"Hello," I whispered as I opened the fridge. The sandwich that Rian had bought earlier that day was in the spot he said it would be, wrapped in its beautiful, festive tissue paper. I loved my sandwich already.

"Come to papa," I mumured and reached forward, tore off the paper, and began shoving the sub into the my mouth.

I had the feeling of someone's eyes on me. I stopped. It was a feeling I was used to, because people stared at me all the time. But this one was a bewlidered stare. There was only one person it could have been.

I turned. I was still standing in front of the open fridge, a bit hunched over, with half a sub hanging from my maw.

"Is this a normal thing for you?" Nikki said. She stood there in capris and a Woe, Is Me t-shirt, her long hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was wearing no makeup, but she was still plenty beautiful.

I answered as honestly as I could.

"Yes. Yes, it is."

Nikki laughed quietly to herself, and kept on her way to the living room. The TV was on in there. A random channel, whatever was on last. I had just switched it on when I went for my food.

Nikki was staring at the TV when I returned, a pepsi in my hand. All that sandwich shoving made me extremely thirsty.

"Why am I here again?" she asked when I sat down.

"Because we're trying to get to know each other," I said. "To become friends."

"Right. To get to know each other," Nikki nodded to herself and tucked her legs underneath her.

I stared at her. I was afraid to say anything more. Nikki was intimidating.

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The next day, we had plans to go out for lunch at a local restaurant. I was not sure if it was considered a date. I wasn't going to call it a date until she wanted to. I was so gentle with her, unsure of my next move.

Something about her just tore me the fuck up and made me go crazy.

I couldn't sleep the night before. I tossed and turned, constantly tormented by the thought that I had dragged someone I barely knew to Baltimore.

I kept saying that. "I barely know them..." "Someone I barely knew..." I needed to shut up. Just go with it. We were friends.

When I woke that morning, Nikki was already up and reading an AP magazine in the dining room. The sunlight hit her just right, and it made her non-makeuped face looked perfect.

"Good morning," she said, before I could even breathe.

"Morning," I smiled. "How are you doing?" I asked.

"Good," Nikki mumbled. She closed the magazine and set it down, her eyes drifting up to mine. "Really good. I love it here."

"Do you?" I cocked my head. "That's a good thing to hear, I guess."

"Yeah," Nikki smiled. "I guess. Anyway, where are we going for lunch?" She sat back in the chair, her bangs falling over her face. She brushed them away easily with the back of her hand.

"A litlte place called Tucker's," I said. I rubbed my eyes. I was exhausted. "It's a cafe," I continued. "You'll love it."

"I better," Nikki grinned. "I love food."

"Me too!" I laughed and shook my head. I wasn't funny. I kept walking forward to the table, slid out a chair, and promptly sat my little cutie butt down.

"After lunch, do you wanna head to the beach?" I asked. Part of me wanted to catch some waves with Nikki and Rian. Teach her how to surf. The other part of me wanted to hold her hand as we walked along the beach, the sun setting behind us.

"I guess, sure," Nikki said. "You did tell me to bring a swimsuit, after all."

"I did."

"Yes. I have to pee, I'll be right back."

So she had to pee. She even made bodily functions sound fun.