Matt

I was moping at the picnic table just outside the girl's campsite with my head in my hands while I cursed life when the sound of feminine singing caught my attention. I looked up to see Addison approaching. She was humming a tune I didn't recognize as she swung her wedges by the straps, dangling them from the tips of her fingers. Her hair was still wet from the lake and with her makeup long since worn off thanks to Mother Nature, she almost looked pretty. She was glowing from within which could only mean she was in a good mood, thus making her the last person I wanted to interact with right now.

I could have sworn she was sniffing the air as if honing in on my scent and when her green gaze locked with mine, she instantly bee-lined it over to me as though she were expecting me to have a pack of French fries waiting for her. She nodded at me as she came closer. "Yo, Matt my dude, what's up?

"Just watching the meteor shower," I mumbled. Maybe if I keep my answers to a minimum, she will take the hint and go away. HA! This is Addie we are talking about here. When has she ever been known to get the message?

As if on cue, she leaned against the table and crossed her arms. "You know, that lie would be a lot more convincing if you weren't staring at the ground."

Go away. But I should be so lucky. It was obvious that the stars had taken an issue with ever being on my side.

Addison slid into the seat across from me, making herself at home. Of course, she would. Did I forget who she was? "Where did you disappear off to?" She glanced around the deserted picnic area. "And where is Vanessa? I was certain you two nerds would still be together geeking out over 'this cool space phenomenon that only happens once a millennia.' "

Scoffing, I rolled my eyes. "First off, meteor showers happen way more frequently than that and secondly, I'm not sure why you would assume that V and I would still be hanging out. She long since passed out in the tent."

Addison raised an eyebrow at me as a slow smirk formed on her lips. "Oh? Might there be more to this story?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "No."

She frowned at a chip in her neon pink manicure. "That's unfortunate."

I've endured Addison complaining about split ends and a loose thread on her new designer sweater but I was in no mood to listen to her whine about her polish. "I'm leaving." I stood up but she grabbed the sleeve of my shirt yanking me back down, her eyes never leaving her fingertips.

"Sit down. I'm not referring to my nails, although that is quite the shame as well," she muttered. "I'm talking about you and V. It's too bad she crashed on you."

Raking my fingers through my hair, I blew out a breath. "Actually, it's kind of a relief. She was pretty drunk and I was tired of having her paw at me."

Addison perked up at this. "Oh? Isn't that what you wanted? For her to fawn all over you?" She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead as she spoke. "I guess she can seduce a potato, after all."

"Huh?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Don't worry about it. So why didn't you sip the virginal waters from the golden chalice?"

I furrowed my brows at her. "I don't know what gibberish you're spouting at me right now but I'm not hooking up with a girl that's drunk, horny, and only using me because she thinks I'm an easy lay."

She sputtered on the sip she had been taking from her water bottle. "I'm sorry, Grim Reaper say what?!"

"I'm not into it, ok," I spat out.

She held up her hands. "Geesh. Fine. Calm down, Mr. Moody."

Whatever. We sat there in silence for a few moments; the chirp of the crickets the only sound to be heard. I continued to stare at the ground and Addison picked at a paint chip on the table top. Why couldn't she just leave me alone?

Finally, she let out a long sigh, breaking the quiet. "Matt," she began her voice soft.

I shifted so that my back was facing her. "Yea?"

"Is that really what you think? That Vanessa only wants you because she's had a few too many?"

I shrugged my shoulders feeling the bench sag slightly underneath her weight as she sat down next to me. She gazed up at the sky for a long moment before letting out a sigh. "Vanessa and I have been best friends since the third grade. No offense, but you would have to be pretty naïve to think that girl doesn't share absolutely everything with me including how she really feels about you."

I whipped my head in her direction. Maybe I had been gullible to believe that Addison didn't have the faintest clue as to what Vanessa had thought of me but given her track record of blabbing every secret that fell into her clutches, I really had bought her story of cluelessness. But this was V's closest confidante we were talking about here. Of course, she would be privy to that information.

Narrowing my eyes, I pointed my finger in her face. "You told me you two never talked about me."

She swatted my hand away. "Yea, well maybe I lied."

"Why would you do that?" It was hard to keep the edge from my voice. Addison had to have known how lousy I felt the past month but instead of freeing me from my misery, she chose the side of keeping mum to protect a piece of information that no longer needed to be kept hidden.

She tilted her head back to search the twinkling stars for an answer. "I can't believe I'm about to do this," she muttered. Her gaze fell back onto mine. "Why do you think? She's my best friend and when she swears me to secrecy, I take it seriously. Plus, I thought she should be the one to confess that to you. However, I love you two more than anybody else in this entire world and I want nothing more than for the both of you to be happy. It kills me to see my friends so miserable when I know I can do something about it. I'm done with standing idly by."

I raised an eyebrow at her, encouraging her to continue.

She blew out a breath. "I think you have the wrong idea about her, Matt. That girl is hopelessly, dramatically, crazy in love with you. She told me so herself," she said pausing to smile. "Well, she actually told me a little more than that. She moons over you every damn day. 'Oh Addie, Matt touched my hand' and 'Oh Addie, isn't Matt the dreamiest?" Addison laughed. "If I have to hear one more time about how you both love mint chocolate chip ice cream, I'm going to write a letter to the President and demand he bans that flavor from the country."

It took every ounce of willpower I had to pick my jaw off the ground and form my next words. "I...I don't understand. Are you sure she was talking about me? If that were true, why did she tell me the opposite?"

Addison punched me in the arm. "Yes, you loon. She was referring to you. As far as I know, there is only one Matt Jones and God help us all if there are two of you."

"But she told me she didn't feel the same way." I shook my head, leaning back against the table. "No. I don't believe you. You have to be mistaken."

Addison gasped. "Excuse me but have you ever known moi to get her gossip mixed up? Matt, I'm as certain of this as I am of the fact that you were born in the Underworld. Vanessa is the one that seems to have contracted amnesia when she fed whatever lie it was to you."

Could it be? Was this the first time in my life that I hadn't invented a scenario? Was the girl of my dreams actually into me? "So," I began slowly. "If what you are saying is not your idea of some sick prank then what do I do? How do I get her to admit the truth?"

Addison sucked in air through her teeth. "So here's where things get a little tricky," she replied. "Your girlfriend is a loon too. She's too damn scared to ever do anything about her feelings because for whatever reason, she thinks you're like a Greek God or something and she's not worthy of you or some bullshit like that which is completely asinine if you ask me because she's totally hot, but whatever." She paused to catch her breath before continuing. "You leave her tongue-tied and a total nervous wreck so she runs from you instead because I guess that's the easy solution."

Wow. I didn't know what to say. Although things were starting to become a hell of a lot clearer now, such as why she was always all over me when she had been drinking or why she would get flustered when I touched her and why she had gotten so upset when I told her she was a brown-eyed, short brunette and not my type. I chided myself for that last one. How could I have been so stupid?

I couldn't stop the grin that suddenly split my face. "She really thinks I'm a Greek God?"

Addison made a face. "I know. I don't get that one either. Personally, I think the only mythical creature you resemble is a troll but they do say love is blind." I ducked out of her reach as she moved in to ruffle my hair.

She giggled before pulling back. "Oh by the way, she's also totally convinced she blew her only shot with you so I'm sure you walking out on her tonight didn't help." She punched me in the arm again. "So if you want to be with her, looks like you're going to have to be the one to make that move."

I bit my lip. "I don't know, Addie. What if she rejects me again? She obviously had her reasons for doing so before."

She clapped her hands as she spoke to emphasize her point. "Then make damn sure not to give her one this time. Make it a little bit harder for her to push you away. Don't just say tell her how you feel. Give her a hug, a kiss, whatever you need to but just do something. Don't give up just like that, Matt. Fight for her a little."

Now it was my turn to consult the night sky on what I should do. I mulled Addison's words over in my head. Vanessa loved me? She talked about me? I made her nervous? No way. I could read the clues easy whenever a girl at school had a crush on me that made them shy in my presence.

She would spend minutes hovering by my locker with her group of friends as I was assaulted with stares from the entire clan before the leader pushed the crimson faced female in my direction. She would look everywhere except at me while stuttering her way through some dumb question. When she was finished, she would giggle and then before I even had the chance to answer, she would scurry back over to her friends while they loudly exclaimed, "See, that wasn't so hard."

Vanessa had done none of those things. No sooner had I thought that, did it feel like I was suddenly regaining my memory after a bout of amnesia. Images that all involved Vanessa flooded my brain. Ones that included her jumping out of my touch, or of the flush that seemed to stain her cheeks whenever we spoke and the most obvious picture of all involving her own pack leader; Addison.

My mind drifted back to that day at my house last winter when out of the blue, Addison had grilled me on whether I liked anybody and what I thought about Vanessa. How convenient it now seemed that Vanessa, who considered staying up until 11pm on a school night to be breaking the rules, just so happened to be grounded the very evening that Addison, who had decided she was no longer interested in coming over on Fridays, suddenly announced that she wanted to come after all.

Vanessa had been mad at me for weeks after that night without ever giving a reason as to why. And then come New Year's Eve she couldn't keep her hands off of Chris, a guy who was clearly not her match. Of course. How could I have not picked up on any of that sooner? It was glaringly obvious now that I had been set-up and Addison had run back and told her friend everything I had said.

I had to admit; I was kind of impressed. They were a hell of a lot slicker than I gave them credit for. I wondered what else they had managed to pull over on me.

What else had there been that I missed? Well, she had called me pretty. I smiled at the memory. I thought back to the tent and the heat that had been in her eyes when she glanced at me. There had been a certain urgency in her touch as well. Perhaps Chris had it right all along. Maybe I really was that stupid to have not seen everything that was right there in front of me.

As if readying my thoughts, Addison smirked at me from across the table. "Wondering how you could have been so clueless?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. Even though all the signs had been there, part of me was still a bit skeptical. I had to be sure. "And you're certain of this, Addie? Without a doubt?"

She crossed her heart. "I swear on my Prada handbag that Vanessa is in love with you."

Damn. She was serious. Well, this changed everything then. I had to give it one more shot.

A/N Next update on 09/09. Can't wait for you all to read what happens next