I've realized that good things can come out of my frustration, like this story. My parents wouldn't let me use the computer, so I wrote it in my journal, and voilà, here's a story. This is for dedicated to my good friend D R O W N-I N-S E Q U I N S, who likes the Ness stories I write.

"Why are you always so mean?" I heard someone ask from behind me. I turn around to see Nate Black of Connect 3 standing on the dock, a couple of feet from me.

"Why do you care?" I answered, maybe a bit too snottily.

"I don't. I'm just curious," he said. He took a tentative step, as if waiting to see if I'd tell him to leave. "My mom said that when I was a kid, I always wanted to know everything. Whenever I asked something, she'd have to come up with a child-friendly version, and I asked a lot of things."

I giggled softly, and he took this as a good sign, immediately sitting down next to me. "So why are you?" he asked again.

"I just am," I said, getting angry again. "It's none of your business, anyway!"

"Ah, but you see, that's where you're wrong," he said. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"And how's that?" I asked.

"Well, you see, I like you," my heart nearly stopped when he said this, but I let him continue. "And when I like people, they're my friends, and my friends' business is my business, and since I like you, you're my friend, making your business, mine, too. Capisce?" he said.

Again, I raised my eyebrows, but didn't say anything.

"So… why are you so mean?" he asked for a third time.

I hesitated whether to answer or not, but he seemed to be so genuinely interested, I just did. "Well… I guess it somehow goes back to trying to make my mom proud," I said softly. I don't think I'd ever told anyone so much about myself, and all I'd said was one sentence. But talking to him felt right, even if he was Nate Black and I was Tess Tyler. Sure, if anyone saw me right now, I'd get major bragging rights, but I wasn't thinking about that. I was just a person, and he was, too.

For the next hour, I told him about growing up with my mom, being the mean girl, and pretty much everything else in between. It really felt as if I could confide in him – but it's not like all we did was talk about me. He also told me a lot about himself – how he, Shane and Jason met, how he got into music, how he got to Camp Rock and a lot more things.

The sun was almost setting when I realized how hungry I was – I normally didn't eat much, but I hadn't eaten anything all day. My stomach growled loudly, making Nate laugh.

"Oh, shut up! Tell me you're not hungry," I said, laughing along with him.



"Always am," he said, standing up. He offered his hand to help me up, and I took it, skin tingling at his touch.

I don't know what it was that caused it, but we both stopped suddenly. Maybe it was the feeling of our hands touching, or the light breeze running through out hair, or the soft sunlight making everything look delicate.

Whatever it was, it stopped us both. For a couple of minutes, we were just standing there, looking at each other. Then, he brought his lips down on mine.

I gasped, surprised, and he pulled away quickly – I guess he thought I didn't want to kiss him. But I did, because what he felt that made him want to kiss me, I felt too. And so, before he could walk away, I kissed him.

He was shocked, but he kissed me back, and suddenly, how hungry we were didn't seem to matter anymore. All that mattered was that we were there, together, and kissing.