The Fill - In Boyfriend
Episode 7's

I really didn't want to repeat that night even though I knew my parents would be happy if I told them Bradley and I were done. "I'm tired. Thank you for waiting. ” I hugged my mother and then disappeared into my bedroom. I unzipped my prom dress and let it pool on the floor, not caring enough to hang it carefully. It's not really a memory I want to relive.

I changed into my pajamas and went to the bathroom to do other nighttime rituals like washing my face and brushing my teeth. When I went back to my room and saw my dress, blue eyes flashed through my mind. I was surprised that it was a memory that my mind decided to give me with that dress. Why would she agree to be my fake date? He said it wasn't my smile, but we had been interrupted before he answered what was the truth. Curiosity is burning in my chest. Maybe he thinks I'm sweet? I look good in that dress.

I gently picked it up and placed it on top of my desk chair. Why am I analyzing his motives anyway? Doesn't matter. My brain is tired. I need to sleep.

But my brain won't die. It continues to analyze. He thought about the prom and how half the school witnessed Bradley's fake performance. They'll all talk about it tomorrow. I don't need anyone to feel sorry for me. How can I clean it up? I opened Twitter.

I seem to be single again. Who's throwing a party for me?

There. Now everyone will know that I'm okay. Because I have been. Exceptionally well. I stared at the screen, the desire to delete the tweet appeared on my chest. Sleeps. I just need to sleep. Everything will be bright in the morning.

Unless it turns out not. My mind has chosen to fill the night with dreams about a boy with no name and his mysterious motives. A boy who, even if I wanted to talk to him again, could only be contacted through a girl who hated me. He would never help me get in touch with his brother. He probably didn't want to talk to me though the only reason I wanted to talk to him was to satisfy my curiosity.

I walked downstairs to see my dad at the kitchen table with his sketchbook. I knew it was better not to bother him as he revisited the dream he had left behind. He wanted to be an animator for Disney. It seems to be an almost impossible goal. A dream that was not even close to where he ended up as a CPA, sitting at a table, using only the left side of his brain. His pencil glided on paper with ease which he did not show in any other aspect of his life. He's very nice.

The bowl was in the closet behind her chair so I picked out a banana and started taking it to my room when she stopped me with the words "Good morning, Gia."

"Hi dad. Mom at the grocery store? ”

He's nodding. Our house feels like a clock that works perfectly. We all turn around at the right time and say the right thing and maintain the same rhythm every day without ever straying. It's nice to have that routine. To feel grounded in something. Safe.

“Sit down and tell me about prom last night.”

It's okay, you're doing something.

He waved his hand at his sketchbook, a relaxed state he had experienced for a while before being replaced with a straight back. “I'm not in the middle. More like passing the end. "

I sat in the chair in front of him, knowing he wouldn't give up until I gave him a summary. And besides, it was time to tell him what he wanted to hear for two months. "Bradley broke up with me."

His eyes widened, then happy, then sympathetic, all in less than a second. At prom?

I shrugged my shoulders. "It's not a big deal."

“Do you want me to drive to UCLA and beat him up?”

I raised an eyebrow.

“You're right, he's too big for me. I'll have your sister do it. "

I gave him the laugh he was looking for and then bit my banana, knowing that even though my father was serious now, Drew would never beat anyone for me. We're not close enough to that.

I don't think the last metaphor applies here.

“I am on a water roll. I just left. ”

I smiled and stood up and threw away the banana skin. "All I'm asking is that you wait until I get out of the house before you and Mom throw a party because of this."

He gave me an overly serious nod as I left the room. There. That's not bad. Now I can stop talking to my parents about parting from my list.

I went through the rest of the day in a fog, answering tweets about my single status and what parties happened this weekend where I could celebrate. Bradley did not respond to tweets about being single. He might stop following me soon. I wondered if I should stop following him first. I wasn't.

That night I slept well, thankful no dreams tried to remind me of prom.

School would be a good distraction, I thought as I jumped into the bathroom the next day. I'm not sure how long I've been standing underwater and it's possible that my hair has been conditioned twice. I chose clothes carefully, knew I would be at the other end of many gazes today, and stood in front of the mirror to get ready.

By the time I looked at my phone, I realized that I had spent too much time perfecting my appearance. I had to skip breakfast. On the way through the kitchen, I picked up a bar of granola.

"Slow, ma'am," called out to me as her whole body turned to follow my way through the kitchen. Her wide eyes proved that she was surprised because I did not have breakfast with her as usual. I'll see you at five. We had a meeting after school. "

"good. Love you."

"You too." I let the door swing shut behind me and threw my backpack on the floorboard of the passenger seat before boarding the car afterwards.

“Wow, you look good.”

"Thank you."

Claire pointed to the front porch where my mother was waving goodbye to us. I smiled and waved back.

“I swear your family should be on the billboard of Perfect Family or something. How does it feel to have the best parents in the world? ”

“They are very good. They always seem to do everything based on books. "

What book is that?

“I don't know, 101 What To Say To Your Child?” I took a deep breath and opened my granola rod.

“You didn't have breakfast?”

There's no time.