"Hey sweetie, wanna take a seat next to me?" asked Ellie, not taking her eyes off her desk.

Lizzy pulled up a chair next to her and sat down.

"What's up?" asked the mother as she worked on the design in front of her.

"Uhm, I was wondering if… Charlie could come round after school tomorrow."

Ellie stopped in her tracks and looked up at Lizzy. She raised one of her eyebrows and gave her a look.

"It's just to hang out. And tomorrow's Friday, so…"

Lizzy bit her lip as she let the words hang in the air.

"Just to 'hang out', huh?" teased Ellie as she air quoted the words.

"I swear!" said Lizzy, blushing. "You know he plays the piano. Well we've been talking about doing a mesh session for ever, since I got a keyboard and ukulele. But we never get round to it, so I just thought…" she shrugged.

A smiled crept up on Ellie's face.

"Well… how's it going… with you two?" she winked.

Lizzy rolled her eyes, but her smile betrayed her.

"We're just friends."

"So he hasn't made a move on you yet?"

"Mom!"

"Or are you waiting to make the first move yourself?"

"Oh my god, forget I asked," said Lizzy, standing up to leave.

"No no no, honey wait," laughed Ellie, grabbing her arm. "I'm sorry. I just… he's a sweet boy and you clearly like him." Lizzy sheepishly smiled at this. "I just want to know how things are going, but if you'd rather not tell me, that's fine, too"

The teenager sat back down and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. He's not the kind of guy I usually go for, you know?"

"Oh, trust me, I know."

Lizzy looked down, slightly embarrassed. "Yeah…uhm… yeah." She took a deep breath. "Well… it's kind of hard to tell with him. But we hang out a lot at school, and we've been texting a lot lately. And I really like being around him," she put a strand of hair behind her ears.

"You like him a lot, huh?" teased Ellie.

Lizzy closed her eyes and bunched up her nose, still embarrassed by her mother.

"I'll take that as a yes, then," said Ellie.

"Mom, can we not?" asked Lizzy with a smile.

"Alright, alright. Well honey he's welcome to come over tomorrow, but I want the door open the whole time, you hear me?"

Lizzy sighed.

"Doesn't have to be open all the way… slightly open is fine," assured the mother.

"Sure," Lizzy resigned.

"Oh, and expect either your dad or myself to randomly check in on you guys during his stay."

"Mom! Is that really necessary?" moaned Lizzy.

"Yes, it is honey."

"But—"

"No But's. You're our daughter. We have to watch out for you."

"Mom, Charlie is not gonna do anything, he's harmless, you know that!"

"Let's just say he's not the one I'm worried about," said Ellie with a smirk.

It took a few seconds for Lizzy to understand what she meant.

"What?! Are you serious? You think I'm gonna do something?"

"Well honey you did just say you like him a lot."

Lizzy gasped in shock. "MOM!"

Ellie burst into laughter and put an arm around her daughter's shoulders, bringing her into a hug.

"I'm just teasing honey," she said as she rubbed Lizzy's back.

"You're the worst."

"I know I know. But you love me all the same," smirked Ellie.

Lizzy smiled and melted into her hug as a response.

"I promise we won't embarrass you tomorrow, but we will check in at least once. Sound good?"

Lizzy looked up at her. "You promise you won't try to apologize to him again?"

"I promise. But if something happens, I want details. But not too many. Deal?"

Lizzy laughed as she went back to hugging her mother.

"Deal."