first day of summer(:

btw, now that i'm done my exams and shizz, updates will be a whooooole lot faster!

I hate Nikki Dalton. I hate Nikki Dalton with a passion. I hate Nikki Dalton with a burning passion. I detest her perfect, fat-free ass. I hate her.

I know that Claire, Olivia, Dylan and I got almost no sleep last night. Secrets and stress kept me up half the night, and judging from the tossing and turning and creaks and sighs from my friends' beds, I know they didn't either.

At breakfast that morning, we're all yawning into our OJ and Cheerios, while Nikki sips her tea, her eyes bright and wide awake. She waved casually to Josh's table when we entered that DH, but did Derrick even look at me? No. What is wrong with that boy? I'll have to talk to him.

"So, electives," Alicia says. "You choose two, and your choices are: sailing, drama, canoeing, basket ball, soccer, A&C, water sailing, archery, rock climbing, and hiking. Olivia?"

"Soccer and…" she bites her bottom lip. "You sure I can't do soccer as both of my electives?"

"No, you can't," Alicia sighs.

"Uh okay…soccer and…arts and crafts."

"'Kay," Alicia scribbles something down.

In the end, Dylan and I go with sailing and arts and crafts, Claire chooses sailing and canoeing and Nikki chooses sailing and rock climbing. I choose to ignore the fact that all the boys do rock climbing.

After breakfast is our first GS –General Swim- block. I smile as I change into my bikini –the first GS of last summer is when Derrick and I first started hanging out.

We all lay out our towels in the hot sand and Alicia and Claire immediately plop down. Dylan busily applies her SPF 75 –poor girl burns so quickly- and Olivia, Nikki and I scan the beach. When Danny Robbins comes into view, Olivia breaks out into a sunny smile and waves him over.

"Don't invite him over here!" Claire whispers.

"Why?" Olivia crinkles her golden brows. "I like him; I wanna hang out with him."

Claire winces and goes in the other direction to find Josh. When Danny gets to our set up, he immediately looks for Claire. "Hey," he gives me a big hug, then moves onto Olivia. "Where's Claire?"

"Off with Josh, her boyfriend," I emphasize, then notice Olivia looking down. Oh damn, guess that could be directed both ways.

Danny shuffles in the sand. An awkward silence falls over our group until Derrick runs up. "Hey," he grins at me. That's better –that's how boyfriends are supposed to act—

But then he turns around and grins at Nikki. "Hey! Ready to go in?"

Nikki smiles flirtatiously. "Sure thing! I need a buddy to go all the way in, right?" when he nods her grin widens. "Well then," she grabs his arm. "Let's go, buddy!"

The two of them wade into the lake, leaving me stunned. "Did that really just happen…?" Olivia's tiny pink mouth drops open slightly. Dylan quickly stands up from lounging on her towel, grabs my and Olivia's arms and drags us to the nearest shower house.

As soon as the door to the shower room is slammed shut and locked, I feel myself start to crumble. Trying to hold back the waterfall of tears I know is coming, I take three deep, shaky breaths. They don't work though.

I feel Olivia's thin arms wrap around me as I start to cry and I hear Dylan pacing angrily in front of us. I don't care how bad I look at the moment, with my mascara smudged and snot dripping from my nose. At least I was in private before starting to cry.

Finally, after I feel my head start to ache more than my heart, the tears stop. "You okay?" Olivia hands me a ball of toilet paper. I shake my head and wipe my eyes. "I'll get you some Advil after. Crying so hard probably hurt your head."

I nod my thanks. "I can't…believe that," my voice is scratchy and sore. "How could she…how could he do that?"

Olivia shakes her head sadly. "I dunno, Mass…that's just so…so…shitty of them!"

"Derrick's always been a bit of a player…" Dylan says. "Not as bad as Josh but…still a player. I thought maybe when he and Skye dated he'd changed. I guess I was wrong though."

"I'm not going to break up with him," I tell them. "Even if he has changed from last summer…I'm not letting Nikki win."

"Right," Dylan says. "And don't worry; Nikki's going to be very sorry."

Lunch is silent and awkard. Alicia ditched, claiming to be feeling sick, so she was back at the cabin lying down. Olivia pushed her fries around her plate, not eating (which is a first). Claire had taken a few bites of her chicken burger but then had thrown it out, claiming it tasted awful. Now she was checking her perfect nails for imperfections. Dylan kept glancing casually towards Landon's table, where he sat with the lifeguard, nurse and other headstaff. Even Nikki was silent. She kept her head down and ate. When she was done, she brought out that little book and started to scribble in it, making sure no one could read what was being written.

Claire's cell phone went off –blasting California Gurls by Katy Perry, it was practically Claire's theme song-, and she blushed and held up her iPod to those who looked over at us. Technically cell phones aren't allowed, but everyone sneaks them anyway.

danny: hey(: wanna hang during freetime?

She shows me the text, then glances across the table at Olivia, who –luckily- is preoccupied, glaring at Josh, who keeps winking over at her.

I scoot my chair back, ready to excuse myself –I seriously do not wanna deal with all of this- when I follow Dylan's gaze to Landon's table. The new lifeguard –a very blonde girl who's all boobs and butt- is leaning over the table –therefore, making her huge cleavage even deeper- and clearly flirting.

I nudge Dylan's foot with mine and shoot a pointed glance toward Landon. He's definitely not into, and surprisingly, his gorgeous eyes are on her face, not her boobs. Dylan lets out a relieved breath and smile-thanks me.

If my whole summer is going to be like this, I definitely would rather be back in Westchester, especially since I'm not even getting to talk to Derrick. "Nikki," I say. "Can I talk to you? Outside?"

She nods, stands up and follows me out of the Dining Hall. Once we're out in the open, fresh air, I feel slightly calmer. Still, I kinda wish I had said 'let's go for a hike!' because if we're in the mountains, I can push her off a cliff and no one would be around to hear her scream.

"Derrick is my boyfriend," I say. "So I'd appreciate it if you weren't all over him."

"He seems to be enjoying it," she grins coyly at me.

I'm just about ready to slap this bitch. "Look, there's lots of guys at this camp. Single ones! Like Cam! He's in Derrick's cabin and he's really cute! I don't want to hate you, I know how hard it is living in a cabin where everyone hates you! But you need to stay away from Derrick."

"Actually, I don't think I will. I happen to like Derrick somewhat. And seeing your reactions are so amusing. I can't wait to see your face when I actually make out with him!"

"You wont," I clench my jaw. "If you know what's good for you."

Nikki just giggles and shrugs. "We'll see what happens during free time tonight…Derrick's promised to take me on a hike. And if what Layne Abeley said is true, then that's where he first put the moves on you, too. Right?"

Deep breaths, Massie. Deep breaths. Yet, my deep breaths don't work. "Listen, bitch," I say. "Mess with me, or with my friends or boyfriend, and I will ruin you."

Nikki giggles. "Mass, in case you haven't noticed, your alpha grip is slipping. I don't think you can ruin me."

Then she goes back into the DH, leaving me speechless. Because I know it's true.

At lunch freetime, I finally get some alone time with Derrick. We're sitting on the porch, his arms around me. Even wrapped in a hug and wearing his hoody, I can't shake this chilled feeling I have. Maybe it's because of Nikki's and Derrick's hike tonight.

"Can you believe it's been a year?" he asks.

I shake my head. "Derrick…are you and Nikki going on a hike tonight?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"I don't want you to."

"She was right," he observes. "Nikki said you'd say something like that. Why are you all being so hard on her? Especially you, Mass. You know what it's like to be the new girl."

"Derrick, she keeps throwing herself at you! And you completely ignored and ditched me at the beach!"

"Well because Nikki doesn't have any friends from her cabin," he shoots me a pointed look, "I'm being her friend. If I remember correctly, that's how we met."

"And look at us now," I say. "We're dating. And I love you. If you treat her the way you treated me last year then…maybe you guys will be the way we are next year."

He's silent. He doesn't even protest, or convince me that nothing will tear us apart. "What's happening to us?" I whisper, blinking back tears. "Even just two weeks ago we were happy."

"Well I just don't think you're giving Nikki the benefit of the doubt," he releases me and stands up. "I should go."

"But there's still forty minutes of freetime left," I protest.

"I know, but I have to go. I'll see you later." He walks in the direction of his cabin.

"We've got to take her down," I hear Claire say behind me. I turn around to see Dylan, Claire and Olivia glaring at Derrick's retreating figure.

"Seriously," I nod and follow them into the cabin.

"Any plans?" Claire sits on her bed.

"That little book she's always writing in. Think it could be a diary?" I remember Nikki carrying it with her everywhere, even to the beach. "She brings it everywhere, almost like she's afraid someone will find it and look in it."

"Brilliant!" Dyan high-fives me. "She probably has tons of stuff perfect for us to use against her!"

"How do we get it?" Olivia wonders.

"One of us needs to fake friend her," Claire says. "Who would be most believable?"

We all glance towards Olivia, the most innocent of our group. She bites her lip and nods. "I'll tell her that we got in a fight over…something and then just make her believe she's my new bestie."

"Then you can find out where her diary goes while she sleeps and we'll take it. Then it's hasta la vista bitch! She can kiss her social life goodbye!" I finish.

"And don't talk to us," Claire adds. "Except in private."

Dylan grins and puts her hand out. Claire's manicured hand, Olivia's tiny hand and my tanned hand quickly follow.

Dylan's grin can only be described as wicked. And in that moment, I'm truly glad I'm on this side of the fight –hopefully the winning side.

"Let's rock this bitch."