A/N Wow guys. Has it been awhile. If you are still with me...thank you for being so patient. Life has been busy to say the least. But I hope to be regularly publishing again now that things have calmed down. Anyways...we now dust off the cover of this novel and once again bring you Addie, Matt and V.

To recap in case you forget. Matt and Vanessa are best friends. V is in love wit him. When he finally admits his feelings she's like "Oh no, I'm too scared." Also Alex Banks. Ok, I think you are up to speed now. 

Matt

On the first day of senior year, I was walking forlornly down the hallway running through all the torturous possibilities of how the next ten months would go without any friends when I spied Vanessa and Addison conversing by their lockers. Addison ran her fingers through her glossy hair and made a kissy face as she studied her reflection in a magnetic, sparkly pink mirror stuck to the inside of her locker. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the sight. I hadn't spoken to her since the day after my birthday because quite frankly, I was still pretty pissed at her for forcing me to go for it with Vanessa.

Surprisingly, she hadn't tried to barge her way back into my life like she had always been so keen on doing and that was fine by me. Even though seeing her in the flesh had thawed out some of my anger towards her, I still wasn't going to be lining up to be the President of her fan club anytime soon.

I paused as Vanessa bent over and pulled a stack of shiny new notebooks out of her backpack and carefully lined them up on the top shelf of her own locker. Although I couldn't see from where I was standing, I was certain she had written out the subjects for each of her classes on the front covers in bold letters. A fresh wave of pain clenched at my insides. It had only been a couple of weeks since her rejection but it felt like it was just yesterday. In the blink of an eye, I had somehow managed to lose both of my friends in a two-for-one deal.

Well, to hell with the both of them I thought as I raised my hoodie over my head being sure to keep my eyes glued to the grey tiling as I tried to slink my way past them. I had almost made it to the other side of the lion's den when I felt a tug pulling me back on the chain attached to my jeans.

"Oh, no you don't," Addison called as she brought me to her. "This ridiculousness ends right here and now. I'm tired of this silly game you two have been playing. We haven't been friends for this long to let something like a tiny little slap in the face rejection come between us." She turned towards Vanessa. "V, you still care about Matt even though the thought of him being your boyfriend makes you want to die, correct?"

I gave Addison a quick glare before turning a hopeful gaze onto Vanessa. Despite her not wanting to date me, I still wanted her to be a part of my life. She was my best friend. Vanessa looked down at her feet, kicking at a scuff mark on the floor with the tip of her ankle boots. "Yea, I guess."

It wasn't the resounding yes of reassurance I had wanted to hear but I would take it.

Addison gave a quick nod before turning her sights onto me. "And Matt, I know you're feeling hurt right now and probably like the biggest loser ever since you can't get a girlfriend," she paused to place a hand over her heart and stare at me with big shiny eyes. "I get it, I do but ultimately you don't want to lose your friendship with Vanessa. Does that about cover it?"

Reluctantly I nodded. "I suppose."

She clapped her hands together gleefully. "Great. Do you both agree to take each other as friends, for better or worse, richer or poorer, and sickness and in health?"

Vanessa let out a giggle as she smirked in my direction. "I do."

I couldn't stop my own smile from forming. "Eh, what the hell. I do too."

Addison threw her hands up in the air. "Hallelujah," she cried towards the ceiling. "I now pronounce you both friends. You may now hand over your freaking schedules so we can see if we have any classes together."

It was impossible for me to stay angry with either of them for long and I chuckled at Addison's zaniness as I reached into my bag and handed her my class schedule. She quickly scanned the page, her brows furrowed. Finally, she exclaimed "Score!" pumping her fist into the air. "It looks like we have science together. I know whose book I'll be borrowing when I lose mine again." She grinned as she wiggled her brows at me. She never did end up finding her textbook from last year.

"Nah uh. " I reached for the sheet of paper back but before I could retrieve it, Addison shouted "Oh! It looks like you and V have study hall together."

I looked up at Vanessa to see what she thought. Would she run screaming for the hills? Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to see her smiling at me. "Think they will have assigned seats," she asked softly.

I couldn't resist smiling back. Her grin was just that contagious. "I hope not. Would you believe that this girl once tried stealing my seat?"

Vanessa laughed. "Wow. So rude. I hope you gave her the boot."

"Oh yea, she's history. What kind of monster does something like that?" V let out a giggle and just like that, the ice had been broken.

***

Seeing Vanessa in school and having to act as though nothing had ever happened hurt me a lot more than I cared to admit. But the ugly truth was that I knew it would pierce even more not to see her. Somewhere around third period, I came to the conclusion that I would probably always hold a soft spot in my heart for her but I really didn't want to lose her from my life over her not wanting to date me either. So, even if it meant only ever having her as just a friend, I was determined to at least give it a shot.

I spent the next few days trying my best to put aside my feelings for her until things felt almost back to normal. Almost. Vanessa still hadn't returned to my house and if I was being honest with myself, I feared that she might not ever come back alone but at least we were speaking again and so for now, that would have to do.

In the meantime, I had the senior trip to look forward to and to help take my mind off the barren desert that was my love life. The camping outing was coming up in a few days and even though I was a little nervous about how that would go with Vanessa, I was mostly just excited. The boys and girls were going to be split up and sleeping at separate campsites but all my classmates had already been whispering in the corridors about sneaking out to mingle once the chaperones headed off to bed.

I even heard rumors that some of the kids were going to try and get a game of beer pong going down at the lake. That could be a fun, no-pressure activity for all of us to do and with the focus off of my feelings for Vanessa, maybe I would finally get my best friend back.

***

Vanessa

The night before the trip, I stayed at home packing. I tossed my simple black bathing suit into my duffel bag deciding that the yellow one was going into an early retirement and thinking about Matt all the while; like that was anything new.

I had been a bundle of fluttering butterflies that first day back at school knowing that I was no doubt going to run into him but things had gone smoother than I had anticipated; thanks to Addison. She really was a life saver. She always knew exactly what to do while I fumbled around like a bumbling idiot. I would be useless in a real emergency. I probably wouldn't even be able to remember the three simple digits to 9-1-1. I envied her smoothness and thought regretfully that if only I was a bit more like her then perhaps I could have navigated Matt's love confession a lot better than I did.

I sighed as I tugged the zipper to my luggage close. What's done was done. There was nothing I could to do to change how I had reacted. At least he was speaking to me again and I hoped that within time, we could sweep the awkwardness that was his birthday under the rug. Who knows, maybe I would even find that I hadn't blown it after all and would get a second chance to do things the right way now that I had time to get used to the idea that dating him was no longer just a fantasy but an actual possibility.

Perhaps, this camping trip would be the start of our relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend. I smiled at the thought. After the chaperones fell asleep, I would convince him to sneak out to the lake with me and gaze up at the stars. We would have one of our heartfelt talks like we always did as we named our way through the constellations and maybe, he would take my hand again and maybe, this time he would actually kiss me. I shivered at the thought of those full lips caressing mine.

Falling back into my pillows, I let the fantasy carry me away until my toes tingled from all the possibilities of what the weekend away together could turn into. I had to admit that learning how he felt about me really ramped up my daydreams knowing that at any point, they could easily become reality.

Ok, so maybe not so easy because in some ways, knowing his feelings also made being around him that much more nerve-wracking. I was hyperaware of his eyes on me and jumped anytime he got a little too close, anxious that he was about to put the moves on me again.

I thought back to the other night when we were all at Addison's house for Taco Tuesday. He reached past me to grab a plate off the counter and thinking that he was leaning over to kiss me right then and there in the middle of the Miller's country style kitchen, almost had me melting into a pool of raging hormones onto the linoleum floor.

But maybe that was exactly what I needed; for him to just kiss me and get it over with. Maybe it wouldn't be as fearsome as I was anticipating. Maybe it wouldn't be electrifying. Maybe it wouldn't even be that great. I kissed Chris before. Surely, I could kiss Matt. Then again, Chris didn't exactly get my heart racing triple time and my palms feeling slicker than a patch of ice. Nope. All those sensations were reserved only for Matt.

Closing my eyes, I sighed dreamily as I imagined his face. His gorgeous face, which I hoped would soon belong to me. I let my mind wander to the deepest recesses of my mind and before I knew it, I had drifted off to sleep with visions of stars, tents, and a dimpled smile floating through my head.

***