Things had calmed up with Mom by Friday. I wasn't staying much time and I sure as hell didn't want to spend it angry with her. She tried to bring it up, but I kept changing the subject. I'd been hurt, but I knew she didn't mean it, she thought I was over Chris.

I thought so too.

In class, Michael assigned us to work in pairs. There were five of us, so one of us was bound to work alone. I turned to my right, trying to find Caitlin to ask her to partner up with me, but before I could approach her, Tyrell stepped to me.

Gosh no. The guy is a complete dog, always trying to hit on someone. I rather work alone than work with him.

"Hi gorgeous, I was looking for you." His tone was sly and I almost roll my eyes. Go away, dude.

"Hi," I tried not to cringe at him, but I was sure that as my lips curved up, you could tell it was a fake smile.

He didn't falter. "Do you have a partner?"

I glanced behind him, where I'd spotted Caitlin's blond hair a moment ago. She was talking animatedly with another guy, grabbing his arm being totally flirty. Good grief. There goes my partner.

Fidgeting with the strap of my backpack, I turned to him to tell him that I was working on my own, when a large hand landed softly on my shoulder.

"Shall we leave?" My heart flipped. I'd recognize that rough voice anywhere. I could have hugged Chris for saving me from Tyrell's sleaziness, but that was bound to be awkward, especially since I'd been trying to avoid him as best as I could.

Tyrell's lips set in a straight line. He bobbed his head before turning away. I breathed out relieved. "Thank you," I murmured still gazing at the retreating back of the red-head before turning to him. Chris was pinching the bridge of his nose, clearly regretting his intervention.

My stomach churned uneasily. "You don't have to do this." I glanced at Tryell again. "I can partner up with someone else." I lifted my shoulder feigning nonchalance.

We both knew that there was no one else, though. Either we partnered up or one of us had to work alone. "You could work with him." In my opinion, that solved the whole dilemma and I really didn't mind working on my own.

Chris bushy brows creased, as he pressed his lips in a tight line. "No," he said as I took out my phone to find a place to take my photos. I looked up in time to see determination in his eyes. "Let's go." He walked away as I stared after him.

Why is he so freaking obtuse?

Just as he was about to cross the street, he turned to me. "Do I have to go back and carry you?" his voice tone sounded light, even amused, but his eyes showed another story, it was clear he was having second-thoughts on this.

Then again, if there was anything I knew about Chris is that when he said something, he meant it. Not wanting to be carried away like a sack of potatoes, I hitched my backpack's strap up my shoulder before going his way

This is going to be a long day.

Chris' green eyes were intense as he looked at me. "You don't want to ride this?" he gestured to his stupid bike. His eyes glinted amused as he held his helmet on one hand.

Ignoring his smirk, I crossed my arms. "I want to visit the aquarium." I'd thought about snapping a few pictures of the undersea. Riley had been talking about Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. I always loved his books, more so because he was such an advanced writer for his time, and I thought this was the perfect time to do it.

"Why? Because your lame subject is animals?" he taunted.

I puffed out my chest, rolling my eyes. "You'll never guess what it is."

His eyes sparkled mischievously as his lips tugged up. "I already know." My grin faded at that. "Haley told me." His smile widened at the same time I narrowed my eyes, my lips forming a tight slash. Of course she would.

"Right. I forgot you're like, her best friend." I didn't mean to sound sour, but I did. Freaking hell. "Whatever. I'm going to the aquarium. If you want to come, good. If you don't, so be it." I shrugged before walking away towards my car. A part of me wanted to go alone, but another part of me wanted him to come with. I wasn't sure which part was wining, but when I took out the car's key from my jean's back pocket, I heard forceful steps behind me.

"I hope you've improved your direction skills, Farah." Chris warned, before stepping to the other side of the car. He was still holding the helmet on his hand. The alarms beep sounded and he pulled open his door. Climbing on, he left his helmet on the backseat.

"FYI, I ace driving," I faked a smile as I started the engine. I heard his snort as the car jolted when I put it on reverse. This sort of light bickering made me feel more at ease; it was much better than the awkward silence that kept settling between us.

I wasn't too worried about my sense of direction, or lack of, since Dad had installed a small GPS before I arrived. He knew me too well, and was just making sure that I wouldn't get lost. I typed aquarium, ignoring the way my stomach was rolling or the way my hand was shaking as I touched the screen.

Chris laughed at the GPS. "That's cheating!" he protested between laughs. Deal with it. His cackles were contagious, a small smile cracking on my face, despite it all.

Knowing that the guy was following my every move made my heart flutter like crazy, and increased my self-consciousness quite a few notches. I drove as carefully as I could. Trying to lighten up the mood, I made small talk. "Cassie told me you're working in a film set?"

"I am. But I'm one of the assistants, it's not a big deal. It is a sci-fi, big Hollywood project, though." Wow. That's big. Like, what he always wanted big.

We'd stop on a red light, when I turned to him. "That is big, Chris. I'm so proud of you, you're doing what you always wanted." I mean it.

His eyes were piercing as he gazed at me. My mouth went dry as they roamed all over my face. "Josh Hutcher is in it," he added smugly with a smirk.. He'd always known that he was one of my favorite actors. I'd literally drooled over him when we'd watched that dystopia movie back in senior year.

My bottom lip fell to the floor in surprise. "Are you for real?" His smirk widened right before I gazed at the street light and it was already green. "Have you actually talked to him?" Does he have that amazing rough voice? Or those incredible abs?

"He's much shorter in person," his tone was flat.

I rolled my eyes, smiling at myself. "Pfft. He can't be."

"He is! He's so short that he could easily play the Grote smurf in the next movie installment!"

Oh no, he didn't. "You. Cannot. Be. Serious."

His deep laugh echoed through the car, pulling a chord in my heart. I missed this sound.

"I can't believe you still pin after him," Chris murmured sounding quite amused. I glanced at him, he was shaking his head and had a lopsided smile drawn on his face. My heart skipped a beat. He looked just like the Chris I remembered from over a year ago.

Turning away, I concentrated on following the GPS directions. "He might be short, but he's super hot." My lips curved up. "And that rhymed," I grinned at my own lame joke.

We'd arrived at the aquarium, and I breathed out relieved that I hadn't screwed up. Yet, I was awful at parking. In my defense, it was a family van and I didn't even drive back in California. We circled the parking lot, but the only place I'd seen felt too tight. I didn't even try it, knowing that I might scratch Mom's car, or worse, another car. We drove around until I found two free parking slots together. Holding my breath, I finally parked the stupid car.

"If we'd ridden in my motorcycle, we'd arrived half an hour earlier," he raised an eyebrow, a cocky smirk playing on his face.

Whatever. "I'm in no hurry," I shrugged.

Wait a second. Had I been too pushy? Did I ever stop to ask him if the aquarium was okay for him?

Had I always been this selfish?

My throat felt thick as I turned to him. Scrunching up my nose, I bit my lip. "Chris, can you find something here for your theme? We can do a quick tour and then leave if you need to."

The whole partner thing was about helping one another to find different angles that we might haven't explored, and I still didn't get the whole concept, but I was sure that choosing the venue for my convenience was not the way to go.

His green eyes slid to me, the god flecks around his pupil more prominent as we were close. He shook his head. "I can manage."

"Okay," I trailed unsure as I pushed the entrance glass doors.

The cold air nipped my cheeks as we entered the building. Children's amazed voices mixed with soft calm music played in the background. There was a large aquarium in front of the ticket booth. I stared at it in awe for a moment, mesmerized at the colorful fish swimming around in calm, not minding the prying eyes of tourists like me. There weren't many people around, so we didn't have to wait long to pay for our entrance.

The first exhibit was the shark and ray touch tank. A guide explained us about the different species that swam elegantly through. It was a small tank, especially designed for people to be able to touch them. The name was impressive, but the sharks were small and completely harmless. Chris pulled out his camera from his backpack and started to take some pictures as I tried to touch one of the rays. It was super slimy and I jumped back, yelping in between.

He cracked up at that before snapping a photo of me scrunching up my nose. I ignored the way my stomach fluttered knowing that he'd have my picture.

The penguin exhibition came next and even though they had nothing to do with my project, I took out my camera too. The penguins are too cute not to snap pictures of them. We took several before going to the jellyfish tank.

This was one of my favorite parts. The jellyfish were slow-dancing beneath the fluorescent lights as I followed them with my eyes. Moments like these reminded me that we are nothing against nature. In the little tag next to the tank, I read that these little creatures have survived before dinosaurs.

"I have to bring my sisters," I murmured to myself before snapping a few pictures. That's when I noticed that Chris wasn't by my side anymore. Which was fine by me. It's weird to be around him. We could joke, but the feeling of nostalgia was always simmering on the surface.

The whole thing about never being friends was taking a toll on me.

There was an instant attraction since the moment we met. I could still feel it, like an undercurrent of electricity shooting beneath my skin. I had never felt anything like this with anyone else.

Walking around the tanks, I reached large paneled glass windows that lead to a balcony, and there he was, leaned against the rail, taking pictures of the seals. He was absolutely concentrated on his task as the breeze teased the brown waves of his hair.

My heart stirred at the sight.

Taking a deep breath, I turned around. He hadn't told me what his project was, so I couldn't be of much help to him. However, I did need to think about mine. I took the stairs to the second floor and walked to the sea dragon tanks.

There were many colorful fish and lobsters around, making it hard to spot them, but once you did, you couldn't help but admire the gracious way they were holding to the reef by their tale. It had been ages since I read Verne's book, but I figured that I could capture pretty much anything I wanted if it involved the sea.

I didn't bump into Chris until the fourth floor. The giant ocean tank was the most impressive of them all. I took several pictures but calmness engulfed me as I absorbed the sea life around me. The camera was hanging around my neck as I admired the tank. Sea turtles and colorful fish danced together in soft movements, creating a mesmerizing effect. You were surrounded by sea, everywhere you turned to, even the roof. It was breathtaking. A couple of sharks swam through and I couldn't but admire the greatness of nature in front of me. I took a slow, deep breath, engrossed in the soothing effect that being here made me feel when I heard a couple of clicks to my left. My head snapped to it.

Chris was beside me, the camera still in position for snapping another photo. Is he for real? "Are you taking pictures of me?" A frown creased my brows.

His green eyes were intense as he took off the camera. "I photograph everything, Farah." My name rolled out of his lips in a deeper tone, making my stomach clench.

Trying to seem unfazed at his scorching eyes, I crossed my arms. "You're a lousy partner, Chris. I don't even know what your theme is."

Chris' lips tugged up on a lopsided smile. His eyes glinted mischievously, before he raised his camera once more and snapped another picture of me. I pursed my lips, rolling my eyes before glancing at the tank once more.

How can he be so easy going one moment and then so cold?

I hate this. I hate how I have no idea how he really feels. One year ago, I would have known.

This sucks. Big time.

"I'm getting hungry" His rough voice sounded beside me. "Feel like having fish and chips?" he asked jokingly. I wasn't looking at him but I know he was smirking.

Could he be more dense?

When I turned to him, his lips were twitching as he suppressed a smile. I was just about to retort, when his phone rang. Not hiding his grin anymore, he raised a palm before answering. I rolled my eyes and tried to concentrate in the animals around us. Not quite successfully, since I found myself staying quiet, trying to hear his conversation.

"So you're setting it up right now?" he said in a hushed tone before groaning. "Yeah, okay. I'll be there." Shaking his head, he put away the phone in his jean's back pockets.

He was muttering under his breath when I tilted my head, biting my lip. Should I say something? "Everything okay?"

He pursed his lips. "Yes. The producer wants to set up a scene right at this moment because he's the darn producer and does as he wants." He glared at the passing turtle above us. His green eyes cut to me a moment later. "I should go."

"How are you going?"

Shrugging, he looked to the door before putting both hands in his pants pockets. "I'll take a cab."

"Is it too far? I can drive you, if you want."

He smiled at that. "So you can meet Josh?"

Nonchalant, I stared back at him. "I was going to say because we still need to work on our team project; but hey, if he's there, I can admire him from afar."

He laughed out loud before bobbing his head towards the door. "It's a win-win situation, then?" I shrugged as he shook his head, clearly amused. "Okay. Just one thing. I'll drive."

Placing a palm on my chest, I mocked being hurt. "Is there a problem with my driving?"

Turning away, he sauntered to the exit door. "You drive like a Grandmother, Farah."

I puffed out my chest before trailing behind him. "I do not!" His chuckle reverberated through the stairs as we stepped down, and I couldn't hide the smile on my face, either.

***

I couldn't pinpoint what was more exciting.

The fact that I was going to an actual film set or the fact that Josh Hutcher was going to be there. Either way, I was feeling extremely giddy and couldn't stay put for more than a moment on my seat. Chris was completely silent. He drove carefully, though. Not as slow as I did, but at the end of the day, it was my Mom's car.

He parked in front of a large building that looked old. The paint was chipping and it seemed like an abandoned warehouse. The only telltale sign that it was being used was the fact that there were several vans parked outside.

Before we hopped out of the car, he turned to me. "You can't take pictures."

My lips curved up in a small smirk. "Is this the moment you tell me what sort of movie are you working on?"

He smiled back. Shaking his head, he grabbed the door handle. "Mike, the producer, is a bit paranoid. He won't mind having you around as long as you don't take out your phone or your camera." The door opened with a faint creak when he turned to me. "Better yet, just make sure to stick by my side." I was going to laugh but his tone was serious. So were his eyes. Feeling somewhat wary, I nodded.

He knocked four times on the door in a sort of decoy signal. I was going to ask him about it when it opened. A young man eyed me cautiously before bobbing his head at Chris. "Farah Dent. An old friend." His tone was nonchalant.

An old friend. That's what I am, aren't it?

My chest tightened. It felt odd hearing it coming out from him. More so than odd, it felt heart-breaking. Only that it shouldn't feel that way. If anything, we were just classmates and probably old acquaintances.

Don't forget it, Farah. Old acquaintances and nothing more.

The man nodded. His golden brown hair was shining because of the bright light inside the warehouse. Chris grabbed my elbow and lead the way through the place. Half of it was completely empty, a few boxes and containers scattered through, but the other part was packed.

There were camera men walking around, makeup artists, those guys with the large microphones, and a few actors. My feet stopped when I recognized Louise Jenna, an outstanding actress from a popular TV series. "Is that—"

"Keep walking," Chris muttered pushing me towards the back of the room. We crossed through a small door and into a hallway before entering another quarter. "This is safe territory."

I looked around the room. There were three tables crammed with computers on top. A fourth one held a console that looked like a mixer, covered with buttons and knobs with multi-colored patch cables cascading on to the floor. Rolling chairs were set in front of all of them, but it was a bit dark. There were two other guys working on something in front of one of the laptops that were so immersed in their work that didn't look up when Chris closed the door with a loud bang.

This is the worst room. Especially when one of my favorite actresses, and probably another actor, might be walking outside. I crossed my arms, sulking.

One of the guys in front of the computer glanced up. "Chris! Glad you could make it! We can't figure this out!" He ignored me completely and I was fine with that.

What the hell am I doing here?

My eyes slid to Chris, who had stepped to aid his friend. With a heavy heart, I exhaled out slowly. That's why.

"This is the sad life of a special effects tech," he said, before pulling out a chair and sitting in front of three large monitors, pulling up his sleeves, ready to get to work.

Sighing, I plopped on the chair and leaned my head on my elbow.

Shit.

Turns out that being stuck in that room was not as dull as I'd expected. After half an hour, Chris had solved whatever the guys were fretting about, and that's when things started to get interesting.

The producer, Matthew Rivers, apparently a quite known professional—I'd never heard of him— showed up and demanded their assistance in the recording of a special scene. Unlike Chris' coworkers, he didn't ignore me. Quite the opposite, actually. He asked me several questions. Who had brought me? Why? Was I involved in journalism? He seemed satisfied with my answers, because he stopped asking questions after a few minutes. Which seemed like a good thing, because he urged Chris to help him out, and he didn't mind if I stick around.

All four of us followed after him as he walked through another hallway and into a dark room. I was amazed at how actually huge the place was. You couldn't tell so from just seeing it from the outside. Probably one of the things why it had been chosen as a movie set.

This part was truly dark, except the larger wall that had a green backdrop and every camera and microphone was focused on it. As I carefully stepped through the room, following after Matthew and Chris, it downed on me that this was the special effects room. The one where actors did their craziest stunts in a safe environment before the special effects techs changed their boring room into a mind-blowing place.

Right in the middle of the green backdrop stood a kick-ass motorcycle. Several cameras and computers were placed in front of it. Chris stationed himself in front of it, right behind a large monitor.

I was supposed to be close to him, so I made my way over. My lips parted in shock as I saw the background they were using for the movie. The motorcycle was in the middle of a war camp. There were destroyed buildings around and I even had to lean closer to see a few weird specimens running around. They looked between a breed of aliens and yetis. Their whole body was covered with hair, but the heads were oval-shaped and the extremities were long and had claws at the end. It was pretty awesome to see the way it was supposed to look in the movie, and the motorcycle parked in the middle.

"Neat, right?" Chris spoke before I pulled away.

I glanced at him. He wasn't looking at me, he was moving some knobs but a slight smirk played on his face.

He's really enjoying showing off.

The door creaked as someone opened it, and Josh Hutcher walked inside the set. He was all dressed up in what looked like a futuristic soldier. It didn't seem quite comfortable, to be honest. It was some sort of plastic suit that seemed to be glued to his body. He did have a glorious chest, apparently. However, he was quite short. Like five inches shorter than me and that is saying something, since I'm 5 ft. 4 in. I was not admitting that to Chris, though. Like ever.

"I was right, wasn't I?" he whispered by my ear as I stared after Josh. He had also a firm butt. Not my fault that I noticed that. He just happened to lean over before hopping on the motorcycle.

Pressing my lips together I straightened up, brushing off an imaginary fluff out of my left sleeve. "He's really handsome and quite athletic." My voice faded as Josh flexed his pecs, clearly showing off to anyone and everyone at the same time. What a dick.

"Of course he's athletic, he's so short that he doesn't have to do much to build that muscle." Chris muttered with annoyance, making me turn to him. I bit the inside of my cheek, trying not to laugh at him.

We didn't get to talk much after that. I had to be extremely quiet as they started filming. Another pair of techs started to make some noises so Josh knew where the blasts where coming from. Josh started out his dialog and had a fake fight with another actor disguised as one of the hairy monsters. To be honest, I was more impressed at the guy posing as an alien than at Josh. His movements were a bit slow and too controlled. So different from the movies. It was as sad to see the reality behind a Sci-fi movie, but it was amazing to see all the technological work behind it. Plus, I was only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

Still, when we walked out of the movie set, a couple hours later, I was completely in awe at the boy walking beside me.

He'd made it.

He was working on something that he always loved and I couldn't but feel proud of him. Even if I hadn't shared his Sci-fi enthusiasm before, I could see it in a new light.

Would it had been different if we stayed together?

He didn't turn to look at me. "I really don't mind spending time with your sisters."

Of course you don't.

I hated how bitter that made me feel. It was like I was jealous of my sisters.

We parked in front of the school and I got off to get them. They both walked out with various sets of drawings each. Riley's cheek was smeared with blue paint. "You guys had fun, huh?" I teased her. She grinned at me in response.

When we neared the car, Haley almost dropped all her drawings. "Chris is here!" her brown eyes glinted excitedly. She sprinted towards Mom's car. Riley following right behind. My stomach churned uneasily. Taking a deep breath, I approached the car just as Chris was stepping down to hug them both.

"Could we go get an ice-cream?" Riley asked him just after tackling him.

He glanced at me. "It's up to your sister, guys."

Yeah, right. Make me the ogre if I say no.

"Can we?" Haley pulled away from him and stepped closer to me. Her eyes were hopeful as she smiled her best innocent smile. "Please?"

Sighing, I opened my door. "I'm sure Mom won't mind," I trailed uncertainly because at the end of the day, I'd be the one riding with two preteens drowned in sugar-high. They both cheered before getting in the car.

Chris drove us to an ice-cream parlor near our house. It was new, I'd never seen it before. The venue was set like a dinner from the seventies. It was painted in white, with black and white pictures from the time. The tables were chromed in silver and the booths wore thick red and white stripes. A large counter with stools spaced along it held several glass domes filled with different fruit and meringue pies. As soon as we walked inside, the smell of French fries mixed with coffee filled the air. The place was almost packed, but we had luck to find an empty booth in the corner. Sugar granulates were spilled on the tabletop, but a uniformed waitress quickly took care of it.

"They have the best banana-splits in Boston," Chris said as we sat.

Oh my god. They're going to be so hyper with all that sugar.

I texted Mom so she would know that we were going to be late and not really hungry tonight. Haley started to retell Chris about her day, Riley interrupting at times, as I took a seat by the hallway. His whole attention was on them and I found myself staring at him. My heart stirred with different feelings. One overlapping them all. Longing.

I missed hanging out with him. Today had been a small taste of what his life is, and as proud as I felt of what he'd achieved, I couldn't help but remember the way he always made me laugh, or the way his strong arms circled me, or the way my stomach tightened every time he kissed me, and the way he always made me feel safe.

Averting my eyes, a shaky breath left my lips. It was all in the past now. I had to stop feeling like this.

Spending all day long with him wasn't helping my case. At all.

"I'm going to go wash my hands," I muttered before standing up, not even looking at any of them. I needed space for a second. Before I reached the restroom, I asked the waitress for a black coffee.

My eyes were brimming with tears as I closed the door behind me. My chest was tight and it hurt to breathe evenly. I closed my eyes and exhaled out slowly, trying to calm myself. This sucks. I was glaring at my reflection in front of the mirror, when the door opened and Haley walked in.

Her steps faltered as her eyes locked with mine. "I need to wash my hands," she announced as I let out a forced smile and moved away. "Are you okay?" her tone was wary as she put on liquid soap on her right palm.

"Yes." I shook my head. "I'm just tired, that's all." She didn't look like she was buying it. "Really," I stressed out and plastered another smile on my face. It felt like she was scrutinizing me, so I busied myself by washing my hands too. "So, what did you get? A banana-split?"

She pulled a couple of paper towels from the dispenser, still eying me with uncertainty. "Yes. We're sharing, though. Otherwise Mom will kill us if we don't have dinner."

I did grin at that. "Yes, she will!" I dried my hands. "Could you send Riley over, so she washes her hands too?"

She nodded and started walking to the door but she stopped before reaching it. "Farah? Do you still love Chris?" Her eyes were soft and filled with concern as she glanced at me.

My heart flipped as my whole body felt heavy. "I don't know."

Haley bit her lip. "I hope you two guys get back together. You made a nice couple." My breath caught in my chest at her words and I had to swallow hard.

"Just get Riley, please," I said in a soft voice, staring down at my hands.

Don't cry. Just don't effing cry.

I heard the door close after her before I turned and leaned back on the sink, crossing my arms, holding onto my shoulders. My chest ached. There were so many emotions that I thought I'd forgotten after all these months.

Darn it.

I really need to keep away from him. 

Thank you for reading me!