"You were up late last night." A bright-eyed, cheerful Brittany greeted Amber the following day. She was in the kitchen making pancakes and sausages for breakfast, in the middle of pouring herself a cup of milk when Amber marched in. "Heard you come in but then saw you on your phone texting before bed."

It was a small kitchen leading out to a rarely used balcony, only because there was barely enough room for one individual, let alone two. Inside, the kitchen came equipped with a medium size fridge, microwave, and oven, including laminated countertops. Cabinets lined the top, leveled with the refrigerator and oven, right under the sink.  

Brittany stood behind the counter, jamming to some internal music. She placed breakfast plates against the counter between her and Amber. 

"Was I disturbing you? Why didn't you say anything?" Amber left her phone on the counter and leaned in, grabbing a sausage link before popping it into her mouth. She wore a bathrobe with a towel in her hair, fresh out of the shower and teeth brushed. 

"You weren't. I went right back to sleep, but did you and Liam have a fight?" 

Amber winced, recalling how she'd forgotten about date night with Liam yesterday afternoon. They were together enough for Brittany to remember that Thursday night was date night with the fiancé. 

"We did," Amber grabbed a seat as Brittany placed an empty plate in front of her and poured her a cup of orange juice. "How did you know?" 

"I didn't," Brittany smirked. After pouring Amber's orange juice, Brittany grabbed an empty plate for herself before taking a seat on the other side. "It was just a guess. Why did you get home so late last night then?" 

"Remember that boy space friend I was telling you about?" Amber filled her plate with pancakes, a couple of slices of butter, and finally, syrup. "Well, he showed up." 

"Hmmm…" Brittany bite into a piece of sausage. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"Nothing," Brittany lied while her eyes laughed at Amber. "It's just that this sausage link is sooo delicious!" 

"Yet, I've never seen you make a face like that at sausages before," Amber's eyes narrowed. "Tell me. What are you thinking?" 

Brittany finished chewing and swallowing before answering. "I won't tell you. You know why?" She paused enough for Amber to open her mouth—then cut her off. "Because even if I did tell you, you'd ignore it." 

"What do you mean ignore it? I always listen to your advice!" Amber protested, but Brittany held up a palm, halting her once more. 

"That's not what I mean," Brittany shook her head. Amber kept quiet and took a mouthful of pancakes, listening. "You do this thing where you're oblivious to all these signs. It's like, you ignore what's right in front of you and focus only on what you want. And I still haven't decided as to whether you are doing it on purpose or if your brain just blocks it out." 

"I do not!" Amber blinked, astounded. There were times where she ignored people, but usually, that was on purpose. Again, she protested weakly. "I don't do that!" 

Brittany raised a finger for Amber to remain quiet while she chewed her food and drank her milk. She took a couple of more drinks before clearing her throat, continuing. "Last year, when we went out to eat, there was this boy who kept smiling at you. You looked right past him and pretended you didn't see him." 

"I thought he was smiling at someone behind me!" 

Brittany gave her a look that said bullshit and continued. "Right before Spring Break, we were walking to get ice cream, and a young man kept waving at you from the other side of the street. You pretended to ignore him as well, and then when he crossed the street after us, you, for no reason, crossed the street onto the other end of the sidewalk!" 

"There was more shade on that side!" Amber argued, briefly recalling the event. At that time, she had seen the young man but couldn't remember what he looked like or was wearing. All she remembered was that it was warmer on her side, and she had crossed the street to be in the shade where it would be cooler. 

"Fine!" Brittany had one last story up her sleeve. "This young man knew your name and called out to you while we were walking to class. You were looking at your phone, and even though you weren't even doing anything important, you pretended not to hear him and kept right on walking!" 

"I was focused on my game!" Amber argued, not even remembering. "I really didn't hear anything!" 

Rather than answer, Brittany continued eating, staring at her like she was invisible. 

After a few minutes, Amber grumbled weakly. "How do you know they weren't trying to get your attention?" 

"The last one called your name," Brittany responded with a mouthful of food.

"I meant the other two," Amber muttered, looking down at her plate. "The other two could have been vying for your attention." 

Brittany laughed, finishing her food before chugging down the last of her milk. Her eyes drifted to the time on her phone. "You just keep telling yourself that. It's what you do best after all." Satisfied with what she saw on screen, Brittany wiped her mouth with a paper towel and placed her dish in the sink. 

"Why are you up so early anyway?" Unless there was a class, Brittany would never be up this early. And by early, Amber meant five-thirty because she had gotten up at six o'clock with Brittany already making breakfast. Amber continued to eat while Brittany shuffled around the kitchen, putting away plates and throwing dishes in the sink. 

"You'll have to clean the rest," Brittany immediately stopped when her phone began ringing. Her hands were wet, so she wiped them before grabbing her phone and running off to the other end where their beds were. "My parents are here to get me for the weekend since I don't have classes today. I'm going to help them with the farm before I get too busy. This is my thank you breakfast for letting me stay!" 

"I could get used to this every Friday morning!" Amber stood, grabbed her plate, and turned around, leaning against the counter while she continued to munch. Her eyes followed Brittany as she came in and out of view.

"Let's talk some more about this friend of yours after I get back," Brittany paused by the doorway, the phone still against her ear. She turned to give Amber a wave before opening the door and stepping outside the hallway. "See ya Sunday evening!" 

Amber listened for the click of the lock before turning around. Her eyes drifted to her own phone on the counter, indicating it was also time to start preparing for class. She placed the last set of dishes into the sink, which was already half-filled with soap and water, before making her way to the other room. Dishes were going to have to wait until after class. 

Twenty-five minutes later, backpack strapped against her shoulders, Amber stepped out of her building and down the steps to her first and last class of the day. After that, Amber would figure out what to do with the rest of her weekend. She had a couple of homework assignments but nothing that couldn't get done within a day if she focused. 

Amber proceeded down the sidewalk towards campus. The sun was glowing, birds were twittering, and not a single cloud in sight even though it was supposed to be partly cloudy today. At least, that's what her phone revealed, with winds from the northwest and high temperature in the late seventies. With weather like this, Amber could probably spend the rest of the day outside unwinding, even work on her tan a bit. 

Her mind centered around Brittany once more and last night's conversation, recalling there was something she'd forgotten to ask Brittany. Since she was walking with an earbud in one ear, Amber pulled out her phone and dialed Brittany's number before putting it back in her pocket. 

"It hasn't even been an hour yet, and you miss me that badly?" Brittany picked up on the third ring.

"I'm walking to class right now," Amber explained, smiling a little at Brittany's antic, "So it's easier for me to talk than text." 

"What's up?" 

"I never did ask you about the rats' last summer." 

There was a pause, then a confused Brittany asked, "The…rats…?"

"Remember last summer when you said you guys had some rat problems in your house?" 

"Oh yes. What of it?" It was all coming back to Brittany now. 

"I was just wondering if they can backstab each other?" 

Another pause as Brittany considered the question. "I don't know… I mean, maybe? The ones my dad caught were trying to bite one another if that's what you mean?" 

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you." 

"I mean, technically, if you consider them biting and killing one another backstabbing, then yes. Otherwise, I'm not sure what else you mean," Brittany clarified. She paused before continuing, "Why?"

"Just curious," Amber explained. "The friend I told you about mentioned something about it." 

"Hohoho, we're back to talking about this friend of yours now, aren't we?" Brittany giggled on the other end. "Since I have you on the phone—"

"I can't talk right now! Hunter's coming!" Amber interrupted, quickly hanging up before Brittany could tease her even more than she was going to. Her thoughts drifted, trying to recall if she ever told Brittany Hunter’s name. Had she mention his name in front of her in previous conversations? She had blurted his name out loud to get away from answering her questions and didn’t even consider that Brittany might not know him.

Her phone buzzed. And it was from Brittany. 

Brittany: [Liar!]

A couple of more messages came in after the first one.

Brittany: [If he's coming, you wouldn't call his name that loud just to escape from me.]

Brittany: [Chicken!]

Amber couldn't help laughing because Brittany was spot on. She stopped by the steps of the building to class, off to the side to avoid traffic so she could respond. Hunter would not be around today; hence she was free to call out his name as much as she wanted, but Brittany didn't need to know that. Amber answered, addressing only the word chicken. 

Amber: [Let's go to the library when you come back. We'll see who's a chicken then.]

Amber received an emoticon from Brittany with its tongue sticking out. 

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Amber spoke to her phone. She stuck out her own tongue at it knowing very well she'd won this round. "And you are right. If Hunter was in front of me right now, I wouldn't call his name so loud."

"But I am in front of you," the strikingly familiar, vibrant, and very male voice spoke up, sounding quite amused.

Briefly, Amber wondered if she'd somehow gone crazy, missed him so much that she'd conjure his voice out of thin air. However, when she looked up from her phone with that idiotic grin still plastered on her face, her mouth literally dropped open. 

Hunter stood a couple of feet away, leaning against the middle rail of the steps, watching her with those piercing green eyes of his.