Matt

I was already seated on the coarse sands of Lake Tuma when the girls arrived. With the moon reflecting a white glow off the water and fireflies dotting the sky yellow between the tree branches, it occurred to me that I could have happily lived in a place like this.

I stood up as their giggles floated closer amongst the gentle breeze. "It's about time," I muttered. "I was getting ready to head back to the tent thinking you two got busted or something." I was preparing to go on a tirade about Addison spending two hours to perfect what still looked like a glittery mess on her face when my words instantly caught in my throat.

My gaze fell upon Vanessa, her checks flushed as she stared down at her feet while kicking clumps of sand around. She was wearing a silky, tissue paper thin garment that showed off every curve of her body. Her chest was spilling out of the neckline and flecks of silver sparkles smattered across her décolletage shimmered in the moonlight. Is she wearing lingerie? Whatever it was, she was a knockout and I struggled to pick my jaw up off the ground before she noticed.

"Hey, earth to Matt." Addison was in front of me snapping her fingers and smirking. I knew I had been totally busted checking Vanessa out as she leaned in and whispered, "I know. I do amazing work, don't I?" She studied her friend, a proud look on her face before turning towards me. "There's already some beer pong tables set up in the woods. You in?"

I hesitated, taking one final glance at Vanessa, unsure of how I could keep my focus on the game with her strutting around looking like that. "Uh...yea, sure. Let's do it." Well, there was definitely something I wanted to do right now but it wasn't the Solo Cup and alcohol game.

It took Addison all of two seconds to decide she was on Jeff's team and that Vanessa and I were partners. "Matt, you can't even get your clothes in the laundry basket, there's no way I trust you not to get me trashed tonight."

As she tossed the pong ball back and forth between fingers, I narrowed my eyes at her. "Those clothes don't make it in by choice."

"Whatever, Reaper. You can't play with me."

I slid my gaze over to Vanessa. She chewed on her lip as she shrugged helplessly. "I'm sure we will do ok."

If my life were a movie, this is the part where I would instantly hit rewind and have Vanessa choose her words differently because we were about to get slaughtered.

We were a couple of rounds in and as predicted, I was playing lousy. If there was an award for worst player, I wouldn't even be nominated because my throwing skills were so terrible they were the kind that people took a blood oath to never speak of again.

"Come on, Matt," Vanessa rooted as she slightly swayed, holding onto the edge of the table for support. She was a few beers deep and clearly already feeling the effects. She squinted her eyes and pointed at a red cup in the middle on the opposite end of the setup. "You just need to make this last shot and then we win. " She leaned in to me, holding up a single finger to my face. "Just one," she slurred.

Grimacing, I took a step back. Her breath reeked of alcohol. Yup, she was definitely drunk.

Laughing, I cupped the pong ball in my palm. "I guess you weren't paying attention when Chris said I couldn't make baskets. I bet you regret having me as a partner now."

She reached up to rub my shoulder. "Psssh, I'll never regret you. You're too pretty." Hiccup. She slid her hand up to caress my cheek. What was that supposed to mean? A flush crept up my neck at the compliment but I tried to just shrug it off. She was intoxicated. She didn't mean anything by it.

I stepped out of her reach and let out a breath, focusing my attention on the middle cup. It was the lone target. Vanessa had made all the other shots, so it would be nice if I could get just this one. I hadn't exactly impressed her here. However, instead of embarrassing me and making me feel even worse, she had remained encouraging. I didn't want to let her down now that it came to the final toss.

I eyed the mark, lining up my ball. When satisfied with the positioning, I threw it and held my breath. It sailed through the air, plopping into the liquid inside the red cup with a satisfying splash.

"You did it, Matt!" Vanessa cheered. Before I even had time to react to what she was doing, she made a running leap into my arms wrapping her legs around my waist. Caught off guard and not prepared for the impact, I stumbled backwards but somehow still managed to catch her and steady myself in the process.

She looked down at me and planted a wet kiss on my cheek. "I told you I would never regret you as a partner."

I looked back at her with a sobering glance not knowing what to do or say. It wasn't like her to be so affectionate and I was sure it was because of the alcohol. I wanted to keep holding her and kiss her back; only if I had my way it would have been on her lips. However, not really feeling like getting rejected for a second time, I restrained myself.

"Ok. I think that's enough beer pong for you," I said letting go and sliding her off of me.

"I'm done with this game anyways," she replied taking a grand bow." You can't get much better than first place." Addison and Jeff laughed as they watched her do a small twirl.

"Hey, I have an idea," Addison piped up, polishing off the final beer with a mischievous look in her eye. "Why don't we go skinny dipping?"

"Let's do it!" Vanessa pumped her fist into the air and grabbed my hand dragging me behind her as she raced down towards the shore. It was amazing; the confidence a little bit of liquor could give to someone. This wasn't like her at all. While I appreciated her newfound boldness, I didn't want her to do anything she would regret once the effects of the beer had worn off.

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa." I slowed down forcing her to stop as well. "I think maybe you better sit this one out. You're a little bit drunk and I'm not so sure I'm up for playing lifeguard tonight."

Vanessa stuck her tongue out at me and kicked some sand in my direction. "Boo. You're such a buzz kill, man."

"Maybe. But it's better than you drowning in the lake." Or you hating yourself in the morning. I sat in the sand and patted the ground next to me. "Here. Sit."

She plopped down beside me, turning her gaze upwards. "Oh my gosh!" She grabbed my arm and pointed at the sky. "Did you see that shooting star?"

"Did you make a wish?" Smiling, I gazed at her instead of the sky. She looked so happy it was hard not to be mesmerized by anything except her beauty.

She glanced over at me. "Uh-huh."

"What did you wish for?"

She gasped. "I can't tell you that! Otherwise, it won't come true."

I held up my hands. "Ok. Ok. Sorry. I didn't know those were the rules."

She looked so radiant with the glow of the moon reflecting off her creamy skin. I would give up my entire book collection to kiss you right now. But I knew it wasn't what she wanted. She had made that loud and clear on my birthday. However, she wasn't making this easy for me either by flirting and hanging all over me.

Unfortunately, I knew it didn't mean anything. We had always been a little flirtatious with each other, so it came as no surprise that now that she had some alcohol in her, she was ramping it up. I just wished she would consider my feelings a little and stop teasing me like that.

She shifted in the sand and lay down on her back, placing her head in my lap. "Let's see if we can find one for you." I exhaled. Now, this was just plain cruel.

As she wiggled her head back and forth against my most private area in an attempt to get comfortable, I could feel every blood cell in my body rush to my lower region. Shifting, I tried to position myself in a less obvious pose.

Now was not the time to get aroused even if she had brought this on by using my groin as her pillow. I silently willed her to get up. And...move. There were a lot of things I didn't know such as the Amendments or Geometry but I did know that if she turned her head to the side and was saluted by happy greetings in her face, that would no doubt scare her off of me permanently.

I could see my future now.

Her and Addison sitting in a Parisian café years from this very moment as they split a chocolate scone and sipped on mocha latte whatever. Addison would stare off into the distance, a smirk on her bright red lips. "Remember that weird kid we used to hang out with in high school? What was his name? Mike?"

Vanessa would giggle, foam from her way-too-complicated-to-ever-remember drink dripping down her chin. "No, I'm pretty sure it was Mitch."

Addison would nod her head with conviction. "Definitely Mitch."

"Mhm. He was so odd." She took another sip of her seriously, why-the- hell-is-there-cinnamon- art- stenciled-onto-the-top-of-that and immediately spit it back out as this exact scene of her lying on my lap sprang into her memory. "Oh my gosh, Addie," she exclaimed. "Not only was Mitch extremely bizarre but he was also creepy as hell. Did you know he kept getting hard-ons around me? Even Alex Banks never did that."

Addison curled up her lip. "Yuck! What a sleaze ball. Freaking pervy Mitch! I'm glad we dropped his loser ass after the senior camping trip."

Vanessa set her is-this-a-drink-or-a-dessert down and nodded her head. "It really was the best decision we ever made. Oh hey, did you want to catch the two o'clock showing of that movie we talked about last night?"

***

Vanessa

I stared up at Matt instead of the night sky. He looked so handsome that I really couldn't ask for a more entrancing view than the sight of his face. And with the help of the beers flowing through my bloodstream, I had finally been brave enough to somewhat act on my feelings. This is it. This is the moment I have been waiting for. I had him exactly where I wanted him and amazingly enough; he wasn't pushing me away so I knew I still had a chance.

The only problem was that no matter how much I drank, I still couldn't get up the nerve to kiss him. Even in my drunken stupor, I was nothing but a wuss. Disappointed with myself, I realized that if anything were going to happen tonight, he had to be the one to make the move. However, that didn't mean that I couldn't at least try and coax it out of him.

And...kiss me. But no matter how hard I willed him to, he just wouldn't. Darn him. Darn me. How could I have been so stupid to reject him on his birthday? No way was he ever going to make the first move again after that. I suddenly realized that if we were ever going to be together, it was going to have to come from me. I just had to figure out how to get past my fears first.

***