A/N: Hello everyone. Sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter up. Things were so hectic the last half of senior year, I graduated and then my summer has been filled with stuff. I’ve been writing to this chapter on and off but I just haven’t gotten to sit down and finish it. I apologize a thousand times over. I just hope that I haven’t lost any of my regular readers. I also have been editing the story. The first seven chapters so far have been changed and updated. (There is also an important author’s note at the end of the chapter)

August thirtieth came faster than I had expected. Amelia and I were packing my things at my house when my mother came into my bedroom and began talking to us. I had told her the truth about what we were doing just to see if she would have let me go or not. She told me that if I was younger, she would have said no immediately, but considering the things that had occurred over the past year, she trusted me more than she ever had before. “So, you’ll only be gone for three days?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Okay. I realize that you’re almost eighteen, so I’m allowing you this trip because it’s almost your senior year. I want you girls to have a good time. The boys, too,” my mother said as she looked at me. I could tell that she was slightly reluctant to let me go.

“Thanks, mom. We’ll be okay, I promise,” I said.

“Yeah, Mrs. Campbell, er, sorry, Mrs. Simpson,” Amelia said. “It’s just a harmless little trip to the beach.” At that moment, my mother almost sensed that Amelia was trying too hard to let her know that everything would be just fine. My mom knew that we were staying with Craig and Casey. What she didn’t know was that we were attending a giant party. I quickly gave Amelia a look to tell her to stop talking, and she did.

“Alright, well, I’ll walk you two to the door,” my mother said as I finished zipping up my mini duffel bag. We all walked downstairs and to the door and I gave my mother a large hug and we said our good-byes.

As the door closed and we walked towards my car, I grinned widely. We were free for two days to do whatever we wanted.

Amelia and I got into my car and drove over to Craig’s to meet up with him and Casey. We were all leaving from Craig’s because we wanted to take one car, and his parents were the only ones who didn’t mind if I left my car at their house. Casey’s mother would most likely throw a bitch fit if she found out all four of us were going to the beach overnight. Casey’s mother just thought that Casey and Craig were going down to the beach for a few days and that we were all just hanging out for a while. Casey kept assuring his mother that Amelia and I weren’t going..

“This is going to be awesome,” Amelia said as we pulled up to Craig’s house.

“I know. I can’t wait,” I replied. I parked the car and we both got out. I opened the trunk and we grabbed our bags. We walked up to the front door and were greeted by Craig.

“What’s hoppin’ girls?” Craig asked.

“Uh, nothing?” I said, laughing at Craig.

“What?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing, just that apparently things are ‘hoppin’’ with you,” I told him.

“Hey guys,” Casey said as he walked into the foyer. “Cady, baby,” he said as he gave me a hug and a kiss. “Ready for the trip?”

“Hell yes,” I said.

“Alright, well, if you girls are ready, then let’s get going,” Craig said as he turned around and lead us to the garage. We all put our bags in the back of Craig’s Jeep. “Who’s sittin’ up front with me?” he asked.

Obviously, Casey and I wanted to sit together in the back, and Casey and I both sensed that for some reason, Amelia would have absolutely no problem sitting up front with Craig. She looked at me for reassurance that it was alright and I nodded. “I guess I am,” she said.

“Awesome. Let’s go!” Craig said as we all got in the car. “Did you girls bring any music?”

“Of course,” Amelia said. She pulled a CD case out of her bag and handed it to Craig. “Pick one.”

Craig chose a disc and popped it into the player. He started the car, and we were off for a weekend at the beach and the end of the summer bash that Casey and Craig couldn’t stop talking. I was looking forward to it myself. I hadn’t been to a real party. Sure, I went to a few get-togethers with Casey and some of his friends, but never something like what the guys had been describing.

We drove for about an hour and finally reached the beach. I removed my head from Casey’s shoulder once we pulled into the driveway of the hotel that we were staying at. Craig had called and made reservations for a two bedroom suite with a beach front view. It sounded like a dream. Staying at the beach with my boyfriend, his best friend and my best friend. And no parents. That was the best part. My mother wasn’t going to call me and ask me where I was and what I was doing because she didn’t know the number of where we were staying, and I didn’t have cell phone reception where we were.

Craig hopped out of the car and walked into the office to check us in. Casey and I sat in the back silent but smiling. Amelia looked lost. She was staring out of the car and looked rather daze.

“Is everything okay, Meel?” I asked her.

“Huh?” she asked as if I had startled her out of some trance. “Oh, yeah. Everything’s just fine. Why do you ask?”

“Because you look like you‘re really confused, or like, there’s something wrong,” I told her.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about it, Cade.”

“Okay.”

Craig returned to the car and we drove past the office towards where our suite was located. We parked the car and grabbed all of our things. I didn’t bring much, seeing as we were only staying for a few days, but I did bring a variety of scanty clothing that I would be wearing at the party. Hopefully Casey would enjoy it more then anyone else. He grabbed my hand as we walked up the stairs to the room that matched the number on the keys Craig was given. Craig unlocked the door and we all walked in slowly, all looking out the window at the water and the beach. It was a cloudier day, but it was still beautiful. I wanted to put on my bathing suit right then and run down to the beach and jump into the water. It was too cold, though, at least then.

“I’m going to take a shower,” Amelia said.

“A shower?” I asked. “Why?”

“Because I don’t feel very clean. I want to take a shower,” she told me.

“Okay. That’s… strange,” I said. But I let her do her thing. Ever since we had been hanging out with Craig on a regular basis, she had begun to act strange. It was obvious to me that she liked him. Maybe it was that she knew she had feelings for both Craig and Christian who happened to still be in England with his family. The only thing that I could think of was that she was juggling the emotions and trying to choose the most feasible option.

“A shower actually sounds kind of good right now,” Casey said to me as he gave me a wink. “Too bad there’s only one bathroom.”

“Yeah, and too bad I feel rather clean at the moment,” I said, smiling.

“Okay, guys, I know what you’re talking about, I’m getting mental images… let’s not continue with this conversation,” Craig said as he leaned against the counter drinking a beer.

“Where did you get that?” I asked him.

“I brought them with us,” he answered. “I’m not going to go even part of a weekend without something decent to drink.”

“We’re going to a party tomorrow where I’m sure you’ll be getting plenty to drink. Can’t you wait until then? It’s the middle of the freaking day,” I said.

“So? What’s your point?”

There was no arguing with him. “Want to take a walk?” I asked Casey.

“Sure, that sounds nice,” he said as he grabbed my hand and one of the sets of keys that were located on the kitchen counter. “We’ll be back in a bit. Why don’t you take this opportunity to talk to her,” Casey said to Craig.

“Okay,” Craig responded.

I was a little confused. As Casey closed the door behind him, I looked at him. “What were you talking about in there?”

“What? Oh, Craig?”

“Yeah. What’s going on?”

“He’s got it bad.”

“Okay. For who? Amelia?”

“Yeah.”

Another A/N: I recently received a review for this story. Well, it was actually a flame. I will not accept those. Seriously. If you don’t like my story, then stop reading it and don’t say anything. I don’t care about what you don’t like about my story. I want to know what you do like. That’s what the reviews are, at least that’s what I want them to be if you read my story. Some constructive criticism is fine, as long as it isn’t something that makes me want to stop writing my story altogether. Also, the people who flame anonymously are just cowards and that pisses me off even more. DO NOT FLAME MY WORK! Okay? Thank you. And thank you SO MUCH to everyone who DOES review my work NICELY. You are what keeps me writing.