"You and Alec, again?" Samara asks me, as she flips through one of my magazines, chewing her gum obnoxiously. "Really thought that was a one-time thing.""Yeah, I did, too." I agree. "I know he isn't looking to date, he just wants to fool around. But I don't want to sleep with him, so...""Why not?" she shrugs. "I know the whole Miles thing has messed with your head, but Alec is a nice guy."I stare at her, baffled. "He is a player. He has slept with plenty of girls. Once I give it up, he'll get bored and move on. I don't want my first time to be like that.""Well, that's your choice.""It is my choice," I argue, frowning. "I only want to do it with someone I'm dating. Who I love.""Okay, okay, I get it," she replies, holding up her hands in a peace gesture.I let out a huff. Samara frustrates me. She is so unemotional sometimes. It irks me that she doesn't care about things like that. She sleeps with peopl

 Sweat drips down the back of my neck as I struggle to catch up with Finn's long strides.I pant, feeling my body growing weaker as my energy drains. Finn slows to a walk once we're on our street and I join him eagerly, placing my hands on my hips as I try to regain my regular breathing."God, it feels good to run," he breathes, throwing his hand through his sweat-drenched hair."I like running, but it's always exhausting going with you," I pant beside him."You're fast, but you need to work on your endurance.""Yes sir."He rolls his eyes as we make our way up the path. We walk into the kitchen. Finn withdraws two Powerade, unscrewing the lid of one and tossing the other in my direction. I weakly catch it, before collapsing onto the dining table chair."You ready for the game this Friday?" I ask Finn.The upcoming game has been the talk of the school, throughout the week. We are versing Richmond River, who is our

  "What about an ambulance?" I cry out frantically."Invite them to a party, where 70% of the kids are underage?" Alec points out, already dialling Finn's number. "Besides, he's already been seen paramedics, he just passed out because he drank too much, under the influence of pain killers. I need help carrying him.""Alec, we can sort this out ourselves. We just need to get him inside," I insist, wanting nothing more than to leave Finn out of this."Hey man, what's up?" I hear Finn's voice as Alec has his iPhone in his hand, Finn on speaker."Don't," I mouth, my eyes pleading.Alec returns my stare, a blank expression on his face. "We need you here, man. It's Jai."I shake my head at Alec in disappointment, getting to my feet. Jai's face seemed peaceful as he lays there on the cold grass. I turn my back to Alec and walk into the party, attempting to find Samara.Ignoring the stares and a few fox whistles, I p

"I didn't want to tell you because it would make me feel worse than I already do," Samara huffs as she slides her large, gold hoop through her ear."What do you mean?" I question, sitting back onto my bed, already organized for tonight."I know Jai's one of your good friends, practically a part of your family. He's an amazing guy, I just... don't feel the same way. I love being single, I don't want to be tied down. Not until I at least get with Eli Matthews. Then, I can die happy," she informs me and I laugh, her obsession with Eli still prominent after all these years. She turns to me. "By the way, if I got offered to have 'revenge sex' with Eli, I would do it in a heartbeat.""Don't remind me," I laugh, shaking my head, knowing that if I ever did take up the offer, Samara would kill me in my sleep. "And I'm not going to make you feel bad. You can't force yourself to like someone.""But you think we would work together and be really cute, don't you?"

 A light tap on my door, makes me slowly open my eyes.I roll to my side, as the door opens. Finn pokes his head in, his unruly dark hair sticking up at odd angles. As if sensing my eyes, he quickly pushes his hand through it, in an attempt to flatten it."Hey," he greets, his usually confident voice quiet.We haven't spoken since last night. I don't really know what to say. I want to thank him, of course, but we made a deal about Miles. I broke it. He knows I was sneaking around with Miles, again. He took the news very well, much better than expected, but I can't help thinking that now it's a new day, he might not be so calm about it all."Hey," I reply softly."You okay?""Yeah," I shrug, not quite sure if I mean it. "You?""Yeah," he nods. "I'm going to get lunch with The Boys and then we're heading to the beach. Want to come?"Alec's hurt face flashes in my mind, making my stomach clench for the thousandth time