After a bunch of crumbled papers and size one hand-written notes, Mom finally gave up on asking how my day went.

"If something bad happened, I'll get a call from Mr. Brunner, you know!" Mom called as I dashed up the stairs to greet my favorite person.

Bianca.

She's the only person who won't judge me no matter what the situation is. She can hear all the bad things I do and not blow up like mom. She'll just scold me a little, like a good big sister.

She knows all of my secrets, and I know most of her's. She's a bit older, so I let her keep a few things private. It's mainly girl stuff she tends to keep secret though, like girl stuff that I won't get. Like periods and boobs.

I knocked on her bedroom door twice. "Come in!" She called. Opening the door, I find Bianca sitting on her bed with some girl. I tried to think if I knew her, and if so, find out how I knew her and who she was.

Bianca must have saw me staring at the girl with a curious expression because she said, "Oh, uh, this is Zoë."

"Greetings."

I waved a hand in response, not wanting to ignore her mediocre greeting.

"And, uh, Zoë's a rainbow too!" Bianca said as her eyes shimmered towards the other lady. I suspected a hint of 'more than friends' in there, but I don't want to make it awkward between them if they are truly just friends, so I didn't ask.

Bianca uses the word "rainbow" instead of "sexually queer." I guess I can make sense of it, seeing as rainbows describe the feelings those kind of people have. Different, bright, and colorful.

My kind of people.

"Bianca!" Zoë said in a scolding voice, playfully hitting her. My sister just laughed it off, lightly shoving the other girl in response.

"So, how was your day?" Bianca asked as she handed me a slip of paper.

I wrote all about my day as I tried to listen in on her conversation with Zoë. I was hoping something important, but all I got was information about homework.

It took a good fifteen minutes, but I'd finally wrote down everything. I wrote about skipping class, about Connor and how we bonded over being lost. I wrote about the little book nook we stowed away in, and about the blond boy - Will Sunlace, I think? Saylas? Solace? Solace sounds right. I did leave one part out though. I didn't want to tell her about Connor's unaccepting behavior, she didn't need to stress about that.

I handed the paper to Bianca, cutting off her conversation.

"Why does he only write?" Zoë asked Bianca, as if I didn't exist.

Bianca looked at me. I nodded.

"Well, he's mute. He can't do much else." She was always so kind to others, making sure they were okay when she shared semi-personal information. I loved her so much.

"Oh..." Zoë replied. I got the feeling that she didn't have much taste for men period, much less men who were as useless as me, but she shot me quick smile, and I guess that meant she'd try to get along with me.

I observed Bianca's facial expressions as she read on. I wanted to know if she liked Connor, or if she was going to tell mom that I skipped. She wouldn't dare tell Mom about me skipping, right? That kind of goes the Sibling Code.

She shook her head as she got to the "I skipped all my classes" part, but started smiling again at the "Connor Stoll" part. I could almost hear her brain getting the wrong idea.

"Connor sounds like a nice guy," Bianca said, nudging me with her elbow. I let out a wheeze of pain and laughter as I pulled out another slip paper.

Shut up!

Bianca gave me the 'you sure?' look.

Just friends! I traced over the word "just" a few times to make it bold.

"Whatever you say, little dude," Bianca said as she stashed that paper in a drawer. She's been using that drawer as a paper waste can, the slob. Normally she's neat, I guess Zoë has been inflicting bad habits upon her.

I took out another piece of paper, jotting down a quick note.

Gonna go now. Have fun! ;)

Yes, I drew a winky face. It's what she gets for even considering the thought of me like, like liking Connor Stoll.

I walked out of Bianca's room and across the hall into mine, shutting my door and locking it so no murderers would murder me.

That's when I tossed on some night clothes and fell asleep wrapped up in a blanket bundle.

It wasn't even that dark yet, but sleep feels good at any time of day.