"This is miserable." I muttered as I look out the window at the moving scenery passing by the car. "I don't even want to go to the beach." Mia side glances at me from the drivers seat with an annoyed and exasperated expression.

"Stop being like that Mariah. Seriously, it'll be fun and it's our senior skip day. Who knows when we'll be able to do something like this after we graduate." I sigh and blow some strands of brown hair out my face as I look in the rearview mirror at the two other cars following us.

"Yeah I get that and it's great we're doing this, but I'm basically the odd man out here. I mean, you've got Elliot waiting for you there. Kaley has Kyle and Noah is with Claud. Not to mention Kat brought along Greg and I know I'm the reason their together, but it's still annoying how much they hang out together. Like, always. I deserve some attention too." I muttered the last part like a child pouting and I hear Mia snort at that.

"Stop whining. I knew you'd feel that way so I'm having Elliot bring one of his friends along to meet up with us. He's going to help show us around." I scrunch my nose at that.

"I don't need you to set me up with anyone. Plus, aren't you practically a local here yourself considering how much you visit Elliot?" Mia looks thoughtful for a moment before smiling widely.

"Probably. If not yet than I definitely will be starting in the fall." I raise a questioning eyebrow at that. "I'm going to be a Marine Biology major at the college here." My jaw drops at this news.

"Why am I only just now hearing this? Do the others know?"

"No, not yet. It's not really a secret, though." Before I can say anything more on the matter Mia sits up in her seat a little straighter and a huge smile upturns her mouth. "There they are!" The excitement in her voice is a tiny bit contagious and I find myself losing some of my earlier annoyance.

I follow her line of sight to a guy with black hair and light green eyes. He looks directly at Mia and a kind smile upturns his own lips.

That must be Elliot.

My eyes move to the guy standing beside Elliot. His dark brown eyes look anywhere but our approaching car. Boredom masks his face and his light brown hair is groomed to the side. He must feel me watching because a moment later my eyes are locking with his. I quickly look away and feel my cheeks heating with embarrassment at having been caught staring.

"I'm so glad we're here!" Mia squeals as she quickly parks the car. Before I even have a chance to unhook my seatbelt she's bolting from the car and straight into Elliots arms. "I've missed you!" She smiles up at her boyfriend and I feel a pang of jealous at their closeness. Especially when the others park and start getting out of their vehicles.

"You gonna introduce me to everyone?" Elliot finally asked and I take it upon myself to do just that.

"I'm Mariah. This is Kaley and her boyfriend Kyle. Then there's Claudette-"

"Claud, please." She cuts in and I roll my eyes.

"Deepest apologies. Claud and her boyfriend Noah. Finally there's my best friend Kat and the man of her dreams, Greg. I introduced them." I wink at that part so everyone knows I'm the cause of their awesome relationship. When I look to Kat she just rolls her eyes at me, though I don't miss her smile.

"This is my friend Dylan. I'm Elliot, though you can just call me Eli."

"Alright! Let's get this show on the road." Mia shouted and we follow her and Eli towards the hotel where we'll be staying. I'd asked Mia why we couldn't just stay at her boyfriends place to save money, but she just said things were complicated and left it at that.

I manage to fall to the very back of the group and watch as all the couples stand close together and chat happily with one another. Before I know it, I've got someone standing beside me.

"Dylan, right?" I asked as I side glance towards him.

"Yep and you're Mariah?" I nod and smile.

"That'd be me. Sorry, if you got caught up in all this. My friends can be a little pushy. Especially Mia." Dylan laughs at that as his eyes go towards our two friends.

"Yeah, I've learned that ever since her and Eli started dating. She's a good person, though." I nod once more. I catch him glance at me before he asks, "So, they're playing cupid with the cupid?" I blush horribly at that question and stutter over my words for a moment before I can finally get out,

"Don't even worry about that. Seriously, I didn't even know Elliot would be bringing one of his friends until about five minutes ago." Dylan laughs again and I realize that I like the sound of it. He stops walking and I follow suit as we turn towards each other.

"Hey, it's fine. But, you know," He starts as he bends down. "You're pretty cute when you're flustered." I yelp in surprise when he does the last thing I ever expected. He actually nips at my nose. For the longest time I feel like I'm about to die of embarrassment until I finally collect myself some and scurry off. Dylan's laughter only follows me.

***

"Some people have no shame!" I said anger radiating in my voice from Dylan's audacity earlier. "I mean he bit my nose! Who does that?" It's a rhetorical question and I'm surprised when Claud speaks up.

"A player." I look at her reflection in the bathroom mirror as I continue working on my hair. She turns eight different shades of red when I raise a questioning brow.

"That's different. You guys are actually dating." Kaley speaks up and Claud seems to only turn into more of a beet.

"We're not dating!" I lock eyes with Mia, Kaley, and Kat before all of us answer,

"You're dating." Claud seems to give up at that point and goes back to deciding which outfit to wear tonight for when we head out.

"Are you really that bothered by it?" Kat asked as she plants herself beside me and starts in on her make-up.

"Obviously I'm bothered by it!"

"Then, why are you trying so hard to look your best tonight?" That gets me because I can't dispute her. I took about an hour just deciding what to wear and now I'm going so far as to make my hair and make up look near perfect. In the mirror my reflection blushes and I can't meet Kat's eyes.

"You never know when you'll meet the one, right? I mean, I found you your person so now I can start looking for my person."

"Hmmm." Kat hums as she puts on a clear lip gloss. "I think I've already found your person." I turn a darker red and Kat just smiles and winks at me.

***

We meet up with the guys about an hour later at a restaurant that Mia and Elliot chose. Apparently Mia and her parents ate here while they were on vacation last summer before our senior year started.

I keep a safe distance between Dylan and I by sticking close to Kat at all times. Dylan just seems to find this overly amusing and he constantly situates himself beside me just to watch as I scurry around.

Every now and then, when I'm not paying attention he'll blow air on my neck or run his finger up my spine. It always gets me and, every time I squeal and jump away, he'll start laughing his ass off.

"It's not that funny! Would you stop?!" I asked seriously getting annoyed by now. I hate it when people just screw around with me. It's not fun. My eyes heat up and I know I'm close to crying like some idiot. Dylan can clearly see this and his smile drops a few notches.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take it that far." I wipe angrily at my eyes before crossing my arms over my chest and turning away from him, completely annoyed.

"Whatever." I muttered and hurry to catch up with our group. As everyone walks ahead I stick to the back giving them their space. I smile, content to watch my friends being so happy. My smile drops when I feel someone tap on my shoulder. "Seriously, what is you-" I cut my sentence short as I spin on my heel only to come face to face with a large, vanilla ice cream cone.

The things gotta be at least five scoops. Holy crap.

I look around the cone and up into Dylan's brown eyes.

"I'm sorry." He said and I can hear the sincerity in his tone. My anger dissipates and I reach up, taking the ice cream from him. Our fingers brush against one another and I try my best to ignore the tiny bolts of electricity I get from his touch.

"I'm sorry too...for overreacting. I guess it was kind of funny...sometimes." Dylan smiles widely at my admission and my heart seems to stutter in my chest. I look away and start walking forward as I begin eating my ice cream.

It's delicious.

A small smile finds it's way onto my face as Dylan and I walk together.

***

Later in the evening, once we've eaten our way through the boardwalk, or rather Mia's eaten her way through the boardwalk, we head down to the beach and the guys manage to get a small bonfire going.

We sit around it chatting happily about our last year in school and everything that's happened. We talk about our future plans and what we're looking forward to most. The girls and I also start making plans on when to meet up again so we can all hang out together like this. It's all really fun and yet somehow bittersweet because we all know this'll be the last time we'll really all get to hang out together like this for a while.

"Alright, time for ghost stories!" I look towards Claud at that and snort at how ready she seems to be.

"You've been waiting for this, haven't you?" Kat asked and Claud crosses her arms over her chest looking like the haughty princess she it.

"Yeah, so? What's wrong with that?" Noah chuckles beside her and snakes his arm around her waist before pulling her down into his lap. "Noah!" Claud squeals. "What are you doing?"

"What can I say, I'm scared and I need you to protect me."

"I haven't even started the story yet!"

"You're just that scary, babe." Claud rolls her eyes at that and we all have a good laugh at their relationship before settling in for some ghost stories. Sometime during Claud's story Dylan seats himself beside me.

"Aren't you a bit too close?" I whispered as his body heat seems to mingle with that of my own.

"I'm scared." I roll my eyes at that.

"Noah already used that line. It's not funny anymore." Dylan doesn't say anything to that and I side glance towards him. He looks slightly paler than usual and I furrow my brows at that. Before I can think much on it I slowly move my arm back and run my finger up his spine. He jumps like a cat startled by a foreign noise and it's absolutely hilarious.

I cover my hands over my mouth and tears start leaking from my eyes as my entire body shakes from the laughter I'm trying to hold in. Dylan just glares daggers at me and it makes the situation worse.

"You're such a wimp." I whispered under my breath once I've managed to compose myself for the most part. I'm still breathing heavily from my fit of giggles and Dylan doesn't seem the least bit amused.

An idea seems to come to life in his eyes, then, and that annoyed look that had made me lose it earlier turns to that of mischief and I can feel my smile fall away.

His arm snakes around my waist and he pulls me closer to him until I'm pressed against his side. I freeze up completely as he bows his head down and I just about jump out of my own skin when I feel his breath slide along my neck.

"Then," He breathed and I yelp when he nips me. "I guess it's a good thing I've got you here with me."

YESSSS!!! I freaking LOVED writing this chapter. I loved, loved, loved it!!! I'm a huge fan of Dylan, what are your thoughts on him? Love him? Hate him? Let me know in the comments below and, while you're at it, if you enjoyed day 16 hit that little star button and give it a vote! Until tomorrow Bookoholic's! Two more days to go!