Edited: 8/16/14

Edited A/N: Finally got around to doing this. School is back. Kill me.

Dawn's spoon fell from her open mouth as she squealed. She reached across the booth, grabbing my hands in hers. "What did you just say?"

I blushed lightly, taking a spoonful of red velvet frozen yogurt in my mouth. I savored the sweet taste as it melted on my tongue before answering her. "I said Drew kissed me," I repeated for what seemed to be the millionth time. No one could seem to wrap it around their head.

Misty, Leaf, Dawn, and I had all met up at a frozen yogurt place called Lime Berry a few blocks from the school. We were seated in a white booth with white cushion at a white table. Everything in this place was white. Unless you count the colorful candies and fruits at the topping bar. Ah, the toppings were always the best.

However, watching the reactions of my friends was somehow even better. Dawn's eyes were huge and her head was held between her hands as if she couldn't believe it. Her smile was wide, though, so I knew she was happy for me. Leaf, on the other hand slapped her hand over her mouth with a rather girlish squeal and Misty, who was sitting next to me, wrapped an arm around me and shot me a wide smile.

"And you're the one who thought I was crazy when I talked about you and Drew being an item," Misty said smugly, popping a green gummy bear in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before singing, "You can't avoid true love!"

"It's not love," I said quickly. "We're technically not even dating yet."

"Oh, it'll happen," Leaf said with a wave of her hand. She shoved a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth. "This is great; the dance is going to be so much fun."

As soon as the words left Leaf's mouth, all of us noticed how Dawn's smile dropped and she swirled her spoon in her dessert.

"You've got to be joking," Misty said, eyebrows shooting up. "Paul still hasn't asked you?"

Dawn shook her head.

"What an idiot," Leaf breathed. "We all know Paul is slow but I didn't think he was this slow."

I saw Dawn's face as she nodded and I put a reassuring smile on my face. "Hey, guys are stupid. If he doesn't ask you in time, just ask him."

"I-I guess I could just pull him aside after the committee meeting tomorrow? I don't want to have to spend the afternoon with him if he rejects me," she sighed, looking at us for our input.

"Of course, that sounds like a good idea," Misty said, "but I don't think he'll reject you. It'll all work out."

Dawn's cheeks tinged pink and I hoped Paul wasn't a complete idiot for the sake of my best friend.

"Tomorrow's Thursday, so everything should work out when he says yes," I added, making sure not to say if.

The rest of the afternoon was spent talking about how we would put the finishing touches on the gym that had been completely transformed. And of course, some boy talk was added into the mix of conversation. It shocked me when I checked my phone and saw it was practically seven. We'd been talking for three hours.

I took my leave, sending a wave over my shoulder and tossing my empty cup on the way out of the small yogurt place. Stepping outside, a breeze of warm air hit my face and instantly thawed my cold fingers from grasping my cup for too long. The slight heat was nice. It wasn't the sticky humid heat, which was a plus. It was the perfect weather to sit outside and just... write. Be creative. Maybe I would do that when I got home.

Reaching the street a block from my own, I looked both ways (of course) and crossed the road. I walked the short distance to my driveway and noticed something different about my house. I almost screamed when seeing the fourteen-year-old boy (almost fifteen) sitting on the porch, a book in his hands, pen underlining and writing notes in the margins no doubt.

"Max!" I exclaimed, running up to take my little brother in my arms. I kissed his cheek and was satisfied when he didn't pull away, but instead continued to hold on to me. I pushed him back, holding him arm's length and observing him. He looked so much older. And he was still growing. "When did you get so tall?"

He laughed, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. Last time I saw him, he barely grazed my chin. Now, I was the one who reached his chin.

"Hey, sis. And just to remind you, I'm not that tall. You're just short," he said, ignoring the way my eyes narrowed at the comment. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and we walked into the house. I missed my little brother so much.

"What are you doing here anyway?" I asked, taking a seat on the couch in the living room. Max sat on the other side, leaning back and pulling out the book he was writing in earlier. He opened it, continuing to mark things and write notes. I almost rolled my eyes.

"Well, since you've started this whole double life thing I wanted to see if you were actually pulling it off. Mom wasn't exactly against it either. She never did like the idea of me being away from home all the time," he explained, glancing up at me.

"You were eleven when you first started going to your stupid boarding school for smart people, of course she was against it. And for your information, bro, the double life thing is going pretty good so far. I've actually made friends and, uh, other people who have become really important to me," I said, averting my gaze from my brother and playing with the ends of my hair.

"No way; you actually have a boyfriend? What a plot twist," Max muttered to himself.

I leaned over the couch to punch his shoulder. "Shut up. He's not even my boyfriend."

"Oh, okay. Sure. I just can't wait until Dad finds out about him," he laughed. "And since Dad isn't here, maybe I should be like his undercover spy and make sure this guy is actually a gentleman and not a dick."

"I mean, he is kind of a dick so don't be too surprised," I said under my breath. Max raised his eyebrows.

"Does he know about everything?"

Suddenly my fingers were very interesting and my gaze remained on them. "No."

Max shifted on the couch, closing his book. "I don't want to be a downer but I just want you to remember you're going to have to leave in a couple months, May. It's your choice on whether or not you want to get close to so many people, but you need to keep in mind how this is going to end. You're going to have to keep this hidden when you go home and it'll almost be like this never happened. Are you ready for that?"

I sighed. "At times I forget. But, it's the first time I've had friends like this and I don't want to let it go to waste, even if it is selfish. And, hey, why am I getting a lecture from my little brother? Get lost, brat," I laughed.

"I'm the brat? You're so irritating. Like a bug," Max commented, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. I narrowed my eyes, ready to fight the kid when suddenly two hands were pushing us apart.

"Pizza?" Mom asked, a familiar smile on her face.

Me and Max stared at each other, before jumping off the couch trying to get to the pizza first and claim most of the slices.

The next morning began just like any other morning. Except today when I met at the steps with my friends, I couldn't help the nervousness I felt when looking at Drew. He appeared the same as usual, hands in his pockets, a gentle smirk pulling at his lips when someone said something funny, looking completely effortless and, lack of a better word, somewhat perfect. And it irritated the hell out of me. How come he could act so normal when we had kissed?

It was like Drew had sensed what I was thinking because at that moment he looked at me, his eyes flickering with mischief. His tongue poked out between his lips and I could tell he was trying to hold back a laugh. Unable to resist, a blush crept up the back of my neck and I glared at him. He began walking towards me, murmuring, "Do you have a fever? You seem a little flushed," in my ear before continuing on his way to class. My jaw dropped, the blush spreading on my cheeks. I was so caught up in what was going on, I didn't notice my friends giggling and handing each other money.

Leaf took the money out of Ash's hand with a proud smile. "Told you they'd get together before the dance."

Art had been normal. Other than the fact I finally knew what I was going to do for my project. Music. I couldn't believe I forgot that music was a form of art and, honestly, music is what inspires me most in life. So, I planned on writing a song. I'd been writing a couple since I'd been here, but none of them felt right. Which meant most of the time I was doodled on a piece of notebook paper during class. However, sometimes lyrics would pop into my head whether it be two lines or two words.

But I couldn't deny the feeling of wanting to go to chemistry. Drew and I had most of our project done, our final step being to actually make the soap. Everything else was finished. And since we were so ahead, Professor Oak said on days he gives us time to work on the project (Which is hardly ever. The only reason he gives us days is because he knows almost everybody in the class will put it off until the last week of the semester before doing it.) we're allowed to work on things from other classes and, basically, do whatever we want.

Today was on of those rare days.

While Drew and I were sitting at our table in the classroom, working on math, I felt my eyelids continually droop. Sleepiness kicked in during math.

"Why are you so tired? Did you stay up all night thinking about me?" Drew asked, not looking up from the paper he was working on.

"Obviously. Because it's what I do every night," I replied, the sarcasm dripping from my voice.

He looked up, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "I knew it. I mean, I think of you almost every night too."

I was not expecting that. I felt my entire face flush, mouth dropping open. Was he actually being serious? No way.

Drew laughed, focusing on the paper in front of him again. "That was the exact reaction I was looking for. You're so predictable."

I knew it. He's such an obnoxious jerk.

And that was what lead to the next forty-five minutes being spent in silence aside from the occasional noise from either bickering, asking a question, or commenting on something. By the time the bell rang, Drew was putting his notebook in his backpack and waiting for me at our table.

"Are you done being a jerk?" I asked lightly, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

He only laughed. "Come on, Miracle, I thought you knew me better than that."

I narrowed my eyes, walking towards Dawn's table where she was still cleaning up her area. "Of course. You'll always be a condescending dick."

"And you love it."

"Obviously."

When we got to Dawn, she was zipping up her backpack. "You guys can go on ahead of me. I need to talk to one of my teachers before free period but I'll meet you in the courtyard in a couple minutes." After that, she was out of the classroom.

I turned to Drew. "Shall we?"

"We shall."

And then Drew did something so smug and so Drew-like I was surprised it caught me off guard. He took my hand in his, pulling me to his side, all with that stupid smirk on his face. He knew what he was doing and he was enjoying my blushing face and he was enjoying how he knew I was enjoying this too. But I wouldn't admit it. Especially when we were walking down a crowded hallway where anyone could see us and assume. We weren't dating.

However, he took it a step further and laced his fingers with mine. By this time I could only stare at the ground in embarrassment as we continued to walk towards the courtyard.

"Are you going to let go of me in front of everyone?" I asked, a part of me hoping he would and another part hoping he wouldn't. Even if that meant facing the wrath and never ending questions of our friends.

"Do you want me to?" he asked, his thumb brushing against the back of my hand.

"N-Not exactly."

He didn't reply but I saw that teasing and affectionate smile pulling at his lips from the corner of my eyes.

We walked like that the rest of the way until we were sat at one of the stone table in the courtyard. The sun was shining brightly, the leaves blocking it from our eyes. It really was a beautiful place. We sat across from each other when suddenly a sinking feeling began in my chest. I chewed on my lower lip in thought.

"I don't want to be a downer but I just want you to remember you're going to have to leave in a couple months, May. It's your choice on whether or not you want to get close to so many people, but you need to keep in mind how this is going to end. You're going to have to keep this hidden when you go home and it'll almost be like this never happened. Are you ready for that?"

This is going to end.

It'll almost be like it never happened.

Am I ready for that? Can I be ready for that?

It really sucks when your little brother is smarter than you.

"What are you thinking-?"

"Drew," I said, cutting him off. My mouth was open but nothing would come out. What was I supposed to say? I knew I wanted to tell him-tell everyone-but I couldn't. Was I supposed to stand on the table when everyone got here and announce: "By the way, my name isn't May Miracle. It's actually May Maple. You know, the singer person? Yeah. That's me. I'm leaving in a couple months too, and I'll never talk to you again. But, really, the experience has been great. Later."

Of course I couldn't tell him. I couldn't tell any of them. Who knows if they'd even talk to me after they knew? They'd probably feel betrayed. I would.

I suppressed a groan of frustration and ignored Drew's eyes on me. They were curious and somewhat concerned.

"May?"

"What do we do when I move back home?" That's basically the same thing. Kind of. Maybe he'd just say to forget about him and everyone else. That would make everything easier.

He seemed surprised by the question, eyes narrowing a fraction as he tried to read my emotions. After a moment, he sighed, resting his chin in his hand, elbow on the table. "What do you think you should do?"

"I don't know," I murmured, staring at the table. "I don't want to say goodbye to everyone." All of this was the truth. I didn't want to say goodbye to everyone. Drew was probably thinking I was crazy and I could text them and call them but that wasn't the case. I didn't know if I could do that once going back home. And that's what sucked the most. It felt like I was lying to everyone; like our friendship was fake. They may know me but they don't really know me.

Drew's brows were slightly furrowed as he stared at me. "You don't have to say goodbye to everyone. No one is making you."

My eyes widened as I heard those words. Can that really be true?

Instead of questioning further, I just nodded and said, "But for right now, I guess we should just live in the present. Right?"

"Yeah."

"I wonder where everyone is." I jumped in surprise and smiled. We said that at the same time.

"That was weird." Again.

"Stop." The smile on my face kept growing. Drew, on the other hand, looked like he was growing annoyed.

Before we could open our mouths again, a new voice popped out of nowhere. "Aw, how cute. The couple is so in sync they finish each other's sentences."

It was Leaf, Gary trailing behind her.

"If it isn't the Leafy Oak," Drew commented dryly.

"I bet you're proud of yourself," Gary said, sitting on the bench next to Drew as Leaf took a seat on my side.

"I definitely am."

Leaf turned to look at me, her eyes serious. "How do you hang out with him? He's such a loser."

I laughed because it was true. He tried to play it cool in front of everyone and, somehow, everyone believed him when he was really just a giant nerd.

Laughing, I replied, "You know, I really don't know."

"You do realize I'm sitting right here," Drew said, staring at me with a blank expression.

"Yeah, we know, that's why we're talking so much shit on you," Leaf said, sticking her tongue out.

"Whoa, okay, we just got here but we can leave if you hate us that much," Ash said, approaching the table, Misty not trailing far behind.

I laughed, shaking my head. It wouldn't be long until Dawn got here, probably dragging Paul with her. He always tried to stay behind in an empty classroom reading a book but Dawn always managed to find him and bring him into the courtyard with all of us.

As if on cue, said girl came out of the school building with a scowling Paul. Looks like she'd found him again.

With a mischievous idea in my head, I got up from my seat beside Leaf and made my way towards Paul. This was the perfect time to talk to him.

"Hey, Paul," I said, a smile on my face.

He must have noticed my expression. "What are you up to?"

"That's offensive. Why would I be up to something?" He only stared at me. I sighed. "Do you mind if we go talk somewhere?" I asked. Apparently, no one was expecting that, as everyone was looking at me with surprise on their faces.

Paul furrowed his eyebrows, confusion written on his face. "Why would you want to talk to me?"

"Because we're friends and sometimes friends need to have certain talks," I said vaguely, smiling up at him. I didn't realize how tall he was until I had to tilt my head back to make eye contact. He was the first to look away.

"Fine."

"Great."

I gestured for him to follow me and we both made our way towards the doors to go back in the school. When I got to the doors, I turned around to tell everyone we'd be back in a second. The expressions they gave me were priceless.

Once we were in the hallway outside the door, I began to talk.

"You know everyone is watching us through the window, right?" Paul said before I could open my mouth. I laughed.

"I know. They're nosy."

We stood in silence for a minute before I began to open my mouth again.

"You want to talk to me about Dawn."

He interrupted me again. And he took the words right out of my mouth.

"See, I knew you're a smart guy. So, why haven't you asked her yet?"

It was in that moment, Paul looked at his feet looking somewhat vulnerable. I widened my eyes, surprised at this.

"Do I look like the kind of guy who should be asking out a girl like her? I'm not good enough for her," he muttered, not making eye contact with me.

"Oh my god. That's so cute," I murmured, putting a hand over my mouth. "That's so damn cute."

Paul lifted his head to glare at me. "Shut up."

I raised my hands in defense, a wide smile pulling at my lips. "Come on, you know she likes you. Literally, Dawn is dying because she's been waiting for you to ask her."

"So. . . I should ask her?"

"Obviously."

"What happens if people make fun of her because she's seen with a guy like me?"

"Do you really think that would happen? She's liked you for years. Even if people say something, it's not like she'd care. Do you really think Dawn is that shallow?"

We stared at each other for a while and then Paul did another thing that took me off guard. He smiled.

"Okay." And that's all that needed to be said.

As we were walking back out, I stopped and turned towards him. "You know, you are good enough for her."

He nodded.

"And I also think I made a new partner in crime," I said with a laugh.

He smirked and bumped his fist against my own.

He really is a good guy.

When we walked back outside, the conversations that our friends were having were stopped as everyone looked at me and Paul.

"Why is Paul smiling?" Gary whispered to Ash, who shrugged his shoulders, surprise written on his face.

Dawn elbowed Ash's side. "Stop it. It's not like he doesn't have feelings. He's a human."

I looked up to see the last twitch of his lips before he went back to his normally blank expression.

"What'd you need to talk about?" Misty asked.

"Is it any of your business?" Paul asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He turned to me and said in a low whisper, "Should I do it after school?"

I nodded, smiling happily. "Absolutely."

Leaving it at that, I went to sit back in my seat next to Leaf. After another second of curious silence, everyone's conversations resumed. I bit my lip, trying to hold back a smile. Even if all of this turned out bad, at least I could keep these memories of the friends I've made forever. Nothing could take those away.

I am doing a happy dance at the moment because next chapter is the dance and I got this chapter done!

But most importantly, did you guys like it? I loved all the fluff I added and my favorite part is the name of the yogurt place. It sounds like something you'd name a frog..

Anyway, I'll try to update again at least once, but if I get reviews I'll update sooner:)

Speaking of reviews, please review even if it's anonymous. I know you guys read this, I have statistics! It helps me know if you guys read this so PLEASE REVIEW! It makes me happy!

Moving on... thanks for clicking on this and I'll type ya later my lovely readers:)

~dorkyreader859

Edited A/N: yeah, this chapter is about 500 or 600 words shorter than it used to be but at least the quality is going up. maybe i'll get the next chapter edited by today. For the people reading this now and read it when I was posting it, maybe drop a review to tell me if I'm improved at all and you're liking the changes? Thanks much

and i have a headcanon where max goes through this HUGE growth spurt and i'm in love with it and you have to deal with it. i just think it's hilarious since he was such a little dude for him to be a giant when he's older