“Hello? Hello?” I shouted as soon as I stepped into my house.
    “Over here.” Mom whispered. I knew that she was in Maple’s room. I walked upstairs to see. “Shh, don’t wake her up. I have to go now, see you later sweetie.” She kissed my forehead and rushed out the door. I sighed and sat in the rocking chair beside Maple’s crib.
    The most I get to see my mom is five minutes a day. I leave for school when she is still in bed after her night-shift. Maple tossed around in her crib, I could see her clearly from here. How great would it be to be a little kid, you don’t have to worry about everything, the adults will handle it and all you do is eat and sleep and smile every once a while to cheer the adults up.
    Then my stomach ruined the mood, it told me I was hungry. I didn’t feel hungry though, I’m use to eating at different times or eating too much or too little. I didn’t have homework, might as well make dinner for me and Maple. Mom hasn’t gone to the grocery store in days, so the fridge is pretty empty. There were potatoes and pasta. So I decided to make oven baked fries and spaghetti. I’m use to cooking since I have to do it every day.
    I turned up the radio and started cooking.
    “CRAP!”  I flinched away from the knife. When I was chopping the potatoes, I accidentally cut my fingers. It didn’t feel painful though, it felt good for a second. I felt like a chunk of stress was released. Too bad the cut was small; I wanted to release more pain from my memories. I washed my hands, and the knife, duh, and continued cooking.     
    I was about to put the pasta in the boiling hot water when the doorbell rang. I didn’t expect anybody since it was around seven already, almost everybody would be eating dinner.
    I swung the door open.
    “HEY!” Aaron shouted.
    “What the heck?” I said. “Shh. Maple is sleeping. God damn it.”
    “Sorry.” He whispered back while taking off his shoes and jumped onto the sofa.
    “Who welcomed you in?”
    “Don’t be like that; I have been here too many times to not be welcomed here.” He grinned. I just rolled my eyes. I think he saw my band-aid. “What happened to your poor finger?”
    “None of your business,” I snarled at him. “I’m going back to the kitchen. You, just shut up while you are here.”
    “Right, you’re cooking, you don’t mind making some for me right?” He put out his puppy dog face. “Nobody’s home to cook dinner at my place, please?”
    “Whatever.”
    “Hey! Hey…” his voice got quieter as I walked to the kitchen.
    I was back to doing what I was doing before Aaron came. It was peace and quiet except for the radio on the counter and the oven timer. It was the best setting to cook in.
    “If your finger is hurting, then don’t cook.” He said as he walked in. I jumped and almost lost grip of my knife.
    “Do that again, and I really don’t have to cook, I will be in the hospital.”
    “Again, Sorry Hebe,” He walked to where I was and took the knife out of my hands and started cutting the mushrooms for my pasta. Boy was he hot. “You should be more careful.” He chuckled. I blushed.  The bad mood I was in was totally gone.
    “Mommy, where are you?” Maple cried from upstairs.
    “You keep chopping; I’ll take care of Maple.” I told Aaron.
    “Hell no, I rather take care of Maple, she’s too cute to avoid.” He placed the knife in my hands and ran upstairs. Man, he looked hot running too. I felt myself blushing. I have Chun, I don’t need Aaron. I kept telling myself that and making me thinking about how hot Chun is. Geez, what’s with the hot guys at my school, they are making me so out of focus.
    “Damn it.” I just noticed that I let him do the easy stuff while I was making dinner with a bleeding finger. Well, since Maple’s awake, she’s probably hungry. I should make this pasta quick. All I could hear now was Aaron and Maple laughing. They sounded like they were having fun.
    A second later, Aaron was down carrying Maple in one hand. I laughed. He looked hilarious carrying Maple.
    “What? Is there something on my face?” He asked worried.
    “NO, its Maple, you look hilarious carrying her.” I laughed more.
    “That’s because I’m still young; it won’t look hilarious when I’m twenty.” He smirked and started walking back to the living room with Maple on his shoulders this time. I could hear him asking what she wanted to watch. He kept calling her princess all over the place. He reminded me of my dad when he was watching TV with Maple before he moved away. Every night when my mom and I were making dinner, I would hear them laughing and Maple squealing from the living room.
    My eyes started to get watery. Well, that was the past, and it can never change. There’s nothing I can do with it.