I woke up bright and early the next day because of my phone ringing. I grabbed my phone from the desk and squinted to see who was it. I answer right away when I saw who it was.

"You got any plans today?" she asks and I sit up, yawning. "Wait, did I actually wake you up?"

"Nah, it's fine," I say, wiping my eyes and yawning for the second time.

"So, what's your answer?" she says and I cleared my vision to see what time it was already.

It was only 8 in the morning.

"Kind of," I say.

I can feel her nodding through the phone.

"You have plans with Cole, don't you?" she says mockingly.

"Shut up," I groan as she laughs. "Why are you even up so early?' I ask, changing the subject.

"Don't change the subject," she points out, giggling.

"I'm not!" I object.

"Well, answer my question first and I would answer yours," she says.

"Sure. Yes, he invited me to come over his house today," I admit and I hear her wolf whistle faintly.

"I'm awake because I've been smoking some weed," she casually says.

"What?" I gasp and I can feel her scoff through the phone.

"You really thought I was some angel?" she says and I swallow nervously.

"Not really," I softly say.

"I bet you hate me now."

I thought about this and that's when I remembered how Chelsea used to do Ecstasy.

"No," I firmly say.

She lets out an impressed laugh.

"I bet wrongly then," she says. "I'm going to hang up now."

"Uhm, sure. Were you supposed to tell me something important?" I ask and that's when there was a long silence on the other end. "Hello?"

It took her about five seconds to answer.

"Sorry, I, uhm, kind of felt dizzy," she says, groaning. "Bond soon, bye."

Before I could say goodbye, she hangs up.

I went to the restroom and started brushing my teeth. I use one of my hands to play with my bangs and the other to hold my toothbrush.

I rinsed my mouth and washed my face with mere water before leaving the restroom. I wiped my face with the bottom part of my shirt and headed to the window to open the curtains.

I was blinded by the sudden brightness of the sun so I closed it once again. I got outside of the room and saw dad and mom on the couch.

"Good morning, Amelia!" dad greets and mom just smiles at me.

"What time are you going out?" mom asks first thing and I just furrow my eyebrows at her.

"She's going out today? But, it's Christmas eve!" dad says, looking at mom with betrayed eyes.

"That's exactly why she should go out and have some fun," mom says and I just laugh at both of them.

"Get some breakfast," dad huffs, crossing his arms and turning his face away from me.

I head to the dining room and started eating some breakfast.

"Can you please pass me the milk?" a girl's voice asks and when I turn to see, there was a bright light surrounding her yet again. She was sitting in her usual seat. There was a glass that appeared in front of her.

"Chelsea?" I whisper and I just hear her giggle.

I hand her the milk carton and she doesn't reach out so I just place it in front of her. She doesn't touch it either.

"Do you truly believe that it's me?" she asks as I spoon some cereal in my mouth. I nod my head slowly.

"Stu-pid!" she shouts and I checked if mom and dad heard this.

They don't seem to have heard anything so I turned to look back at the girl surrounded with the bright light.

"Who are you?" I say.

"I'm Chelsea," she says.

"Then, why?" I ask.

"Then, why, what?" she says. I imagine her scratching her head, the way Chelsea usually does when she's clueless.

"Nothing," I just say and that's when she stands up and pats me on the head.

Her hand was the same as usual. Her fingers were cold and wispy. They feel somewhat like clouds.

"I knew you would say that," she whispers, leaning in before finally disappearing.

Cole picks me up before dinner and that's when dad snapped.

"Who is this Cole?" he asks mom and mom just touches his arm lightly.

"Don't worry, honey, he is someone you can trust," mom assures.

"You trust everyone, Nicole!" dad points out and that's when mom was taken aback.

She clears her throat and removes her hand away from dad's arm.

"John, I'm sure about this guy and when I'm sure I can never be not sure," she says and I can't help but make a face at her statement. "Plus, you've met him!"

"No, I haven't! I don't know someone whose name is Cole," dad argues.

 "You can go now, Amelia," she says, turning to me before the argument worsens. 

"You better go home before midnight," dad says, turning to me with an irritated expression and I nod right away.

I got out of the house and was greeted by Cole who was leaning on his car. It was really cold outside and I noticed how his nose was a little reddish.

"Why are you waiting outside?" I ask him, pinching his nose.

"It's a courteous way of waiting for a girl, madame," he says before opening the door of the passenger seat for me.

I get in as he shuts the door for me. He gets inside the car as well and starts driving.

"My mom is delighted to see you again."

We arrive at his house in just ten minutes. His mom greets me with a hug. I pat her lightly on the back as she gives me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"You look really beautiful!" she comments as she eyes me from my head to my feet. "I love your outfit, too!"

"T-thank y-you," I managed to say.

I wasn't really wearing anything special. I was just wearing a knitted gray sweater dress under a burgundy coat.

"Remove your coat, dear, our heater is on," she tells me. "Cole, be a gentleman and help her remove her coat," she says to Cole.

Cole obeys right away, walking behind me and removing the coat off me. I can't help but feel really uncomfortable as he strips off the piece of clothing off of me. He grabs the coat and places it on the coat rack just beside the door.

"Let's have some dinner, then?" his mom invites. "Cole, call your brother," he tells Cole.

Cole goes upstairs to fetch his little brother.

"Come, Amelia," she says, gesturing me to the dining room. "Have a seat."

She pulls out a chair for me as I seated my down slowly.

"Thank you, ma'am," I say.

"Cole has never brought a girl home before," she mentions before sitting down as well.

Cole and his brother came down and headed for the dining room. They both seated themselves silently. Ash was eyeing me carefully so I looked away to remove some tension.

"Polly!" her mom calls out and a woman who I assume to be their maid arrives with a rolling tray table filled with enclosed dishes.

She transfers each enclosed plate to the table and opens them one by one, introducing all the different dishes. I shoot Cole a look and he just winks at me.

His mom gives me a little amount of each dish.

"Get some more, don't be shy," she says before giving Ash and Cole some. I waited for them to fill their plates before starting to eat.

When everyone's plates were filled, his mom prayed for the food and we all dig in. I'd be lying if I said that their food is all appearance and has no quality. Their food is great! Quality and appearance-wise.

"How is it, honey?" his mom asks.

"It's really great," I tell her as she beams at me.

She wipes her mouth using a napkin before continuing to eat. We eat in silence for a little while before Ash suddenly starts a conversation.

"You're that girl from before, right?" he says, his mouth filled with mashed potatoes.

"Ash, don't talk when your mouth is full. Be ashamed, we have a guest," his mom says.

Ash chews his food quickly and swallows it right away.

"Yes," I reply as he narrows his eyes at me.

"You're really pretty," he says and I just stare at him. When I don't say anything he adds,  "I mean it, though."

After dinner, Cole's mom invites me to the tea room. I thought she was just referring to their living room, but they actually have another room just to drink tea. We enter, Cole behind us.

She lets me sit down as she sits down on the chair across me. Cole sits down on the chair beside us.

"I maid some hot apple cider for us to enjoy while having a little chat," she says, winking. She calls another name out before a woman brings a tray with three glasses of hot apple cider.

She places the glasses down and his mom gestures me to have a drink. I sip slowly, blowing off the steam.

"Wow," I say as I got to taste even just a little.

"Thank you," she says and I just give her a small smile. "I'm glad you like it," she adds.

"Of course," I say, growing somehow comfortable as time passes.

"I have a question for you, dear," she says, sipping her own glass of cider. She glances at Cole who was drinking the cider like  crazy. "Have some manners, Cole," she tells him, and Cole just giggles.

"What is it, ma'am?" I say and she just laughs.

"Call me Jennie," she says as I nod. "Okay, so my question is," she stops for a while and looks at me.

She keeps silent while fumbling with the handle of the glass. She sips some of the drink before finally asking her question.

"Aren't you Chelsea's sister?"