younger brother.

            “Hey Mason, do you know what’s coming up soon?” I asked

            He looked up at me, thinking. “My birthday!”

            “That’s right, Mase” I grinned “Two weeks”

            “When’s his birthday?” Caden asked

            “The 23rd”

            “Guess I got to get you a present” Caden said, talking to Mason.        “What do you want for your birthday?”

            “I want a puppy, and I want a soccer ball and I want a—”

            “Mason, how about you tell Caden something he can actually get you” I suggested

            “He can get me a puppy…” Mason pouted

            “No he can’t, sweetie” I laughed.

            Mason hmphed, tossing his cars out of his hands. “I want a puppy!”

            “We’ll get one soon!” I tried to calm him down “When you’re ten, ok?”

            “Promise?” Mason asked

            “Yes” I lied.

            Mason grinned, and went back to playing with his toys. Caden nudged my knee with his own, getting my attention.

            He leaned in whispering, “He’s not really getting a puppy is he?”

            I rolled my eyes “What do you think?”

            He laughed, leaning back against the couch.

            I sat there silently for the rest of the time, watching Mason play. Caden would occasionally talk to Mason, asking him what he was doing with the cars now. Most of the time he ended up making my car and Caden’s car fight. He gave them some very intense fighting scenes, one where I flew out of Mason’s hands, all the way across the room.

            Caden and I cracked up at that one.

            Mason sure was hilarious.

            Mom called us for dinner a few minutes later. We helped Mason clean up his toys before walking into the kitchen where the chicken parmesan was set out.

            Everyone helped themselves to the food. Once everyone had food on their plates, we settled down, managing to set somewhat civilized around the table.

            I sat next to Caden, having to pull up an extra chair for him.

            “So Caden” Mom said “What are your plans for after you graduate?”

            I groaned loudly

            “What?” Mom asked

            “Please don’t interrogate him or anything, Mom” I begged

            “I’m not interrogating!” She sighed “So what are your plans?”

            Caden laughed at our interactions, “Well, I’ve applied to a few colleges. I’m hoping to get accepted into Harvard actually”

            “Really?” Mom sounded surprised “Law school?”

            I snorted “You won’t make it”

            “You want to bet on that?” Caden smirked “I’ve got very good grades surprisingly enough”

            “Please. I can’t see you sticking through Harvard. You actually have to work in college, Caden, not just copy off the smart guy”

            “You wound me” he teased    

            “Joanna!” Mom hissed “Stop being rude”

            I held my hands up innocently “Sorry, sorry”

            “I don’t see you planning your college future”

            “Firstly, Mother, I’m only a sophomore in high school. Secondly, I already know what I’m going to do”

            “What’s that?” Caden asked curiously

            “I’m going to be a forensic pathologist” I stated simply

            “Wait, like, the people that examine dead bodies to find out their deaths?” Caden raised in eyebrow

            “Yes”

            “You sure you can handle that? Its incredibly gorey”

            “Oh, Caden, she just love gore” Mom said, rolling her eyes.

             “I’m honestly surprised” He smiled “I never took you for that kind of girl.”

            “You learn something new every day” I mumbled under my breath “I never took you as a lawyer type of guy”

            “Oh you’ll both be so rich when you grow up” Mom cooed.

            I rolled my eyes, taking a bite of my dinner “You’ll be even more broke”

            “Please” Mom laughed “Your fathers’ have a ton of money stored away for you for college.”

            “Really?”

            “Yes”

            “Huh”

            “So anyways, let’s change the subject before you make me feel incredibly old” Mom said “Do you have a girlfriend Caden?”