"I don't know about this, Callie," Aurora mumbles worriedly. She's standing outside the porch of my house while I fumble with the house keys. I find my movements become more sporadic when she is around me, and the fact that my family will meet her today makes my fingers tremble even more than usual. Still, I'm in a far more excited mood than her.

"You were the one who wanted to see the house and everyone so badly," I say. "And we agreed to study at my house a week ago. Are you chickening out now?"

"No!"

"Then, let's study," I say as the door swings open. Fry is the first to greet Aurora the door, barking loudly and wagging his tail. She seems startled at first, which makes sense, as she's used to cats, but slowly, she pats his head.

"See? He likes you," I tell her as I run my fingers through his fur. "Ugh, but he needs a bath though."

"Who's this?" Olivia asks as she heads into the kitchen.

"Oh, this is Aurora. We're studying for our upcoming Calculus test," I state.

"Ha! Only you'd bring a friend over to do something like that," Olivia states, cackling some.

"That's my younger sister, Olivia," I murmur.

"I'm Oliver!" my brother says as he relaxes on the couch in front of the T.V. He gives a friendly wave, which Aurora shyly returns.

"Oh, so you're the Aurora I've been hearing about?" my mother asks as she comes down from her room. "I left out some snacks on the kitchen table that you can take to your room. Olivia, stop it, those are for the girls!"

"I am a girl!" Olivia complains.

"Thanks, Mom," I say, grabbing the plate and sticking my tongue out at Olivia before we ascend up the stairs. It's an assortment of crackers and crudités and a few chocolate truffles, but I'm impressed my mom actually took the time to prepare something of this nature for me. It might be because she worries every time a guest comes over that our house is too dirty. I know for a fact she came home from work early today just to make sure the house was all cleaned up. She even recruited Olivia and Oliver for vacuuming duties the evening prior.

I set the snack tray down on my desk before taking a seat on my bed. Aurora joins me shortly after, and we sit, facing forward, for a few moments.

"Your family seems nice," she says.

"Yeah, they're all right," I answer. "Fry's my favorite sibling though. Don't tell the others."

Aurora giggles. "It feels weird meeting your family. You met mine months ago."

"Well, I was holding back for a reason, I guess," I admit. "They're not as polite as they seem, you know."

"I'll take your word for it," Aurora states, laughing again.

I lock eyes with her, and we grow silent for a moment, because I think both of us are realizing this is the first time we've had some privacy in the past few weeks. I nimbly tuck a strand of her red hair behind her ear, watching her avoid eye contact at the motion and stare down at her fingers. I begin leaning my head toward hers, and her lips eagerly meet mine a moment later.

The kiss is slow and gentle at first, but slowly, I inch closer to her until I'm basically sprawled out on her lap and wrapping my hands behind her neck while she hugs me from behind. Our kisses have never been this fervent, this needy, but her lips meet mine almost roughly, enough for me to let out a groan I didn't know I was holding in.

Aurora breaks away at that point, her face red and sweaty. "Callie, we really shouldn't be doing anything. What if one of your parents walks in?"

"My mom won't bother us now that she's given us some snacks, and my dad won't be home until later this evening, but we'll hear the garage door open at that point," I say before leaning forward to kiss her again. I expect her to pull away, but she molds her lips against mine once more.

"We really should be studying," Aurora murmurs. Her forehead is rested against mine, and I can feel her warm breath against my face.

I grab a strand of her hair and stroke it. "I know." Slowly, I climb out of her lap and reach for my backpack. The brief moment we shared was nice, but I'd feel guilty inviting her over for ulterior motives. After all, I did tell my mother we'd be studying.

So study we do. And for the moment, everything seems normal, like we're merely just friends studying for an exam together. We nearly finish off my mother's snack plate and still find a way to splice in some regular conversation as we study while sprawled out on the floor. 

Around the time the sun sets, I turn on my lamp, which lights the room in a pale orange glow. We've just finished working on our last problem, but Aurora has only been here an hour and a half, and I don't want her to leave just yet.

I crawl up on my bed and stretch my arms while Aurora sits on the floor, staring at me quizzically.

"Come up here with me," I say. "I'm not going to kiss you," I add when she doesn't move.

Slowly, Aurora stands and climbs onto my bed, her weight shifting the mattress. I lay down and sprawl out, turning to face her, even though she's still sitting on the edge, glancing at my shut door.

"You know, you can't really cuddle sitting up like that," I tell her when she looks at me.

"You want to cuddle?!"

"Sorry, do you not want to?" I ask. I figure this is better than my parents walking in on us kissing, and besides, we've never been able to cuddle before. I start to fear Aurora won't comply, but slowly, she slinks down next to me.

"Hi," I say, staring at her.

"Hi," she murmurs.

"So, I don't know if you know this, but cuddling usually involves us not being five feet far apart from each other," I say, noticing she's basically hanging off the edge of the bed. Before she can say anything, I place a hand around her back and draw her closer to me, until she's flush against my chest. I keep the hand on her back there, while I lift my head up on my own arm.

"I don't really know what I'm doing," Aurora says. "Not that I've never cuddled before, I mean I've dated before, but—"

"You can do whatever you want," I interrupt.

Eventually, we find a routine in which she wraps her arm around me and buries her head against me, allowing me to play with her hair. I hear her breathing softly with the fluid movements I make with my fingers, and I suppose her silence means she's enjoying it.

"I'm sorry I'm being so paranoid," Aurora murmurs against me. "I missed being this close to you."

"Me too," I say. "Let's not talk about this right now. How are your classes going this semester?"

"I'm trying to finish strong. Colleges still look at your second semester senior grades, so..."

"Have you heard back from any more?"

"I won't until April," she says. "And even then, I don't know where I'd want to go. Because..."

Her voice drifts off, and the reality sets in again that Aurora will be leaving me soon. That this, her laying in my bed and cuddling with me, might only be temporary. I hate thinking about it, so I merely remain quiet.

"You should go to whatever school you want to. Whatever school you think would be the best fit," I state.

"But that's not your plan."

"Well, I mean, I'd have liked to have more options, but I don't mind staying here. But you? You have options, you know?"

"You don't like when I talk about me going to college," Aurora says. "I can tell. You tensed up when the subject came up. It's getting more difficult to decide where I want to go these days."

"You...you should go where you want to go," I tell her. "Don't worry about me."

Aurora clutches me closer. Can she feel how fast my heart is beating?

"Please don't make a decision based on me." I continue. "I don't want you to regret anything. Not that I plan for—this—to end soon, but we barely knew each other at the beginning of the school year." It's difficult to say this because all I want to do is beg Aurora to stay by my side, especially now that I feel more confident about myself, especially now that I've found someone I can love.

"You're really kind to say that," Aurora says. "But I know it still bothers you. You'll miss me if I go, won't you?"

I clutch her closer to my body, dryly gulping to hold back the tears threatening to arise. "Of course I'll miss you, so...so I want to spend as much time with you as I can before you go."

Aurora grasps onto my arm, and I can feel her own limbs trembling. She isn't crying, but I can tell we both don't like talking about this topic. I hug her tightly and press a few kisses on the top of her head. It's strange how quickly our honeymoon phase has seemed to wear off. If anything, reality is becoming a pain in the ass these days.

Once Aurora gathers herself together, I sit up and stretch my arms. I know my father will be home soon, and I'm sure Aurora would like to go home to eat dinner with her family.

"Fix your hair. It looks like you were laying down," Aurora says.

As I run a brush through my hair in front of the mirror, I add, "You could stay for dinner if you wanted."

"I'd love to, but I don't want to intrude, and my parents are probably cooking up something themselves," Aurora admits.

"Okay, then," I say, listening as the garage door opens. Well, it seems my father is already home, not that I mind him meeting Aurora. It's my mother I was more worried about, but because she thinks we are merely friends, she was rather gentle in her introduction.

"Can I at least drive you home?" I ask.

"I think I'll walk. I promise I won't get kidnapped or anything. I'll text you when I get home," Aurora promises.

I nod and open the door, heading downstairs with Aurora the moment my father walks in.

"Hey, Callie. Who's this?"

"Aurora," I say. "We were studying for our Calculus test together this afternoon."

"It's nice to meet you," she says, holding out her hand to shake his.

"Leave it to you, Callie, to invite someone over to study," my father says. "Are you joining us for dinner, Aurora?"

"You're welcome to," my mother calls from the kitchen.

"No, that's all right, my parents are waiting for me," Aurora states. "Thank you for having me over. You have a lovely house."

At that moment, Fry wanders over to us, and Aurora gives him a few headpats as a parting present. I walk her out the front door and stand on the porch for a few moments. I want to kiss her good-bye, and I'm sure that's what she wants, too, but it's too risky with my entire family on the other side of the door.

"We should hang out again soon," Aurora says.

"Yeah. Your birthday is coming up soon. Maybe then," I state.

"You remember when my birthday is?"

"March 15th. I pay attention when we talk, you know!" I complain.

Aurora giggles. She grasps onto my arm and plants a quick kiss on my cheek, so fast I wonder if her lips even really touched my skin.

"See you," she says. Then she fades away into the night.