Hey everybody. So, hope you liked the story so far! I would like a few more votes in there from you guys so... 😀 This is dedicated to alinovak for following me! I know many famous authors don't have time to follow or read other Wattpadians' works but Ali followed me and I nearly had a mini heart attack! Thanks so much... Your books inspire me. They got me through the entire summer last year and it was awesome. So, thanks again Ali. Everyone, enjoy the read.

••••••••••••

It's funny how the most amazing friendship moments turn into the most awkward, embarrassing and annoying event in life; the one that remains the butt of the joke for centuries to come. First of all, before I go into any horrifying details, this was not how I imagined my new friend meeting my parents. Secondly, I did not realise that the entire street had heard the Summer family, including Willow shouting at the top of their lungs, shell-shocked by the situation.

Brace yourselves. Hold your breath... because you're going to need a LOT of oxygen.

My pillow was so soft against my face, wool brushing against my cheeks. A hard lump protruded against my cheekbone, probably a stone or one of Natalie's plastic bath toys, wedged inside. The annoying thing was, every time I shuffled or moved left of the pillow, there was a warmness that blew towards my face, heating it. What was worse, sometimes when I turned my face, coarse bristles would tickle my skin, forcing me to jerk away and slump to the far end of the pillow. I was one-hundred-percent sure that my pillow wasn't six centimetres long but who knew? In a dream, anything could happen.

Wait a second...

On what planet did someone have a woolly pillowcase? On what universe did pillows have stones inside them? On what galaxy was a pillow only six centimetres long?

The soft lumbering sleep lifted its veil and slowly, consciousness was returning, making me stir and move about more. Instantly, I was aware of my sore feet and the annoying crick in my neck. My spine hurt, as if it were about to snap in half and I could feel the muscles in my arms, tense and rigid.

"Mmmmmm..." A low moaning escaped next to me and I felt my heartbeat go on a little adventure with Flash Gordon and come back. Even though I was aware that this was on a completely different level of weird, I didn't dare open my eyes incase a serial killer was standing over me with an AK- 47 prised in his skilful hands. Even the prayers to Sherlock Holmes and John Watson were not enough to save me from this horrific feat.

"Enjoying ourselves, are we?" Something hard clunked against my head and my eyes flew open. The pain was unbearable that I didn't even notice what or who was next to me, a similarly shocked and confused expression on his face. What the heck was going on? Did I go into a state of short-term memory loss or something?

Willow, Mom and Dad were looming over me, I should say, us, as I blinked at Robbie who looked back at me, expressionless. Clearly, he was in the same position I was. Mom's eyebrows were raised and with folded arms she was on the verge of killing Robbie, with her hard-eyed stare. Dad was calm, looking over with a slightly amused expression while holding his work suitcase whereas Willow was grinning, biting her lips, and trying not to double over laughing. The snow-white locks were flowing past her face and I noticed the army trousers she was wearing.

"Didn't know you planned on spending last night together." Dad was almost on the verge of bursting out laughing but Willow was already trying to suppress her giggles.

Oh no, Robbie and I had slept together. No! Not like that. I mean, we slept with each other! Oh I give up. There's no subtle or easy way to explain this. We were probably watching the stars and given Robbie's boring astronomy lecture, I probably fell asleep on his shoulder and then he probably got tired and he probably fell asleep too. Whew! That was it.

So why did I feel so nervous? Even to look at him...

I felt the stairs creaking as he stood up and raked a hand through his hair, whispering a quick prayer under my breath incase he was going to say something stupid or inappropriate. Then, my parents would never let us go out camping this weekend with him.

"Hi, Mr Summer. Mrs. Summer. It's nice to meet you." It was as though he had been practicing this his entire life. The words just flew out of his mouth, as light as a feather. To add on to that amazement, his hair looked perfect and there was no sleep under his eyes. Biting back the obvious jealousy, I glanced over at my parents, anticipating their reactions.

"The pleasure's all ours." My mom gave her most genuine smiles and I nearly fell back at her reaction. Wait, was this even my mom? Surely, she would've thrown a tantrum, even if I just slept on the guy's shoulder. For some reason, Robbie's 'charm', whatever that was, seemed to have worked on her.

"Huh." Quickly, I closed my mouth as all four pairs of eyes turned towards me. I had been quiet during the entire scenario but my syllabic remark had drawn their attention. Uh-oh.

"Well, I've got work. I'm sorting out Willow's case. So, we'll see ya this afternoon." Dad pecked my cheek before walking to his Mercedes, trying to be as civil as possible. Willow gave me a small wink before following suit. Looking longingly towards her, I hoped that my Dad would win this case so the Summer family could become Willow's legal guardian. I had already convinced my parents to let me watch the case, provide moral support for Willow. It was in a few weeks' time.

"Come on in, Robbie. You don't mind helping to pack?" Robbie grinned and followed my mom inside and I followed the two, newly acquainted friends.

"Just a warning, Susie's very fussy about camping. She takes aeons to pack, get ready and leave."

My cheeks flushed red and I made sure my face was hidden behind my hair. I was already thinking of a letter to my mother. It went something like this:

'Hi Mother,

Why do you always have to embarrass me?

Hate, Susie.'

Robbie just chuckled, looking back at me with those annoying chocolate eyes. Scowling, I folded my arms and walked into the living room. Suddenly, I was aware of my messy bed head, the sleep in my eyes and my god-knows-how-it-smells breath. Lena was already awake, folding her pyjamas and prising them into a crinkled backpack. "I'm getting ready. I'll be back in a bit." I shouted.

"Oh, can you help Natalie brush her teeth, Susie?" My mom shouted from the kitchen. Rolling my eyes, I walked towards the stairs. Seeing my slumped shoulders and annoyed demeanour, Robbie stepped in.

"I'll help Natalie, Mrs. Summer. As you said, Susie takes aeons to get ready."

My head snapped in his direction and I narrowed my eyes so much that at one point, all I could see was the blurry red and green of Robbie's jumper. Why the boy chooses to wear wool in the summer, I do not know. When it comes to Amaretto, words fail me.

Sticking my tongue out at his cheeky grin, I stormed up the stairs and slammed the bathroom door shut. The faintest giggle of Lena and Robbie could be heard from the living room and just before their voices went out of earshot, I heard Lena say, "Yep, that's Susie Summer for you. She is not a morning person. At all."

And that's how Robbie met my parents.

As the toothpaste foam dribbled down my chin, I couldn't help but wonder how we were going to sort out the fireflies malarkey. After all, Lena didn't just want to go camping. Her list specifically stated that she wanted to camp and see fireflies. So how was I going to get those delightful little insects... and from where?

"Your butt, obviously! Duh." A soft, annoying voice in my head, sounding exactly like Robbie's, joked.

************

By the time we had finished packing, which had taken an extra three hours than we had estimated, partially because of my mom's persistence in making us sandwiches, Robbie had brought his car to our house and we were loading it with backpacks and Lena's medicine.

Willow was inside, getting dressed. Neither my dad nor her had said a word about the case but I was beginning to think that Willow wasn't happy with what had happened. Choosing not to pry into her life, especially when she was upset, I dragged down my backpack, struggling halfway down the stairs.

"Ugh!" Robbie looked up to find me wearing a vest top under a green hoodie with cami trousers and penny loafers.

"Want some help?"

"Yes. Actually wait, no. I can do it myself."

Raising his eyebrows, he simply smirked before standing back and watching me. I was consciously aware of him watching, especially when I had to thrust my butt out to pull the backpack. The damn bag had somehow got stuck between the stairwells and I was panting, trying to get it out.

"We could be here all day." I felt a pair of arms lifting me from the waist and putting me down at the bottom of the stairs. Without my permission, Robbie began to help and with one pull, he had got the backpack out.

"What the heck do you have inside? A hundred pounds of makeup? Ow." I slapped him across the neck and grabbed the backpack from his arms. He had the guts to say that I was a makeup obsessed girl. He's got some nerves!

"Books you nincompoop. What else?!" Growling at him, I stomped off towards the car, dumping it in an un-lady-like fashion and storming back inside. The weather outside was sweltering and I immediately shrugged off my hoodie. Noticing my actions, Robbie decided to take his jumper off too and I saw that we was wearing a mint-green top underneath that said: '98% Chimpanzee.' The t-shirt speaks words of truth. Woohoo!

I decided to get in the car with Willow and Lena; a few seconds later, Robbie sat in the driver's seat and we left the house, travelling into the jaws of nature.

"So how are we going to get the fireflies?" I whispered, out of Lena's earshot and towards Robbie.

"Oh don't worry. You remember Ricardo from Adam's party? My cousin?"

I nodded mutely.

"Yeah, let's just say his dad is an entomologist. And he just so happens to be studying fireflies."

He grinned at me as I pulled my blond strands into a bun. I have to admit, Robbie Amaretto's one of a kind.

Quietly, he whispered something so faint that if you didn't strain to listen, the wind would've carried those words away.

"You owe me one."

••••••••••••

Do you guys like it? Tell me what you think... Anyway, how fast do you want an update?

NB: Entomologist- A person who studies insects of all kinds, including spiders.

So, I'm planning this novel that is based on action and the army, fighting and secret services. I'm not going to give anything else away. If you liked this chapter, I want you to create a character profile/basis for a character that would suit this type of book. The best one will be awarded winner and I will read your books and vote. So the closing date for this, shall we call it, 'competition', is Tue 9th June 2015. So get characterising. And by the way, this series will be coming out in 2016 so watch out... if I finish the 'S e a s o n s' series, that is... Oh and just another countdown reminder, 14 chapters left of this book, minus the Author's note at the end. Ok, see ya soon kids.