The next day, I see Jason sat on the bench that looks over the beach. Now would be the perfect time to apologize for the other night.

"Hey." I walk over to him.

"Hey Gracie, sit down." He makes room for me. "Did you get home alright after Saturday? I was gonna text, but I didn't get your number."

"Oh, yeah. Did you?"

"Yeah, I did." He smiles at me; his brown eyes burn into my soul again. "So, uh, we kissed a couple of times." He blushes a little.

"Right, sorry about that. I'm not usually like that." I can't believe how badly I embarrassed myself.

"Why are you sorry? I liked it, didn't you?" I did enjoy it, but I'm not into guys. Though there is something about him that's intriguing.

"Yeah, I did." He suddenly leans in and kisses me again, leaving me a little shocked.

"What? Should I not have done that?" He laughs.

"Gracie, come on we have class," Jude calls my name.

"Sorry, Jason. I've gotta go." I get up, but he grabs my hand.

"Meet me here at lunch?" He's got one of those cute little half-smiles that turns up on one side.

"Sure." I run off back to Jude and we go to homeroom.

I spend the day thinking about what this guy could possibly see in me, why would he want to have lunch with me? I'm just some foster kid.

"Are you coming to lunch, Gracie?" Taylor asks me. I've barely spoken to her this past weekend, but she knows I've had other things going on. I told her about Jason, she didn't seem shocked but that's probably because she doesn't know I'm gay. Neither do I anymore.

"No, I'm meeting someone." Jude gives me a weird look, but I go off anyway. Jason's sat on the same bench again.

"How's your day been so far?" He boldly takes my hand.

"Pretty good, you?

"Pretty good too, I haven't had any classes yet, I've been sat here reading." He shows me his copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. "It's one of my favorites. You ever read it?"

"I started it once in one of my old schools, but I never got to finish it, someone stole it from me."

"That sucks. Well, maybe you'll read it for class someday."

"If I get to stay here. I don't know when I'll be moved."

"Do you get moved a lot?"

"Yeah kind of, I was in a group home for like a year or two, that's the longest I've stayed in one place since before my dad died." I don't know why I'm sharing with him; it just comes out.

"And what about the home you're in now? Do you like it?"

"I love it, but my foster moms have made it clear that it's not permanent. They're great, and I know they're not trying to get rid of me, but they have five kids so adding another one is a pretty big deal. I'm trying not to think about where I might end up next, I want to make the most of what I have."

"You're so cool. I mean, all the crappy stuff is pretty... well crappy, but you have this incredible positive outlook on things." I guess right now I do, I don't see the point on dwelling on the inevitable. I smile at him. "You look really good when you smile." I blush.

"Oh my God, you're so cheesy." I laugh nervously.

"No, I'm serious, you have a great smile. You should use it more." He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear and gently kisses my cheek, making blush harder. I must be as bright as a beet right now.

"Thanks." He reaches over to put his book in his backpack, and I notice something on the back of his arm. "How did you get a tattoo? Aren't you like 16?"

"Yeah, uh, I got it at a street festival. I know, pretty risky." He rolls up his sleeve and I see the whole thing, it's a delicate outline of a bouquet. "Lilies were my mom's favorite, or so my dad tells me."

"Were?"

"Yeah, she died when I was a kid." He traces his fingers over the petals.

"Oh, I'm sorry. My mom died when I was born."

"Yeah, it sucks right? But we're okay, my dad remarried. She's a little unusual, but she's not the evil stepmother either. She doesn't try too hard to parent me, which I appreciate." I'd kill to have someone want to parent me, which is why I like Stef and Lena so much, they treat me the same as all the others.

"I get it, must have been weird for you. I mean, my dad never remarried, he was always too depressed, but I can imagine."

"What happened to your dad? Why did you end up in the foster system?" He asks.

"He killed himself when I was seven. It's okay though, I'm okay. You know?" He kisses me again.

"Sorry, I can't help but kiss you." He's so, I don't know, I like how I feel around him. I've never felt anything like this before, at least not for a guy.

"Gracie?" Brandon comes over to us. "Hi, Jason." He looks at him strangely, he must have seen us kiss.

"Hey," I say to him, still looking at Jason.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure, I'll be right back." Brandon and I walk a few feet away. "What's up?"

"I uh, I thought you were gay, why were you kissing Jason?" I shrug. "I mean, I thought, at the party, you were just drunk." Why is he so concerned about who I kiss?

"You heard about the party?" I guess the whole family knows now, if not the whole school. "Whatever, I don't know, maybe I like girls and him. Why does it have to be so black and white?"

"It doesn't, but I didn't label you, Gracie, you did that. Just don't string him along. It's not fair to either of you." He walks away. I'm not stringing him along. Maybe I just thought I liked girls because I've never liked a guy before. I do still like girls too, but I think I really, really like this guy. Why is that a problem? I go back and sit next to Jason.

"That's your foster brother, right? What did he want?"

"Yeah, he was just telling me about dinner tonight, we usually take turns cooking but tonight we're all chipping in." He looks disappointed. "What?"

"Well uh, no never mind it doesn't matter," He brushes me off.

"No, tell me."

"I was going to ask you if you wanted to hang out tonight." I'm shocked, does he really, seriously like me? Me?

"Like a date?" He nods. "Well, I guess I could meet you after?" I'm sure Stef and Lena will let me.

"You really want to?" He holds my hand.

"Yeah, why? Do you not want me to?" He mocks my nerves.

"No, I- I want you to."

"Okay, then let's do it."

"Cool."

"Cool." I kiss him. I can't contain my smile.

I barely stop smiling all day. I flew through today's classes with ease, I'm getting better in all my subjects. After school, Callie and I walk home together while all the others have their after-school activities and jobs.

"So, uh, Brandon told me you were with Jason again at lunch," Callie says. Is she going to rip into me about my sexuality too?

"Yeah, he's cool."

"He is, he's a nice guy but uh, be careful okay?"

"Why? You literally just said he's a nice guy," I laugh at her.

"Yeah but he's a junior, and you're a freshman."

"I'm sure I'll be okay, Callie. He's taking me out tonight." I smile again.

"Really? That's cool." She leaves behind her reservations and tries to act happy for me, that's more than Brandon could do. "Where's he taking you?"

"The movies. I'm excited, I've never been on an actual date before."

"Have you asked moms?"

"Their your moms, not mine. I'm sure they'll be cool with it." She doesn't say anything about me liking girls, I'm sure she's thinking it.

As it turns out we do have to cook dinner tonight, Stef's taking another double and Lena's got work to do. But Brandon offers to pay for takeout, I don't object. We order pizza after everyone gets home. Since Stef and Lena are still out, we eat in front of the TV. I text Lena to ask if I can go out with Jason, she said it's fine as long as I'm home by nine.

"So, Callie tells me you're going on a date tonight?" Brandon says, he looks annoyed. I wish he'd just give it a rest.

"A date? What's she like?" Mariana says. Jesus and Jude don't know that I said I'm gay. And now they're staring me down, waiting for an explanation. I don't owe them one.

"It's a guy, uh Jason."

"Oh right, cool." She says looking confused. The boys just continue

"I mean, I don't know if it's a date, we're just going to the movies."

"It's a date." They all say together.

"Is he picking you up in his car?" Jesus asks.

"He has a car?" This boy keeps surprising me.

"Wow, you know him well," Brandon says sarcastically.

"That's why I'm going out with him, to get to know him," I shut him down.

"What time is he coming?" Mariana changes the subject slightly.

"Six-thirty, I better go clean up." I finish my pizza and go upstairs, Mariana follows me.

"Here, borrow these." She hands me a cute red shirt and a leather jacket to wear with Callie's black jeans I'm wearing.

"Thanks." She goes back downstairs. I get dressed, try to make myself look pretty, I even put on a little of Mariana's mascara. Then I hear the doorbell. When I get downstairs Jesus, Brandon and Jude are all sat in the living room with Jason, looks like they've been interrogating him. When he sees me, he gets up from his seat.

"Wow. You look… incredible."

"Thank you." I smile. "You ready?" I boldly take his hand.

"Yeah, let's go."

"Remember, home by nine," Jesus says acting like a parent.

He opens the door to his car for me, like a gentleman. "I like your car."

"Thanks, one of the perks of being an only child."

"So, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Callie seems to think I shouldn't trust you, I guess she thinks it's weird that you like me even though you're two years older than me. I mean, I don't think that."

"I don't think that either, I just like you." He smiles and kisses me.

"Okay good, I like you too. Another question, is this like... is this a date?"

"Heck yeah, it's a date." We pull up outside the theatre.

"Well in that case, could we do something else. I mean, I wanna see this movie but I'd rather talk to you, you know, get to know each other. And if it goes well, we'll see the movie on our second date." When did I become so flirtatious?

"Sure, what do you wanna do?"

"Maybe we could go to the beach, or something, I don't mind."

"Beach it is." He starts driving again.

We sit up on the lifeguard deck and just talk, he tells me more about his mom before she died and his dad and his new wife. Although he's had his fair share of heartbreak in his life, he seems to have it together now. I wish I could be like that. He seems to think I am. Deception is a skill I learned at a young age, having to lie to social workers and guardians about whether I'm safe, well looked after, it's prepared me for a life of pretending I'm okay. I decide to tell him a little bit more about me, not the cutting, the suicide attempts, or the assault, just about the foster homes I've been in. I also tell him about that one good day with my dad.

"What was it like for you, when he died?"

"Well I got depressed, really fast, but I'm good now." More deception. "Did you get depressed when your mom died?"

"Yeah, I spent a little bit of time in the hospital when I was about ten." People don't talk about how grief can turn into mental illness so fast.

"That's so young."

"Yeah, but I'm good now too. I think, maybe everyone gets depressed at least once in their life, and I don't mean sad, I mean depressed, everyone goes through something hard at some point."

"Other people have it harder though, and others have it easier."

"Yeah but that doesn't mean that their problems are invalid, kids are dying all over the world, but our problems matter too, don't ever think they don't." He holds my hand.

"I like talking like this, about real stuff. Most kids these days are so obsessed with Twitter and Instagram, and which Kardashian is pregnant." We laugh and then he kisses me, we spend about 20 minutes making out. And then we talk for the rest of the night. He drops me back at the Fosters with 5 minutes to spare before my curfew.