After I calm down a bit, I continue to lean my head against his chest and listen to the beat of his heart because it's relaxing. We don't talk or anything. We just sit. 

I feel a nudge on my arm and then Max starts talking. "Rose, I think you fell asleep," he says. I look at the time to see that its 5:30. Last time I looked at the clock it was 4:30.

I pull my phone out and text Max.

Was I asleep for a whole hour?

"Yeah," he answers, "I didn't want to wake you 'cause you've had a hard night."

Thanks for letting me sleep. It was so refreshing after everything that's happened today.

There's a knock on the door and Max goes to open it. I look to see who is is.

"Hey, mom wanted me to let you know that dinner is almost ready," Zach says.

"OK, we'll be down in a bit," he replies. When Zach leaves, he walks back over by me.

"Hey, before we go downstairs, I have something for you." He picks up a folded piece of paper from his bedside table.

"This is for you," he says handing it to me. I unfold the paper to see a drawing of a girl sitting under a tree reading a book. I look a little closer and notice the the girl looks a lot like me. 

I didn't know you like to draw.

"Yeah, it's just a hobby I've picked up throughout my life. I didn't know I could draw as well as I could until one day, a couple years back, I started doodling in my notebook during class," he explains.

You did a very nice job. I'd love to see more of your drawings next time I'm over.

"Thanks, I'd love to show you more. I've never taken an art class, so everything I draw is either self-taught or based off online tutorials," he explains.

We sit in his room a few more minutes, and then he says,"We should probably go downstairs before my mom sends Zach back up."

We head downstairs to the living room where Zach and his parents are watching TV.

"Mom. Dad," Max looks to his parents, "this is Rose. Rose these are my parents."

"You mean you're finally letting mom and dad meet your girlfriend?" Zach teases.

Woah, am I actually Max's girlfriend? If that's true... then would he be considered my...

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Rose," Mrs. Fisher says, interrupting my thoughts. "Have a seat, we'd love to get to know more about you." As Max and I sit down on the living room sofa, Mrs. Fisher starts by asking how Max and I met.

I go to pick up my phone to text my answer to Max, so that he can tell them my answer, but right as I start typing he is already explaining to them where it all started.

"Max, I wasn't asking you," his mom says sternly to him.

"Sorry mom," he says shamefully.

Mrs. Fisher looks back to me. "There's no reason to be shy," she says.

There's an awkward moment of silence, but Max breaks it. "Mom, Rose doesn't talk,"  he says. 

His parents look at each other. I can't quite tell what emotion they're showing. Surprise? Fear? Worry? Whatever it is, they probably wished I hadn't met Max.

The oven timer goes off so Max's mom leaves the room to check on the meal. 

While Mrs. Fisher checks the food, Mr. Fisher haltingly asks, "So, Rose, what are your hobbies?"

"She likes to read and play with her dog Daisy," he answers. At the end he looks at me and I nod my head in agreement.

His dad replies to that by asking, "What is your favorite genre to read?"

"She likes to read anything really. I've seen her reading different kinds of books at school before," Max answers.

"Dinner is ready," Max's mom says as she walks into the living room.

We all head towards the dining room table, where his mom sets five places to eat.

At the table, I sit with Max to my right, and Zach to my left.

Quickly, before we start to eat, I text Max.

Do you think it's okay for me to use my phone so I can text you my answers and you can say them for me?

Max looks at his phone and says, "Mom, dad, since Rose doesn't talk, is it okay if she has her phone out at dinner? That way she can text me her answers and I'll say them for her?"

His parents nod, and as his mom starts serving the spaghetti, his dad passes around the garlic bread.

"Do you have any siblings?" his dad asks.

I set my fork down to text Max, but he's already started answering.

"She has an older sister. She's the same age as Zach," he replies.

"Oh. Zach, do you know her?" Mrs. Fisher asks.

"Yes, I do. Max went to homecoming with Rose so I dropped him off over at her house. That's when I met Lily," he explains.

"Max, you went to homecoming with Rose? I would have thought you would have gone with your friends. Are you two dating?" she asks, shocked.

Is there a possibility that both Zach and Mrs. Fisher are right? He does seem to know a lot about me. Is he dating me without straight out asking me to be his-

My thoughts are interrupted by Zach nudging me.

I pick up my phone and text Max.

Answer her. I don't know what the answer is.

"It's complicated," he says.

"What do you mean it's complicated? It's a yes or no question," Mrs. Fisher insists.

"It's hard to explain. Can we please get off this topic?" Max asks a little angrily.

The room goes silent and Nobody speaks until we finish dinner.

"Rose, why don't you talk?" Mr. Fisher asks.

I bite my lip, making eye contact with no one.

"William! That was extremely rude! Rose, it's okay. You don't have to say if you don't feel comfortable saying it," Mrs. Fisher says.

I shake my head over and over again, still not making eye contact with anyone.

"You two are excused," Mrs. Fisher says.

Max leads me out of the room to the living room. We sit on the couch and he begins hugging me, resting my head against his chest.

"Hey, do you wanna go see a movie at the park?" Max asks me after I've calmed down.

It depends. What movie?

"Moana. I've heard its a pretty good movie. You up for it?" he asks.

Sure. What time does it start?

"It starts in about half an hour. I'll go talk to my mom and see if she can drive us," he says as he stands up heading towards the kitchen, where his mom is cleaning the dishes.

While he's gone I text Lily.

Hey I'm going to a movie at the park with Max. He just went to check with his mom.  I'll be home at about 10:00.

I set my phone down and wait for Max to return. My phone goes off so I pick it up. It's a text from Lily.

Have fun. No kissing on the first date! ;)

I quickly type a response.

We're not dating.

Once I hit the send button Max is back in the room, with his mom following close behind him.

"Ready?" he asks. I nod my head, and the three of us make our way out to the car. Before we leave I send one more text to Lily.

We're leaving now. His mom is driving us. See you in a couple hours.

Max and I sit in the back seat of the car while his mom drives us to the park.

When we arive, his mom pulls up against the curb and lets us out. Before his mom leaves, he grabs a blanket for us to sit on.

"Bye mom," he calls out as she leaves.

Together, we find a place to sit not far from the screen, so we spread out our blanket to sit on. I look around to see that there seems to be a lot of couple here.

Could this be another date, that he didn't call a date?