Check out my new story "The Paparazzi Puppet" and comment on it to have the chance to get dedicated in Chapter 21!! :)
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For the past few days I had done my very best to avoid Max. And at the same time, had done everything in my power to get closer to Colton.

It's not that I hated Max or anything, it was actually the complete opposite. I liked him, and maybe a little more than in just a friend way. He was caring, and strong, and incredibly good looking.

But Colton was still in the picture and I couldn't let go of him- not yet anyway. He had just broken up with Becca and now was my time to get him back and go back to what things were like before I moved.

I guess it was possible to like two people at the same time. Colton because he was the past- everything good i wanted back in my life. And Max because he was everything good in the present plus some.

Overall, I was just immensely happy that tomorrow we would be leaving the lake house.

I pulled my long blonde hair up into a high ponytail to avoid getting ashes from the fire in my hair.

"Ok kids! I got the chocolate and graham crackers from the store so we're all set for s'mores!" My Dad said, as he sat down on one of the logs surrounding the fire. He handed each one of us a marshmallow and we slid them onto our sticks.

"Isn't this kind of unsanitary? Putting marshmallows on sticks we found in the forest?" Anna asked, putting her marshmallow on tentatively.

Carol laughed, "I'll have your s'more if it's too unsanitary for you" she joked.

Anna stuck her marshmallow into the fire, "nope, that's ok" she said, popping the 'p'

Carol laughed in response, "that's what I thought"

Anna gave her a cheeky grin before turning to me, "so, I see that you've been hanging out with Colton a lot lately" she said softly, wiggling her eyebrows.

I let out a small sigh, "not really, we just both read in the treehouse" I said.

"You guys read together?! Do you guys take turns reading chapters out loud and stuff? That's so cute!" She exclaimed.

I shook my head, "no, we read separately" I said.

Anna let out a small groan and her shoulders sank, "well that's way less exciting" she said, "and here I was thinking Operation Folton was actually getting somewhere"

I was about to remind her about the hug we had but decided against it when I realized it hadn't meant anything to him. He had talked to me a total of three times since then, which had basically consisted of yeah's and no's.

"Where is Colton? And Max?" Kim asked, sitting down on a log next to my Dad.

I shrugged and took my now burnt marshmallow out of the fire before stacking it on a graham cracker.

"Anna, how about you go find them" Kim suggested.

Anna hopped up before stuffing her marshmallow in her mouth, "yeah sure" she said, running toward the house.

"I'm going to go get my mittens, if Colton arrives before I come back, tell him to stop being anti-social" Carol laughed, heading toward the house.

I watched her go, quite uncomfortable now that I was left alone with my Dad and Kim, who were both cuddling with one another.

"Well, I'm tired to I'm going to head out" I said, starting to get up from my log.

"Oh wait, Finnly! Kim and I have something to ask you, it's pretty important" my Dad said, motioning for me to sit back down.

I slowly lowered myself back on the log and folded my hands on my lap carefully.

"Yeah?" I asked, pasting a cheery smile on my face.

"Well, as you know, our wedding is going to be in May, which will be here before we know it, and your father and I were wondering if you would be our maid of honor" Kim said, offering me a smile.

I looked down at their entwined hands and let out a small sigh, "thank you- that means a lot" I said, a genuine smile on my lips, "but have you talked to Anna about this? I mean, I just don't think it's fair" I said slowly.

Kim nodded, "Yes, your father and I were actually having that problem until Anna told me she wanted you to be the maid of honor- that it would be good for you" she said, "and we agree with her"

My dad nodded, "this whole change has been hard on both you and Anna, but you especially Finnly. We want to do this for you" he said.

I smiled and got up to give them each a hug, "thank you, guys" I said, "Really, this means a lot"

Kim and my dad returned my hugs and my dad ruffled my hair, "no problem, kiddo"

I gave them another big smile before going back to my seat, when Colton arrived and sat on the log opposite mine.

Colton avoided my eyes when I tried to look at him and I frowned, looking down at my hands.

Guys could be so frustrating sometimes. The other day in the treehouse I had actually thought he was opening up to me, but now he was back to ignoring me and putting up a cold front.

And honestly it was starting to really get to me. Why couldn't he just be straightforward with his feelings? If there were any in him at all.

Max came shortly after and offered me a small smile, and I mentally gushed over his dimples.

Anna sat back down next to me and I let my eyes drift away from Max, hoping she didn't see me looking at him.

"What was that?" Anna asked quietly, pointing discretely at Max.

"What was what?" I asked, playing with the bracelets on my wrist.

"You know what I'm talking about" she said, nodding toward Max again.

I shrugged, "I don't know" I sighed, "I just.. I don't know"

Anna gave me a questioning look before her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together enthusiastically.

"We can use Max to make Colton jealous! That's such a brilliant idea!" She said in a hushed whisper.

I raised an eyebrow at her, "no" I said, "there's no way I'm using his like that"

Anna shrugged, "well if you really want to get with Colton it's a good idea" she said.

I nodded slowly, "I don't know" I said.

And I seriously didn't.

~*~*~*~

"So how was your break? How'd everything go with Colton?" Evan asked, taking half of my sandwich.

I rolled my eyes at him and tried tuning out the sound of the busy cafeteria, "it was ok" I said, shrugging, "Colton opened up a little, but not he's a wall again. I just can't get to him, y'know?" I asked.

Evan nodded, "He'll come around eventually" he said, "and hey, if things don't work out with him, there's bound to be some other guy out there for you" he paused, taking another bite before continuing, "I know he was your first kiss and everything but you never know who else is out there if you don't at least see other options" he said.

I laughed and gave him a look, "so are you suggesting I give up on him?" I asked.

Evan shrugged, "nah, not particularly. I mean I thought Mia was the end all be all and then I met Anna" he said.

My mouth dropped and my eyes widened, letting out a girly shriek, "I knew you'd eventually spill!" I said

Evan smacked his forehead, letting out an exasperated sigh, "Damn I let it slip" he said.

I smile and gripped onto his arm, shaking him back and forth, "this is so exciting!" I said, "Anna will be so happy!"

Evan looked at me, "no, don't tell her" he said, "I was going to wait until later to tell her" he said.

I nodded, "ok, whatever you say Romeo" I joked, elbowing him playfully.

I was happy for him, I seriously was. Honestly I was actually more than happy, I was ecstatic. It was about time Evan had a girl that liked him for who he was and didn't toy him around. However, there was part of me that was worried if and when they dated, if I'd easily become the third wheel. But for now I pushed away the worries of my two best friends dating and focused on just the exciting part of it.

"But going back to what I said about Colton, just promise me that you'll keep your options open" Evan said, stuffing the rest of my sandwich in his mouth.

I hesitated before responding with a nod, "ok" I said, I promise"

Evan nodded in satisfaction and went back to eating.

Anna arrived shortly after and sat down, "Ugh, all these teachers seriously need to calm their selves; I have so much homework to do tonight I might just have a cow" she said, huffing as she dropped her books on the table with a 'thump'.

I nodded, "They're all starting to talk about final exams" I said, "I'm kind of already stressed out and we haven't even been back at school for a week" I said.

"I can help you study for finals" Evan said.

I was about to thank him when I realized he was talking to Anna and a sly grin spread across my lips. It's about time he started making a move.

I sat in silence, eating my food while i listened to Evan and Anna go back and forth.

It was quite pathetic they both couldn't see that the other clearly liked them and it took all the self-control I had to refrain from saying anything. At this point I was an inch away from just pushing their heads together to make them kiss one another. It seriously caused me too much agony to see them talk to each other completely oblivious about the other's feelings.

"Finn?"

I snapped out of my thoughts, "what?" I asked, glancing toward Anna.

"I asked you if you had heard about the New Years party Max is going to have" she said.

I shrugged, "no" I said, confused.

Anna smiled happily, "well his dad is letting him have it on the beach. Apparently there's going to be tons of people there- from Max's school and ours" she said, "did you know that Max is actually really popular? Not that it surprised me a lot, but I just never had thought about it" she said.

"Wow, me neither" I said. If both schools knew about the party and New Years was still a whole month away, it must be a big deal and Max must be a pretty big hot shot at his school.

Anna nodded, "I'm going" she said, "and I invited Evan too" she paused for a second, thinking, "you know, you should ask Colton to go with you- I think it would be a major leap in Operation Folton"

I bit my lip, "Should I really?" I asked, unsure about asking him.

Anna nodded and Evan mirrored her behavior,"yeah, go for it" she said, "and it'll show him you're interested"

"Yeah, just see what happens" Evan said, offering me a reassuring smile.

I only had to think for a second before I got up from my seat, "You guys are right" I said, "it doesn't hurt to try"

Anna nodded and fist pumped the air, "you go, Finn!"

Evan laughed, "good luck" he said, nodding toward the door, "you better hurry, he just left"

I looked toward the door as I saw Colton open the door to the hall.

I smiled at them before rushing toward the door, pushing past people on my way.

Once I got there I walked into the hall, looking for him.

I wandered toward Mr.Fells' room, hoping he would be down there somewhere.

This was my moment. I needed to do this, for my sake and Operation Folton's sake. I had to at least try.

As i turned a corner I picked up on two familiar voices and I came to an abrupt stop, leaning against the wall, hoping to hear their conversation better.

"Colton, I know I made mistakes in the past, and I do admit to doing those things to Finnly, but that doesn't change the way I feel about you. I love you, Colton. And I know you do too and I just really don't want to lose what we had because of some stupid decisions I made in the past"

I heard Colton sigh before responding, "Becca, I don't know what to say to you. What you did wasn't right, and I don't mean just Finnly...I'm talking about how you treat everyone in general." he said, "but I do love you; spending three years with you has that effect on me" he said, "I know I shouldn't, but I do"

I heard the sound of Becca's shoes shuffle toward him, "its ok that you feel that way" she said, "I'll be nicer, I'll do whatever you want- I just want you back"

I took a small discrete look around the corner just to see Becca kiss him on the lips. I was horrified, and even more so when he returned it.

How could this be happening? After everything that Colton and I had been through he was just going to kiss the girl that started this whole mess?

I ran away from my corner, fleeing toward the bathroom. I needed to get away before I started full out bawling.

He couldn't do this to me.

It was just wrong; completely messed up, and not right.

Colton was a jerk.

One big fat lying cold hearted jerk.

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So a slightly longer chapter to make up for last week's short chapter:)

Thoughts?...

If you didn't see at the beginning, I posted the synopsis for my new story "The Paparazzi Puppet" ! I'll start updating it regularly starting August 1st :). Comment and vote on it if it sounds interesting to you:) and seriously, Ansel Elgort plays the main character so why wouldn't you check it out? ;)

Anyway, SFC is coming a long so nicely I'm super excited to continue writing! I'll probablly end SFC somewhere around 30 chapters so we're about 2/3 of the way done!! :)

Song of the chapter- Starstruck by Sterling Knight from the disney movie starstruck. Uh i'm serious when I say that this is an amazing song and an even more amazing movie :)

Kisses - A