"So is he coming?" Gia was not looking at Stephanie. Her gaze had flickered over to a guy in a baseball cap sitting nearby. Her cone had already started to melt, a chocolatey trail flowing down her hand, dripping on the metal table.

"Who?" Stephanie stiffened a little. She knew very well who Gia had meant-a certain someone who she'd been trying to get off her mind after that phone call.

This time, Gia did look at her. Eyebrows flew to her hairline, face scrunched up in a look that she'd given to Harry many times when she felt he'd said something stupid. "Seriously, Steph?" She scoffed.

"What?" She said defensively.

"I meant Charlie," Gia said, her voice flat. She licked her ice cream.

"Oh," Stephanie muttered. "No. Probably not."

"What happened?" Gia started to grin, eager for a piece of gossip.

Stephanie shifted, shrugging with one shoulder to keep Gia from asking too many questions. "Nothing happened."

"Nothing happened?" Gia was doubtful.

"No."

"Come on, Steph," she complained, rolling her eyes. "I'm not stupid."

"I didn't say you were."

"Obviously you think so if you think I haven't noticed this," she gestured. "Something obviously happened with you and Charlie, didn't it?"

"Nothing happened."

"Oooh," she was too gleeful for Stephanie's liking. "Did you guys kiss and he didn't like it? Did you not like it? Did your dad catch you and forbid you from seeing him?"

"No," Stephanie scowled. "Nothing happened!"

"Right," she drawled. "Well, don't bite my head off."

Stephanie relaxed a little, feeling a twinge of guilt for snapping. "Sorry."

Initially, Gia wasn't able to come. But plans changed and here she was. Steph was glad to have her. Harry was still in Japan. She didn't call him since it was, if she'd done her math correctly, around seven the next morning over there. Plus, she didn't want to get stuck talking to Harry's grandmother again and get her going again on that absurd idea that she and Harry had feelings for each other.

Gross

Gia shrugged. "I just wanna know why you're moping."

She immediately protested that. "I'm not moping."

"You're moping," Gia said decidedly. "You've been moping since you picked me up so spill."

Stephanie's gaze fell on her milkshake. "I don't wanna talk about it, okay?"

It was stupid and not the end of the world but-

The way he'd snapped at her hurt more than she would have liked to admit. She couldn't understand what she did wrong. Maybe it was accidentally implying that she'd only asked him to go since Gia couldn't? But that wasn't her intention! She'd wanted them both there and it just so happened that Gia couldn't at that moment in time.

She didn't want to relive that moment. Gia might find out eventually but not now.

Thankfully, her friend got the hint. "Fine," she accepted that. "Tell me about last week, then."

"What about last week?"

"You know...when you went over to Charlie's house," Gia elaborated.

Stephanie straightened up, her senses on alert. "How'd you know about that?"

Gia eyed her strangely. "You told me you were going over there...?"

Right...

"Forgot," Stephanie said sheepishly. She cleared her throat. "Anyway, nothing really happened. We-"

Gia's ears perked up. "Nothing really happened?" She repeated, dabbing a napkin on her hand to wipe up the chocolate drip. "Obviously something happened."

"Nothing-"

"If nothing happened, you would have said that. But you said nothing really happened," Gia was proud of herself for noticing.

If Harry were there, he would probably remark that if only Gia paid as much attention to her home as she did to this conversation-she might be an A student.

"It means nothing," Stephanie argued weakly.

"Uh, huh."

Stephanie groaned. "Okay, okay. Something might have happened. It's not a big deal, though."

"Well, hurry up," Gia told her. "Don't keep me in suspense any longer."

To stall, Stephanie sipped on her shake. All the while, Gia crossed her arms, face reflecting impatience. She was trying to think of how to start. She did not want Gia to get the wrong impression.

"I kinda fell on him."

Bad start. Bad, bad start

"No way!" Gia exclaimed.

"It wasn't like that," Stephanie said quickly.

"So...no make out?"

Stephanie shot her a look. "Why does everyone think we're in love with each other? He's just my friend."

"Hey, if you are then whatever," Gia shrugged.

"I'm sensing a but," Stephanie said sarcastically.

"But don't tell me he isn't fine."

"Not you too," Stephanie groaned. "Lacey's already got the hots for him."

"She has the hots for everyone," Gia said dismissively. "And besides, he's fine but not fine, you know? I wouldn't date him."

For some reason, this made her feel slightly better.

Well, maybe not for some reason. She didn't want Charlie getting hurt. Not that Gia would hurt him, but-

It was complicated.

"Anyway," Stephanie tried to get the conversation back on track. "We were bored so I suggested we go outside and use his hose to get wet. We were messing around and I fell on him."

"And then what happened?"

"He told me to get off him, that I was too heavy but I think he was just embarrassed," Stephanie said.

"That's it?" Gia was disappointed.
"What did you think happened?"

"Something more than that," she retorted, then let out a whiny groan. "School is so close. It's not fair. Summer's almost over!"

"It's July."

"So? It'll be August soon enough and I'm not ready to go back."

"Just one more year," Stephanie said optimistically.

"Right. One more year of them nagging me," Gia grumbled. Her guidance counselor had been urging-nagging-Gia to figure out what she wanted to do with her life with senior year coming up. Per usual, her friend procrastinated.

"Still haven't figured it out?' Stephanie asked.

"How am I supposed to know what to do?" Gia sulked.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough," Stephanie tried to be of help.

"Have you?"

"No," she admitted. "I just can't decide. Nothing is jumping out at me."

"What about music?" Gia suggested with a shrug. "You like that."

"Yeah, that's true."

" Well, don't worry about it," Gia said. "You still got another year to think it over.

"Yeah," Stephanie returned to her milkshake, which had melted nearly all the way by now. She stirred it with the straw. "Have you heard from Harry?"

"Yeah," Gia said. "He called the other day."

"Did he tell you about what his grandmother said to me?"

"No, what?" Gia was interested.

"She thinks we're in love with each other. Or at least him with me," Stephanie shook her head.

"Eww."

"Right? I tried to tell her we're just friends but she wouldn't listen," Stephanie said.

"Do you know when he's coming back?" Gia asked, finishing the last bite of her cone.

"At the end of the month, I think," Stephanie said with a sigh.

"What?"

"I don't know how he's going to take seeing Charlie again."

"I thought you said he was fine with it?" Gia said.

"That's what he says but what about when they actually see each other?" Stephanie remembered when she'd called him to ask about the newspaper thing. He'd called Charlie a jerk. And with what happened earlier, she didn't want his temper to ignite if Harry did say something.

"You worry too much," Gia said after taking a second to ponder things.

"I'm not worried!"

"Sure," Gia drawled.

"I'm not!"

"Uh huh."

"What if they fight?" Stephanie said.

"Then Charlie will kick Harry's butt. Oh don't give me that look. You know Harry couldn't fight anyone," Gia snorted.

"That's not the point."

"It'll be fine. Now enough about Charlie," Gia commanded. "Tell me about DJ."

"DJ?" Stephanie looked at her, puzzled by the subject change.

"Is your uncle still upset at her?" Gia asked.

I think they made up by now," Stephanie said. It wasn't without additional conflict, though. Uncle Jesse had tried to ensure that DJ and Steve wouldn't get caught up in the moment, so he would periodically send in Nicky or Alex to interrupt. Aunt Becky caught on and gave him an earful for it.

Gia pouted.

Stephanie rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe your dad actually agreed to let Steve in her room," Gia remarked.

"Me too," Stephanie agreed.

"It's actually kinda cool," Gia grinned.

"Never thought you'd say my dad did something cool," Stephanie said wryly.

"Me either," Gia said with a smirk. "But he's still a dork."

"Hey," Stephanie said mildly.

"Oh, come on, Steph. You can admit it," Gia said. "My mom's embarrassing. All parents are. It's like...a rule or something."

Stephanie was inclined to agree.

"Maybe Vicky's helping him mellow out," Gia said.

"Maybe," Stephanie said. "They have been going out a lot."

Gia stood up, stretching her arms. "I'm getting a soda. Want anything?"

"You mean you want an excuse to talk to the guy at the counter?" Stephanie clarified.

"Yeah, so?"

"I'm good," Stephanie watched as Gia went inside.

/

Michelle was asleep on the air mattress, snoring away. Stephanie kept tossing and turning,unable to keep her eyes shut. Finally, sick of laying there, she got up and went down to the living room to crash on the couch for a while, maybe watch a little TV. As she flipped through the channels, Dad came through the door that led into the kitchen. He was holding onto a bowl of popcorn, looking surprised to see her.

"I thought you were asleep."

Stephanie shook her head. She pulled her feet closer to her when he sat down at the other end of the couch.

"You were quiet at dinner," Dad said, trying to prompt her.

"Yeah," she muttered.

He sat the bowl on the coffee table, giving her a soft smile. "What's wrong, Steph?"

"Nothing's wrong," she tried to say.

He didn't believe her. "Honey, I know when something's up. You've been quiet and spacey since this morning."

Stephanie bit down on her lip, shutting her eyes.

"I think it's time we had a father-daughter talk," Dad said.

"Or maybe I could just watch a movie with you?" She tried.

"Nice try," he said with humor. He then looked a little more seriously. "Did something happen today? Are you and Gia fighting?"

"Not me and Gia," Stephanie muttered. Sighing, she said, "I think I upset Charlie."

"Why do you think that?" Dad asked.

"He got upset with me but I don't know why," Stephanie told him.

"When did this happen? This morning?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I called him to see if he wanted to come with me to get ice cream. He seemed kinda...I don't know, snippy. I told him Gia couldn't make it because that's what she told me earlier and he thought I was only asking because she couldn't come but that's not it because I wanted all three of us to go."

"And then what happened?" Dad frowned.

"He got mad at me. I asked him if he wanted me to call him back later but he just hung up," Stephanie said dejectedly.

"And that hurt you," Dad said knowingly.

"I don't know why I'm taking it so personally, Dad. But it hurts."

"Oh, Steph," Dad reached over to give her a hug. "Maybe everything's fine. Charlie might be having a bad day."

"I guess," she said, unconvinced. "But he sounded different."

"Different how?" He asked.

"I don't know..." She struggled to explain why. "He just did. Something's bothering him."

"Well, maybe you could ask him about it," Dad said and then added, "but wait a couple days."

"What? Why?"

"Let him cool off," Dad said. "He might not appreciate being bombarded so soon."

"I guess you're right," Stephanie said with reluctance.

"Steph, it's okay," Dad said comfortingly. "It's normal for these things to happen. What's important is that you two don't let it affect your friendship. Charlie seems like a good kid. I'm sure this will all be over soon."

"You're probably right," Stephanie hoped he was right. She tried to tell herself that he was the majority of the time.

Still, she wondered.

Had she been bothering him too much? Maybe he wanted a break from her. In all honesty, she didn't know why this was bothering her so much. She'd had brief spats with Harry and Gia and they resolved fairly quickly.

She shouldn't be so hung up over it.

Stephanie glanced up when she caught sight of her dad giving her that smile. The smile he made whenever he was getting caught up in memories. She smiled halfway. "Oh, no."

Dad chuckled. "Don't mind me. I just can't believe my little girl is going to be a senior this year. It seems like just yesterday you were afraid to go to kindergarten and now look at you."

"Dad," Stephanie groaned, although it didn't bother her as much as she made it seem like it did.

"Think I can get a picture of you with Mr. Bear for old time's sake?" He said wryly.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

Dad leaned over to kiss her forehead. "You know, you're looking more and more like your mom each day."

"Really?" Stephanie had always loved it when her dad said things like that. In recent years, it'd been harder and harder to remember details about her mother. Sure, some of that could be solved by watching home movies of her taken by Dad, but it wasn't the same. One of the fondest memories that she'd held onto was her mom telling her that she loved her for the last time.

She couldn't remember that now.

Not like before.

And it hurt sometimes. Sometimes she felt envious of her sister. DJ had been old enough to retain more memories of their mom. She got to make more memories with her.

"Really," Dad was smiling softly again, "sometimes I look at you girls and all I see is your mom."

Stephanie was quiet, then she asked, "Dad?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"Do you still think about Mom even though you're with Vicky?"

"Oh, Steph," Dad opened his arms and she leaned in, her head tucked under his chin. "Of course I do. Not a day goes by that I don't think of your mom."

"So how did you start dating again?"

"It wasn't easy," Dad said with a sigh. "I didn't know of a life outside your mom and then I didn't know how you and DJ would take it, although I can admit now that I used you girls as a crutch."

A crease came onto her forehead.

"I kept telling myself I needed to wait for you guys. I didn't want you girls feeling like I was replacing her. So I held off. Your Grandma Claire used to tell me it was okay to get back out here and I shouldn't feel guilty over it. I just couldn't. I had you girls to take care of and it was easier to use you guys as an excuse than to admit how much the idea bothered me."

"Does it still bother you?"

"Not as much," Dad said. "I keep telling myself your mom would want us to be happy. But it's not easy. Sometimes I'm with Vicky and I feel guilty because I should be having these moments with your mom."

"Did you feel that way when you proposed to Vicky?"

"Oh, man did I," Dad said with a little laugh. "I was happy she accepted but then later that night, I got to think about how I proposed to your mom and I felt like I'd betrayed her." Stephanie remained silent. She'd known that it hadn't been easy for him to get out there again, but she hadn't known the details.

"So what did you do?"

"I learned that it was okay to live again," he said simply. "And I'm still learning that."

Stephanie stayed in her dad's arms as they spent the next three hours watching a movie, feeling immensely grateful.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, Steph?"

"I love you," Stephanie told him.

"I love you too, Steph."