June 15

Rosseau, Muskoka

Not much for drinking outside the safety net of my own home or the homes of my close friends, and considering I'm still years away from the legal age, I shake my head when Mads offers me some of the fruit wine her boyfriend bought for her. I wander to the refrigerator to grab a diet coke instead, smiling when Mads rolls her eyes at me.

She looks incredible tonight. Her dad, her mum's second husband, is the most handsome man I've ever seen, and Mads certainly got his looks. Her smooth, dark coffee-with-a-touch-of-cream coloured skin is flawless, and she's one hundred percent gorgeous. Her pale green sundress is delicate, sexy. Just like her.

Most of my friends now like to play the whole binge-drink-at-parties game. Thanks, but no thanks.

Since my parents let me drink light beer or fruity wines at home, I don't find it particularly exciting to drink with my friends. At least not in the same way they seem to enjoy it. Plus, they take what they can get their hands on, often items from their parents' liquor cabinets that are way too strong for my taste.

Hudson and Theo find me, and I can see they went for soft drinks too. Two of us need to boat home, anyway. Theo brought his boat, rather than ride with us, hoping to meet a girl tonight and wanting his own transportation for flexibility. I'd only rolled my eyes, laughing when he'd told Hudson and I that he'd drive separately, tossing a wink in our direction as he'd jumped into his boat.

I feel a slender arm hook through mine and I smile, knowing it's Mads before looking. She might be one of my close friends, but we don't always have the most natural relationship. She lives to extremes, there is no such thing as a middle ground for her.

"So, have you found your summer boy-toy yet, Ellie? Spill."

"No, Mads. No boy-toy for me. Besides, I'm going to be too busy this summer. You know that."

Mads is definitely closer with Vi than with me, but we get along just fine.

Thinking of Vi makes me wish she was here, but she travels to Stockholm every summer to see her grandmother and extended family. I make a mental note to call her. It's already been four days since we spoke on the phone.

"Don't be like that, Elle. If a girl as gorgeous as you can't find a playmate for the summer to fill the small, available windows in your social calendar, then there's no hope for the rest of us."

I roll my eyes. "Mads, you have..." Oh, God. What is her boyfriend's name? Chris? Connor? Craig! "...Craig. Right?"

She makes a sexy little purring sound in my ear, which makes me laugh. "For now. Promise me, Elle. Promise you'll try to lighten up a little this summer, have some fun." Someone shouts her name, pulling her attention across the room. "Take my advice. Find a nice boy to play with this summer. It will be good for you. You are way too uptight. Laters, Ellie." She skips across the room and I breathe a sigh of relief.

The party's a little slow to start, the first official party is normally chock-full of that beginning of summer awkwardness in place as people settle back into old routines. When the music starts pumping out, people begin to loosen up, and the party gets rowdier and rowdier as the night moves on.

"Dance with me, Ellie. C'mon. Loosen up, live a little."

I don't recognize any of the music, but Hudson pulls me on to the small space reserved for dancing, without waiting for my answer. I laugh as he twists and twirls me, encouraging me to let loose. We're the only two dancing together.

Our mums force us to attend etiquette classes every year. Much to my initial horror, they included partnered dancing lessons.

At first, it was mortifying, but I'm actually grateful for the lessons. Not specifically for the dancing aspect, but for the rest. Of course, Hudson is a total natural, with a strong sense of rhythm, movement, and the music just flows through him. On the other hand, I am so much stiffer, not naturally prone to overly graceful movements despite my mother's hopes and dreams.

Luckily for me, I'm an excellent follower, especially in Hudson's arms. Our instructor, Winston, always pairs us together, determining it must be the sense of safety and trust that I feel with Hudson that allows me to progress.

We laughed at his perceived insightful observation, clutching our ribs, snickering as quietly as possible. We get into more trouble than anyone else in that class combined.

It's really more like we're so used to each other and comfortable for long periods in very close proximity, unlike so many of the other young pairs there, frozen with awkwardness and trying to avoid touching for any longer than necessary.

I enjoy dancing when it's with Hudson. He helps me let go, release my worry over embarrassing myself. His antics are much more ridiculous than mine, at any rate.

His deep voice rumbles through me as he sings along to the music. My thoughts jolt back to the present as Hudson spins me in tight, rapid circles, using one raised arm over my head to steady me and his other hand to guide my hips through the quick twirls. The short skirt of my sundress flutters high on my thighs. My long hair flies around me.

I'm dizzy, breathless, and giggling by the time the song has ended, bracing myself against his chest while waiting for the room to stop spinning.

I glance towards Theo, wanting to make sure he's included in the fun too, but immediately blush as I see him kissing one of the girls I know from Briar, the rival school to mine.

Casanova for the win in record time. Nudging Hudson, I point, and he looks over too.

When he turns back, I look up at him, and for just a moment, his gaze hovers on my lips, his eyes darkening.

He shakes it off before glancing in Theo's direction again, smiling and shaking his head. I shake off the strange moment.

Theo's hands are all over that girl, but she seems to love it.

I've never met a girl that didn't like Theo, Mads included. I hope she doesn't get too upset seeing her number one crush with another girl. Although Mads is dating someone new this summer and I guess since we're partying at his place, it's safe to say she's over her school year crush on Theo.

It was downright comical watching Theo dodge Mads all year. Talk about persistence. She'd be top of the class if she put as much effort into school.

Theo nearly stopped talking to me because of the intense way she pursued him. One night, in total desperation, he blurted out to Mads that he was in love with me, and that's why they could never be together. I nearly died, but Hudson's face gave the entire thing away as a joke.

Mads' feelings were hurt, and Vi and I made Theo apologize and explain to her that he would like to be friends, but she had to stop her aggressive pursuit. Being honest is definitely the best policy when it comes to these things.

The music finally shifts, moving away from the clearly male inspired playlist. In the span of the evening, we've heard the Red Hot Chili Peppers, OutKast, 50 Cent, Sisqo, even Hoobastank. It's an eclectic collection, to say the least. I'm relieved when the music changes, and I start to recognize more of the songs, Britney, Destiny's Child, Beyoncé.

It feels as though Mads is probably in charge now. This playlist could be straight out of her iPod. The dance floor was pretty thin, to begin with, but a few more people join us, getting into the new mood. More importantly, more girls come out to dance, livening up the party.

Hudson's game to dance to literally anything, and he pulls me back against him, keeping me close for a particularly steamy, close contact dance to Naughty Girl. His hands settle on my hips, moving my butt into the cradle of his hips and guiding me to follow his movements.

His cheek presses against mine. One hand slides up my side, before he uses it to push me out, then yank back to him in a quick spin with his other hand. This time, we're facing one another. I grin up at him, giving him control to lead. My hips follow his, no space between us, one of his thighs between mine.

He smiles down at me, winking when I push him back, shifting my hips against him provocatively to the chorus of I'm a Slave for You by the one and only Britney. He slaps his hand to his heart, then grabs me, and pulls me close again.

At some point, Theo and the girl he's been with join us, and I dance with her, laughing when the boys twirl us together.

As we dance to song after song, we're both flushed and laughing, breathing hard when the last one ends. There's a sheen of sweat across our bodies, and I fan myself, stepping towards the railing to lean over and catch the slow breeze. Hudson leans back beside me and flicks my hair away from my damp temple with his finger, tucking it behind my ear.

The music turns down, way down, and we're all called into the boathouse guest cottage where Mads and her friend announce we'll play a game. For the first time tonight, I notice the blonde girl, arm linked together with Mads', whispering in her ear. I stand on my tiptoes and recognize her immediately. It's the Briar Prep girl from town, Chiara, I think Greyson called her.

I nudge Theo with my foot, nodding my head in the girl's direction. He frowns up at her for a moment, but his attention returns to the girl he's with when she kisses his neck. Trailing visibly wet, open-mouthed kiss just by his ear, and down to his collarbone.

I blush and focus on Hudson. Leaning against him, I wait to see what they have in mind. Theo and the girl he's with stay close, waiting, but are totally distracted by one another. I do not look back at them.

"Alright, everyone. We're going to play a little game." With a toss of her hair, she smiles. "It's called Guess Who. Now, I know some of you already know how to play, so let me hear some excitement."

A few girls hoot, trying to impress the evening's Queen Bees. "This is to help all you summer lovers get acquainted."

Oh, no. Mads, you know how I feel about these games. Why didn't you warn me?

Mads goes on to inform us that each of our names is currently in the hat, and whoever gets called into the center of the circle will be blindfolded and kissed by someone at the party, it's fair game, whoever steps forward first, gets to kiss the person in the center. Then they need to guess who.

I don't want to play this game. Looking around, I've only met one of the other boys as far as I can tell, a teammate of the boys from Track. Everyone else is a stranger. "Do you want to leave Hudson?."

He shakes his head, "Are you kidding, this is just getting exciting!"

"What are you going to do if they call your name? What do I do if they call mine? I don't know anyone here." I bite my lip nervously.

"It'll be fine, Elle, relax." His hand squeezes my shoulder, "There's like forty people here, and ninety percent are girls too, so I'm sure your name won't even come up. Worst case, it's just a kiss."

My tension builds, and I bite my lip, worrying over every potential scenario that could arise.

Mads pulls the first name, and a girl named Sophie walks into the middle. Once she's blindfolded, one of the guys jumps forward and kisses her, passionately, and I find myself blushing over that too. Just a kiss? Sure.

He steps back into the circle, and she spends a few minutes, guessing. She finally gets it right and wanders off back to her place, laughing and blushing just slightly. Otherwise, she seems unaffected, calm, confident. I envy her composure.

Mads calls  another name from the hat, this time a boy named David. There's a slight scuffle and catfight as three girls lunge forward. During this time, another girl sneaks around and kisses him softly on the lips before melting back into the crowd. It takes the boy, David, nearly five minutes to guess correctly, but he wanders over to the girl who'd kissed him, striking up a conversation with a grin.

Mads giggles and pulls another name out, calling someone named Jen to the middle of the circle. I hear Hudson's laugh as he realizes it's the girl Theo's spent the evening flirting with. His laughter vibrates through me, as I lean back against his chest. I groan, mortified as everyone looks over at us.

The blonde girl, Chiara, I remind myself again, also looks in our direction with the commotion, and I see the moment she recognizes Theo, then me. She whispers something to Mads, who also looks over at us, saying something to her friend, but I can't tell what it is. Anxiety stretches my nerves to their limit.

Jen tosses a saucy look over her shoulder, winking at Theo before she lets Mads tie the blindfold around her eyes. Theo doesn't make any move to go kiss her, and I'm beyond shocked. I slap his arm, and he rolls his eyes, preparing to step forward, but another boy beats him to it. This boy shows off for the group with a long, dramatic kiss, and he dips her backward to the hoots of the crowd.

My anxiety continues to build, but I don't see how I can leave without drawing more attention. I'm probably as far away from the door as possible.

When the blindfold is gone, she points at Theo, but he only shakes his head, lifting his hands up in a 'no clue' gesture. It's clear that he misses the look of hurt that flashes over her face before she guesses again, but I don't.

Jen finally guesses and moves to stand over with that boy instead, sulking a little. Theo just grins at Hudson, shrugging. I see Hudson roll his eyes.

Chiara whispers something in Mads' ear, then pulls the next name out of the hat. And to my absolute horror, it's mine. Mads tries to glance at the paper, but Chiara snatches it away, smiling and shaking her finger from side to side at Mads.

Oh, God. This can't be happening. Mads drags me into the circle before I can object. Even if I wanted to object, everyone's attention was on me. Mads ties the blindfold around my eyes tightly. My heart is hammering as I wait for her to give the go-ahead for someone to step forward. My chest is tight, and I feel anxiety bubbling under my skin; I don't want to be here, but I'm too nervous about the group's reactions if I back out now.

Chiara's voice, shrill and whiny, tells the group to start, asking, "So, who's going to be the one to kiss Elle tonight?" Her voice grates on my ears like nails on a chalkboard.

My heart is hammering in my chest and my ribs feel like a cage. I swallow the ball of anxiety lodged in my throat. I immediately hear movement to my right, and It feels like I stop breathing, my body is so rigid that I'm shaking from my muscles being locked so tightly.

Two large, warm hands cup my face gently, and soft, warm lips touch mine. I jump, then nearly weep with relief as the familiar scent of Hudson surrounds me. I grip his wrists for support, I'm practically vibrating in his grasp. He lingers over the kiss but doesn't deepen it; he only slides his lips across mine, kissing me softly, thumbs stroking over my cheeks before he pulls away after several heartbeats, stepping back into the crowd.

Mads unties the blindfold whispering, "That was totally hot, Ellie, I think you just found your summer fling," in my ear before telling me to guess who had kissed me. I nervously identify Hudson, wanting nothing more than to go back to him and hide in the shelter of his body.

I flee back to him once Mads releases me. "Let's get out of here, Hudson. Please."

He nods, taking my hand and tugging me through the crowd. "I'm sorry, Elle. I honestly didn't think they'd call your name."

I jump into my boat, and Hudson pushes us off the dock. I tip the throttle forward but don't speed up. I don't even look to see if Theo is following us in his boat. He's a big boy, he'll be fine.

"Thank you for what you did. I'm glad you were the one to kiss me, instead of those people I don't know. God, why does everyone insist on playing these games? What if I'd never been kissed before, is that how I'd want to remember my first kiss?"

Much to my embarrassment, tears threaten to choke me. My throat closes and my eyes burn. I try to blink the tears away.

Hudson's quiet for a moment, "Theo wasn't sure whether you'd been properly kissed before. I wasn't sure if you really had been, that's why I did it." He smiles tightly. "I mean, New Year's hardly counts."

He blushes, shoving his hair off of his forehead. "Theo would have jumped in once your name came up, but I was closer. We didn't want it to be some stranger in a crowd."

He sits next to me, taking my free hand that's resting on the throttle and giving it a squeeze. "That blonde girl, do you know her? She kind of looked like she intended to put you on the spot."

Nodding, I try to explain, "Yeah, I know who she is, but I don't know her. Theo and I sort of met her yesterday in town. She is, or maybe was, a..." I pause, unsure what she is, then decide, "a friend of Greyson's, I guess."

"Can I tell you something, Hudson?" I look up at him and bite my lip nervously. God, I just can't keep this all bottled up inside me anymore.

"Always, Ellie. You know that." He takes my hand fully in his and squeezes it, encouraging me to speak my mind.

"Greyson and I are in a thing. Sort of. Oh, I don't know. It's all so confusing." I bite my lip, fighting back the sting of tears I feel building.

I will not cry over this. I will not cry one more time over this nonsense with Greyson.

Hudson looks at me, not saying anything for a few moments. "Is this something new?" He finally asks me.

"Sort of. Not really, but yes, I guess so." I laugh nervously, not really sure where to start.

"We spent a lot of time together last summer, just as friends, until he kissed me on my birthday. Then, for the rest of the summer, we were...more, I guess. But when we went back to school, he was so indifferent, I want to say he was mean, but he wasn't really purposefully mean, just indirectly so, I guess. I don't really know. Now, here we are. Things are shifting again, and I can't keep up. I can't find my balance, I can't tell what he wants." I speak quickly, the flood of my words pouring from my mouth.

Hudson stares at me, his kind eyes clearly worried. "I know he's our friend, Elle. Just be careful, he can be, well, you know how he can be." Hudson puts his arm over my shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me before? I was a total ass last year, teasing you about Grey's behavior."

I laugh, remembering the small jabs Hudson had taken at Greyson's expense all year. "He wanted to keep it a secret last summer, I didn't really know what to do. I didn't want it to change the group."

I take a deep, cleansing breath, feeling lighter already. "This time, I just don't know what Greyson wants. He keeps touching me every opportunity he gets, just slight touches, but they set me on edge, making me doubt everything. He kissed me at the cliffs, just on my cheek, my neck. It's confusing." I whisper the last part, feeling lousy.

His arm squeezes me tightly to him. "Yeah, Elle. I get it. Look, I'm here for you either way, whatever you decide about Grey. You're my best friend. If he's an ass, you tell me, I don't care if I'm his friend too, you're my girl, for me you come first, before him, before anyone."

What did I do to deserve you? Breathing an enormous sigh of relief, and completely flooded with my love for him, I lean into him. "You come first for me too, Hudson."

- - -

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If so, consider giving it a vote, or sharing some of your thoughts in the comments!

I'd love to know what you think of the different relationships between the characters so far. I have a particular soft spot for the friendship between Elle and Hudson, but I also love how Theo teases her affectionately.

Xx Toria