I wake up late, clearly exhausted from yesterday morning's dawn patrol and from meeting Ed's dad. The whole situation at Ed's house rushes back, and I groan loudly.

I screwed up, but I don't know what else I could've done to improve what he already thought about me.

Maybe the fact that I'm just holidaying in California is what he doesn't like.

Or maybe it's just you, a cruel voice mocks in the back of my head.

Whatever, I quickly fire back, but the thought doesn't vacate my mind for quite a while.

Slowly, I drag myself out of bed, pull on a new set of clothes, and grab a coffee in a flask to go. I could go to the Oasis to get a coffee to go, but for some reason, I feel like I need to give Ed a bit of space.

I don't know why; it's not like we fell out yesterday or anything, I just want to give him some time to think about some stuff.

Like whether our relationship is realistic considering I won't be in California for much longer.

Sipping my coffee in the sunshine, I walk into the nearest town, heading to the library where I emailed my mom a few days ago.

This time, I compose an email to Savannah,

Hey, Savannah.

Hope you're well, and that you're finding college okay.

I know that it's called the Golden State for a reason, but California is truly beautiful. You should come out here one day, maybe we'll come back together.

I'm in a library, so if you can, email back ASAP.

Love,

Skye x

When it comes to messaging Savannah, it's better to leave the messages short, otherwise she never reads all of them. Her email literally whizzes into my inbox.

Hey Skye!!!

I miss you so much, please come home soon! Mom and Dad are driving me CRAZY. I love living at home and going to college by day, but PLEASE! I need you, big sis!

Also, that article in People is pretty cool, right? I knew you'd be a star!

Talk later, I gotta go.

Savvy xo

My eyes widen—what article?!

WHAT ARTICLE?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!

SAVANNAH CYNTHIA JAMESON DON'T YOU DARE DROP THAT BOMBSHELL ON ME AND LEAVE!

My attempts were futile; Savvy obviously has something important to do because she's never without her phone if she can't help it.

I glance at my watch and work out that it would be quite early morning in Miami. My baby sis probably just went back to sleep.

Biting my lip, I walk out of the library, after logging off the computer.

People is a tabloid magazine, notorious for celebrity gossip that, most of the time, isn't true at all. So, what did Savannah mean by saying that she always knew I would be a 'star'?

Oh shit. No, no way.

This can't be happening. Can it?

"Skye!" It's Cole, and this is the second time that I've bumped into him outside the library...I wonder if Jessica and Maddy live around here.

"Hey, Cole." I force a smile.

"Are you okay?" He notices. Of course, he notices.

"Yeah." I shake my head, "I just thought something had happened, when it probably hasn't."

"O–kay." Cole laughs nervously, "Well, Teddy's working at the Oasis pretty much all day today, if you want to go see him."

"I might." I nod, as my stomach rumbles. "Might need to grab some lunch first."

"There's this sandwich bar round the corner, if you wanna go there?" Cole suggests, shrugging a tanned shoulder.

"With you?" I frown an eyebrow.

"Jessica works there..." He trails off, kicking at the ground.

"And...you want me to come so that I can a) get lunch, and b) provide moral support?" I check.

"Kinda, yeah." Cole looks up at me again, "Look, you don't have to, it's just—"

"Cole. I will go with you." I decisively link my arm through his and start walking towards this sandwich bar, "As long as you're paying."

The sandwich bar is pretty cute, just a small joint. It's pretty similar to the Oasis Moon café in terms of the chill atmosphere.

"Oh shit. This is a bad idea." Cole quietly blurts out as we walk through the door.

"No, it's not." I drag him over to a booth, "Jessica knows how serious Ed and I are getting, so that's fine."

"Can I tell you something?" Cole asks anxiously.

"Go for it. But after you get me a sandwich—nothing with lactose in!" I shout to him, pushing him towards the counter.

He hmphs, "Hmph, I don't know how Teddy puts up with you."

Thankfully, Jessica doesn't see Cole, as she's clearing up some tables, and another waitress serves him.

Five minutes later, I've got a huge sandwich sat on a plate.

"You talk, I eat." I tell Cole, taking a bite.

"Well, the thing is, I never meant to cheat on Jessica with her twin." He begins to explain.

I choke on my sandwich, and have to take a swig of my water, "How do you accidentally cheat on someone?"

"Maybe because Maddy was pretending to be Jessica, pretending that she'd come home early from uni, and one thing led to another, and we were in bed—"

"Spare me the details." I roll my eyes.

"Well, I only realised after we'd...you know, done it." Cole takes a deep breath, "Maddy has a tiny tattoo of a bird here," He points to the side of his upper ribs, so the side of her right boob.

"Damn." I swallow a mouthful. "But what about that night on the yacht? Didn't you hook up with Maddy then?"

Cole shakes his head, "Maddy was coming on to me, and it was dark, and I thought she was Jessica."

"Shit, Cole." I sigh heavily, "Your love life is seriously messed up. Did you ever try to explain any of that to Jessica, to Ed?"

"They wouldn't believe me." He shrugs, glancing out the window at people passing by.

"You still love Jessica, don't you?" I ask, extremely casually considering the weight of the question.

Cole's head snaps back towards mine, and he blinks a couple of times, "I guess so."

"Tell her that." I take another mouthful of sandwich.

"It's not that easy." He rubs the back of his neck.

"It never is." I mumble.

We then lapse into silence, with me finishing off my sandwich, and Cole staring out the window, eyebrow furrowed.

"I'm gonna use the loo." I tell him once I've finished, getting up and walking towards the bathroom.

I pass Jessica on the way there, "Hey Jessica."

"Hey!" Jessica whirls around to face me, "Skye? What are you doing here?"

"Getting a sandwich," I shrug slightly, "Cole told me it was the best place in town."

"You're here with Cole?" Jessica's voice drops to a whisper, as she glances over to the booth I was sat in with Cole, answering her own question.

"He wanted to see you." I explain quietly, "And he wants to talk to you as well, but he's just really nervous."

"Serves him right." Jessica huffs and rolls her eyes.

"You do know that Maddy pretended to be you when he cheated on you the first time, right?" I check, frowning.

"What?!" Jessica shouts, causing Cole and a couple of other customers to glance over our way and then away again.

"Yes, now go talk to him." I grab her shoulders and push her in the direction of her ex who made one hell of a big mistake.

I quickly used the toilet, but stalled before going over to Cole and Jessica; it looked like they were finally talking things through.

Mentally, I patted myself on the back—I'd done exactly what a good friend to both of them would've done.

Whether they got back together or whether they didn't, at least they're talking it through. Both of them, hopefully, finding some sort of closure.

Closure is necessary at the end of a relationship, because without it, nobody can move on.

My eyes catch on a rack of magazines, magazines from today, and I latch onto a name.

My name.

...Skye Jameson, Spotted Soaking up the Sun in South California...

Holy shit. It's a People magazine, that's what Savvy was talking about!

I pick up the magazine and stare at the picture, but the words blur together, mushing up into indistinguishable hieroglyphics. Letting the glossy tabloid slip to the ground, a single thought dashes through my mind: I have to get to Ed before he sees this.

I rush out of the sandwich bar without looking back, leaving Cole and Jessica looking more than a little confused.

"I'll see you later!" I mouth through the window to them, giving a thumbs up and a smile that's way too confident looking for how I'm feeling.

Cole said that Ed is working at the Oasis basically all day, so that's where I head.

Blood rushes around my head as I break into a run.

If Ed reads that article, he'll never look at me the same way again.

That's all I know right now; that's all that matters right now.

I burst into the Oasis Moon café, undoubtedly looking like a hot mess as I scan the place for Ed.

"Do you know where Ed is?" I hurriedly ask the ginger-haired woman behind the counter.

"No, but he just left." She offers, before tilting her head at me, "Do I know you from somewhere? Have you been in a magazine, or on TV?"

Oh shit.

"No, you must be mistaken." I force a smile and run out of the café.

I look left, I look right—where the hell is Ed?!

If only I had a phone...I begin to think, but then I remember that I probably never would've made it here if I still had my phone.

But if I had a phone, maybe I would've found out about that article before it was even published...

I've only been in California for a week, but it still feels like everything is falling apart.

I sprint up to my van, unlock it, and jump into the driver's seat.

"Come on, Bessie." I start up the engine, "It's time to go to try and save my love life."

*~*~*~*

Half an hour later, after driving around what felt like all of California, though it really wasn't, I finally track down Ed. He's walking through town, reading what looks like a magazine that I can only pray isn't a People magazine...

"There you are!" I exclaim, quickly parking Bessie up somewhere safe and jumping out of my van.

He ignores me and continues walking.

"Ed!" I shout and run to him—wow, I think, I sure have done a lot of running today!

"Skye?" Ed frowns as he faces me.

My body relaxes; maybe he hasn't seen it yet.

"What are you still doing here?" He questions, "How come you aren't already on your way home?"

My mouth drops open, "What...what do you mean?"

"I mean," He rolls his eyes, and his voice takes on a harsh tone that I've never heard him use before (but then again, I've only known him for a week), "I mean, how come your little vacation isn't over and you're heading back to your perfect modelling job, and your perfect Ivy League university, and your perfect home with all your perfect family, your perfect friends and probably a perfect boyfriend."

I try to swallow, but my throat blocks up, "It's not what you think."

"Read that." He throws the magazine at me, "And then try to understand how I feel, and what I think."

Then he leaves, without a backwards glance, as I call his name out, tears rolling down my cheeks.

"Ed! Ed! Please come back!" It's pointless.

I pick up the magazine and climb back into my van.

Once I've dried my tears, I read the article.

Soon-to-be Victoria's Secret Angel, Skye Jameson, Spotted Soaking up the Sun in South California

Skye Jameson, 22, hails from Miami, Florida, and is a soon-to-be a model for Victoria's Secret, according to a contract signed five months ago. Skye has been off the radar for a long while, until People got an anonymous tip on her whereabouts—sunny south California.

Young Skye is reported to be taking a 'break' from the career that she hasn't even started, according to her friends and family, and travelled across the States, on her own, in a 1979 VW Type 2 Devon Camper van.

The spokesperson for Victoria's Secret's Angels, Julie Jones, said that the retail company was 'disappointed' that Skye postponing the start of her contract with them, despite her being 'very lucky' to have gotten such a high position so young.

Furthermore, the VS Angels would be more than willing to give Jameson her own pair of wings, as soon as she returns from her little vacation, that is. As well as this, Jameson was accepted into an Ivy League university earlier this year...

[See more on page 8]

Alongside this segment of the article, which somehow made front page, is a photo of me 'soaking up the sun', wearing a bikini top and shorts; this was last Friday.

My heart fractures. Splinters.

Because I, Skye Jameson, 22, who hails from Miami, Florida, have been subject to the cruel lens of the paparazzi.

Shutterbugs, my dad once called them.

That 'bug' part is right—slimy, evil, little—

But this is still my fault; how did I think that I would get away with ditching everything in my life?

Especially because that modelling agency that I signed up with is Victoria Secret.

God, I'm a fool.

I flip to page 8 of the magazine, to see a shot of me that was taken months ago. It was my first photoshoot with VS, part of the application process: to see if I could actually model.

Answer: I can, or I could, at least.

I look great in that photo, in a cute but sexy set of lingerie. But Ed saw it.

And now I don't know what to think.

I launch the magazine behind me, start Bessie's engine, and drive back to where I was parked up for sleeping.

Pulling up into the same spot, and feeling exhausted, I grab a huge bag of salted potato chips out from a cupboard, before collapsing onto my bed. I tear the bag open and shovel in one chip after another, trying to fill the empty pit of my heart.

I left my home because I wanted to find out who I really am, before continuing with the rest of my, as Ed called it, 'perfect' life. But...I still have no idea who I am, or what I want from life.

All of I've done whilst being here is made a few friends, caught a few waves, and started dating an incredible guy who I don't deserve.

Taylor Swift is an awesome singer/songwriter, who is often, along with countless other celebrities, hounded by paparazzi. I guess I now know how that feels, and how she felt when she wrote her song 'I Know Places'.

I start singing the song, with a cracked, full-of-tears voice.

"You stand with your hand on my waist line
It's a scene and we're out here in plain sight
I can hear them whisper as we pass by
It's a bad sign, bad sign
Something happens when everybody finds out
See the vulture circling dark clouds
Love's a fragile little flame, it could burn out
It could burn out
'Cause they got the cages, they got the boxes
And guns, they are the hunters, we are the foxes
And we run

"Baby I know places we won't be found and they'll be
Chasing their tails tryin' to track us down
'Cause I, I know places we can hide, I know places
I know places..."

I wish I knew some places in which I could hide away in.

And I wish I had someone who truly cares about me to hide away with.