Jake’s house was farther up the hill, not close to the sea like ours, and unlike my house and Vuyo’s house, it wasn’t modern at all. Instead, it had a quaint beach cottage vibe to it, and I liked it instantly. I preferred houses like this that had character, or had something about them that made them unique and interesting, but not in the way that ours was “interesting.”

I straightened my black dress, looked down at my gold Adidas sneakers, and then rang the doorbell. My heart beat a little faster in anticipation of seeing him. But it wasn’t him who answered the door.

“Hi, you must be Lori, and this must be the Zac. We’ve heard so much about you,” said a gorgeous woman with blue eyes like Jake’s. “I’m Judy.”

“Hi, Judy. Lori,” I said anxiously.

“Come in.” She held the door open for us.

“Come in, come in,” Zac repeated.

“He’s a little nervous,” I whispered to her.

She smiled and whispered back. “It’s okay.”

“Zaaaac!” Lisa skidded up, shouting.

Zac put his hands over his ears and Lisa came to an abrupt halt.

“Sorry,” she whispered with her finger over her lips. “Let’s whisper. Shhhhh! Let’s whisper.”

Zac took his hands off his ears; he seemed satisfied with this solution.

“I’m going to watch a documentary about the universe tonight with my sister,” he whispered back to her. “I hope it’s about black holes and not nebulae.”

“I want to show you my room!” Lisa said excitedly.

“Here!” Zac pulled her present out and thrust it toward her with little finesse.

“That’s so sweet, you shouldn’t have,” Judy said to me.

“I want to show you my bedroom,” Lisa stated again, and this time Zac looked up at me for reassurance.

“It’s okay. I’ll be right here.”

“Can I have my water bottle?” He held his hand up and I passed it to him. And with that, he and Lisa were off down the passage. I stared after them.

“Don’t worry, they’ll be fine.” I felt a sudden reassuring hand on my shoulder.

I smiled. “Oh, here’s her card, I almost forgot.” I handed Lisa’s birthday card over and Judy studied it carefully.

“This is beautiful. Where did you buy it?”

“I painted it. They’re succulents.” I blushed slightly.

“You painted this? It’s incredible.”

“Lori is an amazing artist.” I heard a familiar voice and turned to see Jake as he walked around the corner. I tried not to beam at him stupidly.

You do luuurve him. Great, the voice in my head was back.

“I’m kind of good, I guess,” I stumbled.

“Kind of good?” Jake said. “That’s an understatement.”

“Well . . . thanks.” I felt coy. I felt flutterings. I felt all sorts of things that I hoped Judy and Jake didn’t see.