This is a short update compared to what I normally write for this story, but I reached a good stopping point. It's kind of a lead in to the next chapter which I hope to get written relatively quickly.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, just the plot.

Chapter FOURTEEN

The next day my mom had meetings so she asked me to run some errands for her. She said it in her soothing voice, the one she used to use to convince me that I should eat my peas at dinner when I was younger. Did she think I would bite or break down in tears if she told me rather than asked me to leave the house?

I had to show her I was strong enough to handle a few chores. I was seventeen after all and the babying had to stop.

So that's how I found myself in our small town's single grocery store. I was in the frozen foods section looking for my favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor when I heard someone call my name. When I turned towards the voice I immediately wanted to run away.

It was Josh's mom.

"Hi, Mrs. Abrams," I said. Even though I had dated her son longer than numerous celebrity couples were married, I had never felt comfortable with the woman. "How are you today?"

She smiled at me but it didn't nothing to comfort me. "I'm fine, dear. And how are you?"

"Just swell."

Just swell? What the hell kind of response was that?

Mrs. Abrams didn't seem to find anything peculiar in my answer or least she didn't say anything. She moved on to her favorite topic: her son.

"I was just talking to Josh this morning," she said, inspecting my cart. The little crinkle or her nose told me she did not approve of my purchases. "He said you guys had a little spat."

Was that glee I saw in her eyes?

"Well, I think we came to a resolution." I raised my chin a little bit, refusing to be intimidated by her. "We're good."

"Glad to hear it."

I bet you are.

I kept my sarcastic musings to myself and went to go back to my shopping.

"Josh seems to be making a lot of friends on his trip." Mrs. Abrams said. "I'm so happy that he's meeting people with the same values and qualities as him."

I turned to look her in the face again, trying to wrap my head around what I thought she was insinuating. I opened my mouth to respond when a form appeared at my side.

"Hey, Cammie. I'm so glad I ran into you." It was Preston Winters.

And now I was totally confused.

"Mrs. Abrams, lovely day out, isn't it?" Preston addressed the woman before me. She gave him a kind smile (far kinder than the one she'd given me). If there was one person in town she thought was worthy of her son's presence, it was Preston.

"Preston, how is your father doing? I've been meaning to have him and your mother over for dinner in ages but we've been so busy."

"He's well. And I'm sure he would love to have dinner with you and Mr. Abrams. You should call him."

"I will." She looked like she was about to say more but Preston spoke again.

"If you don't mind, I have to talk to Cammie about NHS. You know me, just because school is over doesn't mean the hard work is!"

Mrs. Abrams laughed shrilly and said her goodbyes. I was not sorry to see her go.

Now there was the matter of Preston. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you really need to talk to me about NHS?"

He had the good sense to look slightly embarrassed. "No, but that's all I could come up with on the spot."

"You know, Preston, if you intend to have a career in politics you're going to have to get better at lying."

"Who said I wanted to go into politics?"

"Who else? Macey."

"Ah. Well, that's the perfect segue then." He gave me a serious look. "I wanted to talk to you about her."

"What has she done now?"

In one of her more devious moves, Macey had run for vice-president of the student council of which Preston was president. We had all been surprised when she had started putting posters up all over school that said Vote Macey for VP! but it had all become clear when the polling results had come in and she was declared victorious. Macey had run for two reasons and two reasons only which she proudly told Bex, Liz, and me the next day. First, she hated all of the other contenders and wanted to see them fail. Second, she wanted to be the Trojan Horse to all of Preston's ideas.

Abundant school spirit she had.

"Nothing in particular," Preston told me. "It's just...How do you deal with her?"

"How do you mean?"

"I mean, I don't know how to make her see sense. Every time I try to tell her something she blows it off or changes the subject. Or she insults me. Sometimes all of them at once."

That sounded like Macey alright. "She takes some getting used to."

"She's infuriating. Almost intolerable, really."

"I think that is the worst thing I've ever heard you say about anyone."

He looked thoroughly ashamed.

"Macey would be flattered."

He didn't look convinced.

"Look," I said. "Macey likes to annoy the shit out of everyone. You, especially, because you're, like, the poster child of self-control. She's just trying to get a rise out of you."

Rather than being comforted, Preston looked even more perturbed. Still, he replied, "Yeah, I know you're right." He gave me a small smile. "I was kind of hoping there was a secret to taming the beast."

I chuckled a little. "Well, if you find it, you let me know. I've been looking for Macey's weakness for a decade."

He nodded and then seemed to become aware of our surroundings for the first time. "Oh, crap. I interrupted your shopping."

"Please, you saved me from an incredibly awkward conversation with Josh's mom."

"I wouldn't want to be stuck alone with her either."

"Well, anyways, thank you for being my hero."

He gave me a little salute. "It was my pleasure, madam."

I laughed and we said our goodbyes. Thankfully, the rest of my shopping was only a matter of minutes and I managed not to run into everyone else.

As I loaded the groceries into the back of my Subaru I thought to myself that in a small town, you're bound to run into people you know all the time.

I just really wished I hadn't run into Mrs. Abrams today.

~.~.~.~

"Ah! I am so excited!" Bex exclaimed for the dozenth time.

Liz just smiled at her, taking the excitement in grace. Macey, however, was not so polite and turned the volume up on the music. Bex sent her a dirty look through the rear view mirror to which Macey gave her a rude hand gesture over the shoulder.

It was Monday morning after my run-in with Mrs. Abrams, and my three best friends and I were finally on our annual girls' getaway. After more than a month of planning (and bickering), everything had fallen into place. We were on our way to the spa resort an hour and a half north of Roseville.

I shared Bex's excitement albeit less vocally. Every time I left Roseville, I always got the same feeling - like I didn't know how stifled I felt until I no longer felt that way. Living in a small town like Roseville where everyone knew you (and therefore assumed a right to know your business) could have that kind of compressing effect. And then, when you were gone, the pressure lifted and suddenly it's like you could breathe.

Right now, I couldn't feel sad or hurt by the fact that Josh had left me for the Caribbean because for the first time all summer I thought that maybe I understood why.

"You okay?" Macey had turned down the music and was looking at me. "You look very contemplative and this week is not about being contemplative."

I rolled my eyes. "Eyes on the road."

"Jeez, you my mother?"

"I bless my stars every day that I'm not."

She barked out a laugh. There was very little love lost between Macey and her mother, a situation that saddened me but seemed not to bother her in the least.

"Hey now," Bex said from behind the two of us. "There is no room for insults this week. It's girls' getaway! Isn't that right, Liz?"

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Liz said.

"Okay, okay. No insults from now on." I promised.

"But teasing is fair game." Macey said, and her and I shared a wicked grin.

I relaxed into my seat. We were still only halfway to the spa and there was a little bit more time to relax before our week of relaxation. I smiled contentedly. This was what I needed. Time to center myself and my emotions. Time with my closest friends.

I shoved away the little voice in my head that told me that maybe I should spare a little thought to my issues with Josh and the increasingly puzzling situation with Zach. There would be time for that after this week.

Time.

If only I knew then on that car ride how very little time I had left before everything exploded in my face.

So what do you think? Things are going to start to heat up (at least if I follow my plot outline).

Questions? Comments? Feelings?