Once the laptop was on, I quickly found that I had received a message from Emmy. That didn't take me by surprise at all. We had a tendency to gossip after school about anything that we hadn't had the chance to talk about over the course of the day.

I think I like Ryder.

Now, I hadn't been expecting to hear that.

SIKE. You really thought.

Of course, I hadn't thought anything but I wasn't going to tell her that. My heart had fallen in my chest after I had received that message but I wasn't about to let Emmy know of her words' impact. We had to be cool. We were friends and I respected that above the feelings thtat I had for her. Right now, I just had to focus on my goals. Number one- get the art work done, number two- find myself a girl to date.

Hey Emmy. How are you?

Bored beyond belief. Don't even get me started on the fact that Elijah has started playing his guitar. It's driving me crazy but I love him so I can't throw him out the window.

Headphones?

I've tried everything, trust me. Anyway, how's your art book going?

It's going.

I looked towards my backpack then, a little guiltily, and decided to take my art book out so that I could started on some work. If I wanted a good grade then I was going to have to work hard for it, Emmy had a good point. I just needed to listen to her from time to time instead of letting my head race away with my thoughts.

I supposed that this maladaptive daydreaming hadn't been helped out at all by the fact that my heart had decided to get this stupid crush on her a while ago. However, you couldn't choose who you liked. I felt that I knew that better than anyone, now.

You haven't started it yet, have you Phoebs?

She knew me too well.

I have now.

After I sent that message, it became quiet on the other side of the line. So, I assumed that Emmy was busily working away on her own work. That was one of the only things that made any sense. She barely ever just stopped replying for very little reason, so I knew that she would be back soon.

With this in mind, I continued to get started on my art work and worked for some time, until I saw that she had sent me another message.

What did you think of that Courtney girl?

She looked sort of punk in her leather jacket. She's definitely your type.

I could picture Emmy blushing even while I wasn't there with her.

Do you remember when we went to that musical festival for my birthday about a month ago, when I turned nineteen and we saw that really cute girl there in the pink leather jacket?

Oh yeah! She was cute.

I think her name was Lois. She was pretty cool.

Definitely.

Anyway...I'll talk to you soon, Phoebe. I have to go now and try and get my brother to shut up.

After she had told me that, Emmy logged off her computer, leaving me there staring at the screen wondering what I should do next.

I had already done my art work for the day, so I supposed that it was about time for me to go and check on Bow.

"Hey Bow," I greeted him, as I joined him in his room to find that he had been playing with his little train set.

When he had first got it, I had played with him a lot of the time. Part of that was because he wanted me to play with him. The other part of it was because I was concerned that he might choke on the little plastic parts. Suffice to say, I took my older sister responsibilities very seriously. I had always been a nurturing girl, though. When my dad had been with us, I had a pet hamster that I used to look after all the time. He left soon after Bow's birth and I couldn't help but feel bad still when I looked at him, in the knowledge that he didn't have a father figure. I knew that couldn't be easy.

The blue sky that was visible outside the window brightened my spirits a little, though. Looking at Bow play so happily also made me smile widely. It was nice to see a kid having fun sometimes, honestly. The older I got the more I realised that there were dark parts of the world and a lot of them. Fortunately, I had a rather good life in comparison. I knew that I was grateful to have such an accepting family anyway.

"Phoebe beanie!" Bow exclaimed happily, as he rushed over to raise his arms towards me, "Up!" he said.

I smiled, as I lifted him up to cuddle with him.

"I love you, Phoebe!" he said happily.

"I love you too, Bow," I replied.

I really did adore him, too. I kissed one of his chubby cheeks before sitting down on the carpet of his room with him, so that the two of us could play together. Bow had a playful smile upon his face and it was entirely too adorable.

"How school?" Bow asked me.

"It was okay Bow. Math was hard," I said.

"One, two, three, four, five. I already learnt to count," he said, as he showed me his fingers.

I could only chuckle in response to that.

"Very good!" I told him.

"You look pretty today Phoebe beanie!" he told me.

I moved a hand through my straightened hair then and smiled back at him.

"Where is your beanie?" he asked me.

"In the wash," I said.

Then again, come to think of it, I actually wasn't sure where it had got to.

"At least, I thought so," I said.

"Don't worry Phoebs! I'll help you find it," he assured me.

Thus, the two of us made our way downstairs in search of the missing pale pink beanie.