The last day of the trip ushers in the bonfire night. I haven't seen or talked to Ben in the last two days and I don't know whether it's because I don't want to talk to him or he doesn't want to talk to me. The night of the bonfire, I head down to the open area where the bonfire is being held. Angelina left before me but I stayed back in the room and waited until the party would be in full swing so there would be fewer chances of me running into Ben.

But apparently he had the same thoughts because he's stepping out the boys' building just when I'm stepping out of mine. Thankfully he's looking at his phone so he doesn't see me as he heads off towards the bonfire.

I loiter around in the lobby for a few minutes before starting towards the party too. And just as planned, since I'm forty minutes late almost everyone is here already and the party has started.

I walk around talking to people as I look for Angelina. I find her talking to a guy that she confessed she had a crush on a few weeks ago. I sneak into her line of sight and give her a thumbs up. This makes her smile which she tries to cover up by taking a sip from the cup that she's holding. Probably hot chocolate since the students would never try anything stupid in the presence of teachers.

I decide not to interrupt Angelina and head for one of the logs surrounding the fire. I talk to one of the girls who was on the swim team with me when were sophomores.

Suddenly the song changes to "DJ Turn It Up" and the crowd cheers as the dancers in the middle of the party form a wide circle to reveal Claire who looks around the crowd and I know she's looking for me. I laugh at the memory of us recreating the dance-off from Riverdale in our freshman year.

"Let's do this, Aaron!" She points at me and screams.

The crowd's cheers grow louder as I stand up and walk over to Claire. The DJ replays the song from the beginning and we have a little dance-off. I may not be a cheerleader but I know how to dance and the crowd lets me know of that as they chant our names and encourage us on. By the time the song ends, Claire and I are both laughing.

Claire decides to lead a conga line next but I back out before she can rope me into it. As I'm stepping out of the way of the dancers, I spot Ben standing some distance off, watching me. I pretend that I didn't notice him and leave the party, heading back to the lodges.

"Hazel, wait!" I hear him call after me.

For a second I contemplate running off but I decide against it and stop walking to let him catch up.

"I thought you were going to run." Ben says as he falls into step with me.

I admit, "I was thinking about it."

"Hazel we need to talk." He says and I automatically start shaking my head, "I'm really tired from all the skiing today. I'm going to head to my room."

Without giving him a chance to respond I pick up my pace and hurry off, away from him. When I finally get to my room, I change into my pajamas and climb into bed. Just before I doze off I get a call from Angelina asking if I want to join her and the others for a late night snack but I decline and fall asleep right after.

The next morning passes very quickly in a blur of packing, reporting to the right teacher in the lobby, getting into shuttles and then heading for the airport. We arrive in Los Angeles by Wednesday afternoon and the school buses take us back to school from where we'll all head home.

Mom is waiting for me in the parking when I get off the bus.

"Hey mom!" I say, hugging her.

"Hi, Bunny. How was the flight?" She asks.

"It was okay. Just really tired now." I sigh as she nods in understanding.

She takes the lead towards the car and opens the boot for me so that I can put in my suitcase. Then she gets into the driver's seat and I get in next to her. On the way home I tell her all about the conventional parts of the trip, leaving out the more intimate details.

When we get home, I immediately head to my bedroom and the moment I close the door after me, I feel myself relieved of the act I was putting up for everyone on the trip. The room provides me sanctuary as I kick off my shoes and get into bed without changing my clothes.

"Hazel." I hear mom and then I feel her shake my shoulder.

"You've been asleep for three hours now. Daniel and Sebastian are home, come have dinner with us." She says and then leaves the room.

I get out of bed, take a quick shower, change clothes and then head downstairs to meet everyone. Sebastian has loads of questions about the trip which I answer halfheartedly partially because I'm still sleepy and partially because the trip wasn't exactly what I had planned.

After dinner, dad heads off to his room and Sebastian announces that he has homework to finish. I stay back with mom in the living room. I curl up in an armchair and look out of the glass doors at the back lawn. I wish Vanessa was here.

She was the first and only person I ever told about how I liked Ben in a 'more than friend' way. But that was way back in my first year of high school and I had actually forgotten all about that until this trip.

"Hazel?" Mom's voice pulls me out of my thoughts. "Are you alright?"

I look at her to find her watching me, her mug of coffee hovering near her lips. I want to say 'Yes, I'm fine.' But the trip has been too much of an emotional toll on my brain and having someone especially mom look at me with concern makes me burst into tears.

"Oh Bunny." Mom whispers as she comes to sit on the arm of my armchair and wraps an arm around my shoulders.

"Sshhh. You're okay." She rubs my shoulder and kisses my head as I cry myself out.

Once I've stopped crying she sits down on the wooden table in front of my armchair and takes my hand.

"Tell me everything." She says. That's exactly what I do.

I tell her about the night of the snowstorm and then work my way through the next two days of the trip about how I've been keeping it from everyone and I've refused to talk to Ben. I even tell her about how I walked away from him the night of the bonfire. When I finish, I look up from my lap and meets mom eyes.

She has the soft, loving look in her eyes that she always has when she's looking at me or Sebastian. The look that makes me want to be her little girl forever.

She places a hand on my cheek and kisses my forehead before meeting my eyes.

"Bunny, whatever feelings that you have in your heart are yours and no one can take them away or change them. Only you can. This isn't a decision I can make for you but I can tell you that Daniel and I will support you in whatever decision you make."

Tears sting my eyes as I press my lips together and say, "Thank you, mom."

"I love you, Bunny." Mom says kissing my forehead again and now a few tears leak out as I say, "I love you, mom."

She's the coolest mom ever.

I just couldn't resist naming a chapter 'cool mom' ;) Also, this is one of my favorite chapters that I've written for the story so far :) What do you all think?

-T