"He did what?!"

I just nodded and threw myself on my bed, tossing my backpack aside.

Anna sat down on my window seat, "Colton kissed Becca? Even after everything she did to you? Even after she lied to him?" she asked.

I groaned, "Yes, I'd rather not explain it again" I said, closing my eyes.

"I just don't get it" she said, "I mean why would you even do that after all the things she did? It's not right" she continued.

I opened my eyes and glanced over at her, "He was dating her for three years" I said, blandly, "I suppose 'girlfriend for three years' beats 'girl I kissed in eighth grade'" I said.

It made sense why he did it. I was someone from the past, and obviously someone he had moved on from. Once I actually thought about it, it wouldn't make much since for him to completely let go of Becca just because of some stupid thing she did a couple years ago. And I really didn't know what their relationship had been like...for all I know it could've been rainbows and unicorns between them. Some girl, me, shouldn't come in and just change that.

Anna bit her lip, "I suppose" she said, "but Becca was being mean and that's not something he should just tolerate"

I nodded and sat up on my bed, "I know, I know" I said thoughtfully, "But for some reason that is clearly unknown, he loves her and that's not something I can easily change"

"Why are you being so down about this? This is just a simple hiccup in 'Operation Folton'" Anna said reassuringly, standing up.

I shook my head, "Anna, I think we should just end that." I said honestly, "Operation Folton is no more"

Anna shook her head from side to side in a defiant manner, "No" she said, "No, you're going to be happy and that's that" she said, "If you want Colton then I'm going to make that happen"

"I'll deal with it, ok?" I offered, real hoping she would just drop it, "I'll talk to him about it, I'll just go ahead and tell him everything and then we'll see what happens" I said.

Anna sighed and saw back down, trying to calm herself down, "Fine" she said, "But if he continues to be a douche after you talk to him, I'm going to have to give him a whoopin'"

I rolled my eyes, "Ok, deal" I said.

I laid back down on my bed, smooshing a pillow against my face and marveled in the silence.

I didn't want to talk to Colton. But I figured I needed to. I thought all of this drama would end when I told Colton what Becca had done, but low and behold- drama kept arising. And somehow it was getting worse and worse. It was time for me, again, to talk to Colton and hopefully clear some crap up.

"So, when?" Anna asked

I looked up at her, "When what?" I asked.

"When are you going to talk to him?"

I gave her a small laugh, "Well not right now" I said, "I just saw him kiss my ex-best friend...I think I need a little more time to digest everything" I continued.

Anna shrugged and got up from the window seat, "Ok, then" she said, giving me a cheery smile, "I'm just going to go into my room and think about Evan" she said, before skipping out of my door.

I couldn't help but laugh. If anyone else had said that it would've sounded creepy, but because it was Anna it was just something you'd expect from her.

Now that Anna was gone I was happy to just mule over my feelings and eat the pain away.

Just as I was reaching for my bag of candy I heard the doorbell rang and a groan escaped my lips.

You have got to be kidding me.

"I've got it!" Anna shouted, rushing down the stairs.

I mentally sighed in relief until I bolted back up to a sitting position. Anna was never this eager to do anything. I swear-if she had invited Colton over for me I was going to smack her.

"Hi h-Get away! Go! Shoo! No one wants you here!" I heard Anna say.

"I just need to talk to Finnly, please"

I reluctantly got off my bed and walked down toward the front door.

"Finnly doesn't want to see you" Anna said, 'Not after what you did to her!"

I clambered down the last couple steps, causing both Anna and Mia's eyes to dash toward me.

"Hi Mia" I said, adding a monotone twinge to my greeting.

I honestly didn't want to see her. Let alone now. And not just because I had food waiting for me back in my room, but because my whole day had been drama drama drama and I really didn't need any more. I've had enough drama for my entire life.

"Oh, Finnly, I just wanted to say that I'm s-so-s"

Mia started sobbing, her chest shaking so much she couldn't get out what I presumed was an 'I'm sorry'.

Anna and I stood there, rather awkwardly, for a few moments before I decided to help her out. If she had driven all the way here on a school night, something must be up.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"K-Kyle w-w-was cheat-t-ing on m-me" she cried, her black hair sticking to her face where the tears were rushing down. She crossed her arms over her chest, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"Serves her right" Anna muttered under her breath.

My eyes darted to Anna and I gave her a disapproving glare before turning back to Mia.

"Did you break up with him?" I asked, knowing deep inside myself that was probably the worst question to ask. But hey, I was curious.

She nodded as the tears kept flowing, and she wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve.

"I wasn't a good friend to you, Finnly" she said, sniffling, "At all"

"You got that right" Anna said, jabbing her finger at Mia's stomach.

Mia seemed to ignore the gesture and continued, "I wasn't nice to anyone. Not you, not Anna" she said, looking toward Anna, "and especially not Evan" she continued, "When you guys needed me I wasn't there. I was off in my own little fake world with someone that didn't care about me after all".

Mia wiped her eyes, finally able to calm down and pull herself together, "I never actually thought about how hard it must be for you to come back here after three years away" she said, "Becca turned on you, you lost Colton" she said in a soft voice, "your family was broken, and I wasn't even there for you"

She gave me a sad smile, "And I really hope that even after I was such a bad friend, you guys will be able to forgive me" she said, "because I really need people that care about me in my life, and I know you guys did"

I gathered her into a hug, a small smile on my lips. I hadn't lost Mia completely, and yeah of course I was upset that Kyle cheated on her. I felt horrible she had to get caught in such a mess, but more than anything I was happy to have her back.

"I forgive you" I said, "I've been a pretty bad friend to you guys lately, too" I said "All I ever do is worry about my problems; I never bother to reach out to the two of you" I said.

Anna nodded slowly, as if she were in deep thought, "I wouldn't say you're a bad friend, Finn" she said, "and you have been there for me" she said.

I gave her a sad smile, "Not as much as I should've been" I said

Anna joined in the hug and squeezed us both tightly, "Let's make a promise never to let a guy come in between us" she said, releasing from the hug after a little while.

I nodded, "Sounds good"

Mia pulled away and brushed herself off before giving us a confident nod, "Yeah that sounds great" she said.

I nodded in response and let out a big sigh, happy that what I was expecting to turn into a really big scene was actually something that got cleared up.

It was encouraging to know that among all the mess there was still somethings mending.

"Oh gosh, looking back Kyle was such a tool" Mia said, laughing as she brushed her hair back from her face, "I really should've expected something like this happening when he blew me off to go to the library almost every day" she said, "I feel so stupid"

I laugh softly, "No one thought Kyle was capable of doing something like that" I said, thinking back to the sweet guy I had met at the football game toward the beginning of the school year, "this is a surprise to you and me both"

Mia gave me a smile, "Well that's good at least. I wasn't a complete idiot for not figuring it out"

Anna laughed, "Well you sure were an idiot for ditching us for him" she said.

I gave her another disappointed look, trying to send her telepathic messages to stop.

"But we've got that all cleared up, so everything is good now" she added, before Mia could get upset again.

Mia nodded, "Yeah, even though I wasted almost the entire first semester of senior year, I'm sure second semester will be loads of fun with you guys" she said.

"And Evan" Anna chirped in.

I rolled my eyes, laughing, "And Evan" I repeated.

"Do you like him?" Mia asked, a smile on her lips, "He really deserves someone who will treat him right" she said, "I made that mistake."

Anna nodded, "Yeah, I really do" she said, "And just talk to him, he'll forgive you" she said.

Mia nodded, thinking, "I really hope so" she said, "I majorly screwed my friendship up with him."

I just shrugged. Because Evan had moved on, I was pretty positive he would forgive her fairly quickly, but I didn't know for sure.

Mia's phone rang she apologized before picking up the call, "Hi Dad. No. Yes. Ok. See you soon" she tapped her phone and shoved it in her backpack, "Sorry to end this short guys, but my Dad says I have to go home" she said, rolling her eyes.

"I just wanted to let you guys know that I didn't know how this would go, and I'm just so happy we can move past all the mistakes she made. You guys are amazing" she said, gathering us into a hug before she waved goodbye and left the house.

I shut the door behind her and turned to say something to Anna, only to find that she was already climbing back up the steps, "I'll be back in my room fantasizing about Evan if you need me" she said cheerfully before closing the door to her room.

I laughed and moved to follow in her footsteps.

Ding Dong

I opened the door, expecting to find Mia, "Mia-oh Hi Max" I said, a grin spreading across my face, "Hi" I repeated.

Max smiled, "Hi" he said, looking down at me, "I brought you an invitation for my party that I'm holding on New Years" he said, "You may have heard of it around school?" He laughed, causing dimples to form in his cheeks.

I nodded, "Yeah, I have. Who knew you were Mr. Popular?" I teased, laughing softly.

Max shrugged, "No one actually wants to go because it's my party" he said, "my dad is a former pro football player, he's the one drawing the crowd in"

I gave him a small smile, and took the invitation he was holding out for me, "I want to go because it's your party" I said, "I don't even watch pro football "I continued, laughing.

He laughed, "Well good then" he said, "I'll count on seeing you there". He casually brushed his hair back and his lips widened into a smile, "I also came to ask for your number" he said, "I love seeing you in person and all, but I really can't drive here every time I want to talk to you" he continued.

I returned his smile and pulled out my phone, "Here, just type yours in" I said softly.

He took my phone and as he typed in his number I took a moment to look him over. I didn't know what was going on in my 'love life' at the moment. I didn't know who I liked...I didn't know how I felt any more about Colton. I didn't even know if I cared about 'Operation Folton' at all.

Colton was the past.

Maybe it was time to live in the present.

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I decided to update kind of early because I didn't like the idea of making you guys wait more than a week for the update to be on Friday :) However, from now on ALL updates will be on Friday!!

Important announcement- I changed my username from annariggs to southofparadise ! :)

Ask me questions about SFC, my characters, or personal stuff by clicking on the link in my bio (ask.fm/royallyroyal)

I also got a brand new cover for my story "The Paparazzi Puppet" ! And guess what? it has Ansel Elgort on it!

So how'd you guys like the chapter? Thoughts on Max? Colton? Mia? Predictions?

song of the chap- Maps by Maroon 5

Love always- A