"!" marianne shrieked with laughter. she playfully shoved amélie.

"what?" amé grinned, shoving her back.

"stop swearing so much!"

"it's fine marianne." amélie rolled her eyes. it wasn't such a big deal anyways. she'd gotten into the habit, and that wasn't a bad thing. they were just words.

"does anyone know what time it is?" marianne changed the subject, wringing her hair out. she swam closer to charlie.

"cameron, could you check my watch?" meeks yelled. him and pitts were splashing eachother and playing some game

cam dug through their piles of clothes before finding meeks's watch sitting in between his sweater and pants "it's 10:24!"

"oh shit, i've got to get back home before my step-mom does." marianne hurriedly swam to the dock. all of the girls got to go home for the weekends occasionally, but mostly after fundraisers or events.

"yeah, i should probably get back home too." charlie swam behind her. the other private schools who attended the carnival went home as well. all the other boys nodded in agreement, and swam to the dock to begin getting their clothes back on.

"are you going to go?" amélie silently looked up at neil. he shook his head. they both silently waited for everyone else to leave, waving goodbye.

"i'm glad it's just us." neil sighed and looked back at amélie. without thinking about it much, she hugged him. she could feel his bare stomach touch hers. she wanted to melt into him. they fit perfectly together in place.

"do you know christophe?" amélie pulled away, swimming towards the dock and pulling herself onto it.

"no, does he go to welton?" neil followed behind her, pulling himself up beside her.

"the singer dummy." amé laughed, kicking water at neil. he ran his fingers through her soaking wet hair. it was tangled, making his fingers stop every few seconds.

"never heard of him." he shrugged. he stared at amélie, who was watching the moon reflect onto the water.

"not even 'aline'?" she turned back to him, shocked. she grabbed his hand away from her hair, gawking at him.

"nope." neil laughed and shook his head at her enthusiasm.

"if i sing it to you, you'd know it right away." amélie blushed, looking down at her feet as she swayed them in the water. the water felt so warm compared to the cold air. "et j'ai crié, crié. aline, pour qu'elle reviens." she quietly sang.

"nope, i still don't know it." neil shook his head again. he still had a wide grin. he liked amélie a lot. they just clicked. it felt so natural with her.

"it's so good."

they both eventually were looking down at the water, sitting in silence, enjoying each others company. "i auditioned for a play."

"when?" amélie looked up, excitedly. she loved hearing about neil's passion for acting. it made her feel so warm knowing he had something he loved and wanted to pursue, something she could relate to.

"like, a few weeks ago." he couldn't hold back from smiling. he was proud. he really hoped he got the part, but he was even happier amé was happy for him, too. "i got the main part. it's next month." he sheepishly admitted.

"why didn't you tell me?" she was excited and shocked. she couldn't believe neil would keep this from her. she shook his shoulders lightly.

"we weren't on the greatest terms i suppose." he smiled brightly. amé saw the sparks in his eyes, the ones that she loved so much.

"i'm happy for you. you're the best actor i've ever met." she reassured him. she slightly hugged neil from the side, placing her head in the crevice between his neck and his shoulder.

neil kissed her. it wasn't like their other kiss, it was warmer. he was happy. he was happy and proud to have someone like amélie there to support him.

"you're special." he hummed, cupping amélie's face in his hand.

"don't flatter me." she blushed, tucking neil's hair behind his ear.

"i'm serious! you're the coolest girl i've ever met."

"remember when i threw up in the forest and had a break down? is that cool?" amélie chuckled. she still couldn't believe neil liked her after all that mess.

"i remember you downing that bottle of vodka in front of everyone just to spite cindy, and then smash it into pieces onto the ground." neil proudly nodded. he didn't seem to have a hint of joke in his voice, which made amélie internally freak out with butterflies.

"alright, alright." she nodded, hiding the fact that she was as red as a tomato. "do you like her?"

"who? cindy?" neil furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. he despised her, especially after what happened with amélie. he couldn't believe he used to like her.

"yeah."

neil laughed. "god no. i used to, but that's been fizzled out for a while." he was telling the truth. he didn't want anything to do with cindy.

"she likes you." amélie said quietly, biting her lip.

"i don't care. i like another girl."

"and who might that be?"

neil pushed amélie playfully into the water. "oh neil!"

"sorry, i couldn't resist, it was the perfect moment." he giggled, watching amélie shake the water off.

she shivered. "i'm freezing now! it's fucking december. just let me lay on the dock in piece."

"i will." neil stuck out a hand to her, helping her climb back onto the dock.

"come here." he lied on his back, motioning for amélie to lay her head down on his chest so he could hold her in his arms.

"i love this." he smiled, watching amélie in awe as she lied in his arms, staring at the sky unassumingly.

"me too."