A:N// Ugh. Here's the thing, I love you guys too much to make you go through a date without an update, especially when I promised you one. But due to some major stomach-ache last night I was incapable of focusing on where I wanted my next chapter to go. And then earlier today I got sick with a massive migraine and I'm very tired. I'm sick. But I love you guys so much and you're reviews have really made me want to give you something. So here's the deal, I'm giving you a chapter then taking a very long nap despite the fact that its nearly six at night. Hopefully I'll feel better enough to give you guys one more before I hit the sack.

I couldn't believe that I had slept through my entire Sunday morning practice. In the three years that I had been on the varsity soccer team I had never missed a practice and was extremely upset as to why I had missed one now.

I could only imagine the type of rumors that would begin to circulate after people found out about how I had missed practice. Of course, it would be the type of news that people gasped about when they heard it. I was Callie Scott for crying out loud and I never missed practice. Well, up until this point in time.

Then I knew there was going to be a bunch of talk about how I had actually been to a party last night. Even though I had not consumed any alcohol, I knew that people would probably still talk and say that I had.

Oh and how could I forget the visit from Reid last night? If anyone had seen him leave my room I knew that was enough for people to start shit about me sleeping with him and whatnot. Which, I hadn't even done!

I groaned and let my head drop back onto the pillow as I looked over at my alarm clock that was screaming at me that I had missed practice. I was screwed.

Carmen barged into my room as soon as I had finished getting ready for the rest of my day.

She fell onto my bed, still in her soccer practice get up and she looked at me with wide eyes. I could see that she was already in confusion and disbelief. "Where were you!?" She exclaimed and threw her hands up into the air.

I groaned and fell onto my bed beside her. "I don't know what happened! I always set my alarm but the only explanation I can think of is that in everything that happened last night I might have forgotten," I tried.

She sighed. "Coach was pissed," she warned me.

I let my head fall back onto my pillow and I groaned again. "I can't believe I missed practice," I mumbled under my breath.

Carmen sighed and scooted back on my bed so that her back was against the wall. "Reid was looking for you at the party last night," Carmen said and I didn't have to open my eyes to know that there was a look of coyness on her face.

"Oh," I said.

"Then it was strange because he left and I'm thinking that Kate and Sarah told him you were back at the dorms and I'm also thinking that he went back to find you," she said and I could tell that she was amused but was also trying to uncover what mystery I might have.

I kept my eyes shut, afraid that if I were to open them that she might be able to see through what lies I might throw out at her.

She laughed. "Oh my god he did come find you!" She was enjoying this too much. She turned so that she was facing me. "What did he say?"

I opened my eyes and sat up quickly. "Nothing," I said.

Carmen scoffed. "Callie you can't lie to me. What's going on with you two?" She raised her eyebrows.

"What's going on is nothing," I said and made sure that my annoyance was made clear in my tone.

"Callie I'm not sure if you're blind or what because even Sarah and Kate can tell that Reid has a thing for you," she pointed out and I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Okay let me break it down for you," she began. "Reid doesn't take girls to parties and not sleep with them in the same night. Reid doesn't go around looking for a girl that he took to a party when there are plenty of other girls at the party. And Reid sure as hell doesn't leave a raging party like that one in order to go back to the dorms to find said girl." She looked at me and I could tell that I was already defeated.

"Alright fine," I said quickly.

She grinned and waited for me to spill.

"So he just came to my dorm last night and he just said some things then he sort of…kissed me," I said weakly and waited to see what Carmen said.

Her mouth dropped and she didn't say anything. "And then what happened?" she finally said.

I hesitated. I wasn't too sure if I was keen with the idea of letting Carmen know that I had kissed Reid back in full throttle. My mind had been messed up that night; I was sure of it.

"Oh. My. God." She said letting the words space evenly. "You totally kissed him back." I felt like I was at some cheap sleep-over movie where Carmen was the gossip queen that was getting exactly what she wanted.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands. "I don't know what I was thinking," I blurted out.

"I do," Carmen said with a smug look on her face. "You like him and that's the end of it."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Carmen," I began. "I can't like Reid."

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because he's Reid!" I exclaimed.

"So?"

"In case you haven't noticed Reid isn't the type of guy who has real girlfriends and not to mention the fact that I have no time for a boyfriend even if I did like him," I said quickly and took a breath when I was done talking.

Carmen pointed a knowing finger at me. "Yes, well in case you haven't noticed Reid did have a steady girlfriend at one point so you can't say that he isn't capable of having one."

I was stuck. Carmen had a point but who was to say that Reid could still be that guy? From what I saw from him I didn't believe that he was capable of it. And yet there was still the variable of my soccer team.

"You love him and you know it," she said in a sing-song voice and I just shook my head.

"I have soccer and therefore no time for a boyfriend," I said lightly and looked up at the ceiling.

Carmen rolled her eyes at me. "Come on," she said getting up from my bed.

I raised my eyebrows and looked at her expectantly. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to the Dells with everyone just to hang out for a while then we're going to Nicky's," she explained.

"Everyone meaning?" I raised my eyebrows at her.

She smirked. "Sarah, Caleb, Kate, Pogue, Tyler, Samantha, and Reid," she explained.

I groaned. "I don't think seeing Reid is a very smart idea," I pointed out.

"Why not?" she asked and I could tell she was playing dumb.

"Because it's going to be awkward," I said bluntly.

Carmen shrugged. "Only if you make it awkward."

"It's alright. You guys can go without me and I'll just meet you at Nicky's." I knew that at Nicky's there were far more people and it would be easier to avoid Reid. I didn't even know why I was going to be avoiding him but I wasn't sure what I would say to him if I saw him.

"No," she said firmly and grabbed me up from my bed. "You're coming with us and that's final." She tossed my Ipswich hoodie at me and opened my door, waiting for me to follow her.

"I hate you," I said.

"That's what you keep saying but I know it's just because you love me," she said with a grin and I rolled my eyes.

We arrived at the Dells and could see that the guys had started a little fire for everyone to sit around. I was glad that Carmen had tossed my hoodie to me or else I would have been too stubborn to have grabbed it myself.

"Hey you guys," Kate said with a grin. She was snuggled up to Pogue and the couple was sitting in front of the fire.

"Hey," Carmen and I both said at the same time.

Reid and Tyler were laughing and talking to one another. I knew that he knew I was there and it bothered me that he wasn't even talking to me. Why it bothered me just made me even more upset.

Carmen and I sat down around the fire and I was across from Reid who was on the other side. I was glad for that but then realized that meant he might be looking at me a lot, or the other way around.

"So why did you miss practice this morning?" Sarah asked me and everyone else seemed to look at me, waiting for the very wanted explanation.

I shrugged and tried to act like it wasn't a big deal but I knew that everyone could see right through my charade. "I guess I just forgot to set my alarm or something," I said with a shrug. "My mind was just preoccupied with a lot of stuff." At least that wasn't a total lie.

Kate raised her eyebrows. "Like what?" she asked. I wondered if she knew something had happened between Reid and I last night because I knew that Reid had talked to Kate and Sarah in order to find where I had gone off to.

I shrugged and acted nonchalant despite myself. "Just the whole thing with Leah, Dee, and James that happened last night was sort of weird," I admitted.

She nodded but I could tell that she wasn't completely buying my story.

"Oh yeah," Sarah began and looked over at Reid then back to me. "Reid was looking for you last night. Did he ever find you?" she asked and I could see that Reid was listening despite the fact that he was giving the illusion that he was still talking to Tyler.

I shrugged. "Nope," I lied. "After I got back to the dorms I read for a while but then I just crashed." It was another lie but I wasn't going to be the one to announce that Reid had found me but it had not been talking that he had wanted to do.

"Reid," Sarah began and he looked over at her. "Why did you want to find Callie the other night?" she asked and even Tyler looked at him strangely.

Reid looked over at me but was still talking to Sarah. "I just wanted to make sure she didn't forget that she had promised to help me in math," he said.

I had to admit that I was surprised that he wasn't announcing what had really happened the other night.

But I was also in shock for him mentioning that. I had forgotten about our deal and that put me in a difficult situation. I knew that for missing my practice this morning that I would have to really give my practice my all and with that said I wasn't sure if I was going to have the energy to tutor Reid.

"Right," I said and nodded my head.

Carmen raised her eyebrows at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Let's go for a walk," Kate suggested.

Caleb and Sarah got up and nodded their heads.

"That sounds good to me," Caleb said and I realized I had not heard him talk much over the past few days.

Kate and Pogue got up and began walking while Tyler and Samantha just looked at one another.

"You guys coming?" Pogue called from over his shoulder and I shook my head like I had forgotten that they had suggested the whole idea.

"Sure," I said and got up from where I had been sitting on the sand.

Carmen, Tyler and Samantha all got up but Reid just sat there for a minute.

"Are you coming?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow.

He stuck his hand out. "Help me up," he ordered.

I rolled my eyes and helped pull him up. But he had pushed off the ground too much so with my pull and his push he came crashing into me, making me fall back a couple of steps with him still close.

Carmen cleared her throat and I pulled my hand out of Reid's and walked past him while Carmen caught up.

"What was that all about?" she whispered into my ear and I wondered how she might think there had been more to that unfortunate event when there really wasn't.

I looked at her strangely. "Nothing," I said.

She chuckled. "Right," she agreed but I knew she didn't believe me.

We walked for a few minutes and eventually Reid caught up to us. We walked and made small talk about when his next meet was and he asked Carmen and I when our next game was; which was on Tuesday by the way.

Then Carmen turned to me and said "I'm going to talk to Samantha for a few minutes."

And before I could say anything she was running ahead of us to talk to Tyler's new girl.

The silence between Reid and I wasn't too awkward, like I had anticipated it to be. But instead it was just a matter of time for both of us waiting for the other to say something.

Reid spoke up first. "So I didn't know you had it in you to actually miss a practice," he said.

I chuckled and shook my head. "It had not been on purpose," I pointed out.

He shrugged. "A lot of things on your mind?" I could see him looking at me from out of the corner of his eye.

I nodded but didn't say anything.

"Why didn't you say anything to them?" I asked finally.

He looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

"About the other night," I finished.

Reid shrugged again. "You didn't either."

I rolled my eyes. "But you're you and you would brag about that, especially if I was there."

Reid nodded his head. "Do you want me to tell them?" he raised his eyebrows at me.

I shook my head and tried to act a little more calm. "There's nothing to tell them about. I mean, we kissed. It's not like we like each other."

"How do you know I don't like you?" he asked.

I raised my eyebrows. "Do you?"

He shrugged. "I can't give away the big punch line."

I pursed my lips and folded my arms over my chest while we continued to walk. He was being impossible again only thing time he had made me intrigued into what he was talking about. There was the chance that he was just saying that to annoy me, like it was doing now. Or there was the chance that he really did like me and just didn't want to admit it. Either way, this wasn't going to be the good conversation like I had hoped it would be.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked finally.

Reid nodded his head. "Sure, but I'm not guaranteeing you that I'll answer," he said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "After your freshmen year did you ever consider the fact that not every girl is like her?" I didn't dare mention her name.

Reid didn't say anything and it was hard to tell if his body had tensed up under his jacket. "Yes," he answered finally but I could tell that it had been reluctantly.

"So why didn't you ever try having a real girlfriend again?" I knew I might be pushing my luck with the questions but I was going to keep asking until he snapped at me.

Reid chuckled. "Well you're full of questions," he said. "I'll tell you what," he began. "You can ask me questions but I get to ask you some back." He raised his eyebrows at me.

I didn't like the look he was giving me but I didn't have any other choice. I had to comply. "Fine," I said. "So answer the question."

"There was only one girl I considered having as my girlfriend but it just didn't really work out," he answered and I could tell that he wasn't lying.

"Why not?" I asked.

He looked over at me with his intense blue eyes. "She was preoccupied," he answered flatly.

"With what?" I could feel my questions getting shorter.

"A sport."

I took my eyes off of him and made my gaze go forward. I didn't want to know what sport he was talking about. I wasn't trying to sound conceited but I was afraid that he would say soccer and I wasn't sure what I would say if he told me that girl had been me. I wasn't for the whole 'confessing your undying love' type of thing. But I couldn't imagine that he was either.

Reid could either tell that I didn't have any more questions or he just took over and decided that it was his turn.

"When was the last time you went to a party?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Other than the other night," I pointed out. "Three years ago." I didn't mind answering that one as much. It was the details I was afraid of.

"Well aren't we the party pooper," he said with a grin and I rolled my eyes with a chuckle.

His fingers tapped on his chin and I could see that he was wearing his fingerless gloves again. "When was your last boyfriend?"

I shrugged. Another easy one minus all the details. "I never really had a boyfriend," I confessed.

He raised his eyebrows and a grin slowly emerged on his face. "So you're a virgin?" It sounded like he was stating a fact rather than asking.

"No," I said slowly.

I knew I had taken him by surprise on that one. But luckily he was smart enough not to ask me any more questions about that one. I wasn't sure what I would have done.

"Why is soccer so important to you?" he asked.

I paused while I thought about what I was going to say to him. "It keeps me busy," I answered truthfully.

Reid nodded and I was glad that he accepted my answer. "Busy from what?"

Awesome. It appeared that I had spoken too soon. "Doing stupid stuff," I confessed with a shrug.

"Were you different before you came to Spencer?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. If he asked for details like I thought he was I wasn't sure if I would tell him the truth or not.

"What were you like?"

I shrugged. "Different. But let's just say that I changed for the better," I pointed out and made it clear that I would not be answering anymore questions.

He put up his hands in defense and shrugged. "Alright I guess I'm done asking questions," he said.

I smiled and nodded. "Damn right you are," I said with a mocking firm tone.

"Alright I'm done with all this walking on the beach shit," he began and he was back to the Reid that I had known a few days ago. "Let's go to Nicky's and I can kick your ass at pool again."

A:N// This took me a little longer than I had anticipated but oh well.

Here's a question to see what should happen in the next chapter. Please answer!!

What should happen with Callie and Reid?

Hook-up (no sex…yet!)

Reid defends her from Dee who attacks her (verbally of course)

They spend the night in the same bed but don't do anything.