Hey guys! Here's another chapter for you. I took out one of the places on their itinerary because when I looked it up again it wasn't actually in the same location that they were supposed to be... whoops. Anyway, enjoy!

**Massie**

My sleep was disturbed by the flashing blue light of my phone, indicating someone had texted me. I squinted, peeking at the screen, to see that it was from Derrick.

Derrick: Come to my room. Don't bring Claire.

Normally this late at night I would interpret that as a booty call, but Derrick didn't seem like that kind of guy. The instruction to not bring Claire made me think this must be about Cam, which intrigued me. All Claire would say when she came back to the room was how they had a great talk but decided to just be friends. While that made me slightly disappointed, I could understand her hesitation… we probably wouldn't see the boys again after this trip. I made a mental note to talk to Derrick, but he'd already dropped hints he wanted to stay in touch.

I slid on my robe and slippers before quietly leaving the room, making sure not to wake Claire. I ran to the boys' cabin, knocking lightly three times before Derrick opened the door. I gave him a big hug and inhaled the scent of his shampoo on his damp hair before I noticed Cam over his shoulder. He was sitting on his bed looking pretty dejected.

"Okay, Cam, what's this all about?" I asked as I entered the room, stopping directly in front of him. He looked up with a hint of surprise in his eyes but recovered quickly.

"Massie, I need some advice," he stated, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I'd thought that much was obvious. I went to sit next to Derrick on his bed, and he pulled me close to him. Then I looked back at Cam expectantly.

"So Claire doesn't want to be with me because we are going home in three days. At first I thought I was okay with that, because I can understand that it would be hard to get feelings involved for that short a time." He paused for a breath and I nodded, willing him to get to the point. "But the problem is feelings have already gotten involved. And if she would let this be something, I wouldn't just stop talking to her once we return home. Listening to Derrick gush about you made me realize I like Claire enough to want to pursue this outside of our school trip. And I was wondering, maybe, if you think I told her all of that, she would give me another shot?" He let out a breath and I internally squealed. I looked over to see Derrick blushing a little at the gushing comment which was cute. But my focus needed to be Cam now.

"Yes!" I blurted, before putting myself in check. "Yes, I do think she would want that. But if you haven't noticed, she has a bit of an inferiority complex. You can't just march up to her and say 'I want to date you outside of this trip so let's go', you have to make a grand gesture for her to believe it. Sweep her off her feet!"

I was getting excited as the wheels started turning in my head, crafting a plan that would win Claire over and prove to her that Cam was for real.

"Lean in guys. This is what we're gonna do."

**Derrick**

"Where's Cam?" Claire asked as she sat down across from me in the booth for breakfast.

"Showering," I replied casually, "where's Massie?"

"I don't know? She was having trouble picking out an outfit, and told me to go ahead without her. I thought she was getting over the stressing over outfits thing." She sighed, and I tried my best to look sympathetic. I knew Massie had stayed behind to do some digging. "So I'm super excited for the Archaeological Museum," she offered, and then started explaining to me how she used to want to be a paleontologist when she was little. I could imagine cute little Claire digging for dinosaur bones in her sand box.

"Hey guys!" Massie plopped down in the booth next to Claire, looking effortlessly put together as usual, and shot me a wink to signal Phase One: Complete. "Where's Cam?" She asked, doing a very good job to look confused, and I managed not to laugh.

"Showering," Claire and I responded at the same time, causing her and Massie to laugh. Girls.

"So, you must be excited for the Archaeological Museum, Claire," Massie commented, which started the whole conversation off again. I excused myself to get more eggs, and as I was walking around I noticed how nearly everyone in the dining room was paired off. I was so happy everything had gotten straightened out with me and Massie, and I knew we owed it to them to do everything we could for Cam and Claire.

**Massie**

I loved being on the inside for once. Steering the plans, in charge of the game. I had managed to find Claire's iPod this morning and deliver it to Cam, who should be finishing up with it right about… I checked my watch… Now.

"Ah! I just remembered I forgot something in our room. Will you order me another glass of orange juice please?" I said quickly, standing up and rushing out of the dining hall without waiting for an answer. I flew down the stairs and met Cam in front of our door.

"Done?" I asked.

"Done." He replied.

"Perfect. I am going to wait five minutes, and head back up. You should probably go up right now!" I instructed.

"Good, 'cause I'm hungry!" he exclaimed, right as his stomach growled. I laughed and watched him head up the stairs before entering our room and putting the iPod back exactly as I found it. Then I sat on my bed to wait five minutes. I much preferred being on a team with Cam instead of trying to pursue him. Now that I was no longer trying to get him, he was much nicer and easy to get along with. Good thing I realized I like Derrick more before I made TOO big a fool out of myself!

I checked my phone and realized five minutes was up, so I looked around for something to take. I applied a layer of gloss and put earrings in, knowing Claire would notice the changes and not bother asking what took me so long. I smiled to myself, glad everything was going well so far, and headed upstairs to join the others.

**Claire**

Seeing the Archaeological Museum was such a highlight. They had all these artifacts and how they were used, and then you could see the ruins of some buildings and some statues. It was cool because while it wasn't the famous, larger than life ruins known by everyone all over the world, it was more daily life type things.

"So what'd you think?" Cam asked, coming over to me as we exited the museum. We'd all tried to stick together, but I'd gotten so excited I kept running ahead.

"That was so cool," I gushed, telling him which exhibits were my favorite. "I think Sicily has shot up to the top of my favorite places list."

We waved over Massie and Derrick and headed to find lunch.

Over authentic pizzas we had easy conversation, and I was just so glad that Cam was respecting my decision but still being a great friend. Having him so close, not all tied up because of Massie and completely being himself, only made me want him more. But I doubted there was any way we could ever work long distance, especially after only knowing each other for such a short time. I'd already fallen hard, and we'd been on good terms for less than a day. I knew if I allowed myself to let him in further, it would hurt that much more once we were back in the real world. Maybe that's wimpy of me, but all I could think about was how hard it would be already to not have him in my life.

"Claire?" Massie asked, nudging my foot under the table and bringing me back to the conversation. "We were saying we should get going to make the bus to the Valley of the Temples."

"Oh yes!" I couldn't help clapping my hands, and they all laughed. I rolled my eyes and stood up from the table. They followed suit, and Derrick threw down a twenty to cover his and Massie's meal, but I rushed to contribute my money before Cam could do the same for me. I didn't want any blurred lines.

"Guys, we've gotta go," Massie said impatiently, and we all started moving towards the bus. But then she did something completely unexpected. I can't remember the last time I saw this happen. She started to run. Derrick, Cam, and I exchanged a look before taking off after her, laughing the whole way.

**Cam**

The Valley of the Temples was so cool, but the best part was how excited Claire got about everything. I was definitely interested in the subject, but wasn't as knowledgeable about it as she was. It was so great to know a girl who had passions besides clothes and makeup and celebrity news. It was clear that Claire put her whole self into everything she did.

I was trying my best to not step over any boundaries. I knew Massie was masterminding this whole plan and didn't want to screw it up. She was right, that I would have to work to convince Claire that I was actually in this for real. I mean, Derrick and I had always talked about moving to the east coast for college, so it's not like the idea is terribly far-fetched. I just hoped Massie's idea would work as well as we predicted.

So can anyone guess what the plan is? People who have read the book might be able to tell. Probably a good time to remind everyone that this plot isn't mine; it's based not-so-loosly on True Love, the Sphinx, and Other Unsolvable Riddles by Tyne O'Connell. Obviously the characters aren't mine either. I'll be pretty busy this week, y'know independence day stuff and all that, but I'll update as soon as I can! I hope everyone has a really great 4th.

Hugs,

-Sky