All right, all right, I'm going to try and keep up with this story. Thanks for reviewing, Nicky Haugh, Pokemon FTW, Izaya Orihara 101101, Bloodylilcorpse, What'dIMiss and The Phenomenal Flair.

A few more weeks passed, and the summer holidays arrived. Mike and Zoey were graduating from high school, while the twins had finished semester year, and were worrying about their exam results.

Amy made out she wasn't bothered. "All I need to do is pass a few papers." she shrugged. "It's not like failing anything will stop me from being popular. Or from cheerleading. Besides," she added, nudging Sammy, "From all the work you did, I'd say we probably both got good marks. Or, at least, I did and you made dumb mistakes from working for two, huh?"

Sammy shrugged. "That's if you remembered anything." she countered. "At least I did the studying myself, and if I remember, the thing you remember the most of is the stuff you teach. You learn more from what you teach and write than what you read and hear. Let's compare our marks when we get them. I bet mine will be better."

In reality, Sammy was stressed about what marks she would get. She knew that logically, all the time she'd spent studying for both herself and Amy would probably pay off, but she'd been so nervous in exams that she feared she had made a lot of silly mistakes, wrong answers to easy questions that she could have easily gotten right without studying.

Since it was the holidays and Sammy's two friends had finished school, they had already started making plans for moving in together. They both applied to all the same universities (Zoey was planning to major in recreational therapy and minor in music, and Mike wanted to devote all his courses to one thing – film technicals, like directing, casting and producing), and looked at houses together in their spare time. Sometimes, they asked Cameron or Sammy for their opinions. And, each day Sammy spent with them, she started to notice those pangs in her emotions happening more and more. At first, it was only when she noticed little moments between the couples. She'd look at Mike and Zoey's entwined hands, or they'd be laughing about something together, or they'd just look at each other and smile, so in sync. But the moment would pass and Sammy would forget it. But by the end of June, it seemed to happen every time she hung out with both of them. It didn't matter if Amy had come along, if Amy was invited, or if it was one of the few times when Jasmine had some spare time and joined them. Sammy would always feel like something was off. No one else seemed to have that feeling except her. She didn't know what it was. She knew it was connected to Mike and Zoey's relationship somehow, but she wasn't sure what it was.

"All I can really compare it to is," she thought to herself, "The way it sometimes felt when I fluffed a move in cheerleading just after or before Amy aced the same move. But even then, it's not the same. I don't feel like a loser – and when that happened, I didn't feel like I was left out when I wasn't. But this time, I do. I don't get it."

It was Jasmine who helped her figure it out. While the twins were still in sophomore year, the youngest of the sixteen-year-olds in Pahkitew Island, Jasmine had been almost seventeen and when it came to affairs like this that didn't involve her, she was surprisingly wise and perceptive. Although she and Sammy didn't see each other often enough to talk constantly, the few times she hung out with the little group, she sometimes caught that expression on Sammy's face. The one she got whenever she felt those pangs inside.

So one day early in July, when Jasmine's now successful flower shop/still woefully underused cage fighting school was closed, Jasmine asked Sammy over, and they talked.

After the first few minutes of small talk, Jasmine said "So, you remember the last time we hung out with the old contestants?"

"Yes." Sammy replied, confused. "Why? I thought you liked them."

"It's not about that." Jasmine reassured her. "Of course I like them. They're all awesome people. And...well, Mike's really the nicest guy you could find, isn't he?"

Sammy couldn't help it. She blushed, and Jasmine caught it. "I thought so." the taller girl said triumphantly. "I thought that was the case."

"What?" Sammy asked. "I don't really get it."

Jasmine gave a sigh. "Girl, are you sure you don't get it? Or are you just denying it to yourself? I know that look. It's the way Shawn looked at me when we first started dating. Like it wasn't real."

Sammy blinked. "You're saying...you're saying that you think I have a thing for Mike? I don't! We're just friends!"

Jasmine shrugged. "Like I said, denial. I know you don't want to face this. And I have a good idea, why, too. I think you do want to date Mike, but your subconscious refuses to let your conscious mind know, because you know that in order to make that happen, he and Zoey would have to break up first."

"Like that's ever going to happen." Sammy admitted with a frown. "They're the perfect couple."

"That's my point." Jasmine said. "Whenever they're together, you look at them with this sort of...combination of jealousy and affection. I didn't know what it was at first, but I started to get it after a while. Come on, Sammy, haven't you ever looked at Zoey and started wishing that you were her?"

Sammy paused, thinking. "I...I guess sometimes." she admitted in a whisper. "But it wasn't like it was only because of Mike. Zoey seems to have it all. She's pretty, she's smart, she's athletic, she's confident...and, well, she's in a stable relationship." She thought about it again, and then her aqua eyes met Jasmine's. "Now that I let myself think about it," she said in a louder voice, "You might be right. Maybe I do want Mike. He's everything I like in a guy – smart but sometimes goofy, kind and friendly and handsome, makes me feel like it's okay to be me, never judges me...but that doesn't matter. He already has Zoey. He doesn't need me to pine away for him. We're friends, and that's how it's going to stay."

And that night, when Zoey texted Sammy, she got a message that was going to be the one thing that would help her make up her mind. Zoey wrote: Up for a girls' spa day tomorrow? Around ten thirty?

Sammy texted back Sure. Just us, though – and Amy's taking our car, so I'll have to be picked up.

She resolved to work things out for herself that day. It would be just her and Zoey tomorrow, so she could finally fix up her feelings and try to work out whether she could keep her friendship with Mike while crushing on him, and not lose her friendship with Zoey.

Poor Sammy! Now that her feelings are growing, she'll also feel jealous of Zoey. Whether this will strain their friendship may depend on how good she is at hiding it and ignoring it. Hope you didn't mind this chapter being a bit slow.