Rocky and Emily turned the girl's bedroom upside down, searching for the diary. Where would I have placed it? Thought both seekers. Drawers were too obvious. Under the mattress was tried-and-true for those who write down personal thoughts. But it was unoccupied. No pillowcase nor secret locked drawer. So where?

"Should I just ask my parents in hope that they quietly invade my privacy?" Emily dropped onto her bed, splayed out on her back. She looked like a fatigued bug that fell from a tree.

Rocky smiled to himself. It was a funny solution to their scavenger hunt with the lost list of search for items. It seems that hopeless. He blew out a breath as he sank to the floor. He leaned on the corner of the bed to rest, unaware that he's being watched. He jerked upright when a hand touched his hair. Looking at the owner of the touch, he cocked a brow silently asking "What?".

"Nothing. It's stupid." Replied the toucher. She blushed.

Rocky felt momentarily insecure while wondering if something had been in his hair all day, only noticed and removed just now. He suddenly decided to find interest in the pocket on his hooded shirt.

"That's it!" Emily got up from her bed, and in a hurry rushed over to the closet. "You said put it somewhere so obvious it's stupid." She opened the door and stepped inside rummaging around.

Rocky watched patiently awaiting the reveal. Emily came out holding one of possibly many diaries. "Where was it?"

"I have a reverse hoodie, so I shoved it into the inner kangaroo pocket." She returned to her bed. The book was promptly opened.

Rocky felt his cheeks heating. Diary. Personal business. He should go.

"Come on, read with me."

He shook his head to the invitation.

"Why?"

"Well... It's your diary. You probably have a lot of important feelings in there," he moved towards the door.

"Yeah, but, to be fair it's Emily's diary with her feelings, I don't really remember any of it so technically there won't be anything embarrassing the two of us right now." She pat the bed beside her.

'Are you stupid? Get over there.' He gave an inward nod. 'Don't be dumb. When her memory returns, she'll remember you were the creep who read her diary.' Why is the universe screwing with him? He lives as a fairly good person. Why toy with him? 'Just go. She looks so pretty and smells so nice.'

"Why did I put a Try list in here?" She asked out loud. It wasn't to entice Rocky, she was just wondering to herself. "Skateboarding, beets, liver, lipstick." That made her smile. She's currently not wearing lipstick and hasn't seen a single bit of make-up product in her bedroom, so that experiment either never happened or she tried and failed to master the look. She's fine with her glossy lipbalm.

Rocky mimed that he was gonna go. He received a wave of goodbye. He had regret as he walked out of the bedroom, but it had to be done. Sometimes he hated having a kind guide on his shoulder. If he was a rotten person, he would have been right beside her getting the details on her feelings for him. Her true feelings. Maybe then he would discover why he's such a VIP in the 'Friend Zone'.

He let himself out, locking the door behind him since Emily's parents are out at the moment. His phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and looked at it, he smiled seeing a photo of a sheet from the diary. It was dated 4 years ago; he and Emily would have been fourteen. He didn't want to read it, but the laugh emoji that followed the photo made him curious.

Diary, what a horrible afternoon, half way through gym class I found out I had little holes in the back of my stretch pants.

Rocky remembered that day. Emily had cried. Nobody had noticed the wardrobe malfunction except for her, but the thought that people had seen it but said nothing was enough to exhaust her strength to tears. He made her feel better by suggesting that he could wear a tank-top to gym class and have visible deodorant. She had called him sweet, hugged him, and said she was glad to have a friend like him. Guess he answered his own question.

He punched his fist into his palm. Time to make a solid list to accomplish.

He marched across the street and into his house. Colt waved him over and pointed at the TV. He was watching Mortal Kombat fatalities on YouTube. Rocky was suddenly distracted by the glorious gore orchestrated by Shao Khan saying: Finish Him!

The repetitive sound had Jessica peek in from the kitchen; she hadn't heard the TV before, but Colt had turned it up when he and Rocky began to noisily cheer on the slaughter. She grimaced at the images. "Shouldn't you boys be outside playing, not sitting in front of the television watching this nonsense."

"Mom, we're teenagers, we don't go outside and play." Colt shook his head.

"Play, get lost, I don't care what you do once you're out there, just don't sit around inside watching guys eating guts."

"Melina isn't a guy," Rocky replied. He stood up as the trance broke. "I do have something I need to do." He swatted Colt on the back of his head for distracting him.

Colt returned fire, landing a hit to the back of his brother's retreating thigh. "Alright, I'll go see what Cruz is up to." He turned off the YouTube app and dropped the remote to the coffee table. "You don't know when I'll be back, so don't be having any wild parties or boys over, you hear me?" He wagged his finger at his mother, who cocked a brow. "And while I'm at it..." He walked to the door to slip into his sneakers, but bee-lined to the liquor cabinet to lock it with an invisible key.

"I'd say it's all your father, but I know my dad is to blame." She snickered at Colt's silly personality.

"See ya around dinner." He said before exiting.

Jessica went back to her card game with her friends Liz and Busy.

Upstairs.

Rocky planted himself at the study desk and removed a memo pad from the row of books placed along the back nook.

Mission of romance:

1. Lightly brush hands

2. Casually carry her bag before and after school

3. Compliment her by deciding it's better than something else

4. Share food

5. Don't bring up friend things

6. Read to each other

7. Brief eye contact

8. Give her more attention when in a group

9...

He scratched his cheek. He can't think of a nine when all the other numbers are so solid. If he was a girl, he'd be into all of that for attraction points. He was about to ask Tum Tum his opinion as someone who claims they're devoid of romantic feelings, but then he recalled he's not home, he's with their dad at the hockey rink. Through a text he asked Emily how things were going with the diary, if anything had come back to her. If she was Emily Farmer again, and not a ghost in a shell.

She replied that it's weird the things that get to young people, but nothing special was recalled. She does remember her two dogs, just not what happened to them. Cranberry and Dubai, two little white Chow Chow dogs. Cranberry was chasing a ball across the street and Dubai was taken by another family, after she got out of the fence and wandered off. They had found him a year later by accident. He was running around in a backyard; Emily said it looked like her dog, and when she called his name he ran right over to her all wagging with happiness. But by then she felt bad for taking back her dog, so she just let the family go on thinking he was a stray of sorts.

She asked what he was doing after school tomorrow, to which he replied studying for a bit then gaming most likely. She replied with a thumbs up emoji, then went silent.

At the Farmer's home. Emily found very interesting entries, some dull ones, another list. A flower pressed beneath a piece of plastic that's taped around each edge.

April 3rd, 2018

Sam put this in my hair. It was cute the way he said beforehand "I'm gonna touch your hair, OK?" Just touch it! We've been friends for how long now? I know he's not gonna do anything weird. Anyway, he smiled and said something so corny. "There. It wanted to be back with the others." Lol. So corny, right? But, I don't know, it was also kinda cute. I think he's secretly using me as a mock girlfriend to try out his material. Boys are so weird as friends. This is why it's easier just to stick with same gender friendships.

April 26th, 2018

I don't know. Sometimes the way Sam looks at me is kinda... I wanna say lovey dovey, but maybe it's ego. He can't like me. Would it be weird? I don't know. Oh, that's him now. Later.

She flipped through the book stopping on a page.

October 10th, 2021.

Rachel, who I met online, said it would be fun to do gymnastics together. I think she's right, I'd probably never do it on my own. A buddy makes it easier.

Colt was so sweet, he brought the bins up from the curb this morning, because he knows my mom and dad are in Florida to help my aunt Kelly with her new baby. They brought them all my old stuff. Sometimes I wonder if I'd be into Colt if he was my age or a year older? He's cute, funny, and isn't a show-off. But, he is a hot-head. Sometimes I think Tum Tum is the only Douglas brother with normal behavior.

Emily closed the book when hearing the front door.

"Emily, can you come peel some potatoes for me?" Her mother called.

"Be right there!" She replied. Stuffing the book under her pillow, she then left her room.