Dear Estella,

50. do you promise?

I stuff a handful of popcorn into my mouth, tears falling from my eyes as I watch The Notebook once again. I don't know why I torture myself by watching the movie. The ending never changes, yet I never expect to sob each time I watch it.

Every. Single. Time.

My head whips around to the window when a light tap sounds from the outside. I remove my glasses, quickly wiping down my tear-stained cheeks before slipping them back on and walking over to the window.

"Asher."

Unsurprisingly, he's crouched down on the angled platform by my window. His forearms rest on the windowsill as he looks at me with a smile.

"Estella."

"You can't be here," I say in a low voice, close to a whisper. "Go home."

"I am. Wanna come with me?"

I furrow my eyebrows. Sometimes, Asher seems to forget that I now live with three other kids whose rooms are extremely close to mine. Additionally, I'm also the daughter of a strangely protective yet absent mother who would be more than angry to find my room empty at ten o'clock at night.

"Asher, everyone's home."

"Were you crying?"

"No." I shake my head. "Well, yes. But only because of The Notebook."

He blinks. "What kind of notebook makes you cry?"

I bite my bottom lip, suppressing a smile. He smiles back, the little twinkle in eyes revealing themselves as he looks up at me. The reflection of the TV in my room giving them a shiny effect.

"Asher, you have to go."

He nods. "Okay. Come with me."

Sneaking out. Something I've never done in my life. I've never had reason to. There was no one outside of my house to meet with, no one waiting for me to climb down my window before we ran away laughing with our bodies pumped with adrenaline.

"I can't," I respond. "What if my mom comes in to check if I'm here? Or if Avery wants me to read her a bedtime story or watch a Disney movie with her?"

He furrows his eyebrows. "The kid has two older siblings, a dad, and a stepmom. I'm sure she can find someone else to put her to sleep, Estella."

Narrowing my eyes at him, I contemplate. The gears in my mind shift, coming up with every outcome of leaving my house while everyone's here. All end with my mom storming into my room, finding out I'm gone, and running around like a madwoman as she searches for me.

Then again, does she really care that much?

I exhale, nodding. "Okay."

Risky, Estella.

I walk away from the window, grabbing my shoes from the floor of my closet and putting them on. I take a quick look in the mirror, fixing my forest green long sleeve and readjusting the strings of my black sweatpants.

Once I'm back at the window, Asher's gone. I look down, finding him on the lawn. Before I leave, I take a quick look around my room and shut off the lamp on my bedside table.

"How the hell do you do this?" I ask him as I climb through the window, shutting it afterwards.

"I don't know. I'm good at everything."