"Wow," Hadley said, sounding awed as she stood in the doorway of our apartment. "This is nice."

At once I was skeptical of her response. There wasn't anything remarkable about my family's apartment and I was sure our mismatched pieces of furniture and outdated appliances were far from the five-star digs she must've been used to.

I nudged past Hadley into the apartment, heading for the kitchen while Rosie dragged Hadley over to the couch to get some cartoons going on the TV. With my mother and grandma still closing up shop downstairs, I was hoping I could stay occupied with fixing dinner without having to interact much with Hadley.

Because having Hadley Jamison lounging around my family's apartment was just weird. I'd never thought of anything to do with school mixing with my home life like this and I didn't know what to make of it. 

I purposely ignored my little sister's chattering from the living room and Hadley's responses as I set about reheating leftovers and throwing a salad together. I figured it had been about ten minutes before I heard Hadley taking a seat on one of the stools at the island counter.

"So. Um." She awkwardly cleared her throat. "Do you...need any help with dinner?"

I maybe not-so-politely declined without turning around to face her.

"Oh." I could hear the disappointment evident in her voice. "Alright."

I waited for Hadley to keep going, and she did after spending the next minute drumming her fingers on the countertop.

"So, um. Did you have a nice day?"

So, um, this was exactly the reason I hated making "small talk."

"The best day ever," I said flatly, still not turning to face her.

"That's...good," Hadley said slowly. I heard her clear her throat again a few times before she continued. "But...look. I really just wanted to --"

"Hey, Hadley!" Rosie hollered from the living room. "Come watch TV with me!"

"Keep her company, would you?" I said, nodding toward my little sister. "She'll start bouncing off the walls if she doesn't get enough attention."

Hadley looked like she was fighting back a smile when I finally did look her way, hopping off the bar stool. "Sure. Okay."

It was more difficult than I thought it would be, focusing on throwing dinner together with Hadley Jamison sitting less than twenty feet away in my living room, watching cartoons with my little sister. Every so often I would hear a bunch of giggling and it took more effort than I wanted to ignore it.

My mother and grandmother joined us in the apartment upstairs just as I began setting the table and we sat down to eat a few minutes later. I kept my head down, shoveling food into my mouth as fast as I could get away with. Across the table from me, Hadley was keeping up a lively conversation with Rosie and my mother, and even my grandmother was joining in too, for crying out loud.

I did not know what to make of the fact that Hadley wasn't purposely trying to drag me into the conversation either. A part of me felt grateful, because I sure as hell wasn't in a talkative mood. The other part of myself was struggling to ignore the way my face would start to feel hot any time Hadley snuck a glance at me.

The one time she actually did meet my eye and smiled, I felt my stomach give a stupid lurch.

I jumped at the chance to make my escape after a dessert of pudding cups and Rosie was quite literally falling asleep at the table, chocolate smeared all over her face. I scooped her up into my arms after cleaning her up with a napkin and quickly made my way up the stairs.

Rosie was barely awake enough to brush her teeth and it took a bit of bribing on my end to get her into bed, but eventually her exhaustion won out. She was already fast asleep by the time I crept out of the bedroom, quietly shutting the door behind me.

I would've gone straight to my room to trudge my way through whatever homework I had left had I not heard Hadley's voice echoing up the stairs -- a reminder that somehow this girl had managed to earn herself a seat at the family dinner table.

"Fantastic," my mother was saying as I came off the last step of the staircase. "I'll just have Archer --"

"You'll just have Archer what, exactly?" I cut in, maybe a little too loudly.

The look on Hadley's face was about the same as a kid who'd just got caught with their hand in a cookie jar. "Um..."

My mother turned her pleasant smile on me and proceeded to turn my world upside down for a few panic-inducing seconds. "Why, Hadley has just agreed to start working part time for us down in the coffeehouse."

"You're joking," was the only thing I managed to get out after my heart had stuttered through a few uneven beats.

"Afraid not, sweetheart," my mom said cheerily. "We could use the extra help, what with the holidays coming up and everything."

"Then ask Carlo or Lauren for help!" I snapped. My two younger cousins were always willing to earn a few extra bucks working in the coffeehouse. "You don't need to hire Hadley. It's not like she needs the money."

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Hadley pull a grimace — but she wasn't denying it.

I probably should've left things there and offered to escort her to the door, the better to get my mother alone to give her a thorough explanation as to why hiring Hadley Jamison was a terrible idea.

But one look at my mother told me her mind was already made up. "Unfortunately for you, Archer, that's not your decision to make. I run this shop, not you." As if to settle the matter, she added in Italian, this isn't up for debate, son.

Of course it wasn't. Was anything ever?

"Fine," I said stiffly. "Fine. Whatever you like, ma." 

"Good!" My mom was all smiles again as she turned back to Hadley. "Thanks again, Hadley, for your help." 

For about two seconds I forgot to be pissed when I noticed the expression on Hadley's face when my mom reached out to give her a hug. She looked taken aback by the sudden hug, and then her eyes were suddenly a lot brighter than they had been a second ago. 

Hadley's voice didn't quite sound normal as she mumbled out, "Of course," and awkwardly returned my mom's hug. 

"Make sure Archer has your number and I'll have him let you know when we can get you in for training," my mom said when she let Hadley go and took a step back. 

"Sounds great," Hadley said, still in that off tone of voice.

Great wasn't the word that came to mind when faced with the fact that Hadley Jamison had somehow snagged herself a job at my family's coffeehouse. Terrifying seemed more appropriate. 

"Come on, Hadley." I crooked a finger at her to get her attention and gestured toward the front door. "I'll help you catch a cab home."

When Hadley just stood there, anxiously biting her lip, I nearly threw up my hands in exasperation. "Or I don't have to help you find a cab. Your choice, really."

"No!" Hadley said at once. "No, that's -- um. Great. Thanks."

I threw open the front door as Hadley said goodbye to my mother again and a beat later she was following me down the flight of stairs to the back entrance of the coffee house.

The second my foot was off the last step, I rounded on her.

"Archer --"

"Just what the hell were you thinking, coming here and spending the afternoon with my mother? That's really freaking creepy, and I distinctly remember saying that we would hang out one time and maybe sit together at lunch, and I sure as hell don't think that includes coming back when I'm not here to --"

"ARCHER, WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP A MINUTE AND LET ME EXPLAIN?"

Hadley looked just as shocked as I felt that she'd just yelled, her voice echoing in the stairwell. I was kind of impressed she'd managed to raise her voice that much.

"Look." Hadley came off the last step, moving closer. "I actually came here to apologize. I didn't mean to end up staying so long, helping out your mom. It kind of just happened. And for the record, your mom is a nice person, and she's easy to talk to."

"You came to apologize?" I said, working to control the level of my voice. "For what?"

Hadley looked mildly confused. "For...what I said at lunch the other day," she said, not quite meeting my eye. "You were right, I shouldn't have said anything to Ty. You're a big boy. You can take care of yourself."

This was the perfect opportunity to end things here. I could reject the apology and send Hadley on her way with the understanding that I would not be indulging her in her social experiment or whatever the hell this was any longer.

"You know what? Just forget it, okay?" Once the words were out, they kept coming, and I let it happen. I let it happen. "Ritter is a jerk. He makes everyone do stupid things."

Hadley bit back a laugh. "Then just.... don't listen to him, Archer. He talks a load of crap, and you don't want to damage your ears."

Something about her phrasing had me grinning. "I know."

"Right." Hadley took in a deep breath, her gaze moving to her shoes. "So, about the job..."

"Yeah, about that," I said flatly. "You're that desperate to spend time with me you had to beg my mother for a job?"

"No," Hadley snapped back, heat rushing to her face. "For your information, your mother was the one who offered me the job. I'm not desperate to spend time with you at all."

I rolled my eyes at this. "Sure."

Recent events might suggest otherwise. I went to open the back door and Hadley called after me, quickly changing the subject.

"Why didn't you come to school yesterday and today?"

"I was at school," I assured her. "I was just avoiding you. Now come on." I jabbed a thumb over my shoulder, out the door. "Time for you to go."

Then I would be free to go back upstairs and try to figure out why on earth my mother thought hiring Hadley Jamison to work in the family coffeehouse was a good idea.