When I get home a little while later, all the lights are off. I think everyone is asleep, so I decide to just go through the front door. But when I open the door, I'm slightly surprised to see my stepdad waiting in the living room for me. He doesn't look angry like he did that one night. His lips are curved down in a knowing frown as I slip into the house and quietly close the door behind me.

"Hey," I whisper as I look around to see if my mom is nearby.

"She went to bed," he says, and my eyes focus on him again. "I checked your room a little while ago and saw that you were gone. I told her you were sleeping." I give him an appreciative grin as he opens his arms for me, and a moment later he's got them around me in a hug. "Listen, kiddo, I don't know to cover for you unless you tell me, okay? Next time, just shoot me a text and let me know where you're going."

I nod my head and sigh. "I hate that we know there's going to be a next time," I say, and he chuckles. "Is she at least sorry?"

He releases me and runs his hands over my hair. "As sorry as she can be. You know how she is. But I do know she's sorry she upset you. We had a long talk tonight."

"Yeah, I heard you," I reply, and he winces. "Well, I heard some of it. Not all of it. I was trying to study, but I was too upset, and I didn't want to listen to you two argue. So I snuck out. Then I ran into a friend and had dinner in Coeur d'Alene."

His eyes widen a bit in surprise. "A friend, huh? You mean you have a friend other than Beth?"

I roll my eyes, and he laughs. "Yeah, yeah. His name is Baker."

The silence that follows these words is heavier than I expected them to be. My stepdad closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, as if to steady himself, before asking, "Baker, huh? Is this some new boyfriend?"

I cringe and shake my head. "No, dad. He's just a friend. We ran into each other at the lake. He had some stuff he was dealing with, so we just hung out for a while. It was nothing." He looks at me skeptically. "Baker is the guy who saved me that night. At the party. So you know... he's okay."

He gives me a soft smile. "He's definitely okay in my book then," he says, and I grin as I give him another hug. "So listen, kiddo. Tomorrow, your mom is going to want to talk about what happened between you and her tonight. If you're not ready to discuss it, then that's okay. But be prepared to tell her no."

I nod my head. "Okay." I have no idea if I'm going to be ready to talk about it with her tomorrow or not. Right now I'm just tired and ready to go to bed. It's late, and I still have a couple more weeks of school before finals. Then I'll spend Christmas with my family before traveling to the U.K. after the new year. But I know if I don't hash it out with her tomorrow, then I'll just be putting off the inevitable. "Thanks, dad," I say, and he gives me a tight squeeze.

"You're welcome," he whispers back. Then he releases me, ruffles my blonde hair, and watches as I run up to my bedroom. On my desk is my chemistry textbook, right where I left it before I snuck out of the house a couple hours ago. After checking my watch and seeing how late it is, I sigh and decide to continue my studying in the morning. I'm exhausted, and even though I know finals are just a few weeks away, I don't think I could focus tonight if I tried. So I close my book and plop down onto my bed.

I'm just about to bury my face in my pillow when I hear what sounds like an incoming notification on my phone. My eyes flit to my watch as I check to see what the notification is about. This late at night, I imagine it's some stupid junk email that I'll probably delete in the morning. But my eyes widen a bit as I see Baker's name on the screen. My fingers fumble clumsily as I pull my message up on my phone to read.

"Are you trying to study for the chem final?" he asks, and I bite my lip in an effort to keep myself from smiling.

"Was going to. Too tired. Heading to bed." I hit send and stare at my phone, wondering if he's going to reply. A few seconds later, I see the three dots in the bottom of the chat thread indicating he's working on a response.

"Always the overachiever," he writes back, and now I am smiling. "Wanna study with me on Wednesday? I have a long shift at the skating rink. Could use some company."

My stomach flutters a little as I reread his words. And I think of Beth and what she would say to all this. Probably that Baker likes me and is trying to ask me out. But if there's one thing I've learned about Baker Scott these last couple months, it's that we speak the same language. My future is very important to me, and it's very clear that Baker feels the same way. Not to mention we've already discovered how great we are as study buddies. That's all this thing is. Well, okay, maybe a friendship too. A very reluctant one.

A tiny voice in the back of my head tries to remind me that Baker is my rival. But he doesn't feel much like a rival. So I text him back, "Sure. I'll head over there after school."

Minutes go by, and I think he's done responding. I set my phone down on my nightstand and run to the bathroom to get ready for bed. The whole time I'm brushing my teeth and washing my face, I try not to think about him at all. But when I get back to my room and see the notification light on my phone flashing, I pick it up and look at it without a moment's hesitation.

"Bring your flashcards," he writes with a winky face emoji, and I flush as my eyes flicker to my desk, where a stack of chemistry flashcards is sitting next to my textbook. A beat goes by, and he writes again, "Did I guess right? Do you have flashcards?"

I roll my eyes and smile before walking over to my desk and snapping a picture of the neat stack next to my textbook. Then I send the picture to him with a thumbs up (making extra sure that there's nothing else in the picture he can use against me later). A few moments pass before I get another text. I pull it to find, not a message, but a picture. A picture of his own set of flashcards.

Shaking my head, I write back, "Of course. Why am I not surprised?"

"Does anything surprise you, Summer Lumen?" he asks.

"You do, Baker Scott," I reply as I fight a blush. "Goodnight."

A beat passes as I wait for him to say goodnight back. But then I jump about a foot in the air as my phone begins to ring in my hand. The sound is so loud I'm sure it's going to wake my mom. Quickly and without thinking, I answer it and hold it up to my ear. "Baker?" I whisper in an attempt to keep my voice down. "What's going on?"

He breathes into the phone, and for a split second I think maybe he pocket dialed me. But then he whispers in a breathy kind of voice that sends goosebumps rising up my arms, "Nothing. I just... texting is such a weird concept, isn't it? Like, so much gets lots in translation via text. I prefer the phone, you know? So nothing gets misunderstood."

"What can you possibly misunderstand about goodnight?" I mutter as I stifle a giggle. "It's late, Baker. We need to go to sleep."

"But do we?" he asks me, and I roll my eyes again. "It's Saturday. We can sleep in tomorrow."

"I don't sleep in, Baker," I reply as I shake my head in exasperation. "Ever."

"Ever?" he asks me, and he sounds shocked.

"No," I whisper back. "So I should go. I was going to finish my flashcards tomorrow morning."

"What is a double replacement reaction?" he asks as I lay my head back against my pillow. I don't speak for a few moments as I try to think of the answer in my tired state. "Summer?"

"An exchange of positive ions between two compounds," I reply.

"Correct," he says, and I can practically hear him smiling over the phone. "Now your turn."

I need to go to sleep. My eyes are getting heavy, and I know I'm going to struggle tomorrow if I don't go soon. Part me wonders if this isn't some ploy of his. An act of sabotage to keep the top spot in the class. If he keeps me up all night, then I won't get enough sleep, and I'll struggle with my classes. It's a smart move, really. Dirty, but brilliant.

"What is a combustion reaction?" I ask, because even though I would never admit it to anyone, I don't want to get off the phone with him either.

"A compound that reacts to oxygen to produce a high-energy reaction," he replies, and damn it. He's right. "What is Boyle's Law?"

"(P1)(V1)=(P2)(V2)," I say through a yawn. Then I come up with another question, because despite my best efforts, I can't bring myself to hang up on him.

We go back and forth for a long time, and with each question I get progressively sleepier. I'm pretty sure he's having a similar problem, because it's taking him longer and longer to come up with answers and questions for me. And I don't know when it happens. I don't know who does it first. But we end up falling asleep on the phone together, his heavy breathing lulling me into the most relaxing sleep I've had in a long time.

When I wake up a few hours later, I find my phone resting on my chest. I check to see if Baker is still on the other end of the line, and I'm not surprised when I see he is. My eyes are so heavy, and I pick my phone up to press the hangup button. But I freeze just as my thumb is about to touch it, reconsidering. Then I place my phone on my nightstand again, turn the volume up so I can hear him breathing, and fall asleep for a second time.

In the morning, I check my phone to see that the call has finally disconnected. I can't imagine he hung up, so his phone probably died. But when I look at the call log to see how long we were on the phone, I'm surprised to see that our call was connected for over five hours. That's the longest phone call I've ever had with anyone. Not that it was really a call. We were asleep for most of it. But somehow that makes it more special. Smiling to myself, I scroll down until I find Beth's name in my contacts.

I'm just about to text her about everything that happened last night when I stop. It's not that I don't want to share this stuff with her. I mean, she is my best friend. But this phone conversation felt so personal somehow. Even if consisted mostly of chemistry questions, it felt really... I don't know. Private. And despite the fact that I know Beth would kill me if she ever found out about this, I decide to keep it a secret. I wouldn't know how to explain it anyway. Because even I can't deny that it was so much more than studying.

Author's Note:
I as so glad we're in December. Nano was quite difficult this year. Yes, I made it. Fifty thousand words in 30 days. But good lord, it was exhausting this year. So happy it's over so that I can focus on stories I'm invested in. Like Summer and Baker! Can't wait to read your thoughts on this cute little chapter!

One more month until 2025, and let me tell you, I am ready. This year has not been a good year for me for a number of reasons, so I am ready to give it the bird as I leave it behind me forever. And don't get me wrong, 2025 doesn't have to be the best year ever. It just has to be better than 2024. And trust me when I say that's a low bar.

Hope everyone is enjoying this story! I'll be posting more chapters soon! Stay safe and healthy until then, my dears!
XOXO,
~Aly