I stop the bike in front of the house. "This is it." I say to Tyler as I get off his bike. "Thanks for the lift."

"No problem. It was fun." He says. This guy is cool. I kind of don't want to say goodbye. I look at my phone and it's time for dinner.

"Hey do you want to stay for dinner?" I ask him.

"I'd love to but I think I should be getting back to my foster home."

"I understand. Thanks again for the ice cream."

"Sure thing." He begins to turn around and head to his bike. "Hey," he turns back around. "Do you think I could have your number?" he asks.

"Sure." I smile. I type my phone number in his cell.

"See ya around." He smiles.

"Bye." I say. He gets on his bike. I wait on the front porch until I can no longer see him. I go inside and I see Stef and Lena setting the table.

"Hey love where've you been?" Stef asks as she places plates on the table.

"Remember I went to Kiara's group today?"

"Oh right. How's she doing?" Lena asks.

"She's good."

"Well dinner's almost ready. Can you tell the others and go wash up?" Stef asks.

"Sure thing." I run up the stairs and tell everyone that dinner is ready.

...

After dinner I sit in my room reading a book for school. Mariana is on her computer. My phone starts vibrating. I look at the screen but I don't recognize the number. "Hello?" I answer.

"Hey it's Tyler." The voice on the other line says.

"Oh hey. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to hangout tomorrow."

"I wish I could but I'm required by the court to go spend time with my father." I tell him.

"Wait if you have a father then why are you in foster care?" he asks.

"Long story." I tell him.

"Care to share?"

"Too long to tell over the phone."

"Gotcha. Hey what school do you go to?" he asks, and I'm grateful he doesn't press for more details about Robert.

"Anchor Beach Charter School."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"I'm actually starting school there on Monday." He tells me.

"Really? That's pretty cool."

"Maybe you could show me around?" he asks sounding hopefully.

"Yeah I think I could do that." I smile.

"Awesome. Well since I don't know what else to talk to you about right now I'm gonna say goodbye, unless there's something on your mind you want to share."

"No not right now." I laugh.

"Okay then. I shall talk to you soon. Hey if you get bored with your dad tomorrow you can always text me."

"I'll hold you to that." I tell him.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I hang up the phone and put it on the windowsill.

"Who was that?" Mariana asks, still looking at her computer screen.

"Oh, just a friend." I tell her.

"Does this friend have a name?"

"His name's Tyler. I met him at Kiara's support group today." I tell her. "He's starting school at Anchor Beach Monday so I'm gonna show him around." I tell her.

"I see. Is he cute?" she asks, looking at me now. She's smiling.

"I guess. I don't know." I smile.

...

I never thought I would be so happy that Monday came so quickly. Tyler and I plan to meet each other on the quad where the lunch tables are. I'm heading over there now. "Callie!" someone calls my name. I turn around and it's Brandon. Crap. Do I really feel like talking to him now?

"Oh, hey." I say shyly when he catches up to me. I turn back around and continue my walk; only he's walking with me now.

"How was it yesterday, you know, spending time with Robert?" he asks.

"Weird, awkward, horrible." I state.

"How so?" he asks.

"Brandon I really don't feel like talking about him right now." I tell him. Honestly I don't mind talking about it, I just don't want to talk to him about it. I don't want him to think that I only talk to him so I can vent and rant on whatever's going on in my life.

"Okay." He says leaving it alone.

"So how did the band take it when you told them you're not going on tour?" I ask, changing the subject.

"Eh, they were disappointed."

"How did Lou take it?"

"Bad. When I told her she just stormed out of the garage."

"You two talk about it?"

"No. I don't know what's gonna happen to us."

"I'm sure it will work out. You two seem to really like each other."

"Yeah we do." He says. This is getting uncomfortable. We're like caught in one of those stupid love triangles. I love Brandon, Brandon loves Lou, and Lou likes Brandon. I need to keep my distance. I'm trying so hard to get over him but he keeps on popping back into my life. Tyler should be here any minute. Do I want Brandon to meet him now? He might get the wrong impression. Wait, so what if he gets the wrong impression? He's with Lou. Still, I should play it safe.

"You know school doesn't start for another ten minutes. You could go up to the music room and practice." I suggest.

"Yeah I guess. You trying to get rid of me?" he asks jokingly.

"No it's just…"

"Hey Callie!" I hear someone shout my name; too late now. Brandon and I both turn around and see Tyler jog up to us. "Hey." He says when he's closer.

"Hey." I smile.

"Uh, who's this?" Brandon asks.

"Hey man I'm Tyler." Tyler says to Brandon, introducing himself.

"Hey. How do you two know each other?"

"We met Saturday. Tyler's my new friend. This is also his first day at school here so he asked me to show him around." I tell Brandon.

"Oh, well welcome to Anchor Beach." Brandon says.

"Thanks dude."

"Yeah don't call me dude." Brandon says.

"Okay, well we should go. Come on Tyler." I say. "Later Brandon." Tyler and I walk away. When we get a good distance from Brandon Tyler speaks.

"So is he your boyfriend?" Tyler asks.

"No. Why do you ask?"

"They way you two were looking at each other. Especially the way you were looking at him."

"Well he's not." I say.

"Anyone can tell you two have a history. Care to share?" he asks.

"You're very nosy aren't you?" I smile.

"Nosy? I prefer the word interested." He laughs.

"Well if you must know Brandon is my foster brother."

"Really? Is that all?" he asks.

"Why do you want to know?" I ask.

"Because I can see how it's eating you inside. You want to tell somebody, you just don't know who. And I'm a caring person. And a good listener. You can trust me." he says.

"Well, it's kind of a long messy story." I tell him.

"Well then tell me at lunch. Lets meet at that tree." He says pointing to a random tree. I smile.

"Okay. Now lets get you to your first class." I tell him.

"Oh yay, school, learning, class." He says full of sarcasm. I laugh.

"Come on." I say. We walk into the building and he hands me his schedule.