"Mira!" Quinn greeted me enthusiastically, running to hug me as soon as we entered their house.
 
"Why are you here?" She continued. I was about to answer when Liam beat me to it.
 
"To cause trouble."
 
We gave him a piercing stare. It was clear that he didn't want us to come here, but whether he liked it or not, he had no choice.
 
Quinn approached Sophie. "You must be Ace's girlfriend." She smiled at her. "You're beautiful."
 
Sophie's smile widened. "Thank you. You are too."
 
"Wait, where are you going?" Liam asked his sister.
 
"Going out with my old friends." The way she said it, it was clear she was bored at home.
 
"It's kinda too late now to go out, Quinn and no, I'm not gonna let you go out." Liam said, making all of us furrow our brows in confusion. Late? It's still early.
 
"Bro, aren't you being too strict with your sister? She's not a kid anymore. She's already in her sophomore year." Ken pointed out.
 
"How would I know if she didn't ask Mom for permission?"
 
Quinn rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Don't worry, Mom knows about it and she allowed me to go. I promised her I wouldn't stay out late. The driver is with me anyway." She continued speaking and gave her brother a glare. She turned around, said goodbye to each of us, and left. 
Liam brushed his hair using his fingers in frustration. "She's really stubborn, as ever" He muttered.
"You're too hard on your sister. It's still early, and you're forbidding her from going out." Ace pointed out.
 
"I have to be. I'm the only man in our family now. I need to be strict with Quinn, just like how Dad was before. When Dad passed away, I promised myself that I'd protect Mom and Quinn because he's not here anymore." As he spoke those words, I could feel the depth of his love for his family. It resonated with me because when my own father was gone, I also made a promise to myself to love and take care of my mother, just like he did.
 
After a moment, Liam looked at me as if he was studying me. "I guess you already know. You're not that flustered." He said.
 
I raised my eyebrows at him for what he said. "What are you talking about?"
 
Instead of answering me, he just smiled and looked away. What's up with that guy?
 
Liam asked their housekeeper, Yaya Yolly, to prepare some food. We decided to wait in their garden while everything was being prepared. We chatted about random things until our conversation was interrupted by Bea, Liam's maid who looked like Briana.
 
"Dinner is ready for you and your friends." She informed Liam.
 
"Can you bring the food here? We will just eat here," he responded seriously. Bea just nodded and headed back to the kitchen.
I suddenly felt the need for silence, so I looked at my friends. They were all following Bea with their eyes until they shifted their gaze to me and Liam when Bea entered the house.
 
"W-why is Briana here?" Ken asked, confused.
 
"How did she become your housekeeper?" Ace added.
 
"Oh my god, Mira, are you guys struggling that you need Briana to work for Liam?" Sophie chimed in.
 
Liam and I exchanged glances at their reactions and burst into laughter. Does Briana really look so similar to the maid that they mistook her for Briana?
 
"What's so funny?" Sophie asked, puzzled.
 
"You guys." Liam replied. Their faces turned even more confused.
 
"First, I just wanna clarify that we're not struggling. Sec—" I wasn't able to finish my sentence because Ken interrupted me.
 
"But why did Briana become their housekeeper? Is she just messing around?"
 
I rolled my eyes. "I was about to answer your question, but you cut me off. She's not Briana."
 
This time, they burst into laughter. "You're kidding, right?" Ace said.
 
Seriously? We're not trying to be funny! These guys are really dumb sometimes. I know Briana, whether she's being nice or not, she would never agree to do household chores, especially dress up like the maids. Even when we were kids, among the three of us and Kisha, she was the most particular. Even though she had a bit of a nerd side back then, Briana was always naturally high-maintenance.
 
"We're not kidding." Liam sighed.
 
"Fine. I believe you guys, but why does she look so much like Briana?" Sophie asked.
"I don't know. Even I was surprised when I first saw her when I came here. She really does look like Briana."
 
Ken suddenly faced me and pointed at me. "Aha! So you've been to Liam's house before?"
 
"So what if I've been here?" I retorted, giving him an annoyed look.
 
He glared at me and then smirked. Seriously, his looks are so mischievous. "What did you do here?" There was teasing in his tone.
 
I looked at Sophie and Ace, and their looks were almost the same. "Oh my gosh, Mira! Why didn't you even tell me?" Sophie said, teasingly. I was going crazy with their teasing. So what if I've been to Liam's house? Is it such a big deal?
 
Of course, it is. He is my crush, and everyone at school is aware of it. I used to be invisible to him. But now, we've become much closer than I ever imagined.
 
I heard Liam let out a sigh. "Can you guys stop being so dramatic? It was raining that time, so she had no choice but to seek shelter here."
 
They just nodded, but it was evident on their faces that they weren't convinced by what Liam said.
 
"So, where is she from and how did you get her as your maid, Liam?"
 
"I don't talk to her that much. I only talk to her when I need something done. But according to what Mom said, she's the one sent to us by the agency, and she's from a small province."
Before we could respond, Bea arrived with two other maids, carrying the food. The three of them were silent as we watched Bea, until they left.
 
"Mira, when you first saw the maid, did you also wonder if she could be Briana's sister?"
 
I shook my head. This guy is really something, assuming they're siblings just because they look alike. "No, I didn't. I just thought they resembled each other."
 
"So much for looking alike." Sophie hissed. I didn't bother asking her what she meant.
 
"You know what, let's just eat. I'm hungry. I'm so tired of talking about Briana." Liam said.
I suddenly feel my stomach rumble. Luckily, they didn't hear it. "That would be nice." I added.
———
After a few hours of laughter, teasing, and chatting, we decided to hang out on their rooftop. After a while, Liam and Ace went downstairs and came back with snacks and drinks.
 
"Let's take a chill, guys!" They announced.
 
They sat down and placed the drinks and snacks in front of us.
 
"What's the occasion?" Sophie asked, puzzled.
 
"Nothing special. We just want to chill." Ace replied, glancing at me. "Do you drink?"
 
"Not much, just a little." I responded.
 
Ace smirked. "Then today is the day that you will drink more." He was about to hand me a small bottle of alcohol, but Liam stopped him.
 
"Here. Drink this instead." Liam said, handing me a non-alcoholic drink.
 
"It's okay, Liam. I can handle alcohol. It's not really my thing, but I can drink if I want to."
 
"Are you sure? Is it okay with your mom for you to drink now? You have every right to decline. There's no need for you to keep up with us."
 
I love how he sounded concerned, but I hate it when people underestimate me. I may not be as cool as them, being a senior year student who still looks innocent, but they don't know that behind my innocent face, I can handle things too. Like reading his secret diary without him knowing.
 
I stood up and faced him. "Do you doubt that I can drink?" I snatched the alcohol from Ace's hand and chugged it down. "I have a high alcohol tolerance. I just know when to stop." I smiled at him, not caring about the shock on his face.
 
"Oh my gosh, Mira! Are you a monster? You can't chug it like that! Seriously, we said let's chill. Why did you drink it all in one go?" Ken exclaimed in surprise.
 
"Sorry, Liam didn't believe me." I replied.
 
I heard Sophie laughing. "Mira's not as innocent as you guys think. She knows how to have fun!"
 
Liam's face transformed into a smirk as he ruffled my hair. There he goes again, messing with my hair. "You're really different and intriguing."
 
I looked at him with confusion. "What do you mean by intriguing?"
 
"You're not boring to be with, Mira." I don't know why, but his words made me feel a flutter in my heart. I couldn't help but bite my lip subtly.
Ken took the empty bottle I had been drinking from earlier and placed it on the table sideways. "Wanna play truth or truth?" He asked.
 
"Truth or truth? You mean truth or dare?" Sophie corrected.
 
"Yep, except you don't have any choice but to pick truth."
 
"So, no dare?" I asked.
 
He nodded in response. Shortly after, he gave the bottle a spin, and it pointed towards Ace.
 
"Why me? Did you do that on purpose?!" Ace exclaimed.
 
"Hey, don't be a killjoy! Just answer my question." Ken replied.
 
"You better watch it!" Ace threatened.
 
"How many girls did you take seriously?" Ken asked, his tone light but serious.
 
Ace smirked. "Just one." He glanced at Sophie. Man, they're so cheesy.
 
She stared back. Even if Sophie didn't admit it, I knew deep down she was already full of butterflies in her stomach.
"Wow, those stares was intense! Enough with the lovey-dovey stuff, you guys are grossing me out! It's your turn to spin the bottle." Ken said as he handed the bottle to Ace.
 
Ace just smirked and spun the bottle. It landed right on Ken.
 
"Hey, you're the one doing it intentionally!" Ken complained.
 
"Hey, don't be silly!" Ace was about to ask a question, but Sophie whispered something to him.
 
"Hey Sophie, what did you whisper to him?!" Ken asked, but she just grinned and didn't answer.
 
"Do you have a crush at school?"
 
Ace was suddenly slapped on the shoulder by Sophie. "Your question is wrong. It should be 'who is your crush at school', not 'do you have a crush at school."
 
I think I know what Sophie is up to. She told me that Ken mentioned having a crush in another section, but he wouldn't reveal who it is. She was trying to get Ken to spill the beans now, but I guess her plan failed because Ace messed up his question.
 
"Let's do it again—"
 
"Hey, no cheating! One question at a time only. You think you can outsmart me, huh?!" Ken interrupted the two.
 
Ace sighed. "So, what's the answer?"
 
Ken fell silent for a moment, contemplating whether to answer the question or not. "Yes, I do. " He mumbled and looked down as if embarrassed.
The game continued until Liam was the one pointed by the bottle.
 
"So Liam, have you ever fallen in love?" Sophie asked him.
 
Woah, that was a really serious question. This girl can be so straightforward sometimes. I saw Liam's face turn serious.
 
Because of the alcohol, it seemed like he was carried away in his response.
 
"Yeah. I was in love once. We were a couple for almost two years, and it ended last year. She's the first person I ever loved. Now, I regret it so much because I was the reason why we broke up. It wasn't because of the long-distance relationship. We were able to handle that. But you know, I'm a jerk sometimes, and I can't help but cheat, especially when I rarely get to see her. She caught me kissing some random girl in the bar. You know what's the worst? I only realized how special she was to me when we broke up." He said, his voice and face filled with sadness. None of us said anything, maybe because we could feel his pain.
 
Suddenly, he lifted his head. "We should be happy, right?" He said, forcing a smile before spinning the bottle.
 
I was surprised when the bottle pointed at me. "Okay Mira, what's your take on love?" he asked, looking at me seriously.
 
"My take on love?" I sighed. "I'm open to love, but I'm not desperate. We just have to let it happen. We don't need to force ourselves to fall in love with someone or force someone to love us. If the time comes that we will love again, we just need to love them 100 percent, even if in the end, we are the ones who get hurt. At least we loved them, right?" I caught Liam's eye as he gave me a meaningful glance while I said those words.
 
"Wow, Mira. That was so deep." Sophie commented. I don't know, maybe I was just carried away by Liam's drama earlier.
We decided to call it a night after a few more rounds of spinning the bottle and drinking, considering it was getting quite late.
 
We waited for everyone to leave before he kindly walked me to the front of our house. I took a seat on the side and briefly admired the twinkling stars in the sky.
 
He sat down beside me, surprising me. "Aren't you going inside yet?"
 
"Not yet. You can leave me here. I'll go inside when I feel like it."
 
"You know what? I'll stay here with you for a while."
 
I didn't respond and simply looked up at the sky, filled with beautiful stars.
 
"Mira." He called.
 
"Hmm?" I turned to look at him.
 
"I know we've only recently become close, but I feel a strong connection with you." He said.
 
What he said made me furrow my brow. "What do you mean?"
 
"You're starting to become special to me, Mira." He replied. At that moment, I felt my heart rate increase, and I could see the sincerity in his eyes.
 
"I-I think I need to go." I stood up, about to go inside. I don't know why, but I was feeling flustered.
 
"Goodnight, Mira."
 
I smiled at him. "Goodnight." Without waiting for his response, I went inside the house and straight to my room. I immediately washed up and changed into my pajamas. I tried to force myself to sleep, but after tossing and turning for a while, I still couldn't fall asleep.
 
"You're becoming special to me, Mira."
 
I kept replaying his words in my mind. I didn't know what he meant, but that was the reason why my feelings towards him changed.
 
I placed my hand on my chest. I think I have already fallen in love with him.
 
Damn, this is not good.
Liam's POV
 
I lay down and stared at the ceiling. I couldn't believe that I confessed that to Mira. But deep down, I meant every word. She had become truly special to me.
 
Suddenly, my phone rang. I picked it up and saw Jhea's name on the screen.
 
Great, just the person I need to talk to right now.
 
"I'm glad you called." I greeted her.
 
I heard her laughter. "Are you excited for Hailey's return?"
 
"I need to tell you something."
 
"About what? Don't tell me you're giving up now. I don't want to give you a clue, but Hailey just confessed that she still has feelings for you. And guess what? We're already here at the airport for our direct flight."
 
"Are you serious, Jhea? I thought you were coming back next week."
 
"Wait, why do you seem sad? Aren't you supposed to be happy about what you found out?"
 
"Yeah, I'm happy." I replied. But am I really?
 
"So, what were you going to tell me?"
 
"Mira and Sophie just miss you." I made an excuse.
 
"I really miss them too! Just don't tell them that I'm coming home tomorrow, okay? I want to surprise them."
 
Jhea and I talked for a little while longer before I finally hung up the phone.
 
Why does everything feel so messed up? I thought finding out that Hailey still had feelings for me would make me happy, but instead, it's made me feel even more down. This is what I wanted, right? To get back together with her?
 
But now, it feels like something has changed. Like maybe this isn't what I want anymore.