I blushed and glanced out the window. "A tiny town in Illinois."

"Did you leave any friends?"

I shook my head and turned back toward him. "No one I would write to. I really wasn't that close to anyone."

His hands rubbed at the mug, his thumb tracing the lip and he cast his eyes to the marshmallows floating on top. He had a knee up on the cushion of the window seat. His leg was just a breath away from mine. The almost-touch made my heart flutter. "You'll be going to the public school, right?"

Why did he say it like that? "Like everyone else, I guess." For which I was grateful. Despite my mother's complaints about sending us to school, my father insisted we were allowed. It was the only thing he stood up to her about. I believed he was sure if we didn't go to school she could never keep up with a home school system and the state would be after them.

Kota looked up, confusion in his face. "What grade?"

"Sophomore," I said. I hoped it was okay to be honest.

His head tilted, his eyes sparked. "Me, too. What are you going to take this year?"

I shrugged. "I don't really know what I want."

He blinked. A silence stretched between us. We sipped our cocoa together and my eyes flickered between his knee that was so close to mine and the window. It was a strange feeling, like something I had seen out of a movie. Two people sharing an evening together and dabbling with small talk. Did people really do things like this? My mind whirled with something to say, but I was never good at starting conversations.

After a few moments, he spoke. "Do your parents want you to take something in particular?"

I sighed and nodded. "The daughter of an electrical engineer should have a degree in something. My older sister already started in the arts. I'm getting pushed into science."

"Would it be that bad? Science is pretty awesome."

I grimaced. I didn't want to insult him by being honest. I liked science but I wasn't sure if it was my favorite. "I don't know if I want to do that."

His head tilted as he gazed down at me. "What do you prefer?"

"I'm not sure, really," I said. Thoughts of the paperwork in my room filled my head. I liked this conversation better. It didn't feel too personal. "There's so many choices. I don't know if I want to devote my life to science. Or art. Or something else. It all sounds good."

He laughed softly. "That sounds familiar."

I blushed again because I didn't understand what he meant. I moved the mug up to my lips, mostly to feel the heat from the cocoa. "I don't hate science. I don't hate anything. It's like I want everything. Not fully. I just want a touch." I was rambling and took a sip of cocoa just to get myself to shut up.

He fiddled with his own mug. "Sang... where were you going?"

I kept the mug close to my lower lip and breathed deeply, letting the warm sweet air fill my lungs. "There's that new house up the road. I was going to sleep there for the night."

"You were running away?"

I closed my eyes. I hated those words. "No. Not for forever. I just wanted one night out of the house."

"So you wanted to break into a house? Alone? In the middle of the night?"

My face burned and I turned my head away to look out into the night again. Only this time the sight was blurred by tears. "It sounds crazy." I blinked a lot, trying to force the tears back. When I felt a little calmer, I turned again to look at him. "I wasn't going to hurt anything. My parents are... different. I don't get out much. I just wanted to get away for the night. I didn't want to feel trapped anymore."

"You just needed a release."

My heart lifted. He understood! "It was just a bad night to do it. I probably shouldn't have thought of the empty house. I just knew the back door was open and I wouldn't have harmed anything."

The corners of his mouth lifted. "I have to admit, I can't imagine you committing a breaking and entering. You don't look like the bad girl type."

I made a face at him and he laughed. When he did, I couldn't help it and giggled too. "I guess it seems pretty silly. It's just a single night."

He tilted his head. "Why tonight? I mean, what happened today that you felt you had to get out?"

I blushed again and I held a palm to my cheek, pretending to rub it so I could hide the redness. "It's complicated."

"I'm pretty smart. Try me."

Now that I'd said all this out loud, it did seem dramatic and silly. "It seemed a better idea than hiding away forever. I don't want to believe the world is all that terrible." My voice shook as I spoke. I worried that I might cry in front of him.

His smile softened and his eyes sparked again. "Sang, you're an idiot."

The insult made my mouth pop open and a rush of heat radiated from my face. "But... I..."

He lifted a hand and dropped a finger on my open lips to stop me from talking. "Three reasons. For one, you picked a bad night to take off."

I couldn't disagree with him. I also couldn't think clearly. His finger remained on my lips and I wasn't sure how to move. It was hard to concentrate on what he was saying.

"Two, if you knew the house was empty, someone else could be lurking in there, too. Maybe a hobo or some other teenagers. It might not be true of you, but people who break into houses are often not very nice people. You'd be walking in on them."

I hadn't even thought about that. "What's the third?" I asked, even as his finger was still on me and I was more than mumbling. He grinned and moved his finger away.

"If your parents caught you, you might have been grounded for a lifetime and I would have never met you."

My heart stopped in that moment. I thought he was just teasing me, but something in his eyes shimmered honest. It melted me at the core. He cared. About me? But why? How?

He tilted his mug and drained the rest of the cocoa. "Do you have to be somewhere tomorrow?"

I shook my head.

"Are you still intent on staying out for the night?"

Would he tell my parents about it? Somehow, I didn't think he would. He was giving me a choice. Did I really want to do it? He was right about not going to the empty house. Walking out in the middle of the night was not the best way to prove anything other than I was taking a big risk. However, I couldn't stand by and let myself be caught forever in the small world they built for us. "If I could figure something else out..."

He put the mug down and then planted a palm on my knee. "So how about this, I'll let you sleep here tonight. I think you'll feel better in the morning about it all. After that, give me a month."

It took everything in my will power not to pull away from his touch. It felt so intimate that it made me shake. I blinked at him, confused. "To do what?"

"We'll get your parents to relax so you don't have to sneak out."

I smirked again. "Now who is being idiotic?"

He smiled, sincere and warming. "I mean it."

"You don't know me. Why do you care?"

He shrugged. "Friends help each other. We're friends now, aren't we?"

I couldn't answer him right away. Could it really be that simple? Growing up, I wasn't allowed to attend parties or even just hang out. Outside of school, I saw no one. Friends were the people I sat with at lunch. I never said a word to them otherwise, never called, never went to the mall with them. The truth was I didn't have a clue what a real friend was supposed to be like. Was friendship supposed to happen so quickly? "I suppose so."

He nodded and then stood up, taking my mug from me. "I'm going to take these downstairs and put Max into his crate. You go hop into bed."

My mouth fell open and I glanced at his bed. "But... you..."

He laughed at my expression. "Don't worry. There's a roll-away bed underneath that one. When I get back I'll pull it out and will sleep there."

My parents would have a fit. Still, I shivered with excitement. I'd never been out anywhere and my first night away from them, I would be sleeping in a boy's room. "But maybe I could sleep on the roll-away thing. I mean, it's your bed."

"Just get in, will you? It's late." He turned and thudded his way back down the stairs.

I froze where I was for a moment. Again, tears came to my eyes. He was so nice to me. How could I leave now? Maybe he was right. Would he keep his promise though? Could I trust him? I'd already told him so much and I couldn't believe I'd admitted out loud what I had never told a soul. It was those green eyes and the way he looked at me. He made it so easy to talk to him, because he was so calm and he instantly knew what to do. It was almost like magic.

I fidgeted with the hem of his shirt as I stepped toward his bed. I swallowed thickly, trying to still my heart. Forbidden territory. I inched myself down, sitting carefully on the edge until I heard it creak. Was I afraid it would bite me? I think I was more afraid of my parents somehow finding out.

Only they wouldn't find out.

I tucked my toes in between the sheets, relaxed my head onto the pillow and yanked the blanket up over me. With the blanket pulled up to my chin, my body warmed a few degrees. I hadn't realized how cold my body was before. When my bones thawed, my whole body melted into the bed. I inhaled a delicate scent, a spicy fragrance. Is that what he smelled like? The softness of his pillow forced my eyes shut. Kota's bed. A boy's bed.

The next time I opened my eyes, the room was dark. From what little light came through the window, I could see the roll-away bed that had been pulled out. Kota was on his back, his elbow against his forehead. His mouth was open and he was breathing slowly. With his glasses off, he looked completely adorable. I stayed awake as long as I could to watch him.

My new friend.

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