"IS SHE HERE? WHERE IS SHE?"

Those were the words that echoed throughout the entire house as I was sat in my room unpacking my clothes. I stood up excitedly and all but sprinted downstairs, smacking heads with the small blonde girl as we both lunged for each other.

"Oh my god, Sav, I've missed you so much." Mia crooned, squeezing me so tightly that I struggled to breathe. I didn't care though. It was the best kind of breathless. "And ow." She rubbed her head with a laugh.

"I've missed you too, Mia. It's so good to see you again." We released each other only when Mr and Mrs McCormack entered the house, their hair tousled from the winter breeze. Everyone in the McCormack family had been blessed with soft, honey blonde hair that almost seemed angelic in comparison to my own dark brown locks. Damn their good genes.

"Oh Savannah, sweetie, it's so good to see you again!" Sarah McCormack greeted me, placing an armful of groceries onto the floor and tearing me away from Mia only to engulf me in a huge hug of her own.

"Did you have trouble getting here from the airport? Brooks texted me and told me there was some traffic when he went to pick you up." She fretted, running a hand across my hair.

I fought back a bitter laugh. Oh did he now?

"We went around it, it was no trouble at all." I responded coldly, shooting Brooks, who had only now graced us with his presence, a death stare. He gave me a smug smirk in response.

"Hi Mr McCormack." I changed the subject to Mia and Brooks' father, who offered me a warm smile.

"Lovely to see you again Savannah. And please call me Lewis- we're old friends. Come on through to the kitchen and we'll make some drinks and catch up."

We all marched through the entranceway and into the kitchen, Mia babbling excitedly about my presence. I hitched myself up onto a stool at the breakfast bar, allowing my eyes to wander around the room. Sarah was still radiantly beautiful, her kind blue eyes framed by thin silver glasses, and her tall willowy figure was as slender as ever. Lewis had aged more visibly than his wife, his eyes sprouting new smile lines and his hair beginning to grey near his ears.

I wondered briefly what else had changed around here in my time away. My eyes flickered towards Brooks, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

"So tell us about LA!" Mia shrieked, breaking me out of my reverie. "What was it like filming Scandalous? And being on the red carpet? And did you really date your co-star Andrew Dillon last year? If you didn't-- can I have his number?"

Lewis laughed at his daughter's slew of questions as he began to unpack the groceries. "Take a breath, Mia, please. The girl just got here."

Mia's face fell with disappointment, but I brushed her dad's concerns off breezily. I loved that Mia was still her crazy self around me. After everything that had happened, it would have been way too easy for her to hate me.

"It's fine." I shrugged with a smile. "Filming Scandalous was fun, but pretty tiring. I usually worked a minimum of twelve hour days with lots of early mornings."

"And what about the red carpet? And Andrew?" Mia urged eagerly.

"They're okay. A little boring after a while. And no Andrew and I never dated. It was just a stupid rumour."

One of many, actually.

"And what about your parents?" Sarah intercepted. "Have you talked to them recently?"

I traced an imaginary pattern on the bench top with my finger nails. I hadn't heard from either of them in at least a month, and even then it was just to inform me that I had exactly four weeks to tie up my loose ends before they were shipping me off here, to Beaufort, South Carolina.

"I spoke to them yesterday." I lied smoothly, but even with my acting skills I could see the doubt in the McCormack's faces.

"Well that's good honey." Lewis smiled gently and set a cup of coffee down in front of me. I wrapped my fingers around it and marvelled in it's warmth.

"But anyway enough about me, what have I missed with you guys?" I asked, taking a sip of the sweet, black coffee. Four years had gone by so quickly. Whilst I'd been spending twelve hours of every day in the same place doing the same thing, Mia and Brooks and everyone I had left behind were growing up and figuring out who they were going to be. It was weird to think that at one point, I had been a part of that picture too.

Sarah grinned and wrapped her arms around her husband. "Where do I began? Lewis just became the new principal of Beaufort High School."

Mia groaned audibly, hanging her head as she murmured, "Talk about a buzz kill."

"I'm still at the same firm as before, only now I work fewer hours which is a godsend." Sarah continued, completely ignoring Mia's interruption. "What else?" She tapped on her chin thoughtfully before her eyes lit up. "Oh of course! Brooks got accepted into the University of Pennsylvania!"

My eyes widened and I turned to Brooks with surprise. He returned my stare with a scrutinising look of his own, almost as if he were trying to figure something out.

"Ivy League? That's incredible, Brooks. Congratulations." I breathed. The kid was whip-smart, and had been for as long as I could remember. It really shouldn't have shocked me so much that Ivy League colleges wanted him under their belt.

"Thanks." He murmured, adjusting his weight so that he could rest his foot on the wall behind him. His chocolate brown eyes never left mine for a moment, not even when I turned back to the rest of his family.

"And what about you Mia? Any boys I should know about?" I teased playfully, watching as she turned bright red in response.

"Ugh. That is a complicated question with an even more complicated answer, my friend. The guy I like is more hot and cold than Katy Perry." She sighed, resting her chin in her hands. From what I remembered, Mia had always been an open book. She didn't care much for keeping secrets, even about things like who she was crushing on.

"Luke's an asswipe anyway." Brooks interjected, speaking off of his own accord for the first time. "The sooner you get over him the better."

Mia rolled her eyes. "You don't even know him. Besides you're just bitter still about S-" She froze mid-sentence, her gaze flickering towards me before focussing on the floor.

An awkward silence washed over everyone, and I bit my lip anxiously.

What the heck was that about?

The silence stretched on a moment longer until Sarah finally cleared her throat.

"Uh... more coffee, anyone?"

There was a simultaneous chirp of relieved agreement.