Corey wasn't in the auditorium when I got there. After all the time I spent debating if I should skip watching the rehearsal to avoid an awkward situation, and he didn't even show up.

I sat in my usual seat at the back, watching Liah on stage, mouthing along to everyone else's lines. Singing was her first love, but I think she could have a future in acting if she wanted it. I tried to keep my focus on the stage, but my eyes kept flicking to the door, hoping Corey would walk in. Not that I knew what I'd do if he did.

Scaring him off was bad enough, but I guess there were worse alternatives. What if he showed up and gave me "the talk"? Told me I was a good friend and he cared about me, but not in that way. I've watched enough movies to know unrequited loved sucked.

Not that there was any love. Unrequited or otherwise.

Corey was a good friend.

I cared about him.

Just not in that way.

I repeated that over and over. Even long after rehearsals ended. If Liah hadn't put those thoughts in my head, I wouldn't be feeling like this. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized, maybe she hadn't hit a switch and turned on my feelings for Corey. My best friend only shined a light on them. Brought them out of the shadows where I couldn't ignore them anymore.

Because if I was being entirely honest with myself, maybe it started that night in the tree house when he saved me. Or maybe I caught feelings on Halloween night when he convinced the neighbors to turn on their lights for me.

Maybe I always felt something for him, thrumming just below the surface, underneath all the years of hating him. Yeah, he was nice to look at, but he was kind, too. While my brother used to act like me breathing the same air as him was a crime, Corey never seemed bothered.

But I couldn't like Corey. Not when I finally got my brother back. If I started dating his best friend (who he was currently mad at), we'd end up back at square one.

Then again, with the way Corey ran out of the house yesterday, I didn't have to worry about that. He didn't feel the same way.

• • •

"I told you it sounded like a date," Liah sang. She laid on her stomach across my bed, breaking my no homework in my room rule. The dining room table only reminded me of yesterday, so I didn't mind that night. We were in our pajamas, using this rare opening in her schedule to catch up.

"It was innocent!" I cried, covering my face with the blanket I had wrapped around me. "It wasn't a date."

"Why not?" she asked, popping some white cheddar popcorn in her mouth.

I looked away, shoving a spoonful of strawberry yogurt in my mouth. Heat prickled up the back of my neck. Of course, my best friend would voice the one question I wouldn't even let myself think about. Because I already knew the answer: He didn't want it to be a date. "What do you mean 'why not'? It's Corey."

"Exactly," she said. "He's the Corey you've been giggling with at the back of the auditorium for weeks. The Corey who dressed in Spandex because you asked him to. The Corey who would be an idiot if he ran out of here yesterday for anything other than being nervous about an amazing, gorgeous girl like you being interested in him."

Well, when she put it like that...Maybe she was right. Guys got nervous, too. But I couldn't imagine Corey being scared to make a move. He didn't hesitate with Shamika or Myisha. So, if he wanted to be with me, he would've said something. Right?

Sitting there stressing about whether a boy liked me had me missing the days where it didn't matter. Because Grayson wouldn't let anyone near me. There was something seriously wrong with that.

"I'm taking a break from boys."

Liah blinked down at me from where she was on my bed. "Uh...what?"

"No more boys," I said again, the words feeling better on my tongue the second time.

She sat up, looking down at me like I just grew a tail. "You've spent all this time plotting to get a boyfriend and once you find a potential one, you're done?"

"That's exactly the problem," I said, standing. "My life has been nothing but boys lately. It's sad. You have the musical and all these new friends. I need something. My own musical, so to speak."

She stared at me for a long while before huffing out a sigh. "I'd be happier to hear that if I didn't know you're only saying it because you're scared."

Of course, she saw right through me. That's what best friends did. They saw through all the crap and called you out on it. But I was a firm believer in the fake-til-you-make-it method.

• • •

For all my talk of finding new interests, I had nothing lined up. How did people find new hobbies? If I wasn't reading or painting nails, I let Liah drag me around town.

She was the queen of hobbies. Singing and acting were only the tip of the iceberg. She was always falling down the rabbit hole of a new interest. Letting it swallow her whole, making it her entire identity.

Before the musical it was knitting--clothes, hats, blankets, earrings. She was never without a newly knitted creation. Before that, it was designing websites for local businesses. She wore blue-light blocking glasses like they were prescription.

Some hobbies stuck, like singing and her color-coded note taking methods, but most of her phases lasted a few weeks before she switched it up.

She'd know what hobby was a perfect match for me. But after the way she called me out yesterday, I wasn't in the mood to talk to her.

Instead, I searched up "hobbies in my city". To my surprise, there was an event page full of things happening that month all over the county.

Bowling, trivia nights, photography classes, psychics. There were even a few local book signings. No one I'd heard of, though. Then I saw a posting for the art show Justin Yoon mentioned forever ago. And it started in thirty minutes.

I could show up, meet some new people. Before I could over think it, I decided to go. Pulling my mom away from her tv shows to join me, so I wouldn't be alone.

● ● ●

As soon as I stepped into the library, I forgot all about the art show and made a beeline for the table full of holiday romances with pretty covers.

I liked owning books, so I didn't use my library, but I might have to start. Having this many books available to me at anytime was a dream come true.

Reluctantly, I pulled myself away from the display table. The art show took up what was left of the large open space of the library.

Paintings, small sculptures, cross stitch tapestries. The participants used a variety of mediums to represent what Grateful meant to them. My mom and I followed the flow of people, taking in each art piece.

Justin Yoon's painting was next. It was only a sketch when I first saw it. Now, with all the colors and details, I could see that, while it still looked like Justin, the man in the portrait was older with graying hair. When I looked closer, I noticed the texture of hair was actually words. He wrote a letter to his father, hiding it in plain view.

"This one is nice," my mom said, admiring the painting.

"Thank you," Justin said. I hadn't even noticed he was standing there. He was dressed in a blue sweater, a white button up underneath and khakis. I felt slightly under dressed in my jeans and sweatshirt.

My mom moved on to the next art piece--a flower arrangement made entirely of yarn, even the vase.

"This is amazing." I told him.

"It's not gonna send you running out like last time, is it?" The question took me by surprise, but his tone was joking.

Knowing the portrait was of his dead father still brought up everything I felt about my own, but they weren't as intense. That talk I had with Gray must've really helped.

"I'm sorry about that. I was having a bad day."

He clutched his chest, letting out an exaggerated breath. "Whew. I thought I had B.O."

I fought a smile. "Well..."

He laughed, making him look even more like his father.

Someone came over, asking him about his painting. I took the moment to slip away and catch up with my mom. What I wasn't expecting was to see her with Liselle Michaels, Corey's mom.

Liselle immediately reached out for a hug when she saw me. I wrapped my arms around her, careful not to disturb the plastic tubing connected to her oxygen tank.

She'd been on oxygen for a year after a really bad case of pneumonia. It didn't slow her down one bit. She made the most if it and started making cozies for her mini tank. The one she wore now matched the purple of her shoes.

"Hey, Harlow! I haven't seen you around in a while."

Over the summer, I helped her set up an online shop where she sold her custom cozies. I think she mostly wanted the company with her husband and Corey away on jobs most days.

"I know! You probably have hundreds of new cozy designs for me to upload."

"And a new cookie recipe I've been trying to perfect," she whispered, conspiratorially. Probably because her doctor told her to scale back on her sweets.

That summer, I learned Liselle and I had something in common. She had her own over protective person looking out for her. I had Grayson and she had her husband, CJ.

He took the doctors strict dietary plan to heart and rid the house of all her favorite snacks. So, she started making her own. Whenever I visited her, she sent me home with bags full of cookies so there wouldn't be evidence of her baking when her husband returned.

I'd been so caught up in my boy drama, I hadn't realized how much I missed our days together.

"I heard that."

Speaking of boy drama...

Corey walked over, carrying a frame that he sat on an easel I hadn't noticed before.

It was a portrait of Liselle and CJ on their wedding day. Instead of paint, scrap fabric from her cozies made up their silhouette.

"You did all this, Lis?"

"Sure did," she said proudly. "It took me weeks to finish."

"It's incredible," I said, taking in the details. I didn't know how voting worked, but if she didn't win, the whole thing was rigged.

● ● ●

After checking out the other art pieces, Mom and I found ourselves back in Liselle's corner. She had been trying to talk Corey into getting her a cupcake from the refreshment table. When she saw me, her eyes lit up, knowing I wouldn't say no.

That's how I ended up walking across the library with Corey, in the world's most awkward silence. To make it worse, the line for the refreshments was long.

"My dad would kick my ass if he knew about this," Corey said, breaking the silence. I was just glad he didn't bring up the "date".

"For what? Feeding your starving mother?"

His eyes narrowed. I smiled innocently. He quickly turned away.

Okay then...

I grabbed a chocolate cupcake for Liselle and a chocolate chip cookie for myself. Corey took a mini bottle of water and napkins.

"Did Justin invite you?"

That was random.

"I saw you talking. That's why I asked."

He wouldn't even look at me, but tried to make small talk?

"He mentioned it," I told him. "But no, he didn't invite me. Why?"

"Just asking." He picked at the label on the water bottle. "About the other nigh--"

"Let's not." I picked up my pace, reaching my mom and Liselle before Corey could say anything else.

● ● ●

The contest was rigged.

A guy who made a robot sculpture out of old tires and car parts won. Liselle still left with a fifty-dollar gift card to the local craft store. She seemed satisfied with the prize.

After Mom and I said our goodbyes, I couldn't get to the car fast enough.

"What's your problem?" Mom asked, fastening her seat belt. "You begged me to go to this thing, then you're knocking people over to get out."

Corey tried to talk to me again after the contest wrapped up. I had to get out of there before he crushed what little dignity I had left.

"I'm tired."

She didn't believe that. The doubt was all over her face. Thankfully, she let it go.

"Cheese fries?"

A smile eased its way onto my face. She knew my mood was off and exactly how to make it better. I loved her for that.

We stopped and got chili cheese fries from one of our favorite places. One order was enough to last a week, so we split a container when we got home. Watching Living Single with my mom and eating my weight in greasy food was the best way to spend the night.

It had been a while since we'd hung out like that. The only thing we were missing was Grayson. The weekend was pretty much over. I guessed he couldn't finish the paper on time. I sent him a picture of me and Mom and our fries to show him what he was missing.

He responded with a picture of himself looking bored out of his mind in the library, surrounded by research books.

While Mom got ready for bed, I tidied up the living room, emptying the trash to take it out. When I opened the door, I froze. A dark figure walked up the driveway. I was about to run back in the house when I realized it was only Corey. The urge to run didn't really go away, though.

"Maybe I was being too subtle earlier," I said, walking to the trash bins on side of the house. "But I don't want to talk to you."

"No, I got it. That's why..." He glanced down at his hands before shoving them into the front pocket of his hoodie. "Can we talk?"

What was wrong with this boy? "There's nothing to talk about," I said, walking past him. "I understood perfectly after you ran out of here the other night."

"Harlow."

Before I got to the door, I rounded on him, taking a step closer. "And just so we're clear, I wasn't trying to come on to you. I was trying to help you fix things with Gray, but he got stuck at school. So whatever conversation you think we need to have doesn't need to happen."

"Harlow." He reached out, his fingers gently touching my wrist as I tried to walk away. Something started to unravel in me. I knew if I looked back at him, I'd come undone completely. So I kept my eyes on the ground as I turned to him.

"You don't have to spell this out for me. I get it. And I would seriously rather not have to hear you say it. So, let's leave it here and go our separate ways."

I was embarrassed enough as it was. If he gave me some it's-not-you-its-me crap, I'd lose my mind.

I stared at his shoes, willing them to walk away. Instead, they came closer. I looked up, ready to tell him to leave, but his hands on either of my cheeks stopped me. Then his lips were on mine and I lost my mind in all the best ways.

Corey Michaels was kissing me in the driveway. He consumed every square inch of my mind. There was one channel broadcasting it was only him. His thick, soft lips. His hands on my waist. The warmth of his body against mine.

A second ago, I wanted him gone. Now I had no intent of ever letting him go. I gripped his hoodie, pulling him closer as I kissed him back.

We parted. Our breathing erratic, hearts pounding in sync. The best part of kissing someone the same height as you was that you were always on the same level. Everything perfectly aligned. Eyes, nose, lips, hearts. Lips. I missed his on mine already.

"You thought I was out here trying to tell you I wasn't interested?" He said, a little breathless.

"The way you left--"

His thumbs were right under my ribs, thoughtlessly rubbing small circles. "I got scared."

"Scared of what?"

My phone blared from the pocket of my sweats. Corey and I jumped away from each other like two little kids caught sneaking candy.

When I fished my phone out, the name the flashed across the screen sobered me up from whatever high I felt kissing Corey.

Grayson.