ark! Bark!

I groan as I open my eyes and I find Molly's small face in my sight. Her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she pants slightly.

"Hey, Molly," I mumble, rubbing her behind her ear.

Ding-dong!

Molly barks excitedly and she hops off of me before landing on the floor. I get out of bed and follow her downstairs.

I take notice of Luke who is watching TV, not caring about the ringing doorbell.

"Seriously, you couldn't bother opening the door?" I ask, drily and he shrugs in response.

I walkover to the door and open it to be greeted by my grandma's smiling face. I actually have to look down a bit, so I can see her face.

"Mi hija!" She exclaims, opening her arms wide and I wrap my arms around her tiny body.

"Hey, Abuela. I missed you so much."

"Aw, I missed you too, mi hija."

She pulls away at the sound of the small enthusiasm-filled barks coming from beside me.

Grandma chuckles. "Hey, Molly," she bends down scratching Molly behind her ear.

She locks her hands around mines. "Look at you, you've grown up into such a beautiful girl," she gushes.

I smile. "Thank you, Abuela. Come in."

She walks inside the house and I grab her suitcase, before closing the door.

"And who is that?" She asks, taking notice of Luke.

"That's Luke Carter. He's my..." I pause to look for a right word and I feel a nudge at my foot.

I look down at Molly and she tilts her head to the right. I look at where her head is tilted and I see Luke who raises an eyebrow at me.

"Friend," I smile, liking how it sounds natural on my tongue and look back at my grandmother.

"A Carter, huh?" Grandma says. "No wonder, you're so handsome."

"Wow, okay," I mutter.

Luke smirks and I mentally roll my eyes at his cockiness before he walks over to us and stands beside me.

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am," he tells grandma.

"Oh, dear, call me Valentina," she says.

I expected this.

Grandma turns to me. "Now, where is everyone else?"

"Mum's at work, since her boss needed her today. The guys are sleeping and dad's at work, like always," I tell her.

"How many times have I told my idiota of a son to put his family before work? Family before work. Is he really that stupid to understand?!" Grandma snaps in a strong Spanish accent.

"It's okay, Abuela. We have gotten used to it by now," I say, softly.

"I don't care. I'm talking to him tonight and I don't want anyone stopping me from chasing him with a mop!" she says firmly and I have the urge to chuckle, but I know she isn't even close to joking. A smile still appears on my lips though. I just love my grandma.

"Come on, Abuela. Let me show you where you're staying," I say.

"Alright," she replies. She turns to Luke, "It was nice meeting you, Luke," she smiles, her wrinkles crinkling her naturally-tanned forehead.

"Likewise," he nods.

I link my arm through her small one and lead her up the stairs. She keeps her right palm on the railing to help her with stabling herself.

I'm expecting Molly to follow me, but she just stands in front of Luke staring up at him. He stares down at her with a confused expression and she tilts her head.

"Molly," I call for her.

She turns her head and follows me, her paws hitting against the ceramic floor. I catch Luke's dark sea green gaze and his eyes stare deep into mine. I give him a small smile and he grins back, making my smile widen.

Huh, first time that eye contact with Luke isn't uncomfortable.

| | | |

"How's everything going in Australia?" I ask him from the other side of the laptop screen.

"Good. Still stuck with the devil's spawn here," Noah sighs in his static voice, referring to his step-sister.

Noah King, also known as the only close guy friend I ever had is currently face timing me on Skype. Noah used to live in San Francisco, but he moved back to Australia in sophomore year.

"Fiona?" I ask. I feel the memories swirling back inside my mind like a tornado, butI push them in the back of my mind once again.

"The one and only," he mutters.

"Noah,I'm going out!" I hear a feminine voice yelling on the other side.

"I don't give a shit!" He yells back and I cringe at him swearing.

"Sorry about that, Anna," he says when he notices my reaction.

I have never really been a fan of swearing. And the day I swear will be the day that I either: get tired of not swearing and actually curse or be angry at myself or the world and I'll be pushing everyone away, but mum told me that there will always be that person that will stick by my side, no matter what.

To be honest, the first thing I thought of was food and I thought mum was just making it seem like she's talking about dad, and she confirmed my theory by telling me that she was in fact talking about food.

But mum told me later that she was kidding and she was grateful to have dad by her side.

"Just tell dad if he asks, you piece of crap!" She screams back.

"Whatever!" He rolls his eyes, turning his head back to me.

"She's a pain in the arse," he groans.

"Tell me something I don't know," I mumble.

"So anything new happened?" He asks.

"Last time I talked to you, you were sobbing over that dick, Seth."

"No," I shake my head. "Last time I talked to you was in Halloween. You were dressed as a unicorn," I remind him.

"Oh yeah," he says, squinting his eyes like he's trying to remember. "But did anything happen?"

"Well," I start. "Luke Carter is staying with us."

"Luke Carter? Black hair? Green eyes? Devil's spawn's ex-boyfriend?"

"Yup," I nod.

"Remember when your mum told you to avoid him before school started and you completely ignored her warning and introduced yourself to him? Nine year-old Anna had guts," he chuckles. "Wonder where did that go."

I glare at him. "Shut up, bumhole."

"Dumbarse," he shoots back.

"Jerk."

"Loser."

"Ugly."

He dramatically gasps. "You did not just insult my beautiful face."

"You must be really blind if you think you're anywhere near beautiful."

"What are you talking about? I'm a freaking Greek god," he boasts.

"Greekgod, my bum," I roll my eyes.

"You're so goddamn mean," he grumbles.

"I know," I grin.

I hear someone coming down the stairs and I look up from my laptop that was on the couch. Luke appears, dressed in a pair of black jeans and a dark green sweater, with his sleeves rolled up.

I'd be lying if I said he only looks good.

"Hey, Cherries. I'm going out for awhile, in case your mother asks," he says.

"Okay," I nod.

"Is that him?" I hear Noah asking.

"Yeah," I answer.

Luke's eyebrow perches up when he hears the male voice and he walks over to the couch and places his arms on top of it.

"Noah King," Luke grins.

"Carter," Noah grins back.

"You know him?" I ask Luke.

"Of course, he used to be one of the best guys on the soccer team," Luke replies.

"I still am the best," he says cockily and I roll my eyes. "But thanks, mate."

Luke nods, then he turns his head to me. "Mr. Harris said you needed a Geography tutor or something."

"Yeah," I reply. "I failed the last test," I smile sheepishly.

"You're still failing Geography?" Noah questions.

"It's hard," I say in defense.

Noah smirks and so does Luke and I roll my eyes at what they're thinking. Guys. Also girls. But mostly guys. I wonder if animals have dirty thoughts?

"Why were you asking though?" I ask Luke.

"Tutoring session. Tomorrow after school?" He tilts his head to the left in question.

"Yeah, sure."

"Great. See you later, Cherries," he winks.

He pushes himself off of the couch and walks to the door then opens it and walks out, letting the door close behind him so it wouldn't let any cold air in.

"So, Carter huh?" Noah asks in this teasing tone.

"What about him?" I frown.

"He's a good guy," he says.

"I guess?" I reply.

"Do you like him?"

"Like him as in 'you're my friend' way or like like him way?"

"You tell me," he smirks.

"We're just friends and that's what we'll ever be," I confirm. "Just friends."

"That's exactly what every girl says and weeks later, she's making out with the guy," he scoffs.

"Since when do you know all about that?"

"Since today," he answers.

"Good for you," I give him a dry look.

"You're the one who asked," he shrugs.

"Whatever."

"Don't listen to those rumors about Luke, Anna. He really is a good guy if you dig deeper," Noah says.

"I never listened to any rumors and I never will."

"I know that, but I also know you're just scared of getting too attached," he replies, softly.

And I know for a fact that he is right.

Too right, that it terrifies me even more.

"What the heck does that even mean?!" I shriek in confusion.

"They're latitudes, Cherries, so you could know the angular distance of a place in the north or the south," he sighs, rubbing his temple.

"Who told them I give a crap?" I ask.

"It's fucking Geography, they know you don't give a crap and they still make you learn it," he says, frustratingly and I cringe at the swear word.

"Can't we just, I don't know, learn something that will actually help us with our lives?" I question. "Asia might be my home continent, but I don't really need to know how big it freaking is," I huff.

Luke stares at me with pursed lips for awhile. "You're difficult," he finally says.

"I get that a lot,"I agree.

"Can we just finish the goddamn lesson?" He asks in annoyance.

"Fine," I mumble.

"Alright," He continues, looking down at the textbook in his lap. "What is the meaning of latitude?"

"The angular..." I trail off, not remembering the rest of the definition.

Luke stares at me like he's in deep thought, before his face lights up like he found a solution to my lack of memory.

"The length between two points?"

"Distance!" I reply.

"Where Santa lives," he says. Creative, I gotta say.

"Of a place North!" I answer.

"The opposite of it."

"Or South," I continue.

"Our planet."

"The Earth's equator or of the equator of a celestial object and it's usually expressed in degrees and minutes!" I answer in excitement.

The thing about me is that I always forget the first part of definitions and I actually need something to remind me what's the beginning of them.

"There you go," Luke says, resting back in the chair and I smile widely, feeling proud of myself.

It's not everyday I, Anna Falls, get to understand Geography like Foodology, which by the way is the art of eating.

For awhile, Luke continues his way of explaining the complicated world of Geography and by the time we were done, I felt like a huge burden got lifted off of my shoulder.

"You have no idea how much I'm grateful to you right now," I tell him.

"It's fine, Cherries," he waves it off. "I mean, we're friends, right?" He smirks.

"I was being nice, be thankful. If my grandma knew you were annoying the heck out of me, she would have straight out chased you down the hall with a slipper," I tell him, crossing my arms.

"Your grandmother is nice though. She called me handsome. She isn't really lying there," he grins.

"Has anyone ever told that you have an ego the size of planet Jupiter?" I question.

"No."

"Well," I start. "You have an ego the size of planet Jupiter," I smile.

| | | |

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