Our annual fundraiser was upon us. West Bridge had hosted this fundraiser for the sports for years at the high school. My earliest memory was going to the fundraiser with my parents. The school usually had a dunk tank and games set up, as well as car washes and bake sales and lemonade stands. We really loved our sports teams, and this fundraiser helped the for the next year. If we got more money than we needed, we siphoned it out to the music and education departments, too.

I manned the dunk tank right now. The softball girls had decided to rotate on the jobs that were assigned to us, and I got stuck with the dunk tank right off the bat. I sat on the uncomfortable seat, watching as people tried and failed to hit the arm that would send me into the water. Kiley waited down below, taking tickets from people. She tried to give them pointers, but it was useless.

That was, until Harvey was next in line. My eyes widened as he took the three balls from Kiley. "No! Wait!" I yelled. 

Harvey looked at me and winked. A smile stretched across his face as he threw the first ball. It barely missed the arm. I knew he was teasing me with that throw because he glanced at me. He straightened up again and threw as hard as he could. Muscles ripped across his back, but I couldn't see anything else. The chair fell out from under me, and I fell into the frigid water. 

I suddenly hated this. That's why the girls were so adamant about me getting the dunk tank first. They knew I couldn't swim. I just didn't know why Kiley wouldn't be here instead of me. My heart was in my throat as I pushed against the bottom of the dunk tank. My hands found the chair, and I pulled myself up. That wasn't so bad, but it could have been.

"How was the water?" Harvey asked. 

I shivered as a slight wind blew by me. My tank top stuck to me, and my hair flopped against my shoulder. "Horrible!" I replied, rubbing my hands along my arms. His smile grew as he handed more tickets to Kiley. "No!" I yelled. "You're going again?"

Harvey nodded, winding up. He threw, but it missed. I let out a breath and hoped the rest of his would miss. Unfortunately for me, he hit it again, and I went under for the second time. I didn't want him to be here any longer. Didn't he have a job to do?

I pulled myself out of the water again and glared at him. "I hate you, you know?" I snapped, my teeth chattering. It was a cooler day than the past few days, and I was freezing. 

"I don't think you could ever hate me," he replied cheekily. Thankfully, he stepped off to the side, right underneath me. 

"Oh, now you're talking to me?" I asked, trying to bring back warmth to my fingertips. 

"I'm sorry about that," he replied, running a hand through his light hair. "I was really busy and -"

"I know you're lying, Harvey."

He laughed, sending shivers down my back. I ignored that and focused on making myself warm. "You do know that."

"So, why did you decide not to talk to me?"

Before he could answer, I went under again. I wanted to scream, but I wouldn't open my mouth and make that mistake again. I pushed off of the bottom and popped above the water. "Kiley, it's your turn," I said, climbing out of the dunk tank. "I'm not doing this anymore."

She laughed and went in the dunk tank. Harvey handed me a towel, and I took it gratefully. Wrapping it around my shoulders, I slowly started to warm up. Layla had joined me and was collecting tickets so I wouldn't get them wet. I took that as my time to leave, so Harvey and I walked side by side through the fundraiser. Little kids ran around, and older kids and parents trailed after them. 

"I think I'll miss this the most," Harvey suddenly said.

"What do you mean?"

"When we go off to college," he explained. "I'm going to miss this a lot. I love seeing our town come together to have fun."

"You won't miss me?" I teased. 

"Not if we go to the same college."

I nodded, squeezing the water out of my hair. My feet squelched in my flip-flops, and I groaned. "I hate the dunk tank," I said bitterly. 

"You've never done it before. Why now?"

"The softball girls made me."

"They can't make you do anything," he said, poking my ribs. 

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. They told me to do the dunk tank, and I listened. Better?"

"Much."

It felt so good being with him again. I didn't realize how much I missed him until now. I pressed close to him as a flood of people drifted our way, and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. 

"You don't mind that my hair is getting you wet?" I asked him.

"No."

We walked like that for a few minutes, neither of us talking. Something about us had changed. I didn't know what it was, and I didn't know if I did it or not. I didn't like it, though. It almost felt like I couldn't really talk to him like I used to. I used to tell him all about the boys I thought were cute, but I didn't think I could do that anymore. Not with the way he was acting lately.

"I'm sorry for ruining your date," he finally said. 

The crowd had thinned out as we neared the parking lot of the school. A few people were running, trying to catch the food tables before it was all gone. I didn't know where Harvey was leading me to, but I allowed him to weave us between the cars. We were getting farther away from the school, but I didn't complain.

"It doesn't matter now," I told him after a minute of thinking. I didn't want to be mad at him any longer than I had to. "He hasn't spoken to me since the date, so it's his loss."

"It's mainly my fault," he said firmly. "I came and he got jealous. I shouldn't have come at all."

I looked at him for a second. "About that. How'd you find me? I didn't tell you - or anyone, for that matter - where I was going."

"I asked Beckett because you weren't answering your phone." He paused, pulling me toward the fundraiser again. I didn't want to go back, though. "I thought we were on the Beckett protection squad, and we were supposed to bring him there. Why'd you do it with him?"

"With Nick? It seemed like the perfect opportunity, Harvey. I couldn't pass up on it."

"But I wanted to go with the two of you," he said softly.

"We can go another time if you want," I said to appease him. 

"No, it's fine." He squeezed my arm, sending a slight shiver up my back. A girl started walking toward us, a frown on her face. She looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out who she was. "Hi, Sammy," Harvey said, his arm dropping off of my shoulders.

Sammy's dark eyes pierced mine. There was a sense of superiority in her as she took in my wet clothes and sopping hair. She looked pristine in her sundress and matching blue sandals. Her chocolate skin glowed in the sun like she was an angel. "Hi Harvey," she drawled, wrapping her arm around his bicep. "Hello, Catherine."

That was when I realized who she was. It was the girl I set up with Harvey who attacked him. What was she doing here with him? He thought she was crazy.

"Harvey, do you want to go get some food with me?" Sammy asked, tugging Harvey away from me. He glanced back at me with something in his eyes before disappearing into the crowd.

I stayed where I was. I didn't know what to do. Something hot was spreading through my bones at the thought of Harvey with another girl. He didn't tell me he was dating someone. Or were they dating? I couldn't really tell. She was clingy, but he didn't look too happy with her.

"Cat!"

I jerked toward the voice, trying to break away from my thoughts. I didn't want to think about Harvey anymore. I didn't want to focus on the feeling spreading through my bones. My eyes landed on Nick who had his hands stuffed in his pockets and a guilty look on his face. 

"Hi, Cat," he said, stepping closer to me. People swirled around us, but it seemed like they didn't see us at all. The only thing I could think of as he grabbed my hands was that it wasn't as special as it was the first time we met. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," I answered, shrugging. We didn't move, though. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I'm sorry for acting like a douche," he said. "I got really jealous because it seems like your friend has feelings for you."

I stared at him, frowning. He had to be kidding. "Harvey doesn't have feelings for me. He's my best friend, and that's it."

Nick frowned, too. "No, I know that lovesick look. He has feelings for you, I'm sure."

I shake my head but didn't say anything. Instead, I said, "Do you still want to go out on another date with me?"

"Yes," he said, nodding. "I was just about to ask you about that. You choose this time."

I thought about it. I was really busy because of softball, and I didn't have many days off. An idea hit my brain and I smiled. "Would you like to watch me play softball?" I asked.

"That would be cool," he said.

"There's a scrimmage game coming in a couple of weeks against the boys baseball team. Do you want to watch that?"

He nodded, smiling. "Yeah. That sounds nice. I'll be cheering you on the whole time."

I laughed. "Thanks."

For some reason, it didn't feel as good standing with him as before. My heart didn't pound like it did before. I was pretty sure my heart wanted someone else, but I didn't know who.