"Just one more mile," I whispered as I put my hands on my knees and bent over.

"What's the matter? Can't keep up?" Carter asked jogging in place beside me.

"Shut it!" I hissed.

"Just say the word and we can go home."

I straightened and glared at him. "You're annoying, you know that?"

"No, actually I didn't," he chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and took off running. I heard him laugh as he trailed behind.

Why I let Carter convince me to go jogging with him at the ass crack of dawn was a mystery to me. I cursed under my breath when I stumbled and almost fell. I felt like my lungs were on fire, if that wasn't a sign that I was ridiculously out of shape then I didn't know what was. I had agreed to run two miles and after the first mile I was ready to throw in the towel.

Yep! I'm out of shape.

My knees buckled and I lay on the ground trying to catch my breath. I had a new-found respect for the kids on the track team at school, this was not as easy as it looked.

"It gets easier," Carter said joining me on the ground.

I tilted my head and glanced at him. "I can't move."

He chuckled. "I can see that."

I gave him my sweetest smile. "If you carry me home I'll do your chores for a week."

He pretended to think it over as I lay there dying. I groaned. "What's there to think about? I'm a damsel in distress!"

He laughed and I groaned again, louder this time. "I'll do it," he finally answered. "But not because you offered to do my chores."

"Does that mean I don't have to do them?"

"Oh no, you're still doing them but I want something else from you," he replied, staring off into the distance.

"I'm not buying you pizza, that stuff costs money."

He laughed but then his expression grew somber. "I want you to give Cait another chance."

I opened my mouth to protest but he raised a finger to silence me. "She needs someone to be there for her," he continued. "I know it may not be easy at first but she won't let me help her so maybe she'll talk to you."

He wants me to be there for her? She seemed perfectly fine to me, still mean as always.

I was silent as I pondered his request. I wanted to find the right words so that he'd know that I'm not playing around when I say no. "If I wasn't on my death bed right now, I'd throttle you," I said eventually. "And besides, I can breathe evenly now so I won't need your help after all."

He rose to his feet and stretched out his hand to me. "It was worth a shot, right?"

I didn't reply and we didn't speak as we walked back to the house. I was starting to feel bad about rejecting his request. I didn't like her very much but Carter was nothing but nice to me. I should grant him this one favor. Right?

It can't hurt to try, I reasoned with myself. "Doesn't she have enough friends?" I asked him as we approached the house.

He sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. "You can never have enough friends," was his response.

"What do you mean by that?"

He stopped walking and I did the same. "I think that each friend serves a specific purpose," he said after a while. "Some act as our therapists, those are the ones we can call at 4am and just know that they won't hesitate to answer. Then we have the ones who relieve our stress, you go bowling together or shopping or whatever but you don't necessarily need to talk about anything personal because you both know that you just need to have some fun. And sometimes, if we're lucky we find someone who serves as a confidant and is also our stress reliever."

When did he get so smart? Or was he always this smart? I don't know enough about this kid.

"So she needs me to be the one that she can call up at 4am?" I asked.

He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes, "Something like that."

I wanted to kick myself for what I was about to say. "I'll try."

***

I took a shower and got dressed for school. My legs still hurt and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and stay there all day. Trying to run two miles was a stupid idea, especially before school.

I thought about what Carter had said as I ate breakfast and on the way to school and at lunch. The more that I thought about it, the more ridiculous the idea became. What was I supposed to say to her? It wasn't like she'd ever come to me, I'd have to go to her.

I groaned.

"What's wrong?" Madison asked. "We can cancel going to the party if you want."

I shook my head. "You can back out if you want, but I don't want to."

She sighed. "Fine."

Casey was invited to a party at one of the cheerleader's house on Saturday and she was dragging us along. Well, dragging Madison along, Sophie and I were excited. It would be my first high school party and Sophie was pumped about going because of all the free food and also because there'll be boys there.

April would have been excited too, we never went to any parties back home simply because no one invited us and I always felt like it was my fault.

"I think I need a new outfit for that," Sophie mused.

"You always need a new outfit," Madison sulked.

"You don't have to come with us," Sophie reminded her. "Don't be a buzzkill."

I mentally groaned. I was going to go insane if I had to listen to these two bicker. "Guys, can you not?"

Sophie smiled sheepishly and mumbled an apology and Madison rolled her eyes. "If only she would stop picking on me, we wouldn't have a problem."

I put my hand up as Sophie was about to respond. "Let's just...talk about something else, okay?"

After school while searching for Carter, because — as luck would have it — he wasn't answering his phone and once again, I had no ride home, I bumped into the Aiden kid from my history class.

"I'm so sorry," I mumbled, reaching out to pick up the textbooks that I'd knocked out of his hands.

"It's okay," he assured me. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, so it's really my fault."

"You're right," I agreed. "It totally is your fault."

He laughed and my heart did a double take. Holy cow, his laughter was better than birds in the morning. "Camille, right?" he asked.

"Um, what?"

"That's your name isn't it?"

"Oh right, yeah Camille...my name," I laughed nervously.

He held out his hand to me and I raised one eyebrow. "What's that for?"

"Just take it," he said with an eye roll that defined the word sexy.

I took his hand and he shook it, holding on a little longer than was necessary. The butterflies in my stomach were doing all sorts of things and I probably had a stupid grin on my face.

How did I not notice how attractive he was that day after class?

I cleared my throat. "I should go," I said softly, pulling my hand away.

He let go of my hand and smiled. I held my breath at the sight.

Oh sweet moon, he has a beautiful smile too.

"See you around?" he asked, he sounded hopeful. Or was it just my imagination?

"Sure," I mumbled, stepping around him. I glanced back when I was almost through the door and he was still standing there gazing at me.

I smiled and didn't stop smiling until I'd reached the doors separating me from the gym. I ran my hand over my face and composed myself before pushing them open. I peeked in and saw that the basketball team was huddled on one side of the gym, so I stepped in and walked over to the bleachers and took a seat.

After about five minutes, Carter finally looked over and saw me. "Hey!" he called, making his way over.

"Hey," I greeted him when he reached me.

"I guess I forgot again, huh?" he asked.

"I guess you did," I replied with a small smile. I was too happy to even be mad at him.

"Do you mind waiting until practice is over?" he asked  "Or I can always get someone to take you home if you—"

"It's okay, I'll wait," I said, cutting him off. "Besides, I like basketball."

He grinned and attempted to hug me but I scooted away. "You're all sweaty," I cringed, holding up my hand to keep him at bay.

He flashed me a smile before jogging back to his teammates.

After a grueling hour and forty-five minutes (yes, I timed them), practice was finally over. I was exhausted and all that I did was observe.

"Well, don't you look dashing," I teased Logan as we walked to the parking lot. He didn't look that bad actually, just a little tired and a whole lot sweaty.

"I'll shower when I get home," he assured me. "I couldn't keep you waiting while I cleaned myself up, now could I?"

"My nose begs to differ." We leaned against his car while we waited for Carter. Thankfully, he decided to shower after practice. "Thanks for keeping me company," I told him.

"I didn't really have a choice," he said with a small shrug, "Carter would have kicked my ass if I had let you wait alone."

I crossed my arms. "You couldn't let me think that you're a gentleman?"

"Wouldn't want to mislead you, cupcake," he chuckled putting his arm around me.

I shrugged it off and hit him playfully on the arm. "You don't get to do that. If you were a gentleman, then maybe."

"I'll try again tomorrow," he said, with the hint of a smile.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course you will."

When we got home I went to Caitlyn's room. Like the first time, I hesitated before deciding to knock. "What on earth do you want?" she asked when she opened the door and saw me standing there.

I gritted my teeth and forced a smile. "Do you have a minute?"

"For you?" she asked. "No." She scoffed at my puzzled expression before slamming the door in my face.

At least you tried, I told myself as I walked back to my room.

I made my bed and took a shower. As I was about to text April, someone knocked on the door. "It's open," I yelled, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Man, I'm exhausted," Carter groaned, plopping himself down. He tucked his arm under my pillow and stared at the ceiling.

"Make yourself comfortable," I said rolling my eyes. I texted April and plugged in the phone.

He smiled but didn't say anything.

"I tried talking to Caitlyn," I said after a few minutes.

"And?"

"And nothing," I laughed. "You know how she is."

"Be patient," he said. "She'll come around."

"I don't have patience and she won't come around," I told him, getting up from the bed. I walked to the window and peeked out. "It's so pretty tonight," I said quietly.

A few minutes went by and he hadn't responded. I turned around and saw that he had fallen asleep. I sighed and pulled the blanket around him.

My phone vibrated. I checked it even though I already knew it was April. "I don't remember asking you to call," I joked.

"Hello to you too," she replied with a laugh.

"How was your first day?"

"It was interesting."

"Define interesting."

"I was invited to join the drill team!" she squealed.

"That is interesting," I agreed.

"And a little exciting," she said happily.

"I guess."

"Be happy for me."

"I am happy for you." I wasn't though, not entirely. It was selfish of me, I know but I couldn't help thinking that things were already changing, and soon she'd make new friends and forget about me.

"You'll always mean the world to me chameleon," she said softly. "Best friends forever."

"And always."

Photo on the side: Ian Nelson as Aiden.