Chapter 2

~Cammie's POV~

"We're moving to Virginia."

My mother's words kept replaying themselves over and over again through my mind as I stuffed every piece of clothing I could find into two large suitcases. After dinner last night, my mom and Phil had sat me down and told me that Phil had taken a job in Virginia, and that moving there for my senior year would be a good fresh start for me.

Wrong.

I reacted as any hormone-driven teenage girl would under the circumstances. I yelled, I screamed, I cried, and I even thanked them both for ruining my life once or twice. And when I finally calmed down enough, I told my mom that it might actually benefit me to drop everything and move across the country to start school in some strange little town where I know no one.

She said my sarcasm was noted.

And that was the end of that conversation. So here I am, packing up every single item I own and trying my best not to beat Phil's face in with a fire poker every time he tells me to "hurry my ass up."

"Almost ready, sweetheart?" I heard my mother ask from behind me for about the seven billionth time that hour.

I glanced at her once before turning back to what I was doing. "I guess."

"That's good."

"Yep."

She sighed and made her way over to my bed. "Look, Cam, I don't want you to be mad at me."

"Little late for that I'm afraid." I answered curtly, brushing past her to get to my closet.

""I know that this seems a little crazy, but I need you to have a positive attitude about the whole thing, okay?"

"Will do." I muttered.

She looked at me, unconvinced. "I'll see you downstairs, Cameron."

"Yep."

And that was the end of that conversation.

~Zach's POV~

"Zach, get up!" I heard Grant's familiar voice.

"Five more minutes." I muttered, rolling onto my side.

"Seriously, get up you lazy ass."

"Shut up, Grant." I replied, grabbing a pillow and wrapping it around my head in an attempt to block out the sound of his voice.

"Wow, even in your sleep your mean." He pouted.

I rolled my eyes and forced myself to sit up and face my best friend. As soon as I did this though, my head began to throb rapidly as if someone had just hit me over the head with a hammer.

"Jesus Christ, how much did I have to drink last night?" I muttered, rubbing my temples.

Grant laughed. "Do you really want to know the answer to that question?"

I glanced at him, my eyebrows raised. "That bad, huh?"

He nodded. "Not to mention the fact that you insisted on grinding against every single girl at the party, besides your girlfriend."

I tried not to smile. "Really?"

"Yeah, Tina got super pissed. She stormed out of the party muttering something about cutting your balls off with hedge clippers I think." he replied.

I laughed. "Well, I guess we all know where that relationship is heading..."

He shrugged. "Better sooner than later, my friend."

"I guess you're right. I guess you've been right all along."

He looked at me. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know exactly when I realized this, but I was dating Tina just to get over Macey." I replied, studying the gray carpet that covered the floors of my bedroom.

"You still miss her?" he asked quietly.

I nodded, swallowing hard. "A lot."

He took a seat on the foot of my bed. "What even happened between you two, Zach?"

I glanced at the ceiling. "I never told you, did I?"

"You never told anyone." he replied.

I rubbed my forehead as the pounding in my head began to intensify. "I guess I was too embarrassed."

He shot me a confused look. "Why would you be embarrassed?"

"Because Macey cheated on me, Grant. That's why."

~Cammie's POV~

"Are we there yet?" I whined from the backseat of my mom's minivan.

"Stop acting like a two-year old, Cammie." My mother replied in an exasperated tone as Phil rolled his eyes from the driver's seat.

"Well honestly, how long does it take to get from Florida to freaking Virginia?" I snapped.

"Twelve hours, Cameron we've been over this."

I rolled my eyes. "Can we at least stop at McDonalds, or something?"

"No." Phil answered, shooting me a glare through the review mirror.

"If we don't, I swear to the high heavens I will sing camp songs for the next five hours in this car. You choose, Phil." I threatened, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"You're bluffing." he replied as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

"This isn't poker, you moron. Of course I'm not bluffing."

"We are not stopping." he said, as if that was the end of the discussion.

"Fine then." I said, clearing my throat. "99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer! You take one down, pass it around, 99 bottles of beer on the wall! 98 bottles of beer on the wall, 98 bottles of beer! You take one down pass it around-"

"Stop it." he warned.

"There are 97 more verses to that song my friend. If you want, I also know several variations of 12 Days of Camp and the Beaver Call." I said, my eyebrows raised.

"Oh dear lord." he mumbled.

"Just stop at McDonalds, Phil. If it will get her to shut up." my mother grumbled, slumping against her headrest.

"Fine, whatever. Just no Baracuda Call, or whatever." he snapped at me as he turned the car off the highway.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "It's Beaver Call, Phil, not Baracuda Call. That's not even a real thing."

"I deeply apologize for mixing up those two, but it's not exactly at the top of my to-do list to remember these things." he answered in a sarcastic voice.

"You, my friend, are a lost cause." I said as we pulled up to the drive thru. He ignored my comment as we entered the McDonald's parking lot.

"What do you want?" he asked my mother and I as we came up to the little ordering machine.

"A Big Mac, a large fry, and a large Coke." I answered immediately.

He raised an eyebrow at me before relaying my order out the window. "And you, Rach?" he asked, turning to my mother.

"Just a chicken snack wrap, please." she answered, rubbing her temples.

"Headache, mom?" I asked as Phil pulled up to the next window and handed money to the cashier.

"Migraine, more like it." she replied quietly, closing her eyes and leaning her head against the window.

"Oh." I said, feeling slightly guilty for making such a racket before.

"Yeah."

"Here's your food." Phil said, tossing a bag into the backseat. "Now shut up for the rest of the ride, or so help me god I will make you walk the rest of the way to Roseville."

I wrinkled my nose. "Roseville? Is that the town we're going to?"

My mother nodded, taking a bite of her snack wrap. "It's a cute little town, Cammie, you're going to love it there."

Phil nodded. "And they have one of the top high schools in the country, Roseville High."

I nodded slowly, taking in this new information. "Interesting."

~Zach's POV~

The room was silent.

I sat cross-legged on my bed, my hands folded in front of me, waiting for Grant to move or say something, but he just looked at me. I know he was trying to hide the fact that he felt sorry for me, but I could see it in his eyes.

"Grant." I said his name, and it was like he was suddenly brought back to life.

His gaze met mine. "Why didn't you tell me? I'm your best friend, Zach. You can tell me anything." he said, his voice cracking.

His words sent shivers up my spine. "I couldn't tell anyone, Grant. I didn't even know how to handle it myself."

He looked down and took a deep breath. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

I was surprised at his question. No one had ever asked me to talk about anything before. And even though I had this chance to put it all on the line, and to get it all off my chest, I still found myself wishing I hadn't said anything at all.

I shook my head. "I'm kinda scared of talking about it, to be completely honest."

"You don't have to say anything to me." he answered, looking at me straight on.

I gave him a small smile. "Thank you."

He smiled back. "When you're ready to talk, I'll hear what you have to say."

"The time will come, Newman." I said as I folded my hands behind my head and leaned back against my wooden headboard.

He laughed. "Well until then, what do you wanna do, because we still have twelve hours till the sun goes down, and I don't plan on spending it here." he announced, his face brightening up.

I laughed with him. "Basketball?" I suggested, pushing myself off my bed.

He nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"Cool, just let me get dressed, ok?"

He nodded, turning towards the hallway. "I'm gonna take a piss, I'll meet you downstairs."

"Alright." I replied, shutting my door behind him and stripping off my pajamas.

I pulled out a Marine Core t-shirt my brother had got me for Christmas last year and a pair of navy blue basketball shorts. I was just about to head downstairs, when I remembered that I had stuffed my phone in the top drawer of my dresser last night.

"C'mon, Zach! I don't have all the livelong day!" Grant called up the staircase.

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up! I'll be down in a minute, I have to grab my phone!"

He grumbled something unintelligent as I made my way over to the dresser and flung open the top drawer. I began tossing things behind me in an effort to locate my phone, when my hands landed on something that felt strangely familiar.

"Oh, shit." I mumbled to myself as I lifted the object out of the drawer.

It was a picture of Macey and I. In fact, it was the last picture I had of us, and the only one I refused to throw away. Even though part of me hated her for what she put me through, another part of me still loves her, which makes me wonder if my feeling for her will ever actually go away.

I sighed deeply and forced myself to look at the picture, against my better judgement.

We were standing under the old maple tree that was located on the hill right behind Roseville Beach. My arms were wrapped around her waist and we were both laughing at something, but I don't remember what it was. She was wearing my old Stanford hoodie and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

I remember that day was the day I told her I loved her.

"Zach?"

My heart jumped and I turned around to find Grant standing in my doorway, an eyebrow raised. He glanced at the picture in my hands, and his expression softened immediately.

"I was just looking for my phone." I choked out quickly in an attempt to defend myself.

He shot me a sympathetic smile and took a step forward. "Can I see?" he asked, motioning towards the picture.

I looked down at the photograph once more before handing it over to my best friend. A smile spread across his face as he recognized the picture.

"I took this, remember?" he said with a small laugh.

I swallowed a lump in my throat and nodded. "Probably the only good picture you took."

He smiled and shook his head. "You always have something to say about something, huh?"

I shrugged. "It's true."

He nodded, handing the picture back to me. "Put this back where it belongs."

I looked up at him. "Will do."

~Cammie's POV~

"Cam! Wake up, we're here!" my mother's excited voice woke me up.

I stirred in the backseat. "Really?"

"Yeah! Now come on and help us unpack!" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down.

I forced my eyes open and tried to unbuckle myself. "What time is it, anyways?"

"Almost eight." she answered before turning and making her way to the back of one of the moving trucks.

I tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes while simultaneously trying to get out the minivan without falling on my face. I yawned and stood to stretch my sore limbs. I scanned my surroundings, from the perfect green lawns, to the beautifully pink sky, and finally the castle that was my new house.

"Holy crap." I muttered, taking in every detail of the house.

It was an enormous brick house with a large circle driveway. There was fountain sitting in the front lawn and a three car garage attached the right side of the house.

"You just gonna stand there, kid?" I heard Phil ask as he passed me, his arms full of boxes.

I rolled my eyes and made my way back to the moving trucks, where my mother was quickly unloading multiple boxes at once. I hadn't seen her move this fast since the day they announced that the Snuggie was available in various animal prints. She dove for the phone before they could even read the number to call.

That was a good day.

"Cammie, you unload the boxes over there and carry them into the house, ok?" she said, disappearing around the corner.

I sighed and picked up a stack of boxes towards the front of the truck. I turned around and began walking towards the house, but I couldn't really see where I was going, so it wasn't much of a surprise when I felt the boxes collide with a human body.

"Shit!" I heard a deep voice.

The boxes hit the ground immediately, and so did I.

"Ouch." I muttered, rubbing my butt.

"I'm so sorry." I heard the deep voice again and looked up to see a shirtless dark-haired boy standing over me, his hand stretched out towards me.

"No it's my fault." I said, grabbing his hand and lifting myself off the ground.

"You should be more careful with those boxes." he replied with a smirk.

I smiled. "Thanks for the advice."

"So you're the new neighbor, huh?" he asked, his emerald-green eyes boring into me.

I nodded. "So you live around here?"

"Actually, you'll be glad to know that I live in that house, right there." he answered, pointing to the house directly next to ours.

I gasped because it was even bigger than ours. "Nice place."

He smirked at me. "You could say that."

"So since I'm new here, would you mind telling me your name?" I asked.

"Not at all." he said with a smirk. "I'm Zach Goode, and this is my best friend Grant Newman." he said, motioning towards a brunette boy standing off to the side.

"I'm Cammie Morgan." I replied with a smile.

"Nice name."

"You could say that." I said, mimicking his previous statement.

He laughed. "You're funny."

I blushed. "You have a cute laugh, you know that?"

Now it was his turn to blush. "I get that a lot, actually."

"Really?"

"No."

I giggled and glanced over my shoulder, where I could see Phil making his way back outside. I turned back to Zach and sighed.

"I have to be going now." I announced, swooping down to pick up the fallen boxes.

"I guess I'll see you around then, neighbor." he said.

I nodded. "Bye, Zach."

"Bye, Cammie."

I turned around and walked away. And that was that. And all the while I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, this won't be so bad afterall...

Ok so this chapter was kind of long, but I felt like I needed to make it good because I haven't updated in like a week. Good news is that I'll be updating a lot more often. Thanks for reading, there's more coming soon! Reviews are very much appreciated!(: