Somewhere in a country club, there was a girl named Cara Perez being crowned Homecoming Princess. Somewhere there was a boy named Marco Hunt being crowned Prince of Homecoming.

It happened just like everyone predicted it would, no matter what Blake and I tried to do to prevent it, in the end, their predictable destinies came to pass.

The one thing that couldn't be predicted was that Marco and Cara's dates wouldn't be there for the "royal" dance, because we were running far, far away. . .

Blake and I had carefully made our way past the other students and slipped outside of the building. We stayed close to cars and shadows, trying our best to not be seen. I felt guilty and giddy at the same time.

It was like I was a thief in a movie and this was our great escape!

We reached Blake's car and wasted no time getting inside and clicking our seat-belt locked. Sitting in the dark car with the lights of the country club glowing ahead we finally looked to one another.

Our hearts were still racing and our chests were rising heavily.

He smiled at me and I contagiously smiled back. We couldn't stop.

"Can you imagine how angry Cara's going to be when she realizes I ditched her at the homecoming dance?" He laughed.

I laughed too, I liked thinking about Cara wearing her cute little Princess crown and an expression of pure rage. "I almost wish I was there to see her face."

I sobered a bit when I thought of Marco's reaction though; he'd be so hurt.

"Marco won't forgive me for leaving him. I'm sure we're through now."

"Good, it's not like you were happy with him anyways," Blake spoke while turning on the car engine.

I tossed him a defiant stare. "And how would you know?"

His eyes met mine. "Because if you had been, you wouldn't be sitting in this car with me, right?"

What could I say to that? He was right.

I cleared my throat and looked out the front windshield—anything to avoid his eyes, really—and asked him. "So where are we going then?"

Blake reached his arm out towards me and I felt my heart jump. Was he going to try and kiss me here in the parking lot? I was preparing myself for it, but no touch connected with my body. Blake's hand was reaching for the back of my headrest so he could look behind us to pull the car out of the parking space.

When I realized this, I felt like a fool. What was wrong with me? Why was I so willing and ready to let Blake touch me, but avoided Marco's touch like it was some kind of infectious disease?

"I thought we'd go to the ocean, we have enough time. We can go there and I can get you back home before pumpkin time. You better make up a good excuse though," Blake spoke so casually.

"Excuse? Excuse for what?" I asked him.

Blake's smirk was equal parts wicked and beautiful. "Excuse for why the boy who picked you up isn't the boy who's taking you home. . ."

I hadn't thought of that. He had a good point.

My phone buzzed; they were incoming calls from both Marco and Lacey. I didn't answer. I really didn't want them to find us before we could make our getaway. I got a single text message from Suzy and that one I did read.

【Bobby told me that he saw you and Blake leave together. I want all the details later! Remember I have an award winning documentary in serious need of juicy material. -Always your friend, Suzy】

I felt a lump in my throat and my fingers touched gently over the screen. I had missed her text messages so much. I replied back with:

【You too, I want to know everything about Bobby. I hope you have an amazing night, Suzy. - Always your friend, Kitty】

I turned off my phone and pushed it deep into my purse. I felt the tears of happiness brimming in my eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Blake asked.

"No." I smiled at him. "Actually everything is just right."

We pulled out of the parking lot and began our adventure, the further away from the country club we got, the more free I felt. Pretty soon it was just us, the road and the night lights. Blake rolled down the windows so I could feel the breeze on my face. I didn't care that it was ruining all the expensive salon work on my hair. It felt good to raise up my fingers and feel the wind spill through them like water currents.

Blake must have noticed me enjoying myself, he turned the music up until it we had our own personal soundtrack stirring our blood.

Streetlights and series of suburban homes passed by quickly until we reached a sign stating: You are now leaving Pleasant County.

I'd never left Pleasant County without my mother or a family member being with me. It wasn't long before the landscape changed and with it the smell of the air shifted to carrying traces of salt. Pretty soon I could hear the waves roaring in the distance and then see the rising water crash against the sandy beach shore.

On a street close to the beach, Blake pulled the car into park and triumphantly announced, "We're here."

I stepped out of the car, with fiery hair flowing over my shoulders and in a dress far too formal for the location. I took in the salty air and watched the lights bounce off the ocean like diamonds. This moment felt perfect. I didn't have to pretend, I wasn't having to fake anything.

Blake popped open the trunk and drew out of it a large blanket and a grocery bag with cherry sodas, potato chips and a jar of dill pickles. Those were all our favorites and he'd prepared them. I thought he asked me to leave as a spur of the moment decision, but he hadn't. Blake went to the homecoming dance to specifically find me.

"Blake, did you. . . I mean you couldn't have bought those for us?" I asked him.

Blake shrugged his shoulders with a smirk. "So I was being optimistic, what's wrong with that?"

I grabbed the blanket from him so I'd feel more useful. With my chin raised and my smile warm I said, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

We walked past the rows of large beach homes until we reached the sand. There he took off his expensive dress shoes, and I slipped off my fancy heels. I let the straps of my heels hang against my finger tips and stayed by his side until our toes could feel the cool tide water touch them.

There were a few groups of college students having bonfires on the beach with roasted hot dogs and toasted marshmallows on sticks. Some groups had teens sitting on folding beach chairs while stoking the flames and drinking sodas from a tangerine cooler. No one here cared about who we were or where we were from.

I laid out the blanket for us and Blake helped to make sure the corners were straight. We put the plastic bag between us and sat down.

He offered me a glass bottle of cherry soda and I gladly accepted it.

"I was thinking about something. . ." He started to say while popping the cap off.

I opened mine too and that first swallow burned my throat going down, "About what?"

Blake's face softened and he looked out to the sea. "We went about the whole revenge thing the wrong way. We changed everything about ourselves just to hurt Cara and in the end we only hurt each other. . ."

"I think we got so used to living a lie it was hard to break away from it," I said while I dug the tips of my toes into the sand. "I don't know, maybe it's that way for all the popular kids, maybe they just get stuck in an endless loop of trying to live up to being desirable"

"Yeah, but we lied to each other. I think that's the worst part." He continued to watch the ocean and not me.

I studied his profile. I couldn't remember really lying to Blake about anything, not really. He knew the best and the worst parts of me.

"What did we lie about?" I asked curiously.

"Our feelings for each other." And just like that he was looking at me. The sincerity of his voice, matched with the gentle seriousness of his eyes made me feel electrical currents run from my chest to my feet.

Blake's fingertips slowly reached towards my hand that rested on the blanket. I felt his palm lay on top of my hand so sweetly. "I didn't come back to Pleasant County because my mother offered me a car. I didn't even come back because I really wanted revenge on Cara. I came back because we got really close while I was away and I wanted to help you. Because that's what you do for someone when you like them. I didn't think I had a chance with you, how could I compare to Marco?"

I was breathing through my lips, deep and slowly.

For so long I was sure Marco was the one for me, all I wanted was for him to notice me and to accept me for who I was. I was so blinded by the illusion of what Marco could be, that I never noticed everything that Blake actually was.

Blake, the boy who comforted me that day I first was insulted by Cara. The boy who called me every night to help me plot my ideas. This loyal boy who encouraged me when I struggled and who even crossed the country to return to me.

The words of my mother were coming back to my mind.

She had told me the most important quality in a boy, was someone you could always rely on when you needed them most.

That was the definition of Blake. . .

His hand moved from on top of mine to touch my face and his body leaned in closer. I could feel his breath on my skin, and I knew both of us were nervous like crazy. We were both so unsure and yet certain at the same time; unsure where this moment would lead us, but certain that we wanted to try it.

"I like you, Kitty. I have liked you long before I even left. The day I got over Cara was the day I met—"

I interrupted his words by abruptly raising my hands to hold his face.

"Shut up, you've already won me over. Just kiss me. . ."

Blake smiled at me in that kind of way that gave me butterflies and then our lips pressed together. It wasn't like the first kiss we had. This one made my face feel like I was on fire, but in a good way.

Our hearts were beating so hard. His mouth opened just a little more and then so did mine. I kissed him with my toes curling in the sand and feeling his secure arms hold on to me, I felt loved and safe. I could have kissed him forever.

His lips drew slowly from mine and I could feel the warmth leave my mouth, it caused my body to shiver.

I liked him so much I could barely contain it.

I liked him so very much and I couldn't even tell him.

I wanted to say to this boy, that how much I felt for him was ten times more than I ever felt for Marco. Marco was my crush and my past, but Blake was the boy I actually wanted to be with and my future. I wanted to tell him this so much and more, but all I could do was stare into his eyes.

"You know, this means I was right. I knew all along you were attracted to me. . ." Blake was making a joke, and in two seconds flat all my lovey-dovey emotions deflated.

I shoved him playfully away from me. "Ugh! Leave it to you to ruin a perfectly good moment. You just couldn't help yourself, could you?"

He nudged his head against my shoulder. "I think it's because I find it so sexy when you're mad at me."

I felt embarrassed. He called me sexy! I'd never been called sexy before.

"So what happens now?" I changed the topic.

"Now we finish our snacks and then go home before your mother grounds you for another two weeks," He spoke in between drinking his soda.

I rolled my eyes. "You know what I mean! What happens with us? We will go back to school on Monday and everything will be changed. I think we should just drop the whole idea of getting back at Cara."

Blake tore open the bag of chips, digging out one for himself and one for me. "I think we already have the best revenge; it's called not caring what anyone thinks."

His easy-going demeanor was starting to rub off on me. "Everything's just so simple to you, isn't it?"

He smiled, tossing a chip into his mouth with a loud crunch. "Oh, yeah. I stole the soccer team captain and county golden-boys 'girlfriend' from the Homecoming dance. I think that classifies me as a bad-ass."

"Please, get over yourself. Eat your pickles so we can go please, I know you're just dying to have them." I was acting annoyed, but honestly, I liked it. I hid my smile so he couldn't see it, but he felt it. I know he did because his hand was back holding mine. That quiet unspoken connection we had before was now a reinforced bond and I knew from this point on, it'd only get stronger.

Monday morning at school was the start of a new empire. I entered into the hallway of my school like I routinely did, but this time is was different. This time it didn't take an hour for me to get ready for school, and it didn't take the 15-minute length of time it did before this summer. I got ready in 30-minutes. I kept my thick glasses on, and my hair up in a messy bun. I still had the eyeliner and mascara, but nothing else. I was a little bit of what I used to like about myself and a little bit of what had become the new me.

Somewhere in the middle I'd found the perfect balance.

People looked at me, completely confused. Some students whispered about me, some approved of how I looked and some didn't. I'm sure most of them thought I was the worst person on earth for leaving Marco behind at the dance.

A hand touched over mine and our fingers laced.

Blake was walking the hallway with me, wearing a retro video-game tee like he used to and his old chucks. He seemed a bit like the old Blake this way, but still holding the new attractiveness.

We were making a statement together. It didn't matter what anyone else thought, we would face it together.

At the end of the hall, I could see five people standing near mine and Cara's locker. They were Cara, Kristy, Samantha, Lacey and Marco.

It was time to face them and time to face the truth. This was going to be it.

My final good-bye to my once popular teenage high school life. . .