Matt

That afternoon, after a leisurely morning of swimming in the surf and laying around on the beach, or maybe not as leisurely for me as I continued to pick myself apart, we all went back to Addison's house to change before heading up to "the spot." Vanessa was studying her reflection in the full-length mirror hanging from the door that lead into the walk-in closet. She was craning her neck to look at her body from all angles, a frown pulling down the corners of her bare lips.

"Do these jeans make me look fat," she asked tilting her head to one side. I glanced up, noting the way her butt filled out the denim buttons. I scoffed under my breath thinking that what she called fat, I would label as curvy. She may not have had the tall slender frame that her friend did, but I found that I liked her body type even better.

Addison gasped dramatically from her usual spot at the vanity as she took a medieval torture device and clamped it down on her long eyelashes. "Absolutely not. You look gorgeous. Right, Matt? Tell her she looks gorgeous."

Vanessa whipped around to look at me expectantly. I didn't know why Addison always insisted on putting me on the spot like this, but I really wished she would quit it. I could feel my cheeks growing warm as I opened my mouth and snapped it shut again. What I should have said was, "Of course, she looks gorgeous, and hell no, the jeans don't make her look fat. In fact, I very much appreciate the way she looks in them." Instead, what actually came out of my mouth was, well, nothing at all. I shrugged slightly as I gawked at her. Then realizing I was staring perhaps a second too long, I tore my gaze away from her lower half.

"Well?" Addison prompted.

"Yea, she looks great," I mumbled weakly, suddenly taking great interest in the phone on my lap so as not to meet Vanessa's eyes. Oh, would you look at that? The weather is going to be nice tonight. Clear skies with a temperature of 75 degrees and rising if I didn't stop drooling over my friend's figure.

Addison shook her head in disgust. "Men. Why is it so hard for you guys to ever give compliments? I swear we have to drag it out of all of you." She went back to running a tube of red lipstick over her pouty mouth, all the while muttering about how it would be nice to have the efforts she put into her appearance to be appreciated every now and again.

Vanessa smirked at me before returning her attention back to the mirror. The amused look and twinkle in her soft brown eyes were enough to send a jolt of electricity coursing through my veins. I swallowed. This wasn't good. I didn't know how it had happened, but the realization hit me like a freight train; I was crushing on my best friend. Hard. Somewhere between that day on the beach when she first appeared in that tiny yellow bikini and now, she had managed to captivate me with her girlish giggles, shy glances, and her confessions of insecurity. Just like me, she understood what it was like to wish you were somebody else.

Of course, she was completely oblivious to my newfound feelings, or at least, I hoped she was. The last thing I needed was to ruin our friendship by having her run off in horror at the knowledge that the class loser liked her. Even Alex Banks didn't get teased as much I did by the boys in our class and I at least took care of my hygiene.

Vanessa continued to stare at her reflection, her brows knitted together. "Hmm, I appreciate the vote of confidence but maybe I should try on something else." She walked over to Addison's closet, sifting through the racks of brightly colored clothing until she pulled out a pleather miniskirt. She held it up against the length of her body. "Perhaps this won't call attention to my enormous butt," she murmured.

Addison stopped mid-application of her eyeliner, turning to face Vanessa. "Stop being paranoid. I love those jeans on you but if you really want to spice up your outfit then try this." She joined Vanessa in the closet, fishing out something slinky and sparkly. Vanessa made a face but didn't oblige. "You'll look hot in this. It will show off your cleavage for sure." I perked up. The flashiness of the top didn't have my attention but the low-cut part certainly did. Reaching out, Addison grabbed at the zipper on Vanessa's shirt and began tugging it down.

"Whoa, hey, what are you doing?" Vanessa hissed as she backed up out of her friend's reach, yanking the zipper all the way up to her collarbone.

"What?" Addison asked innocently as she blinked her dark eyelashes at her.

Vanessa raised her eyebrows, gesturing her head in my direction.

Addison rolled her eyes. "Oh, Matt? Come on V, he's seen you in bikini tops before. Hell, he saw you in one earlier today and you didn't seem to mind, especially when that big wave came in and almost knocked the damn thing right off. Trust me, this isn't much different."

Vanessa wrapped her arms across her chest. "I certainly beg to differ."

Addison placed her pink-tipped hands on her slender hips. "I've seen your bras, V. They aren't that exciting. You act like you're sporting something red and lacey under there." She made a grab for the top of Vanessa's shirt to sneak a peek but Vanessa just swatted her hand away.

"Addie! Get out of there." Her cheeks began to turn a bright shade of crimson and I almost felt bad for her. Almost.

I was still secretly hoping that Addison would win out in the argument and Vanessa would just shrug her shoulders as she threw her hands up into the air exclaiming, "You're right. Bras and bikini tops are practically the same. I don't know what I was so embarrassed about." Then she would yank her top off and then...Whoa, slow down there, Matt. Let's not get too crazy here.

I continued to look on as they argued until it finally happened; Addison turned to me for help. "Matt, do you want to back me up here? Tell her it's no big deal. She actually listens to you."

They stared at me with laser beam glares as I gulped and looked from one to the other. If being friends with two females had taught me anything, it was to never take sides because they will switch gears real fast and team up to somehow make me the enemy. "I...err..." I looked around frantically for something to save me and spying a tabloid on the carpet; I picked it up and feigned interest in Kim Kardashian's love life. "Oh, would you look at that? Kim and Kanye are getting divorced. Can't those crazy kids just make their love work?"

Huffing, Addison tossed the shirt on the floor as she headed for the door. "Fine, Matt, take her side then. I'm getting a snack. V, would you like anything?" She stuck her tongue out at me. I stuck mine out in return, wishing that I could stick up one of my fingers at her instead.

Vanessa returned to her spot before the mirror and resumed critiquing herself. "Mmm, no thanks. I'm all set," she replied absentmindedly.

As I continued to watch her study her reflection, the thought crossed my mind if she was passing on the food because she thought she needed to. One thing was for sure, I certainly did not envy being a girl and having to constantly worry about weight and being scrutinized for what you looked like. Not that Vanessa had reason to worry.

She always looked beautiful and although I had never mentioned it to her before and most likely never would, her body had become a frequent topic of conversation in the guy's locker room. I wasn't the only one who noticed or appreciated her newly acquired curves. Although the comments that veered on the vulgar did tend to get under my skin, I would be lying if I said that the thought of what she looked like without any clothes on hadn't passed through my brain every once in a while. However, I wouldn't dare blatantly disrespect her by announcing that to half the boys in the junior class while going over in vivid detail what that image looked like and what I wanted to do to her, like quite a few of them were prone to doing. It would mortify her if she knew the things that were said about her behind her back.

I cleared my throat. "You're not fat, V," I piped up from my place in the bean bag chair. I coughed. "You've got a nice body," I muttered feeling my face getting hot. It was embarrassing to admit that but it was better than watching her wrestle with her feelings of self-consciousness about the way she looked as she zeroed in on every minute imperfection that she had.

Her mouth dropped open as the tips of her ears turned red. Then slowly, she broke out into a wide grin. The joy on her face made any humiliation I felt over my confession worth it. I caught her eye in the mirror as she turned away, coming over to sit down across from me on the carpet. She looked down as she picked at a loose thread. "Has anyone ever told you that you're the sweetest?"

Blushing slightly, I shrugged. "It's nothing. You're my friend and I care about you." I cleared my throat. Ok, tone it down a bit, Matt. You're going to weird her out.

Instead, she grinned at my response as she raised her pretty eyes to look into mine. "Aw, you care about me?'

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yea, well, I mean don't flatter yourself or anything. I care about a lot of things." Chuckling nervously, I continued. "I care about my car, my bed, my hair, pizza, oh, and you can't forget-"

"Alright," she said laughing as she reached over to swat my arm. "I think I get the point."

"Ok," I said growing serious. Our eyes locked again and I wondered if she was going to say anything more. Wondered if I should. I grappled with the idea of telling her exactly how much I cared about her but thinking it was best to just stay quiet and perhaps dial it back a notch, I reached over and ruffled her hair instead. "Good."

Some things were better left unsaid. The last thing I wanted to do was jeopardize the friendship with one of the only two that I had. 

A/N Hey, just wanted to pop in here to thank you all so much for your reads, votes and comments. It means so much to hear the nice things that people have to say. I crack up at the comments about Alex, Matt's aloofness and Vanessa's frustrating "just freaking kiss him already," behavior. It warms my heart that you all are loving Addison as much as I do. Be prepared to start hearing her perspective in the second book!! I'm so excited to keep sharing their story with you as they continue to grow up and head off to college. 

I have so much in store for you all and I'm beyond flipping excited for you to see how the second book ends and then how the series ends.(I just want to spoil it all for you right now, is that ok?) I struggled with the ending for a while, trying out different scenarios with none of them feeling quite right. Until one day, all the pieces fell into place and the ending that I worked out was exactly what each of the characters deserved. Anyway, thank you so much for all the love and feel free to drop me PMs or comments. I love chatting with all of you and hearing what you have to say. 

Until the next update, 

~Jessica~