I walked up the slanted, hilled sidewalk to my house at the end of the street. I tentatively stepped through the doorway to a quiet house. My mom was the only one awake, it seemed. She was sitting at the table, the only illuminated light in the house above her. She was holding her head in her hands, staring into a steaming cup of coffee. I gently closed the door and joined her at the table, slinging my bag off my shoulders and onto a chair next to me.

"Hi, mami," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "Is everything ok?"

She looked up, her eyes obviously red from crying. "I'm fine, Honey. You know how your father gets sometimes."

And I most certainly did know. Despite the colorful wardrobe and bubbly personality that I'm known for, my home life was never as bright. I was raised an only child, with my parents constantly fighting and yelling as I laid in my bed alone, frightened and wishing they would stop. No siblings meant no one to talk to, so the next day, school would be such a sweet escape. My favorite class, of course, was chemistry. It was something I could truly pour my heart and brain into. I loved my family, too, despite the fighting. Unfortunately it continues to this day, albeit not as constant as it used to.

"I'm sorry for staying later at school, I should have been there," I apologized, feeling guilty for leaving her to deal with my dad alone.

"Don't worry about me," she smiled, taking a sip of her coffee. She sighed. "You stayed late studying, didn't you?"

"Actually…" I started, unsure if I should bring up Tadashi. I noticed my mom raise her eyebrows. I knew she would be surprised if I spent my free time doing anything else. What the heck, I thought. "I met the sweetest boy today. His name's Tadashi."

"Oh, is he one of the Hamada boys?" she said.

"How'd you know?" I was curious and suspicious that she knew who he was. How popular was this boy?

"Their family is such a talented and gifted group of people. At least, they used to be. His parents were always making the front page about some kind of new technological discovery."

That would explain the robot.

"So," she looked curious. "Is he cute?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Mami!" I giggled, playing with a strand of hair awkwardly. "I don't even know him… But yes, he's definitely cute."

My mom laughed. "Alright, Honey. I won't pester you."

"Thanks." My mother was never the type to embarrass me or question every single detail about my life. I loved her for that. "I'm gonna head up to my room. I think I should get a little more sleep than I did last night," I said, yawning.

"Sweet dreams, darling," my mom stood up and kissed me on the forehead. "Love you, Honey."

"You too, mami." I picked up my bag and trudged up the stairs to my bedroom. I threw the bag on my bed and sat down at my desk. I wasn't really going to sleep this early in the night. I opened the lid of my laptop and opened the internet browser. I decided to check my newsfeed for fun before starting some work when I saw that I had a new friend request.

"Huh," I breathed, clicking on the notification. "Tadashi?" I was surprised that he had looked me up. There was a little message that came with the request. It said: "Hey, Honey Lemon. This is Tadashi… I guess you already realized that, but whatever, I just wanted to see if you were OK. You seemed kind of distraught when you left earlier. So if you want to grab coffee or tea, whatever, just let me know. I'd love to hear about what you're working on. Later!"

I smiled, then hit the 'reply' button on the message. "Hey Tadashi," I typed. "Thanks for your concern. Everything's OK here at home. I just had to run some errands for my mom. I would love to grab a drink with you tomorrow. How does the cafe at 10 tomorrow morning sound?"

I sent the message. It was marked that he read it a couple seconds later, and then he began typing. "Sure, see you then! :)"

My heart fluttered, for sure. I let it end there, and decided I should get to my schoolwork.

I woke up with my face on my laptop, drool dripping from my mouth. I woke up startled, shooting up up straight in my chair. I wiped my face, then yawned and stood up, stretching. Wonderful! I woke up almost 20 minutes late.

"Shoot!" I yelled as I ran to my closet. My I'd forgotten to plan out what I was supposed to wear this morning. I changed my yellow clothes for other yellow clothes (my favorite color!), put on some platform wedges, placed my pink glasses on my face, and grabbed my purse as I hurried down the stairs.

"Morning, Mami!" I said, kissing my mother on the cheek and grabbing a piece of toast that she had already made for me. "Thanks for the toast!"

"Of course, Honey! Have a good day!"

I ran to the door, touched the doorknob, and then hurried back to give my mom a hug. I knew she would need it after last night. "Love you."

I left my house and began my walk to school, putting in my earphones and plugging them into my phone. My walk to school was more of 'dance as I move forward to the beat of the song I am currently listening to.' Did I get weird looks? Yes. Did I care? Uh, no!

As I reached the top of the hill, someone nudged my side. I pulled out one of my earphones and turned to my right.

"Oh! Hi, GoGo! How are you?" I reached out to hug her, but she pushed me away.

"Thanks, but I'm not a hugger," she said bluntly. "I just thought I would walk with you to class. What do you have today?"

"Oh," I said, taking out my other earphone. "I'm not going to class today."

GoGo looked confused. "So.. you're just studying then?"

"Probably later, but I'm just planning on getting coffee."

"Ok, I'm confused." GoGo stopped and crossed her arms. "You're going all the way to SFIT… for coffee?"

"Yeah!" I smiled. "Well, not just coffee. I'm meeting Tadashi there."

GoGo raised her eyebrows and blew her bubble gum. "Oh really?"

"Is that surprising? He just wants to talk about science and stuff. I mean, it is a school about science after all." I laughed awkwardly. She obviously knew that.

"It's a little surprising, yeah. Don't get me wrong, he's super nice and passionate about things he cares about, but I've never seen him take an interest in girls before.

"Oh, that's interesting," I said, looking at my shoes as I walked. "Maybe he's just always been… busy?"

"Exactly. Always busy, either with his schoolwork or with his family. It's just… unusual, is all."

"Well, I mean, we're just sitting down to talk and share ideas. You know, science." I always tried to look at everything with an optimistic lens.

"Yeah, science," GoGo popped another bubble. "Hey, there's my classroom. I'll catch you later, Honey."

I waved as she left and entered the class. I wasn't too sure how to take her commentary. Was she jealous? She told me she had tried to talk to Tadashi before and, apparently, he wasn't too interested. I didn't want to assume the worst in her, but that's the feeling I got from her.

There was the cafe, tucked in the corner of a larger building with classrooms lined next to it. I stopped at the door and took a breath. Why was I nervous? It was just talking with a new friend. Nothing more. I opened the door and heard a 'ding' noise as I walked in. I clutched the strap of my purse and looked around. There he was, sitting at a table with an empty seat across from him.

"Hey, Tadashi!" I said sweetly as I half ran over to the table. I pulled the chair out and sat down, putting my purse on the floor.

"Honey!" he said, his face brightening. "Hey! How's it going? I waited to order until you got here."

"Oh you shouldn't have!" I said, pulling a strand of my hair behind my ears. "Sorry for being late."

"It's only been a few minutes, don't worry about it," he said, smiling. The barista came over with a notepad and pen.

"What can I get you two to drink?" she said, readying her pen to write.

"How about a coffee, black, please," Tadashi said. "And… what did you want, Honey?"

"I'll take a mocha frap, please. Extra whip!"

"Alright, I'll get those right out for you." The barista ripped off the piece of paper, smiled, and walked back to the counter.

"No tea today?" Tadashi joked.

"Oh, you know, gotta get that caffeine boost!" I laughed and crossed my legs under the table.

"I feel that," Tadashi agreed. After a few seconds of silence he started to ask about yesterday.

"So, when you left last night, were you alright? I mean, I thought I heard someone yelling on the phone… is everything OK?" Tadashi seemed legitimately concerned; it showed in his facial expressions and the tone of his voice.

"Oh!" I tried my hardest to sound as bubbly and upbeat as possible. "Yeah, everything's totally fine. My mom was just a little distressed because she forgot something at the store for dinner and I had to hurry and go pick it up for her." Lies. All lies. And I felt so bad for lying right to his face, especially because he truly seemed to care.

"I see," Tadashi said softly. "Well, if everything's alright. I just wanted to make sure you were ok. I mean, I know we just met and all, but you seem like such a nice girl that I wanted to know you weren't in any trouble or anything."

"Pft," I giggle. "Me? In trouble? Nah."

The barista came back to the table with our drinks. "One black coffee, and one mocha frap. Can I get you guys anything else?"

"I think we're good!" I said as I dipped my finger in whipped cream and stuck it in my mouth.

Tadashi laughed. "Thanks." He handed her a $10 bill.

"Wait, are you paying for me?" I asked. "Wait, no! I have money!" I took out $5 and pushed it across the table.

"It's fine, Honey. I've got it." He pushed the bill right back to me.

I sighed. "Fine. But next time I buy you something, OK?"

"Deal."