1. Chapter 1 (2/2)

and this time, he had to agree.

iv

by the time he was seventeen he had stopped thinking about the girl with blonde hair and blue eyes so much. he hardly ever did, but when she did cross his mind he always wondered her name, her story, why she disliked him so much. he knew he'd probably never find out, but that didn't stop him from wondering once in a while.

he'd fallen in love with different girls,

oken other's hearts, and enjoyed his life with his good looks and charming personality. he had a good life, he couldn't deny it, and thinking about that girl always made him feel like she was the one thing he couldn't have. but he didn't let it bother him, because he had everything else, and that would have to be enough.

the summer before he moved back to roseville he saw her again. the third time around he recognized her easily, from her long tan legs to the soft features of her face.

they were at the beach. grant had invited him on a trip down in south carolina. he'd agreed because he always loved the beach and he knew that the beach also involved hot girls in swim suits. it had never crossed his mind that he might see another resident from roseville down there. apparently this beach was a destination for people who lived in virginia.

he saw her twice that week.

the first was when he was throwing a football on the sand with grant, showing off to girls when he saw her passing by.

but she wasn't alone, which made him slightly annoyed, but he knew he had no right to be so he squashed the feeling. she was holding hands with some guy with black curly hair and looked like a complete tool. she was laughing, and the first thing he thought was that he'd never seen her laugh before. the times they'd met before she was always annoyed with him, not that she didn't have the right to be, so he'd never seen her happy. it was a nice change.

as he was staring at her his friend obviously wasn't paying attention. grant threw the football back.

it hit him in the face.

later that same week he saw her again. this time she was not laughing, far from it actually. he was walking along the beach at night, by himself, unable to sleep. he noticed a girl curled up by a dune, crying softly to herself. it was dark but a nearby house light illuminated the night. her hair looked more gold in the light and was done up into a high bun, acting a like a halo around her head. she looked like an angel— a crying angel.

he knew he probably shouldn't interfere but he couldn't help himself. this girl had intrigued him for so long; he couldn't just keep on walking. the curiosity would have killed him. so he approached her, hoping she wouldn't bite his head off.

"hey," he said, making her look up. "are you okay?"

at first she glared at him, but as she looked at him she recognized him. she forgot his question entirely as she thought back to the coffee shop and then further back to the night he

oke in. the thought of the twelve year-old boy managed to

ing a smile to her face, despite her horrible mood. she was a flower hadn't been taken care of the way she deserved, left to wither until someone saved her.

"well if it isn't the panty-stealing jerk from the coffee shop," she said, her voice amused.

he rolled his eyes and shrugged, as if he couldn't help himself. he was the person he was.

"guilty as charged," he said with his easy smile he'd given her before.

this time she rolled her eyes and shook her head. "how can i help you? and no, my underwear is not up for grabs."

he laughed lightly. "you just looked a little sad," he replied. "and what kind of guy would i be if i just kept walking when i saw a damsel in distress?"

"a gentleman," she replied dryly.

"exactly," he said. "and i am most certainly not one of those."

"good to know," she remarked quietly.

"let me guess," he said. "it's about a boy."

she laughed, but it was slightly bitter. "how did you know?"

"i've

oken a lot of hearts," he said. "i've seen what it does."

"well aren't you just the care-giver?"

"relax, i was only joking," he said. "kind of."

"i'm sure."

"anyway," he said. "what it the kid with the black hair? cause i'll beat him up."

"how did you know he had black hair?"

"i saw you guys the other day," he replied. "seemed like a tool if you ask me."

"takes one to know one."

"we aren't talking about me here," he said. "we're talking about your boyfriend the douche."

"he's not a douche."

"then why are you here crying and he's nowhere to be found?"

she narrowed her eyes. "i don't really think this is any of your business," she said in a clipped tone.

"i was just trying to help."

she glanced around and then stood up,

ushing the sand off of her jean shorts. "well thanks, but no thanks." he sighed, hating how bi-polar girl sometimes were.

she started to walk away, clearing wanting to be alone. he sighed, wishing that once when they met he would say the right thing.

"wait!" he said. "i don't know your name."

she glanced back at him. "does it really matter?" she asked. "it's not like we'll see each other again."

she didn't know how wrong she was.

v

after that night he decided to give up. this girl obviously wanted nothing to do with him. and even if she did, he lived in a different state and came back once in a while to visit family friends. she would just be a girl he'd met a long time ago.

well that is what he thought up until he parents told him they were moving back to roseville. when he thought about moving he thought of the place he was born, of his friend grant, but mostly about how much it would suck to leave his friends here. he hardly thought about the girl at all.

up until he passed her house while in the passenger seat of the moving truck, and he his eyes focused on the tall

ick home. as they drove by the thought of the girl that lived there

ought a smile to his face. she said they'd never see each other again, and now he could prove her wrong. the first thing he would do as a roseville resident would be to find out her name.

but his friend grant had other plans. "there's going to be a sick party at bex's tonight," he said. "you need to go if you want to make some friends before school starts."

he wanted to pass up the opportunity, but he knew very well that parties were his kind of scene. he could find out about the girl tomorrow.

"sure," he replied to his friend. "let's go."

when they got to the party he could hardly see anything. there were colorful strobe lights pulsing and loud music bursting through huge speakers. this really was his kind of party. he walked around for a while, talking to people he didn't know, flirting with girls he'd never met. then he felt a tap on his shoulder.

he turned around, only to come face to face with the girl he had thought about on and off for the past six years. she was grinning again.

"are you my birthday present?" she asked. he noticed the tiara that said "it's my birthday!" in silver lettering. he was taken a bit aback by her question, he didn't friendlier words had ever come out of his mouth, at least where he was concenred.

he grinned at her. "if you want me to be."

she rolled her eyes at his teenage boy antics. "it was a joke."

"i take it this is your party then."

"yes," she said. "my lovely friend bex thought i needed to loosen up a bit."

"oh really?" he asked, glancing over into her cup and seeing an amber liquid he was quite familiar with.

"yeah, sometimes i'm a little tightly wound."

he barely knew her, but he knew that. he laughed. "no kidding."

"oh!" she said, just as she remembered something. "i have to show you something!"

he raised an eye

ow, but allowed her to drag him through the house. but when they got outside he stopped following her.

"where are you going?"

she rolled her eyes. "my house, come on."

"are you trying to rape me?" he asked. "because this sounds like a rape scenario."

"i'm not going to rape you," she replied. "and even if i was, don't pretend like you wouldn't want it."

he laughed and continued to follow her down the street. "fair enough. so why are you taking me to your house?" he asked.

"i have this picture i want to show you."

"of what?"

"us."

he was surprised at her words and gave her a perplexed look. "us? i don't recall taking a picture with you."

"probably because you were five," she said.

"we were friends?" he asked.

"no," she replied simply, but didn't say anything other than that.

she unlocked the door to her house and stepped inside, him close behind her. it mostly looked the same.

"give me a second," she said, racing up the stairs and quickly returning with a small white photograph in her hands. "here," she said, handing it to him. "my mom showed it to me the other day. i almost fell on the floor laughing."

he looked at it and automatically smiled. a younger version of himself was standing on top of a mountain of sand, staring at her, confused, while she looked at him with an angry face.

"wow," he said. "maybe this is why you have such a grudge against me."

"you mean besides the fact that you

oke into my house and tried to steal my mother's underwear?"

"oh come on, that's old news. we should be past that by now."

"well then now i can be mad at you for destroying my sand castle."

"you can't do that, because i have no recollection of doing such a thing."

"pictures don't lie."

he smiled as he looked at her. not for the first time he thought about how beautiful she was, how her eyes shined like stars and her smile was absolutely

eath-taking. he suddenly had the urge to kiss her.

he glanced back at the picture in order to stop his wandering thoughts.

"kind of unbelievable," he said. "that we've met all these times and i still don't know your name."

she grinned at him. "i say we keep it going for a few more years."

"i don't think that's going to be possible," he said. "in case you didn't know, i just moved back, i'll know your name soon enough."

she laughed. "i know," she said.

"you do?" he asked.

"of course, grant told me is old best friend was moving back. i had to assume it was you."

"grant told you?" he asked. "you know grant?"

"of course i do, we're friends."

"i was under the impression he didn't know you at all."

"oh?"

"i asked him who you were that day in the coffee shop, he said he didn't know you."

"he didn't then," she said. "and then i transferred from private to public school, stopped being a weirdo, and became best friends with his girlfriend. kind of ironic, don't you think?"

he was staring at her mouth again, wishing he could kiss her. but he knew that probably wouldn't go over well. they hardly knew each other. but he knew by this time next year he would have found out everything he needed to know about this girl.unable to resist any longer, he leaned in, keeping eye contact with her. her big blues eyes grew as she realized what he was going to do. but she didn't pull away or try to stop him, in fact she offered a small smile which only gave him more confidence.

when his lips finally met hers he felt like he was getting a fresh

eath of air after hours of being suffocated. he wasted no time in sliding his arms around her, one hand cupping the back of her neck, deepening the kiss. he held her delicately, like the precious flower she was. his tongue slipped inside her mouth and danced with hers, making her produce a moan in the back of her throat. he was elated, as he had dreamed of kissing this girl for a while now. he hardly knew her, but in that moment it didn't matter. because he would know her, he would know everything about her and then he would kiss her all he wanted. they wouldn't be strangers again after this night. her hands were twisting in his hair,

inging him closer to her. she was smiling against him, obviously as pleased with the situation as he was.

he pulled back after a moment, making sure not to push his luck. this night had already been so much better than he'd intended it to be. he had better not jinx it with trying to get laid. he had finally found his rose, alive and well, and even better: happy.

"happy birthday," he whispered

eathlessly to her.

"wow," she said, grinning at him. he was happy he could make her so happy. "best present so far."

"i'd have to agree."

she suddenly had a mischievous smile as she held up the photo in her hand. much to dismay, she stepped out of his arms.

"where are you going?"

she didn't answer him, she just kept looking him in the eye as she held out her hand.

he grinned then, realizing what she was doing.

"hi," she said. "i'm cammie."

he couldn't keep his smile from growing.

he shook her hand.

"i'm zach. it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

an: just a cutsy, fluffly one shot. review if it made you smile :)