Hey guys! My sincerest apologies for being such a major slacker. I know I haven't updated this story in forever (still haven't rechecked it out of the library...whoops), but bear with me, because I PROMISE I have not abandoned it. Here's a quick chapter to tide you over. I just wrote it real quick to get something up, I know it's not the best. Hope you enjoy anyway...

**Derrick**

"I know it's hard to understand," Claire repeated herself for the third time, "but I promise you, this is a good thing."

I was still so confused, but I nodded anyway. She let out an exasperated sigh, seeing right through me.

"Ok. So you say she's keeping you at a distance, right?"I nodded. "And before, when you were hanging out just in a friendly way, she was totally open with you and not at all awkward, correct?" I nodded again. "Soooooo that means she is realizing that maybe she is starting to like you, but she thinks she's not supposed to, so she's backing off a bit."

That made sense, and a smile started to form until I realized that she thought she wasn't supposed to like me.

"So, how do I let her know it's okay to like me? Why does she think it's not?"

"Well," she hesitated for a second before returning to all-knowing Claire, "it's like this. She still thinks she likes Cam, so she almost feels like liking you is cheating. Also, she still thinks we might be together, so she doesn't want to break that up." After a quick glance at my facial expression, she was quick to add, "I'll definitely set her straight about that, don't worry. But she has to come to her own conclusions about how she feels about Cam, otherwise it won't work. I know it's hard, but you just have to wait it out."

I let out a groan, but I knew she was right. I just wish Massie would hurry up and realize that there was no way she and Cam were right for each other. Speaking of…

I looked over to her, but she was leaning up against the railing, staring up into the starry sky. We had snuck out of the Ocean documentary early. She promised she was a pro at Marine Biology and would fill me in, but I doubted they would quiz us or anything.

"Well, what about you and Cam?" I asked, feigning cluelessness. She saw right through me, as she dragged her eyes from the sky and fixed me with an are-you-kidding-me? gaze.

"Like I don't know that you guys talk," she gave a small eyeroll. "Cam told me last night that he knows we're4 not actually together or anything. I don't know what's up with that guy. He practically broke into my room this morning. Tell him to stop trying so hard, would you? That ship has sailed."

I nearly laughed out loud at the determined look on her face. It was clear that she was trying to convince herself more than anyone.

She was doing me a solid by guiding me through this whole Massie thing; I would be so lost without her help. I just wished there was some way I could help her understand that Cam really did like her and was the farthest thing from the type of guy that would purposefully play head games.

**Massie**

Sitting in the darkened yellow lounge with Cam was both nice and aggravating. I hadn't seen him all day, so it was nice to be cuddled on a couch, but I wish we were somewhere that wasn't watching a documentary… I felt like we needed to talk. On the other hand, though, I didn't know how to bring up "us". He clearly was somewhat into me, or else he wouldn't have his arm draped around me right now, but I was used to guys being a lot more obvious with their affection. I'd had boys fawning over me since they stopped believing I had cooties, and I sort of wished Cam would be more like that.

Hanging out with Derrick recently had made me wonder if I was painting a better picture of Cam in my head than he actually was. Derrick was the perfect mix of adoring me but not overwhelming. I was so glad we had become friends. I was especially glad that we could talk about nearly everything. But earlier today I had realized that the way Derrick treated me was the way I wished my relationship with Cam was. Derrick was sweet, and hilarious, and a good listener. He made me feel comfortable, instead of always on edge. It wasn't like I could just ask Cam to be more like Derrick…

As we exited the yellow lounge after the documentary finished, I saw Derrick and Claire leaning up against the railing on the far side of the main deck, cracking up about something. I heard Cam mumble under his breath "that should be me". I looked up at him, and a faint blush crept on his cheeks.

I was ecstatic that he seemed to come to the conclusion on his own that he needed to act more like Derrick, so I gave him a nice long kiss goodnight before heading back to my room. Claire came in a moment later, much more subdued than I'd seen her moments before, but nothing could ruin my good mood as I drifted off into one of the best sleeps I'd had since boarding The Dreamer.

**Claire**

This was why Derrick was my best guy friend: he always knew exactly how to cheer me up and get my mind off Cam. I was grateful that he cared more about making me laugh when I needed it most than he did about going along with Cam's twisted plans.

I didn't know what to make of Cam, not at all. He was a nice enough guy, sure, but when I sat down and really thought about how I felt towards him that first night, I realized that at the time when I liked him the most, I knew next to nothing about him. As I got to know him more, I liked him less. He didn't seem to know what he wanted between me and Massie, and while I sometimes settled for Massie's seconds, I didn't feel like being a second choice myself. And anyway, at this point I couldn't really trust anything he said.

The doors to the yellow lounge burst open and our classmates streamed out. I kept my focus on Derrick, but he side-glanced towards the door the whole time, probably to see Massie. He was so whipped, and I couldn't help smiling at him. That is, until his face froze.

Following his gaze, I looked over to see Massie lean in and trap Cam in a passionate kiss. I could tell the initiation was 100% her, but after that, it was hard to tell. Cam looked pretty into it himself…

Not my problem. I didn't care if Cam wanted to kiss her. But I did have a borderline-depressed Derrick to deal with before heading to bed, so I threw my focus into that.

Once the deck had cleared out and we were up in the small deck, I put my hand on my shoulder.

"Ok. To assess the situation, I need to know what was happening before they kissed." I spoke quietly and calmly, hoping to calm him down a little.

"Right. Well," he looked off into space for a few moments before responding, "Cam was staring at us. Massie was glancing between him and us. Cam said something, I think, and then she smiled really big and just went in for it. You saw that part," he shook his head sadly.

I took a deep breath, analyzing the new information.

"Ok, Derrick, all is not lost here. First of all, let's remember that we already knew that Massie was trying to convince herself she still should be with Cam. Yea, it sucks that you had to see that, but it's not entirely unexpected. Also, she is the one who ended it. Just don't think on it too much, alright? This is going to work out for you, I'm nearly sure."

Call it a best friend's intuition, but somehow I just knew that she had only kissed him because of whatever he had said. Maybe I'd have to suck it up and be nice to him to find out what exactly they'd been talking about, or maybe I would just get Derrick to do it for me.

I stumbled down to bed thinking hard about what my plan should be for the following day.

**Cam**

I have no idea what just happened. One second I was watching Claire and Derrick laughing together, then I was mumbling aloud thoughts that I'd meant to only think, and then Massie was attached to me and I didn't even know why. I'm ashamed to say I probably kissed back a bit, but at this point I was so discouraged about my chances with Claire that it almost didn't matter.

Seeing her with Derrick, all I could think was that I should be the one making her laugh, seeing her twinkling eyes up close, doing everything I could not to just grab her and kiss her. But after that afternoon, I didn't have too much hope that things would turn around. She hadn't noticed me once when I was painting and she was songwriting, and she disappeared before I could talk to her before dinner.

But once Massie pulled away and gave me a smile before heading down to her room, I knew I might have just nailed my own coffin. There was nearly no way Claire and Derrick hadn't just seen that. I just hoped that Derrick would recognize that she had initiated it, and that Claire… well, it was a lot to ask to hope she'd ever talk to me again.

Sighing, I trudged down the stairs to our room, with only one thought in mind: life sucked.

So! That's that. I haven't started the next chapter yet, but I'll try to have it up within a week (no promises though). Thanks to Thuggylovesreadn and Alicetheoneandonly for motivating me to get a chapter up for this story! Anywayyy hope everyone is enjoying summer, and if all goes well I'll have a new chapter up soon. Smile!

Hugs, Sky