“I think I got burnt.” Andy whined as we all traveled back into the house with our towels and clothes in hand. It was pretty late at night because we stayed outside to watch the sunset. And even though I was pretty tired since we had a huge day, I was determined to talk to Holly tonight and explain to her what happened. She may be mad, but she’ll get over it, I’m sure.

Once everybody walked in, they all made quick bee-lines for either a restroom to take a shower or their rooms to sleep, considering everyone was exhausted from our day at the beach, but it was really fun to be with everyone at once.

I went into the kitchen to get a glass of water before I planned on talking to Holly because I was still admittedly a little nervous about telling her. Even though most of me was telling me that she wouldn’t be mad, and if anything, she’d be excited or happy for me. But that nagging part of me that told me she’d be revolted and angry was worrying me to bits.

“Are you still going to talk to Holly?” Jackson asked, walking into the kitchen and moving to the fridge.

“Yes.” I replied, looking around the kitchen to make sure that we were completely alone. “Tonight, before I wimp out.”

“I wouldn’t do it tonight if I was you.” Jackson mumbled, pulling a beer out of the fridge and popping the tab open. Ew, beer is so nasty. It tastes like pee, in my opinion.

“Why not?” I asked with raised eyebrows. “And should you even be drinking? It’s late.”

“Holly and Kale just went into their room.” He told me.

“Okay, so?” I said slowly.

“And I’m pretty sure they’re not just going to go to sleep.” Jackson chuckled at my innocence. “And I can drink if I want, I’m not going to bed for a while anyway.”

I frowned at that and panic started flaming inside of me. Was he hinting at something, or like, hitting on me? Why am I so oblivious? “Okay, I’m going to bed now.” I mumbled quickly, sitting my now-empty glass in the sink before hurrying out of the kitchen before he could pull me into his trap yet again.

“I wasn’t insinuating anything!” He called after me in a small fit of laughter.

“Goodnight.” I called back, hurrying down the hallway and then up the stairs into my room, away from Jackson and his abs and his soft lips and his… everything.

I quickly got changed into pajamas and then fell into bed, easily falling into sleep.

In the morning, I woke up at around eleven and was still determined to talk to Holly. Because I’m a good person and good people tell their best friends when they’ve slept with said best friend’s brother. Twice. Okay, well technically, I didn’t sleep with him yesterday. We didn’t sleep, because it was in the middle of the day so sleeping would have been stupid because people could have walked in on us sleeping. And now I’m mumbling. In my head.

Rolling my eyes, I got out of bed before grabbing an outfit for the day and a towel so that I could take a shower before I went to talk to Holly. 

My shower was a little long because I was admittedly procrastinating getting out of the shower, knowing that when I did, I’d have to go find Holly and break the news to her. Man, that’s going to be so awkward, I just know it.

I was dressed in hot pink denim shorts, a black and white striped shirt that tied at my belly button and exposed about three inches of my tummy, along with black flip flops and hot pink sunglasses to match my shorts. When I finished braiding my hair in the bathroom mirror, I decided that I’d procrastinated long enough and I really needed to go talk to Holly and get it over with.

I exited the bathroom and tossed my dirty pajamas into my room before closing the door and walking into the living room, but nobody was there so I tried the kitchen. Ryder, Jackson, and Brendon were all in there, eating bacon that Harris was cooking.

“Do you guys know where Holly is?” I asked them, taking a piece of bacon off of Ryder’s plate.

“That was my bacon, and I think she’s in her room.” Ryder said.

“Well, it was very nice of you to share.” I chirped, taking another piece off of Ryder’s plate before disappearing again and going down the hallway to where Holly and Kale’s room was, which was just around the corner from mine. I knocked on the door, not wanting to walk in on something that no Libby should ever see, and when I heard Holly call a “come in”, I opened the door.

She was standing in front of the dresser, brushing her hair and she looked like she was getting ready for a day with Kale by the fancy blouse that she was wearing. I needed to make this quick so that I didn’t get stood up again.

“Hey, Lib.” Holly chirped. “What’s up?”

I was getting a little more nervous now because I still wasn’t sure how she’d take the news. But I was really hoping that she wouldn’t be mad and I was just totally overreacting about this whole situation. Maybe she’ll just brush it off or something.

“I, uh, I need to tell you something.” I mumbled.

“Okay, shoot.” She said as she started applying her eyeliner and mascara quickly in the mirror.

“Well, um, I kissed someone.” I blurted, realizing that if I just say that I kissed him first, then I could judge her reaction before actually telling her everything that’s happened.

“AH!” She screamed, dropping her mascara tube and turning to grin at me. “I knew you liked him! I knew it!”

I frowned in confusion. “Huh?” She couldn’t possibly know that I’m talking about Jackson, because if she did, she wouldn’t have said that, I don’t think. “Who do you think I’m talking about?”

“Well, Damon, of course.” She chuckled.

“Damon? No, Holly-“

“I’m so happy for you.” She cooed, interrupting me. “But Kale is waiting downstairs, so I really gotta go.”

“Holly, listen to-“

“We can talk later, okay? You can tell me all about Damon when I get back tonight. Or, well, tomorrow.” She said with a grin, giving me a quick goodbye hug before hurrying out the door.

I let out a frustrated groan- can’t she just listen?!

I left the room with a frustrated frown and made my way for the beach for some much-needed alone time. I sat my tush in the soft, cool sand and laid down on my back, not really caring that I was getting sand on my clothes or in my hair even though I just took a shower. I had a bikini on under my clothes, I was just too frustrated with my best friend to even take the time to spare my clothes.

“How come I always find you alone?” I heard a familiar voice coming closer to me. I looked over to see Damon walking towards me as he sat down beside me in the sand.

“You’re stalking me.” I teased.

“You wish.” He laughed. “Seriously, though, are you okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m just great. Peachy, really.”

“Okay, so what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I sighed. “Just girl drama, I guess.”

“You’re fighting with one of your friends?”

“No.” I said. “She just won’t listen to me and now she thinks that I have this undying crush on you.”

“Really?” Damon asked with a smirk.

“Yes, and it’s so annoying. Like if she’d just listen to me for like five seconds she’s know that I wasn’t talking about you.” I ranted.

“Well, at least you’re trying.” He attempted to make me feel better. “She can’t really be mad at you if you’re trying.”

“She isn’t mad at me, and she won’t be because she won’t find out because I’m not going to keep trying to tell her. If she doesn’t want to listen then that’s her own damn problem.” I snapped angrily.

“Whoa, you’re really mad.” He said, taken back a little bit.

I didn’t realize that I was this mad, but I was pretty angry. Holly is my best friend and if I need to tell her something, she should be there for me. I know that I’m there whenever she needs me, I’d drop everything for her. But I just need two seconds of her time to tell her something because I feel bad about lying to her and she just keeps blowing me off. “I am mad.” I huffed.

“Well, isn’t that America day coming up? Are you guys going to celebrate that? It could be a way to let off steam.” Damon suggested.

I nodded. “Yeah, the Fourth of July. We’re all going out to some fancy restaurant.” I explained.

“See? You can just forget about everything and enjoy your dinner and everything will be fine. But, just for the record, I am not condoning you lying to your friend. I mean, I’m not trying to tell you what to do or anything, but she’s eventually going to find out and when she does, she’s probably going to be mad if you’re not the one to tell her.”

“I don’t care if she’s mad.” I mumbled, rather immaturely. “She can be mad all she wants, I did nothing wrong. I tried to tell her, she won’t listen.”

“That’s true. I have no idea what I’m talking about, so I’ll just listen to you complain because I’m just a really good friend.”  He said with a small smile.

I chuckled and shook my head. “No, I’m more of a passive aggressive. I just need to lay here and think and then in like ten minutes, I’ll be happy again and I won’t be mad at Holly and if she ever does find out and she’s mad about it, then it’ll probably be one huge fight.”

“And you’re okay with that?” Damon asked with raised eyebrows.

“No.” I admitted. “But what choice do I have?”

"Well, you could just tell her. Just like, interrupt her when she's talking or announce it at the dinner table." He suggested.

I let out a bark of laughter at the thought of admitting this secret in front of everyone at the dinner table at a fancy restaurant on the Fourth of July. That'd probably be halarious, and very emotional. I have no idea how either Andy or Elle would react, or Brendon for that matter. It'd be... interesting. "Yeah, right." I laughed.

"Hey, I'm just trying to give you options here." He defended. "It was just an idea."

"Well, that's a terrible idea." I told him bluntly. "But thanks for trying, I appreciate it, but no matter what, I am so screwed."

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BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

Within the next week, I will be publishing Celebrity Status on both print and ebook. I'll give you the link next week, maybe on Tuesday but most likely on Friday. Just wanted to let you guys know that (: