As soon as Charlie suggests we walk to the bonfire I agree. I quickly walk ahead, not wanting to be stuck walking with Aiden as I usually ended up being. I think Aiden notices by the frown on his face but the only other person who seems to notice something is Carter who quickly catches up to me.

I smile at him, I wasn't upset at him.

"You okay Em?" Carter asks smiling softly at me.

"Yeah," I smile hesitantly back.

"Is this about what Aiden asked in never have I ever?" Carter asks observantly.

I look at him surprised, "I didn't know you were observant, I thought that was Aidens job," I reply jokingly.

Carter laughs back, "when you're quiet you hear and see a lot more."

"So deep," I joke.

Carter laughs again; "Aiden is the most observant but I think I'd be a pretty close second," he grins.

I laugh at him, my mood lifting at his kindness.

"But seriously, Aiden shouldn't have said what he did," Carter says seriously.

"I just feel bad for Justin," I admit, not denying Carter's words because, at the end of the day, they were right.

"That's got to be rough," Carter responds almost subconsciously.

"What has?" I ask.

"Seeing your ex here, and then finding out he is still in love with you," Carter replies gently.

"I think I already knew but hearing him say it hits different," I sigh.

"I'm sure it would, what are you going to do about it?" Carter asks softly.

"I have no idea," I admit.

"I know you don't want to hear this but I think you need to talk to him about it Em," Carter says hesitantly, obviously not comfortable with giving people advice.

"You're definitely right but I can't say I'm not dreading the conversation, I like it the way it is," I agree sadly. Carter smiles softly at me in reply as we arrive at the bonfire and Charlie drags me away.

"Where are we going?" I laugh at my cousin.

"To see Amy and James, I think you guys should chat," Charlie smirks.

"Charlie," I laugh in protest.

"Promise me something Em?" Charlie grins, ignoring my pleas.

"What?" I ask.

"Flirt back. Have a 4-day romance, hook up with the guy and then you never have to see him again," Charlie grins.

I laugh at her; "that's not really my style Charlie."

"Just try?" She tries again.

"I'll flirt but that's all I'm promising," I eventually give in.

"Good enough for me," Charlie shrugs, dragging me back in Amy and James's direction.

"If it isn't miss ballsy herself," James grins when he sees me.

I laugh as Amy, Liam, Cooper and Alex all turn to face me.

"You're awesome!!" Alex grins.

"Why thank you," I joke doing a curtsey.

"That was pretty awesome," James grins. I grin back.

"You look gorgeous," James replies, I look down at my light jean shorts and grey shirt that I had changed into after I spilt sauce over my shirt at dinner.

I go to thank him but Charlie catches my eye pointedly.

"You don't look so bad yourself," I reply, remembering I promised to attempt to flirt. Charlie grins from behind James.

***

Flirting was hard. Everyone had left, leaving me alone with James while everyone else mingled around us.

I hadn't even been here long, but I was struggling!! How did Aiden do it with all those girls?!

I scan the crowd, looking for an escape but feel my heart sinking when I see Aiden talking to a beautiful girl with caramel skin and curly hair, but that wasn't even the worst part. Compared to Aiden's usual type, this girl seemed almost modest, genuine.

All Aiden's other girls all looked the same way; plastic. But this girl seemed more natural...more like me. I had always thought that seeing Aiden interact with someone more modest would make me happy because it gave me a fleeting chance with him but as it turns out, seeing him flirt with someone like that felt worse than if it were someone like Tiffany.

"You okay?" James asks quickly.

"What? Yeah," I smile but I'm pretty sure it looked as fake as it sounded, "actually, I feel a little sick, do you mind if I just have some time alone?"

James looks worried but smiles anyway, "of course, come and find me if you feel any better, and if not then we can chat tomorrow."

I smile at him gratefully before walking towards the ocean, feeling the calming air on my face.

It was a lot colder and darker away from the fire but I took in the isolation greedily. Aiden confuses me so much, he flirts with a plastic girl and I get upset knowing he would never go for me, but he flirts with a natural girl and it hurts even more because it's not me.

I sigh, narrowing my eyes. If I could see better then maybe I could sit alone for a while.

I scan the sand but notice another familiar figure sitting by the ocean. Even in the dark sky, I can see his golden hair. Carter's words fly through my head, I had to talk to him.

Sighing to myself again I approach him and sit beside him.

"Emmy?" Justin questions.

"Hey,"I smile.

"Are you okay?" Justin asks. I smile at him, it was obviously him that was upset but he cared enough for me to put my needs before his own.

"Are you?" I reply softly.

Justin stays silent for a while, "not really."

"I'm sorry," I reply, not knowing what else to say. I hated seeing him upset, he was my friend.

Justin smiles softly in response, "are you and Aiden dating?"

"What? No." I quickly state after the shock of his question wears off.

Another silence surrounds us, both of us thinking.

"We had a good year and a bit together, didn't we?" Justin asks vulnerably and my heart breaks for him.

"Of course!! Justin, you were the best boyfriend ever. You helped me through a really rough spot." I confirm quickly. Why did he suddenly think he was a bad boyfriend?!

"Do you think I took advantage of you?" Justin all but whispers.

"What do you mean?" I ask curiously.

"When we had sex. It was after Maddi had died and looking back, I don't know if you were ready for it." Justin replies after another minute.

"I wouldn't have instigated it or encouraged it if I wasn't ready, it was a perfect first time which is better than most people can say," I laugh lightly, Justin cracks a smile at my joke.

"Really?" Justin confirms.

"Really!! You are the perfect gentleman and anyone would be so lucky to have you," I smile.

"You know I'm still in love with you right?" Justin admits and my heart sinks. I feel like I'm about to throw up.

"I know, but-" I begin, but get cut off.

"Don't say it, I just want you to know that you were my first love and I still hope that one day you might feel the same way," Justin begs, I nod, not knowing what to say.

We once again fall into silence.

"I think your friends are looking for you," Justin smiles.

I look over to where he was gesturing and see Charlie and the others look for something, or someone - me.

I briefly remember them looking for me and then finding me locked in a room where a guy was trying to take advantage of me so I quickly stand up after thanking Justin and make my way over to them just as panic begins to settle in Charlie's eyes.

"There she is," Blake sighs gratefully as I walk over to them.

"What's up?" I ask.

"We're going to head back, are you ready?" Carter smiles.

I nod, thankful to get away from everyone.

"Collins, um, can you walk back with me? I want to talk," Aiden asks awkwardly, scratching his neck as his cheeks tint a little red. I see Toby grin as I agree.

Everyone walks ahead leaving Aiden and I trailing behind them.

"I'm really sorry about the question I asked, that was not fair on Justin and I'm sure it triggered an uncomfortable conversation between you guys," Aiden apologizes genuinely.

I smile at him, forgiving him instantly, "it's okay."

"So did it?" Aiden asks.

"Did what?" I ask.

"Did it trigger a conversation?" Aiden elaborates, a serious look on his face.

"Yeah," I sigh.

"What happened?" He asks, the same seriousness lacing his face.

"He, um, isn't over...us yet," I reply, choosing my words carefully.

"So he's still in love with you?" Aiden raises his eyebrows, cutting straight to the chase.

"Yeah," I admit softly, guilt swimming inside my stomach.

"So what do you think now?" Aiden asks desperately.

"The same, I don't have feelings for him anymore," I admit.

Aiden visibly relaxes and for a second I find myself wondering why.

"Skinny dipping hey? Interested in me joining you?" Aiden smirks, completely changing the subject. I smile in gratitude, my Aiden was back.

"Sorry Black, the only person blessed enough to go skinny dipping with me is Charlie," I grin.

"I never thought I'd be jealous of your cousin but here you go again, surprising me," he smirks, winking at me.

I laugh at him, "I have to make a phone call."

Aiden nods before he walks towards the guys, Charlie sees this and walks over to me, "so what happened?" She asked.

"I'm about to call Dale and tell him, I'll tell you both at the same time," I smile at her. She grins, nodding as we sit down near the beach and call Dale who answers on the first ring.

***

"Mills!!" I hear Toby as the tent unzips and a very energetic teenager jumps in between Charlie and me. The tent was so small and with Toby in the middle of Charlie and I, we were all squished together.

"No fair, Toby I want a go of being pushed up against 2 women in bed," Blake pouts.

"Fuck off Blake," I hear Aiden from the outside of the tent. I can just picture him rolling his eyes.

"Wake up!! Breaky time!!" Toby grins.

I try to ignore him by turning around but his nagging doesn't stop. I swear Toby was worse than my 14-year-old brother.

"Okay, okay we're awake," Charlie groans sleepily.

How were all these boys so energetic in the morning?!

I sleepily sit up, Toby would never let me go back to sleep now. As I open my eyes my face turns bright red when I see the 3 boys straight ahead, all looking through the unzipped tent. I quickly move my sleeping bag to cover myself when I notice my nipples hard from the cold. I'm sure all the boys, including Toby, notice.

"Okay you guys have to let us get ready," I demand, the blush fading from my cheeks. Toby pouts but climbs out of the tiny tent, leaving some space behind him.

15 minutes later Charlie and I were both exiting the tent, our bikinis underneath our outfits.

Charlie was wearing a gorgeous summer dress, her bikini top was in the shape of a bra so you couldn't even tell she was wearing a stunning purple bikini underneath her floral white summer dress.

I was wearing a floral skater skirt with an off the shoulder woolen crop top. The outfit was actually way girlier than I was used to but Dale made me promise to wear his masterpiece at least once and today seemed like the best option as that way I wouldn't have to pair together my own outfit. I had on a multicolored, elasticized bikini top with matching bottoms. It had to be one of my favorite bikinis, but unfortunately, as it was shaped like a tie around bikini top, you could see it tied around my neck.

Charlie passes me an orange net bag for our beach stuff such as our towels, sunscreen, and a hat, and we're off. We walk excitedly to the cafeteria to eat breakfast and meet our supervisors but I couldn't help but hope that Cole hadn't been set as ours.

When we walk in, we go to the table where the remainder of our group sat, everyone else was here and Tiffany looked extremely bored. She instantly perks up when she sees Aiden and I have to refrain from rolling my eyes.

Smiling at Justin, I sit in between Aiden and Carter. Almost instantly, they call for breakfast and swarms of students begin a line to the cafeteria. My group waits until it clears out before we get our own breakfast and it's definitely worth it.

"Alright everyone, there are 7 groups here today with anywhere from 10 - 15 people in each. Each group has a supervisor. Last night you should have been given a number so please listen for your supervisor, as they are called they will put up their hands." Anna says, the permanent scowl attached to her face.

"What group are we again?" I whisper to Carter who was munching on an apple beside me.

"3," he smiles politely.

I smile at him and listen for our names.

"Group one will be with me,

Group 2 will be with Natalie

Group 3 will be with Cole

Group 4 will be with Jenna

Group 5 will be Hayden

Group 6 will be with Darren

and finally, group 7 will be with Kyle." An uneasy feeling settles at the pit of my stomach when I see that Cole is our supervisor but I ignore it and cover it with excitement.

Anna begins talking again, the same scowl on her face and I find myself feeling sorry for group 1; "please make your way to your supervisors in an orderly fashion so we can begin the day."

Instantly, everyone begins making their way to their supervisors and we follow suit.