Summer Blues

"I love you, Zach" She watched a smile burst onto his face almost cracking it in half. She couldn't stop the tears as they burned at the back of her eyes and streamed down her face. She had said it. She had said it after all this time and she couldn't believe it. She was in his arms again. She was in Zachary Goode's arms and she was the happiest she had ever been in her entire life. His green eyes were glowing with so much passion and her heart was beating so fast.

Everything was going to be different this time. It was going to be real from the start. There wouldn't be any lies. There wouldn't be any heartbreak. She wasn't going to feel that pain ever again. A pain so untreatable and yet so easy to cure. All she had to do was press her lips to his and she did.

3 Months Later

Cammie heard a knock on the front door and turned her head towards it, getting up from her desk chair from where she had been organizing her binders for tomorrow she went to answer it. She opened the front door to see a young boy. He was familiar, with shaggy blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. The boy was dressed in some worn out jeans and a t-shirt. She smiled at him and opened the door wider,

"Conner," she said and he smiled showing a set of straight white teeth.

"Hey Cam," he said wiping his shoes on the welcome mat and entering the Morgan house. He ran his fingers through his hair and fluffed it up a bit.

"You ready for school tomorrow?" she asked with smirk and his shoulders slumped.

"I don't know. I can't tell if I'm excited or terrified." She nodded with understanding. Totally knowing what it felt like to be starting high school. She couldn't believe that her sister was going to be a freshman. Paisley was going into ninth grade and she and Cammie were going to be at the same school. It would be weird and Cammie was a little sad that they were both growing up so fast. She remembered when they little and in elementary school. She remembered how her mother had picked out her outfit and drove her them to the school, she remembered getting back into the car at the end of the day and getting asked how it went. That was meant to be happening now to. Thats how it should have been at least. Cammie sighed and pulled herself from her thoughts.

"It's fine to feel that way. Not going to lie when I started 9th grade I was petrified. The school was so much bigger than I was used to and there were more kids and more classes and more more more." She said not realizing that her words weren't very encouraging. Conner was nodding, but his brows were drawn together and his gaze was drifting away in panicked thought, she quickly tried to get to her point, "But basically I was trying to say that it was all fine. Nothing to be worried about. Plus you got senior friends." She winked and him and he suddenly was grinning again. "You're cool already." He nodded. He had already told his friends about how in with the hot senior girls and the jock guys. Zach had already said that he could help with football and he was confident that he would be able to get on the team with Zach's support.

"Yeah, I was actually wondering if I could um…" he trailed off suddenly looking awkward. Conner scratched the back of his neck, this was his chance "I was wondering if I could get some advice from Zach or something…? You know about what to expect and what I should do to get on the team. that kinda stuff. He said he would help, but I just wanted to be sure." Conner had spent a lot of his time over the summer at Cammie's house because he and Paisley wanted to spend as much time together before school started. Zach had been around a lot too and the 14 year old was completely in awe of the soon to be Senior, motorcycle riding, football throwing Zachary Goode. Zach took a liking to the kid too. Cammie and Paisley thought they spent more time together when at the girl's house than they didn't with their actual girlfriends. Cammie smiled

"Yeah, I'm sure he wouldn't mind. You want his number? Or you want me to give him yours?" she asked and Conner smiled

"Um, if you could just give him mine that would be great." That way he wouldn't have to be the one to text Zach first. He knew he probably would lose his nerve if it was the other way around because although he felt he could be chill around Zach, he was still a little intimidating. He was three and half years older than Conner.

"Sure, I'll do that then." Cammie said brightly her heart warming. Conner didn't want to seem childish asking for Zach's number and that's why she offered to give his to Zach. So he wouldn't feel embarrassed about texting him. It seemed Cammie had read his mind.

"Great-" Conner got cut off as Paisley skidded around the corner on her socks beaming. Her long caramel hair was in a flawless high ponytail that only she seemed to be able to master the art of making. Everyday it amazed Cammie how grown up her sister was and how she had managed to get all the looks and all the beautiful hair and legs and eyes and lips. It was unfair to have one sister perfect and the other so Plain Jane. Especially when the older one was the average one.

"Hey," Paisley said looking directly at her boyfriend and not sparing a glance in Cammie's direction.

"Hey to you too, Paisley." She said her voice laced with lighthearted sarcasm. Paisley rolled her eyes at the sound of her sisters voice, but turned her head to look at er

"Cam." She said giving her a nod of acknowledgment before taking Conner's hand. "Come on Locks I've got a new dress for tomorrow I want you to take a look at." She said excitedly and started tugging him down the hall and to her room. Paisley called Conner "Locks" because of his blonde hair. It was longer when they started hanging out and the nickname was originally "Goldie Locks" but it got shortened to just "Locks" when he cut his hair and because it was less of a mouthful. Conner turned and gave an a slight wave goodbye to Cammie before the two disappeared into Paisley's room, although Cammie made sure that the door didn't shut behind them. She felt the need to be the one to set the rules about such things around here and Paisley surprisingly gave in after just one argument. The door creaked shut a little, but stayed opened. Satisfied Cammie headed back to her room. It was a mess, as usual. Clothes everywhere. Stacks of books by her nightstand, desk and bookcase. Her bed was disheveled where she had rolled out of bed that morning leaving a nest of sheets and blackets behind her. It actually looked rather comfortable... Cammie steered her path away from her desk and made a beeline for her bed. she flopped on face first before turning onto her side.

Tomorrow was Cammie's first day of her last year at Roseville High School and she didn't know whether to jump for joy or drop to her knees and weep. She was already applying to collage and was pretty confident she would get in where she wanted, but she wasn't looking forward to leaving her friends and Zach and her sister and Jace all behind. She didn't want them all to go separate ways and she didn't want to face the problems of long distance with Zach. It never worked. She knew it didn't. Even if they were a letter writing couple. Even the most in love couples lose each other trying to make long distance work. Distance put a strain on relationship. It made them exhausting. It tired the couple out. She didn't want that to happen to her and Zach. She didn't want to know what to feel the pain she had felt last year when they broke up. She sighed and looked towards her desk the folders that where scattered across its surface. She just had to wait another hour then Jace was coming around for lunch. Just another hour and she wouldn't have to be staring at empty folders that would soon be packed full of pop quizzes and tests and reading packets. She her head so she could stare up at the ceiling and let out s deep breath, it was a dramatic but not a very comfortable position so within a few seconds she was back to staring at her desk. Why had she and Jace decided for him to come over at 12 and not 11? Why? It was because they thought they should get all the last minute work done before chilling for the rest of the day, but right now she wished they hadn't been so sensible. She was craving her best friend. It was strange that after the kiss they were able to go back to being just that: friends. Although sometimes she would catch him staring at her rather than the TV while watching a movie or if she subconsciously bit her lip while talking his gaze would flick down to them before looking back up and causing Cammie to almost doubt whether she saw anything at all. They hadn't spoken about being together again, not once Zach and Cammie got back together. Jace had said that he didn't want to be a rebound or anything more than friends and although Cammie had been a little reluctant and disbelieving she didn't want to lose her best friend. Thinking about him made her think about Zach though. Their summer had been amazing. Everything had gone so well, they fit back together better than they had the first time and she smiled just thinking about him. Butterflies set flight in her stomach at the thought of his green eyes or soft lips. Cammie's thoughts tapered off and she was left board again. After another minute of forced boredom she reached for her phone.

What are you doing?

She didn't have to wait more than a minute before she got a reply

Waiting for the clock to strike 12 ;) you?

She chuckled before messaging Jace back

Come over now then

What happened to getting work done?

We're not doing work anyway

True…

Just get your butt over here

Whoa Cam-Jam calm down

No need to get all fired up ;)

Just come over.

Wait. Wait. Wait. She stared waiting for him to reply. She groaned and threw her phone on her bed. Was her really going to make her wait till 12-? Really? She waited another 5 minutes flicking through her old Instagram photos before dropping her phone and flopping her arms. Their was a knock on her bedroom door and she mumbled for them to enter. It was Jace, he was stood in the doorway with a baggy white t-shirt on and some blue jeans. His brown hair was cropped shorter and his skin was light tan. Cammie sat bold upright her bed and beamed at him. I

"I thought you were going to make me wait." She said and he shrugged

"I thought about it, but then I what would I do for the next 40 minutes?" she smiled

"So you just let yourself into my house?" she asked raising her eyebrows at him and smirking. He nodded

"Yeah, I wanted to surprise you." she laughed and her head fell backwards with giggles

"Well you succeeded. I'm shocked." He grinned, put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the door frame.

"Good." She smiled and they were silent for a few moments.

"What should we do?" She asked folding her legs out from underneath her.

"I thought we were just going to hang out?"

"Well, yes, but I feel like getting out of the house now." She said and he nodded putting his hands deeper into the pockets of his jeans "Why don't we go get something to drink at Sweetbrew?" Cammie asked her eyes questioning, asking if that was okay with him. Jace couldn't say no, how could he ever say no to was like saying a no to a puppy or small baby animal. You just couldn't. The fact that he knew what the lips who formed her words felt like had absolutly nothing to do with it.

"Sounds good." He said with a smile and she clapped her hands together excitedly.

"Great! I'll just go tell Paisley and Conner that we're heading out." She said getting up and heading towards the door.

"You want to tell your dad?" he asked and Cammie paused thinking about it. No. She didn't want to tell her dad, she didn't want to knock on his door and bother him. He was busy.

"Nope." She replied, popping the 'p' and then hurried past him and down the hall. Cammie wasn't sure what or how to feel about her dad. He was constantly on phone calls to Europe or more specifically London. He had even gone on another trip over the summer for two weeks. Two weeks he left them again. It wasn't even legal Cammie wasn't 18. Cammie's mind wandered to Zach and Colleen. He wasn't 18 and his parents were never around. Cammie had never met them and she had been with him for a while now. The closet she had come to that was him getting a phone call from his mother while she was in the house. Zach was turning 18 on the 10th. She had missed his birthday last year, just missed being with him during it and she was super excited this year to make it a big thing for them. He was having a party of course and she would be going, but it was after the party that she was excited for. She had planned a romantic dinner for two with the help of Liz and Bex. She felt giddy just thinking about it. Zach was going to be so surprised. Pulling her thoughts away from a certain green eyed boy she told Conner and Paisley she was leaving with Jace and that they would be back around 3ish probably before grabbing her grey ballet flats from her room and heading out the door with Jace.

The town center was just slightly too far to walk from Cammie's neighbor hood and so she had to drive. Over the summer Mathew had renewed the safety inspection on the PT Cruiser and given the keys to Cammie so it was officially hers to drive.

The coffee shop was almost empty except for an old couple sitting in the corner drinking their coffees and sharing a scone. Cammie's heart lifted as she saw the old woman chuckle at something the man had said. The lack of costumers probably had something to do with all the cool kids at the mall on the last day of summer and all the nerds at home getting ahead on the first three months of reading.

Sweetbrew was a rustic little café that smelt of cinnamon and pastries. It had old leather books around the walls and little tables with cream and read checkered tablecloths that were slightly stained from use. There was little in lighting fixtures, but the large open window at the front let in enough light to flood the room and in the winter it was a cozy place to relax when the heating was on. Little glass vases with a single white daisy were in the center of every table. Cammie approached the young woman behind the counter with a bright smile.

"Hey, Wendy." She said with a smile Jace greeted the woman too.

"Hey, guys." Wendy said her face brightening at the two young faces. "How are you?" she asked her ginger hair was scraped up in a high ponytail and her pale skin was covered in even more freckles than usual from the summer sun.

"Great thanks, just trying to make the most of today." Cammie said and Wendy nodded

"That's right you guys have school tomorrow right?" They both nodded "senior year, huh?" she asked with a cheeky smirk and Cammie laughed

"Yup, I don't know whether to be excited or sad." She said honestly.

"Be excited, but don't rush through it." Wendy replied, "That's what I did and I regret it. Make the most of it."

"I will." Cammie said and then peered over the ginger girl's shoulder to look at the drinks.

"What about you Jace? How's Danny?" she asked. Daniel was Jace's brother, older by four years. Wendy graduated in the same class as Danny did. The two had had the same friendship group in school and so Cammie and Jace knew her from when they used to try and tag along with the older kids.

"He's good, in his last year of Collage."

"Oh yeah, how's that going for him?" she asked

"It's good, but he says he really can't wait to get out now." Jace replied with a chuckle and Wendy laughed

"Yeah I'm sure, I'm finishing up my art degree over at Roseville." Wendy couldn't afford nor had the desire to leave Roseville for university so she attended the local community collage.

"That sounds great," Jace said nodding his head in a conversational way. Wendy smiled

"Yeah, so what can I get you guys?" she asked leaning off the counter and standing straight.

"I'll have a mocha-mint frap with whip cream, and a oatmeal cookie, please." Cammie said and Wendy nodded before turning her attention to Jace

"And I'll just have a regular iced coffee and I'll take an oatmeal cookie too." He said and Cammie giggled

"Copycat." she mumbled

"I'm not a copycat, I just felt like one and you happened to order first." He said with a shrug and Cammie snorted

"You always order what I order." She said and Jace raised his eyebrows at her

"Do not."

"Do to."

"Do not."

"Do-" Wendy cut the two off by handing them a tray with their two cookies placed neatly on two little porcelain plates.

"You guys can sit where you want and I'll bring you your drinks in a minute." Jace took the tray and Cammie and him headed over to a booth at the back. Cammie didn't hesitate a moment before she broke a piece of her cookie off and started eating.

"Do to." She whispered quietly so that Jace wouldn't hear and she could get the last word. She smiled inwards when he didn't respond.

"You actually ready for school tomorrow?" he asked leaning back and popping a piece of cookie in his mouth. Cammie sighed through her nose as she chewed and thought about it.

"Honestly, I just want things to go smoothly. I don't want drama and I don't want stress. I'm just a little worried." Jace didn't say anything.

"I don't want anything else to change. I'm just so tired of the emotions of last year." She said and Jace pressed his lips together. She looked up from her hands when he didn't respond.

"Yeah." He said knowing she expected him to answer. He didn't know what to say though. He knew where Cammie was coming from. He knew that she had been through a lot last year, she had lost Macey as a friend and the two of them had almost been torn apart too, but he was also a little irritated for some reason. Cammie had never had attention in school from anyone other than him and Macey. He had never had to worry about sharing her or asking to spend time with her because he knew he always could, she was always there, but now... now she constantly with people and constantly busy. It was going to be hard to find moments like these when school started, even with them living next door to each other.

"Look Jace, I know I probably sound like a whining frog," his lips twitched upwards at that, she was looking at her hands and hadn't even meant to be funny, but whining frog? Really? "But I'm worried about Paisley being in high and, my dad is so busy with work and I'm going to see Macey again…" she looked up her eyes sad and tired "I haven't seen her all summer." She said softly and Jace's eyes softened.

"I know, she hasn't been speaking to me either. But she doesn't deserve your friendship Cammie. I can't believe that she would think you could do that."

"She didn't really believe it, she was just trying to get at me."

"Even worse, Cammie. She was trying to hurt you. That's not a friend, not a good friend. You deserve better than that." Cammie nodded.

"I know." The conversation lightened when Wendy brought their drinks over.

"You guys okay? Great, just call me over if you need anything." Wendy said with a grin before heading into the back room. The two teens talked and laughed trying to leave all their problems behind them. Tomorrow was a new day; a new school year and they could be new people.

"No, I can't believe how much summer reading Mr. Hoffmann set." Jace was saying and Cammie laughed taking a sip of her frap. She had finished her cookie and had moved onto Jace's.

"I know, it really was a lot. Even Mrs. Binks didn't set that much and she teaches honors."

"I'm glad that there was a movie for 'To Kill a Mocking Bird'." Jace said and Cammie laughed again almost chocking on her drink as she remembered how she and Jace had watched the movie and gone on Spark Notes for him to learn about the book rather than him reading it. They had a sleep over and watched it on Cammie's laptop in her room. He had made fun of her hair because it was static from the sweater she had been wearing and then she had shocked him. It had been a great night, like the old times when they were younger with hot chocolate and marshmallows and Nutella-covered-pretzels. Jace had eaten all the Cheetos within 20 minutes so they weren't around for the movie. Suddenly Cammie's heart ached a little. Summer was really over, she had thought she might escape the end of summer blues this year, but it suddenly hit her like a tone of bricks.

They finished their drinks and snacks, but kept talking and laughing, not wanting to let the moment go. By the time they were ready to leave it was 3:30. Nobody else had come into the coffee shop to buy anything other than a smoothie to go.

"You good leave?" Jace asked and Cammie nodded. They stood up together and went over to the register to pay. They said goodbye to Wendy and headed out with a message from her to Dan saying hello.

"You will totally have a spot on varsity Jace. Don't worry about it."

"I don't know, I didn't make it last year." He said and Cammie shook her head

"But you're even better this year." She reassuringly "And you're a senior, you have a more of a chance."

"Yeah but there is no guarantee." Jace said as they reached Cammie's car.

"Jace, you are the best lacrosse player I know! You'll make varsity this year, I promise. I'll eat my hat if you don't."

"Promise?" he asked and she laughed

"Sure." She said starting the car "That's how confident I am."

"Glad to know you have so much faith in me." He said with a bright smile. Cammie could almost see the ego-boosted smirk on Zach's face if she had said that to him.

"How could I not?" she asked with a cheeky smile and she glanced over at him before looking back to the road. He chuckled at her.

"You better come watch me play if I do though."

"I've seen you play before." Cammie said and Jace gave her a look

"Yeah, but have to come to five games at least this year." Cammie smiled

"Absolutely."

"Promise. No ditching. No excuses and especially no lazy butts staying at home." he said and Cammie barked a laugh, but Jace gave a her playful pointed look.

"I wouldn't miss them for the world." she said and Jace nodded

"Yeah, yeah okay, don't push your luck with the kissing up." He said and Cammie couldn't help but grin. She was going to miss this when school was over. She was going to miss Jace so much.

"I'm not lying!" she defended.

"Just be there Morgan." there was a silence as they both grinned. "And you have to wear my jersey." Cammie laughed and shook her head in disbelief. Wearing Jace's jersey was something she had done in the past, but not recently. She wasn't sure if it was exactly a good idea, if it would give off the wrong message, or any message at all... although she knew it didn't mean anything more than friends... but this was all in the spring. Jace could have a girlfriend by then and may want her wearing his jersey. It wasn't something she had to think about now. Any feelings that Jace may have been holding onto will be gone by then anyway, it was only a matter of time.

Jace watched her retreating back as she headed inside her house. Her hair was down to the center of her back; it was such a sun-kissed blonde from the days they had spent at the beach. Summer was over again, his time with Cammie was running short. So much had changed sense this time last year. He tried hard not to think of her as anything more than friend. He didn't want it to get between them and he didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want her to know how he felt. He had told her to after Zach, he had known that it was the right thing to do. It would just have been a matter of time before their relationship would have broken their friendship. It was better this way. He didn't have to lose her this way.

It was exactly one year ago today that Cammie was getting ready for junior year and begging for something interesting to happen, just before her whole life blew up in her face and she was tossed down a water slide of emotions. But today, exactly one year later. Cammie was praying that this year of school be anything but interesting.

A/N- HELLO MY BEAUTIFUL GORGEOUS, AMAZING, STUNNING, BREATHTAKING READERS!

TO THOSE WHO KNOW MY STORIES AND ME: WELCOME BACK! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS FIRST CHAPTER?

TO THE NEW READERS: SIMPLY WELCOME!

I WANT TO REMIND YOU ALL THAT THIS IS A SEQUEL TO ANOTHER STORY OF MINE (LOVE LETTERS) AND SO IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND SOMETHING THEN THAT IS PROBABALY WHY. I WOULD SUGGEST THAT OU GO AND READ THE FIRST STORY (ITS NOT THAT BAD) BEFORE CONTINUING WITH THIS ONE, BUT IF YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO JUST HOP ON THIS DRAMA TRAIN AND WORK THINGS OUT AS YOU GO, NOTHING SHOULD BE TOO COMPLICATED.

THIS CHAPTER IS A LITTLE… WEAK I GUESS BUT PLEASE TELL ME WHAT Y'ALL THINK! I NEED YOUR FEEDBACK!

PERSONALLY I'LL ADMIT IT'S NOT MY BEST WORK, BUT THINGS WILL PICK UP WITH IN THE NEXT CHAPTER OR SO!

THE REASON THIS IS SO LATE:

I'M VERY SORRY THAT THIS SEQUEL IS UP LATER THAN PROMISED. IT IS BECAUSE IT HAS SO MANY FIRST DRAFTS I'VE LOST MY MIND! AS YOU CAN PROBABLY TELL THIS IS NOT THE AIRMAIL YOU GUYS GOT THE SUMMARY FOR.

THE REASON FOR THAT IS BECAUSE THE VOTING WAS ROUGHLY EVEN AND SO I DECIDED (WITH THE HELP OF FANGIRLY662 AND EATSLEEPREADWRITEREPEAT) THAT I WOULD IN A WAY COMBINE THE TWO STORIES. CAMMIE'S PEN PAL IS IN FACT FROM ENGLAND AND THERE WILL BE A TRIP TO ENGLAND IN THISE STORY ;) BUT THERE WILL ALSO BE SOME LOCAL SCHOOL RIVALRIES! WHOOP! ANY QESTIONS JUST REVIEW OR PM ME!

BASICALLY THOUG I WROTE A CHAPTER FOR EACH OF THE SEQUEL POSSIBILITIES AND THEN DIDN'T REALLY GO WITH EITHER OF THEM HAHA AND HAD TO WHIPE THIS LITTLE GUY UP.

STILL DON'T KNOW WHETHER IT'S A YAH OR NAH CHAPTER AND REALLY I SHOULD BE DOING HOMEWORK BUT OH WELL I HOPE YOU ALL FIND THIS LITTLE GEM ON A MONDAY NIGHT TO MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER! :)

SINCERELY

-LOVEWORDS