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I'm sitting on my bed, laptop balanced on my knees, trying to edit photos from last night's party. I should be lost in the colors and textures, in the thrill of capturing everyone mid-laugh or in some blurry, perfect dance move.

Instead, my mind keeps veering back to Naomi and her...proposition as she called it.

My cursor hovers over the saturation slider as I let out a frustrated groan.

Who just asks someone to be their girlfriend, out of the blue, at a party?

The Naomi Hayes, apparently.

And she didn't just ask. She looked me right in the eye, her mouth doing that little half-smirk thing, and said,
"Luna, I might be a terrible person but I would never...and if it makes you feel better, the dare isn't even about dating," I quote.

I shake my head at the memory.

Date her?

Naomi has a reputation-the kind you hear about whether you want to or not. Everyone's had their time as her "favorite," but none of it has ever been serious to stick with. And now she's asking me?

The chime of my phone interrupts my thoughts. It's Mia.

I pick up, grateful for the distraction. "Mia."

She appears on my phone screen with her curly dark hair piled in a messy bun on top of her head.

"Oh, thank God," she says, excitement showing on her face. "I've been dying to hear about Naomi Hayes making a pass at you."

"It wasn't a pass." I huff, though my heart drops to my belly. "She asked me to date her. Like... be her actual girlfriend. Not a joke."

"Oh, it's never a joke with Naomi." I can practically hear Mia grinning on the other end of the line. "But it's still kind of insane. She just... said it?"

"Yes. I mean, out of nowhere. We were just talking, and then she says, 'Date me'," I groan, rolling over my belly to glance at the ceiling as if it'll offer answers. "Why me? She could be with anyone. Literally."

"Maybe that's the thing," Mia says. "Maybe she's had 'anyone,' and she's ready for someone... specific?"

"But why me?" I repeat. I don't expect Mia to have an answer. It's not like I do, either, it just feels better when it's rhetorical.

"Honestly, Luna, I think she knows what she is doing," Mia says. "You're, like, the perfect girl. You don't even try to be, but you're."

I roll my eyes, half-smiling.

"Because I've got no choice. And Naomi's... Naomi. You've seen her. She practically owns every room she's in."

"Oh, I know," Mia says, laughing. "And you think you couldn't handle that much hotness? Is it just me or does the fact that she is into females too makes her super sexy?"

I scoff. "How long before she gets bored or decides this was just some 'experience'?"

My own words sting coming from my lips but they need to be said. What if she wakes up one day and decides this is not fun anymore? What happens to me then?

There's a pause, and I can hear Mia exhale on the other end.

"I get it, okay? Naomi's been... around. But maybe it's different now. I mean, she's really putting herself out there, asking you to be her girlfriend. Do you know how rare that is in a million ways?"

"Or maybe it's just one of her whims," I mutter. But something in Mia's words sticks.

Naomi was serious. Her eyes had an unguarded look when she asked, like it wasn't just some passing thing.

"Luna," Mia says softly, "I'm just saying. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try. See where it goes."

Maybe I'd finally get out of the third wheel zone.

I sit with that, chewing on my lip, the silence stretching between us until my thoughts drift.

"It's just been a lot lately," I say, my voice lowering. "I mean, with Dad moving out. Rue's trying to act like it's fine, like she doesn't miss him, but I know she does. And Mom... I don't even know what to say to her half the time."

Mia is quiet for a second. "You know everything's going to be fine, right?"

"They're still trying to act normal at dinner, like we can't feel the tension." I blink back tears, hating how shaky my voice sounds.

"Oh, honey," Mia purrs but it's her voice that sounds more comforting than anything.

I nod. "I know. But I can't help it. Everything's so messy, Mia. Why would I want to add more?"

"What if this isn't adding more," she says. "Maybe this is giving you something that feels... good. Better."

I lean back against my pillows, staring at the little string lights Rue helped me put up last year. I remember how we laughed when we couldn't get them to stay, how Dad finally came in to fix them, pretending like it was the biggest favor in the world, grumbling and rolling his eyes.

But he's not here that often anymore and none of us really know what to do with the space he left.

Maybe Mia's right.

"So?" Mia prompts.

I take a breath. "Maybe. I mean... I guess it wouldn't hurt to see what she means by all this."

Mia laughs. "That's my girl. Who knows, Luna-maybe Naomi's exactly what you need."

"Highly doubt that."

When I hang up, I get a text from Rue.

Rue: come downstairs. Dad's heading out.

I swallow.

Despite this being routine, I can't help but feel strange every single time.

At first, I thought Dad leaving was just a phase, something he'd snap out of.

He said he needed "space," and I figured he'd come back once he did. But weeks went by, and he didn't.

And when he did come back, it was only to agree on having dinner with us every Sunday, for no reason but only to hold on to the so called family that he believes we still have.

Mom tries to act like everything's fine. She puts on a brave face, but the dark circles under her eyes betray her.

Work: she always hides under that but many are the times when she is passed out on the couch. Not that she is too tired to go to bed but it's so much of Dad in there she can't handle it.

Rue acts like she doesn't care, never mentioning him, but I see her checking her phone, hoping he'll reach out any other time before or after Sunday.

And me? I'm stuck somewhere in the middle.

I want to call him, but our last conversations felt so distant, like he was already halfway out of our lives.

Mom keeps saying, "It's better this way," but I catch her staring off sometimes, lost and heavy.

I want to believe we'll be okay, but that's just more lies. Nothing will be okay and we will keep hurting.

Maybe Mia is right. I need to get distracted.