The next morning, I was up before my alarm again. This time it was due to the sudden burst of inspiration I had after my talk with Mom.

Instead of completely scraping the previous designs I did what I did best and altered them, adding my usual flair to each piece.

I took the plain, peach top Victoria frowned at and added layered some fake pearls to the front, making it look like a necklace. I also covered the holes in the shoulders with white lace.

There was also a pair of basic black shorts that I redesigned by replacing the front left side with a piece of blue denim. Then I decorated the patch of blue with sew-on patches from the school's shop.

That's all I could get done before Mom busted into my room at one a.m. demanding that I go to sleep. Which I did for only a few hours before the itch to continue my designs woke me from my sleep. I was glad my alarm went off because now I can use Betsy again. My fingers were beginning to cramp up from sewing by hand.

"Did you go to sleep last night?"

I jumped at the sound of Mom's voice from behind me.

"Yes," I said, turning in the chair to face her.

She didn't look convinced. "For how long?"

"Long enough." I flashed her an innocent smile. In an attempt to deflect the conversation I lifted up the newly designed peach top. "Isn't it cute?"

For a moment it looked like she wasn't going to fall for my antics, then I smile I hadn't seen in a while stretched across her face. Her proud mama smile, which meant her proud mama hug was coming next.

I was consumed in a bone crushing hug that left me gasping for air. "I'm so proud of you," she said, releasing me from the hug. "I knew this move would be good for you. For us."

I nodded in agreement, thinking about everything that had happened since moving to Westbrook. It's funny how, even though we only moved about an hour away from our old house everything was so different. Like I moved to an entirely different state or something.

"Oh, before I forget," Mom said, just as she started to leave the room. "Tyler wants to take us out to dinner tonight. You can meet his son, Anthony."

"Tonight?" I said slowly. After bailing on Miles last night I really wanted to make things up to him. "What time?"

"Reservations are at eight," she replied before leaving.

In between after school tutoring with Cameron and the dinner I had a few hours to kill. Maybe I could squeeze in a small date with him.

My phone chimed with a text. It was from Miles. Could he feel me thinking about him?

Miles:
Want a ride to school?

Loren:
Yeah

Miles:
I bet you do

Shaking my head at his reply, I rolled my eyes and laughed a little.

Loren:
Asshole

Miles:
I'll be there in a hour

An hour and a half later the doorbell rang. I hopped up from the sofa, grabbing my backpack and the pile of revamped designs before opening the door for Miles. My eyes were instantly drawn to the familiar beanie on his head.

"Nice beanie. Where'd you get it?" I challenged, stepping out into the cold November air and locking the door behind me.

He chuckled as we started back to his car. "I snatched it off some hobo."

I shot him a glare and he countered with a smirk. He opened the passenger side door, closing it once I was inside. As I put on my seatbelt I couldn't help but notice the mess of clothes and various other things in the backseat.

"You forced me to clean out my bag when your car looks like this," I said as he climbed in.

"That's Cam's fault," he said, glancing back at the mess. "He's cleaning his room and apparently that's all the crap I've left over there."

I laughed, knowing that if Nikki ever cleaned out her closet she'd find a bunch of my things.

He started up the car, put on some music and pulled out onto the main street. He seemed to be super focused on the road, which was good because maybe then he wouldn't catch me staring.

He shifted in his seat as he slowed down for a stop sign and I averted my gaze to my lap. "Do you like action movies?"

My eyes shot back up to him. "What?"

"I'm trying to think of a movie that we can watch tonight," he explained, continuing the drive to school.

A smile graced my lips at the idea of cuddling up and watching a movie with him. "The more explosions, the better."

He grinned at my reply. "I knew I liked you."

+ + +

The bell rang, signaling the start of lunch, and I couldn't get out of the classroom fast enough.

I'd spent the last four hours thinking about the basic designs I created, waiting to be upgraded. When I made it to the Fashion Club room, the home economic students were still clearing out. Once they were gone, I was the only one left in the room.

As I began pulling fabric from my bag someone cleared their throat. Lifting my head, my eyes landed on Vivian. She leaned against the door frame, her usual frown on her face.

"So, is it true," she began, crossing her arms over her chest. "About you and Miles?"

I yawned, turning my attention back to the fabric on the desk in front of me. "Can we save the threats for later? I'm busy."

"I'm waving the white flag."

A laugh escaped my lips. "Yeah, okay."

The last time she pretended to play nice ended badly. I'd be an idiot to fall for it again.

"I'm serious," she insisted, stepping into the room and propping herself up on the desk next to me. "Miles is my best friend and I don't want to screw that up. I'm not saying you and I have to be besties, just that I'm not going to interfere."

She sounded sincere, even looked it, but I wasn't buying it.

"Just like that you're no longer in love with him?" I asked, giving her my full attention. "You're not going to track down anymore people from my past, trying get information from them?"

Her lips pursed as she hopped off the table. "Believe me, don't believe me, whatever." She started to leave the room, just as Jem was entering.

"Hey, V," she greeted as they passed each other.

Vivian stopped, ignoring Jem's greeting and looking back at me. "By the way, if you hurt him, I hurt you."

+ + +

As I packed my things into my bag, Cameron took my phone out of the plastic container and sat it on the table in front of me.

The tutoring session was over and as usual I was the last one to leave. I let out what was probably the tenth yawn since the hour long session started.

"I gotta admit," he said, leaning against the table. "You and Miles, did not see that coming."

Neither did I. "Yeah," I said out loud.

"As his best friend," his brown eyes narrowed behind his glasses, "I'll be forced to remove you from tutoring if you break his heart."

He looked serious for a moment before breaking into a small smile.

I didn't know whose threat was worse, his or Vivian's.

"I have no intentions of breaking his heart," I confirmed.

"Good." He nodded. "He acts tough, but he's a softy at heart. And with everything happening with his dad—" He quickly stopped himself. "It's just nice that he has someone like you in his corner."

What did he mean by that? I didn't have a chance to ask because the sound of the front door opening echoed through the house. Miles joined us in the dining room and butterflies erupted inside of me at the sight of him. Would that ever ware off?

"Do you ever knock?" Cameron question.

Miles shrugged, flashing him a playful grin. "Not since fifth grade." His gaze shifted to me. "Are you ready for our date?"

"Yeah," I said, grabbing my backpack and phone. "Bye, Cameron."

I stifled another yawn as Miles and I walked out to his car. Before we made it to the car Miles took hold of my hand, spinning me around to face him. He then cupped my face and kissed me.

"What was that for?" I asked once we parted.

His lips quirked up into a half smile. "Do I really need a reason?"

Good point. "Nope," I replied before kissing him again.

Every inch of me tingled when our lips met. Like each one of our kisses affected me on a cellular level, chipping away at the hard exterior I spent the last four years building up.

"I'll only have time for the movie," I told him once we finally made it into the car. "I'm having dinner with my mom, her boyfriend and his son at eight."

He let out a heavy sigh as he started up the car. "I guess I'll have to cancel the fireworks and the private Paramore concert I had planned. This date was going to be epic."

I laughed as he pulled out of the driveway and onto the street. He started to tell me about the movie he was taking me to see, an action-thriller about a rogue FBI agent.

When he stopped for gas I shut my eyes, just to rest them for a bit. When I opened my eyes again I was still in Miles's car, but it was completely dark out and we were parked in front of my house.

"What happened?" I mumbled, sitting up in the seat and looking over at Miles. "What happened to the movie?"

"You fell asleep before we made it to the theater."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"I noticed all the yawning and figured I'd let you rest before your dinner," he told me. I felt bad for ruining our second attempt at a date.

"Sorry."

"It's fine," he said, waving it off. "But you can't continue to stay up all night thinking about me."

My eyes rolled at him as I laughed. "I'll try."

He leaned over and connected his lips to mine. Another brick in my wall dissolved.

Before our kissing turned into a full blown make out my phone rang with Mom's unique tone. She was probably wondering where I was since the dinner started soon.

"We will get our first date," I stated, opening the car door.

"I'm holding you to that."

After we said our goodbyes and I made it into the house, I started brainstorming date ideas. Something that'll make up for me ruining the first two. It needed to be amazing and a simple movie wasn't going to cut it.