She's 12 when they meet for the first time. She and her friends are standing in the middle of her spacious backyard, which is decorated with tents and twinkle lights. The brunette is scanning the crowd cautiously, clearly looking for someone, when their eyes meet. The second that chocolate meets amber, she finds it impossibly hard to look away. It's like their own little bubble, and while she'll never admit it, she thinks it's nice. In fact, she feels like they're the only two people in the world, like time freezes just for them.
She tries not to seem disappointed when he looks away after a while, turning to talk to one of his friends about God knows what. For the rest of the night, she successfully sneaks quick glances at him while he isn't looking, listening to two of her friends basically swoon over the blonde boy she's starting to like. She can't help but feel a little overprotective over her boy as she hears her friends argue back and forth over which of them he likes better, and she can't help but wish that he liked her more than either of them. It's the beginning of their story, and while it's not as cliched and 'romantic' as she dreamed it would be, she can't help but love the way everything started.
As the school year starts, Massie starts seeing the boy around more often than she used to, and wonders how she could've overlooked him in the past. She quickly learns that his name is Derrick and that he is the star goalie of his small soccer team. The second she takes a good look at the boy, she can instantly tell why Dylan and Kristen are so obsessed with him; in fact, she quickly figures out that a large majority of the school loves him. He has perfectly tanned skin with a warm, kind smile, and eyes that she can't seem to forget about. Derrick's eyes are a soothing chocolate brown color, and she's observed that they seem to sparkle when he's really excited about something, even something as simple as the fact that they're having pizza for lunch.
Within a few months of school starting, the two of them find themselves going head-to-head in their class election. Yeah, it's weird that they're voting on this now, considering they still have more than five years before they graduate, but their principal says this is how it should be. It's weird because someone else has to nominate each candidate, so they nominate each other, both thinking the other would make a flawless president.
Derrick ends up winning, with her working as hard as possible to persuade everyone to vote for him (he does the same for her, but she has a more solid approach. She bribes everyone with cupcakes and cute shirts, and suddenly their whole class is the proud owner of a shirt that says 'Derrick Harrington for Prez'). In return, he chooses his best friend Cam to be the treasurer (the kid has wicked math skills), and has Chris Plovert be his secretary (no one has better attendance than him). She laughs when he asks her to be his Vice President, and when she says yes, he places a flower crown on her head and the two walk hand-in-hand out of the gymnasium.
It doesn't take a genius to tell that they're clearly in love with each other (they deny it, but everyone knows it's true). His eyes light up whenever she's around, and she finds herself becoming more like the person she truly is with every second she spends with him (she thinks it's time to stop using words like LBR, and thinks it's time to stop wanting to be the alpha). She tells him all her insecurities (she thinks she isn't good at anything and that everyone hates her) and he tells her about his dreams (he wants to play soccer in some of the biggest arenas and make a name for himself). They're friends with feelings, and while she thinks it seems a little cliched, it's just how things seem to be at the moment.
When she's 13 things start changing for the two of them. They're outside by Lake Placid on their school field trip when he kisses her for the first time. All of their friends are watching, and she can't help but feel like he's only doing it because they're there. Alicia and Claire try to reassure otherwise, try convincing her that her best friend might really like her, but when she doesn't hear from him four days after (it's a new record, they've never gone longer without speaking), she draws her own conclusions about the situation.
Her heart breaks when she sees he and Olivia Ryan together a week later, laughing like they've known each other for ages, looking like they're in love. She tries not to cry, especially not in front of all of the people in the cafeteria, who are watching her carefully (she's always hated being watched so carefully. It makes her feel like she has to be perfect). Dylan and Kristen make a big scene, trying to get everyone's attention off of Massie, as Claire and Alicia help the brunette make a run for the bathroom (her friends are the best and she knows it). They make eye contact as she practically sprints towards the door, tears pooling at the edges of her amber eyes as he just stares at her, looking slightly indifferent.
They don't talk for the rest of the year. She avoids him like the plague and he doesn't seem to notice, considering he's too busy with all of the relationships he's in (they're one after the other, it's kind of making her sick). She and Cam grow closer, both hurt by the betrayal of their best friend (Cam says it hurts seeing the person he's known all of his life become someone totally different) and their strange addiction to reality tv (it makes them feel better about their own lives, seeing people have complete meltdowns in front of America reminds them that some people are way worse than they are). People wonder if they're going to start dating like they thought she and Derrick would, but both happily reassure them that isn't happening anytime soon (she's still into his idiot best friend while he's into one of her friends). Sometimes when she isn't looking, Derrick sneaks quick glances at her, wondering if she's missing him like he's missing her (she is).
She's 14 when she's officially asked on her first date by Chris Abley, who is a year older than she is. She smiles shyly when he asks before accepting his invitation, along with the bouquet of white roses he hands her. Derrick watches from afar as he feels bile rising in his throat, clearly a little jealous that Chris gets to go out with the girl of his dreams (he blew his chance, he knows, but that doesn't mean he doesn't wish he could change everything).
She doesn't actually end up going on her date later that week, because her best friend Cam gets the flu a few days before, and she spends her time playing Nurse Massie, trying to make him feel better with freshly baked cookies and long 'Friends' marathons. She shrugs away Cam's pleas for her to go out, insisting that he's more important than any upperclassmen could ever be and that if Chris really likes her, he'll wait (she doesn't really care when she hears that he's dating Skye Hamilton a few days later. She thinks she dodged a bullet by avoiding him).
She and Cam are voted 'Cutest Class Couple' in the yearbook that spring, and neither seem to mind (Claire ended up liking Kemp and Cam's not as hurt as he thought he'd be). They shrug it off and laugh as they pose for pictures between classes, clearly just having fun, enjoying each other's company. Josh jokes that he feels jealous of the two of them ("Gee Mass, why are you taking my boyfriend away from me?") and the three of them grow closer as the year continues.
Derrick watches alongside his new friends, wondering when everything really started to change.
She's 15 when she's once more faced with Derrick Harrington, as the two are voted by the entire freshman class to be their representatives during the homecoming parade (she's always wanted to be a princess, but she's not sure she really wants Derrick to be her prince). Cam volunteers to drive his dad's 1979 golden GTO, and Josh offers to ride shotgun. For the parade, Cam burns a mix CD of dance anthems and the four of them all sing along and smile as the car inches forward slowly (Massie almost forgets that this is the first time in a year that she's even spoken with Derrick, and Derrick almost forgets this is the first time he's really spent with his true friends). They eat candy and wave, laughing as they pass huddles of kids that eagerly run towards anything distributed, whether it be candy or plastic beads.
After the parade, things go back to the way they were between the four of them. Derrick goes back to spending all of his time with the soccer guys who kiss his ass and worship the ground he walks on (they're more acquaintances than friends, but he doesn't want to admit that to anyone), while Massie continues spending her time with the same group she's been friends with since junior high.
By now Kristen and Kemp have started dating, while Dylan and Plovert find themselves locked in constant flirtation, neither one of them willing to risk their beautiful friendship by turning it into something more. Claire has moved to Hollywood, having left sometime during their eighth grade year, due to the success of her movie, but she still calls Massie every week for updates and gossip (Massie thinks that maybe their friendship works best like this, where each of them have space to grow apart, but still rely on one another). She and Alicia are closer than ever, finally past the whole 'alpha/beta' situation, but instead willing to admire the fact that their friendship really works because they're so different; they complement one another, one without the other doesn't work as well (which, during her multiple attempts to overthrow Massie, Alicia learned).
Sometimes she sees him in the hallways and waves, but that's about as much as they talk for the rest of the year. It's progress from the complete silence that once passed between them, but is nothing like how they once were. Derrick thinks he'd do anything to earn back Massie's friendship again or to simply go back in time so that he could fix his mistakes. Massie thinks that the relationship between the two is fragile, and though she misses him, if she was offered the chance to go back in time, she wouldn't take it. She likes the way things are now, she has friends that love and support her and she's finally confident in who she is. She understands that sometimes it takes letting go of the past to move forward, and she just hopes Derrick knows that, too.
She's 16 when she's asked on her second ever date, this time by James Winston, the transfer student from England. He's new and in need of friends, and she knows he's special the moment Chris Plovert introduces him to the group. He has beautiful blue eyes that sparkle when he laughs and a sweet accent that makes her think he could read the dictionary and still sound interesting. James is in almost all of her classes, so Chris asks her to show him around the school, and it's a pretty instant attraction between the two.
That being said, she says no when he asks her out ("I don't know if I really believe in love, and you deserve better than someone like me. You deserve epic romance, and I just don't think I can give you that"). Everyone is surprised when Massie rejects him, but they're even more surprised when she introduces James to Olivia Ryan and insists that she thinks they could make a nice couple (Alicia asks her, repeatedly, if she's lost her mind). Both James and Olivia are wary of Massie's newfound matchmaking skills, but after going on a few double dates with the new couple and Cam (they're still not dating, but she trusts him more than anyone else, as he does her), it's clear that Massie was completely right about the pairing (she jokes that she has to be the maid of honor at their wedding).
Massie's next victims are Alicia and Josh, and though it takes more than a few forced double dates (it's more like 12), they eventually realize that maybe it's easier to just stop fighting against Massie and Cam (they're really a power duo; only twice have they not gotten their way). By spring, love is in the air and the only single friends left are she and Cam, though she's actively looking for someone good enough for her best friend. Until she finds that person, she spends time interrogating Cam about his ideal girl and driving around in his new car (courtesy of his parents).
AN: I hope you liked this! I was actually just cleaning out some of my old drafts when I found it tucked away and thought it was time to maybe finish something! Obviously, there's more to come, but let me know what you think!