Liah sat across from me, doubled over in laughter. I'd told her about my run in with Vik last night. As predicted, she thought it was hilarious. Her laughter echoed in my garage. Not even our super loud washer could drown her out.

"You're gonna make me mess up." She begged me to paint her nails, which I usually refused for this very reason: She couldn't sit still. But the Halloween design she showed me was too cute to pass up trying.

She straightened up, her lips still twitching. "So, your mysterious bad boy is actually a mathlete?"

"I don't know what he is," I said, using my dotting tool to make a little ghost on her thumb nail. "Except a lair, apparently. And that wasn't even the worst part of the night."

I filled her in on the unpleasant moment when I saw Corey giving Shamika mouth to mouth, and how I tripped trying to run away. She was laughing again. The ghost I was painting turned into a white blob against her black nail.

"I quit!" I said, throwing my tools down on the table. Half frustrated with her, half frustrated that my Grayson free life has had such a terrible start.

That sobered my friend up real quick. Her eyes doubled in size when she saw her nails. "No. You can't leave them like this."

"You keep moving."

Another smile broke out on her face. "It's not my fault you're living in some comedy movie."

"There's nothing funny about my life." My mind flashed back to Corey and Shamika laughing at me. My skin burned. All I wanted was to distance myself from Gray. But not by becoming a joke.

Liah patted my hand the best she could without ruining her nails any further. "I'm sorry. Your life is not a joke. But... maybe you're trying too hard."

"That's the point," I said, grabbing the nail polish remover to fix her ruined nail. "How am I supposed to change without trying?"

"Ari, you can't force things to happen because you want them to."

I knew she was right. Still, I pouted. "Why not?"

She started to laugh again and I narrowed my eyes at her. Her mouth fell into a flat line. Liah did her best to stay still while I hurried to finish her nails. I was adding spider webs to her pinky nail when she started singing under her breath.

I glanced up at her, recognizing the melody. "What is that?"

"Is my singing bothering you now?"

"No. Corey kept humming that last night." I felt left out.

He didn't say anything else while we made the drive back to our neighborhood. Except to remind me I had on his hoodie.

"Oh! It's a song from the winter musical. Corey's been helping with the sets." She examined her new Halloween themed nails, smiling wide. "You're so good at this! You should use your skills to help paint sets." She batted her lashes, grinning.

"No." I turned to put nail polish away. Definitely not when I knew Corey would be there.

"But it will be fun." She shook my arm. "And we'll get to spend more time together because rehearsals are about to get crazy."

"If you mess those up, I'm not redoing them."

She laid her flat hands on the worktable. "Did I mention there will be cute guys there?"

Those were the magic words. I played it nonchalant. Even though I wanted to ask her a million and one questions about these supposed cute boys. "Didn't you just tell me I was trying too hard?"

"Yes. So show up because you love to paint, not because you're trying to meet your soul mate."

This girl was making me dizzy. "You're bribing me with boys, but I'm not allowed to make a move?"

"Exactly! Let them come to you."

• • •

Liah's "let them come to you" advice would've been fine if the guys working on the musical didn't cower when I smiled at them. Whether it was because they were shy or because of who my brother was, I didn't know.

By the third day, I had forgotten why I signed up to paint sets. It was easy to fall into a rhythm when painting. For two hours after school, it was just me, a paintbrush, and music. 5 Seconds of Summer blasted in my ears as I painted graffiti on a standee of a brick wall.

Then someone rudely yanked my headphones from my ears. Corey stood behind me, letting my headphones dangle by their cord. Like Liah said, he helped construct the sets. So far, he and I stayed on opposite sides of the room and never spoke. Why he was breaking routine now was beyond me.

"Who still uses these?"

I snatched them back, slinging them around my neck. "People who would lose their heads if they weren't attached." I'd gone through three pairs of wireless earbuds before figuring that out. Thankfully, I always bought the cheap ones. "What do you want?"

His lips quirked up. "Are you this mean to everyone, or am I special?"

"You're especially annoying." I put my earbuds in, only to have them removed again.

My death stare didn't deter him. "Everyone left already."

I blinked, then took in the room. Empty. Everyone else's work station was clean and tidy. According to the clock on the wall, I should've left fifteen minutes ago.

"Is painting bricks really that interesting?"

Wrapping my headphones around my phone, I turned to the standee. It was a backdrop for an alley scene. I'd worked on in non stop and was basically done, I just couldn't leave it alone. When it came to painting, I went overboard with the details. I'd get into the zone and couldn't stop until it was perfect. Or as close as I could get before someone stopped me.

"Not really. I kind of..." I fluttered my fingers around my skull, trying to find the words. "I was thinking about things."

Mainly, about being so in love with someone, and them loving me, that the emo love songs I listen to would have a deeper meaning. The songs I listened to, my favorites, were the one that created images in my head of two people madly in love. I fell asleep thinking about this imaginary couple, hoping one day I wouldn't have to. That I'd be living it.

"Like what?"

I looked up at him, realizing who I was talking to. I definitely wasn't telling him about my romantic fantasies.

"Is this part of your babysitting?" Grabbing paint brushes, I headed to the sink to clean them. Corey made himself useful by packing up the paint I used.

"Why do you think everything I do is because of Gray?" He asked from the supply closet where he put the paint.

"Because, in all the years I've known you, this is the most you've talked to me." I rinsed the brushes with water and soap, making a sudsy mess in the sink.

"That's not true." I jumped, not expecting his voice to be so close, for him to be standing behind me, and accidentally wetting him with the fistful of brushes I held.

"Sorry," I said, murky paint water dripping down his face.

He didn't seem fazed. He wiped his face with the bottom of his shirt, revealing a trail of hair that disappeared into the waistband of his boxers. I went back to my paint brushes, ignoring the heat rising up my neck and to my cheeks.

"We talk," he insisted, handing me a couple more paint brushes I must've missed.

"No, we don't. It's always been you and Grayson." I placed the now clean brushes into a paint stained mason jar and brought it to the supply closet.

"You sound kind of jealous."

Jealous? Of what? I set the jar of brushes down harder than necessary. "Yeah, totally jealous I don't get to sit around playing video games and having fart contests."

His brows knitted together. "Is that what you think boys do?"

"Are you saying you don't?"

He frowned, as if in deep thought. "We never had a fart contest. Neither of us can fart on command."

He looked so serious, I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

Corey is the enemy, I reminded myself.

Forcing a straight face, I left the supply closet. But not before catching that annoying smirk on his face. He'd been doing that a lot. Smiling like he knew some juicy secret.

My area was clean, so I wheeled my standee over with the rest of them.

Corey followed me out of the room, the door locking behind us. "Want to walk home together?"

"No," I said automatically. "I have to meet Liah in the library, anyway."

"She's not there."

I turned on him. "How do you know that?"

"She's the one that sent me to get you," he explained. "She had to go home and told me you sometimes lost track of time."

That was true. If it wasn't for Liah coming to collect me the past few days, I easily would've stayed in that room for another two hours.

The message on my phone from Liah confirmed what he said. It was sent almost thirty minutes ago. I made a mental note to ask her why she thought sending Corey to get me was a good idea. She could've asked anyone.

We lived in the same neighborhood, so it wasn't like I could avoid walking with him. I shrugged and headed for the exit.

• • •

"I wanted to ask you something," Corey said as soon as we left school grounds.

We passed big houses that looked brand new. With bright green lawns and Halloween decorations. The street probably looked amazing all lit up at night.

"Yes, I think you're obnoxious."

"It's about Gray."

"I think he's obnoxious, too."

He didn't find that funny. "I'm serious."

"You talk to him way more than I do. I don't know what information I can give you."

He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, looking at the sidewalk. "You should probably talk to him."

That gave me pause. I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. "Why? Did something happen?"

He quickly shook his head. "No. Nothing happened. But, the last couple times I talked to him...he didn't sound right."

I laughed. Relieved. "Is that it? You miss your bestie?"

His gaze flicks upwards as she shakes his head. "Forget it." He resumed walking, faster than before.

"It's Grayson," I said, catching up to him. "He's been excited about leaving for college forever. And you know how he is, he fits in everywhere. Maybe he was tired when you spoke to him."

"I don't think that's it," he said, shoving his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie. "I've been reading articles online."

He was genuinely worried about my brother. Meanwhile, I still had his number blocked. "You read articles?"

"Yes, I can read," he said with an exasperated sigh. He continued before I could tell him that wasn't how I meant it. "Some of them talk about how people have a hard time adjusting to college life their freshmen year. He's been in West Valley his whole life. Being so far away from everyone--It could be a lot to handle."

I didn't think of it like that. It was easy to be outgoing when the people you knew out numbered the strangers. "Is that how you felt when you moved here?"

I couldn't imagine how it'd feel to be dropped in a school with a bunch of new faces. In the middle of the year, no less. That's what had happened to Corey. I remember the day he walked into Mrs. Bohn's fifth grade class. All arms and legs and ears. I think our group project a few weeks later was the first time I ever heard him talk.

"At first, yeah. Then I met you."

Breathing became difficult and there was a feeling I couldn't describe deep down in my belly. I tripped over my own two feet. Corey's hand shot out, gripping my elbow to steady me. His finger tips on my skin were like an electric shock.

"When we partnered up for that project," he went on, oblivious to heart palpitations he just gave me. "If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have met Gray."

Ignoring the...whatever that was, I held my hand over my heart . "Awe, remember to add that to your vows on your wedding day."

"Funny." He tried to look offended, but a tiny smile broke through.

• • •

Later that night, after I'd done the dishes, I unblocked Grayson on my phone. I sat in my bed, staring at our messages for the longest, trying to think of something to say to him. Finally, I settled on asking him if he was coming that weekend.

Why? Got more parties you want to sneak off to?

I wished. I didn't know what Corey wanted me to say to him. Why did he think I could get my brother to talk when he couldn't? Corey should've given me a script or something.

Shrugging, I typed out the first thing to come to mind, I want cookies from that place you're always bragging about

I expected him to come back with something snarky. Instead, he sent a thumb up emoji. Should I have said something else? Maybe he was expecting an apology or a "how are you?". I couldn't bring myself to text either of those. So, I closed down the messaging app, put on some music, and got ready for bed.