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I have been avoiding Logan since Monday. It is now Thursday. Every time he'd try to approach me, I'd give him an excuse like, "I gotta get to class" or "I have a meeting with a teacher".

James is still here. We've been hanging out nonstop— I mean, who wouldn't want to hang out with a cousin whom you're really close with?

Thoughts run through my mind about Logan. Why would Logan care who James was? Is he jealous? No, he couldn't be, he has Maria Port. Why am I even thinking about Logan? 

As the thoughts come into my mind, I realize how much more I like Logan. It's just one of those dream crushes. It's not like I'm actually going to get the dream guy. A dream guy, by definition is someone who you dream about, I think to myself. 

"Hey," a familiar voice says. I turn to look and James is leaning against the my doorframe. "Still avoiding Logan?" He approaches me and sits on the bed, making the bed screech. I nod my head in response. 

James asks questions I really don't want to answer, so to make the replies short I answer with yeses, no, maybe or by shrugging, shaking or nodding my head.

"Look, James, I'd love to sit and chat with you, its just, I've gotta pack for my trip to Miami. I also have to get up early, so I'd really like to finish packing and go to bed."

James nods his head and turns to leave, but I quickly get up and pul hi into a hug. We break apart and take one step back.

"So, I guess this is goodbye until next time?" James smiles.

"Yeah, I guess it is," I reply.

"Goodnight."

***

The next morning, a bright light wakes me up. When my eyes slowly adjust to the light, I see my mom standing in my doorway with a smile. I groan.

"Honey, it's time to get up, you have thirty minutes to get up and out the door. It's 4:50, so up, up, up!"

I groan one more time and get up, take a hot shower. I put on comfy, hight-waisted yoga leggings and a crop top, not worrying about anything showing because of the leggings.

I say my goodbyes to my family, even James. When I leave, I my phone beeps. A text message from Logan that reads: 

Want anything from Starbucks? I'm stopping there picking up a coffee for me. You? Venti-anything!

I want to ignore him, really, I do. I was humiliated when I overhead him talking about me with Ryan. But if I'm being honest, I don't have any friends. 'm kinda in dire need of a friend. Not having any friends for this trip will be miserable. I tell myself to Forgive and Try-to-Forget, to shake if off.

I reply.

Sure. Can I get a venti Java Chip Frappé with extra chocolate chips and whip cream on top.

I immediately get a response just as I drive into McDonalds. I check the time before replying. It was 5:12. I have plenty of time. I read Logan's text.

Very demanding!! :)

Me: >:(

Haha. Venti Java Chip Frappé and whatever else you said :)

Me: I'm @ McDonalds, want anything?

Whatever you're having.

Me: :)

 See you soon. ;)

When I arrive at school, I pull into a parking spot next to Logan, who is leaning against his car, drinking a coffee. I open my door and tell Logan I'll be right back after I drop off my bags and put them in the charter bus. When I get on the bus, I go down the aisle looking for a seat until one chair has a sign that says Natalie's seat. 

I smile and drop off my stuff.

I go back outside and meet Logan by his car. I we trade foods, my venti for breakfast. 
 "What is it?" Logan says, peering inside the bag.

"A Sausage McMuffin and a hash brown. That okay?"

"Of course! Thank you!" Logan excitedly says, before taking a bite into the sandwich.

"No, thank you! I needed the coffee," I reply. Logan catches me by surprise, pulling me into a hug. Wrapping his arms around my waist, holding his sandwich. I'm hesitant, but I hug him back. After we break apart, I eagerly reach for my coffee. 

Logan tosses his head to the right and says, "Come on, we have a long day ahead." I smile and he takes my hand, leading me to the charter bus. Still holding on to my hand, he guides me to my reserved seat. I sit down and he does the same.

"Alright," Mr. Berk tiredly announces, "everyone is here, so we will now continue our way to Florida, which is approximately twelve hours away. We will be making brief stops for food. The bathroom is in the back. Please be mindful of others because we all have to share the bathroom. So no big explosions, if you know what I mean. We will arrive at 6:00 P.M. tonight."

I finish the sandwich, I slurp the rest of my coffee. I pull out my pillow and try to sleep. After about fifteen minutes of attempting to fall asleep, Logan reaches over, takes away my pillow and brings my head to his chest. I'm leaning into him, smelling the cologne he sprayed. Logan whispers into my ear, "This better?" I grin to myself, nod, and fall into a deep sleep.

***

The bus stops at a gas station about an hour and a half after Falene is moved to the front. I stay on the bus while Logan goes inside to get a snack. When he returns, a bag hangs from his hand.

"Yoda?" Logan calls. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Falene turn around, who is very jealous. "Ya like Skittles?"

"How'd you know? I love Skittles, they're my favorite!" I exclaim.

"I also got us a large Slush Puppie to share," he says, handing over the cherry-flavored drink. I take a sip and let out a big sigh of satisfaction. Logan chuckles and asks, "You like it?" I nod in appreciation.

I take the bag of candy and look inside. "Jeez! How much candy did you buy?"

Logan smiles and replies, "A lot. I should last us the rest of the bus ride."

"What about me? Don't I get to buy you anything?" I complain.

"How about," he stokes his fake beard, "buying me three Starbucks— any size and drink— or you can take me out to dinner one night. How's that sound?"

"Haha, sounds good," I respond, opening the packet of Skittles. Logan stretches out his hand. I pour the candy into his hand, my fingers lightly skimming his. I look at him, staring into his brown eyes.

"What?" He smiles, revealing a dimple in his left cheek.

"I never noticed your dimple, right there," I say, pointing at his cheek where his dimple lays. He turns his head away towards the ground, embarrassed, but he's still smiling.

After a few quiet moments, Logan breaks the silence, "So, we're in the same group. I was thinking that you and I could ... um—"

Before he could finish, I cut him off. "Could what?"

"That we could hang out on this trip. You know, a little bonding time," he suggests. I grin, and agree.

***

"Okay, everyone, it is currently 6:12 P.M. and we have just arrived at the hotel. You will be checked in and settled in the hotel in at least twenty minutes. After that, you are free to go where ever as long as you're back here by 10:30 and have checked in with a teacher or counselor. Understand?" Heads nod in all directions.

After the meeting, Logan approaches me from behind. "Wanna go get some dinner after you get settled?" He says, placing his hands on my shoulders— still behind me.

"Sure! Let me go drop this stuff off in my room. How about I meet you here in thirty minutes?" I propose.

He agrees. "Hey!" He calls after me. I turn around and he says, "Wear something fancy."

"Okay." And we head off in our separate ways.

I ride the elevator with my roommates, Maria, Hannah, and Isabel. When we arrive on our floor and find our room. Inside, the room is quite large with two king-sized beds laying on the left side of the room. 

We have a balcony looking out at the ocean. I open the sliding glass door and step outside and lean against the metal railing. The ocean reflects the sky's pretty pink, purple, and orange color. Waves gently rising and falling, creating a slight breeze.

I go back into to my room to find that Hannah and Isabel have left. I unpack and quickly take a seven minute shower. By the time I wrap a towel around my body and look for an outfit, I have twenty-three minutes until I have to leave. 

While I'm rummaging through my things, Maria rushes over to me. "I hear you're going to dinner with Logan." I nod my head, nervous she'll do something to me. "Yay! Can I pick out your outfit?" I stare at her, stunned. I let out a deep breath and say, "Sure, it has to be fancy."

Maria jumps up and down clapping. She darts over to her bag and unzips it. Clothes spew out of her bag because they barely fit. She dumps all of her clothes onto the bed practically making a new bed spread. As she rifles through the clothes, she occasionally holds up different articles of clothing.

"How about this?" She holds up a maxi skirt and a black blouse. I make a face and shake my head profusely. "Okay, okay," Maria says, throwing the clothes aside. After about five minutes, we finally come to the outfit. "Yeah?" Maria asks holding up a shiny, black dress. I smile. "I take it that you like it?" I nod. She tosses the dress at me and shoves me into the bathroom. 

"Hurry! You only have eighteen minutes," Maria calls after she shuts the door. I slip on the dress and check myself out in the mirror. I got distracted looking at myself in the mirror because Maria pounds on the door. I open it and revealing my look.

"You look beautiful," Maria praises. That surprises me since I thought her goal is to make me jealous or something because she's good friends with Logan,

With a bag in hand, she tugs me back inside the bathroom. Dumping the contents from the bag to the counter, Maria searches for the right makeup. When she comes across the one she wants, she begins my make up. After makeup, she checks the time and then quickly rushes to my hair— blow drying it with two hair dryers. Eleven minutes pass.

My hair is dry and Maria shrieks, "Ugh! Only seven minutes!" She orders me to sit on the toilet and turn around so I am not facing the mirror. "It has to be a surprise," Maria tells me. Maria begins to manipulate my hair. After about twenty bobby pins to pin my wavy hair, she has me stand up and look into the mirror. "What do you think?" I stare in awe at how beautiful I look. My hair is pulled back into a french twist with a couple strands of hair hanging at the sides of my face; my eyes are shaded with navy eyeshadow, light eyeliner and some mascara; and my lips are glossed with an apple-colored lipstick. "Wow," I stare, open-mouthed. "Thank you so much! I feel so ..."

"Beautiful?" Maria finishes. "You look beautiful." Maria rushes out of the room and comes back. "Here, you need these." She holds out a nice pair of black, strappy heals.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, just make it quick, you're out of time," Maria points out.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" She asks. Our conversation continues as we slowly make our way to the elevator.

"Being so nice?"

We enter the elevator and head down. "Because I'm nothing like Falene," she answers. The elevator door opens and I we walk out. When I see Logan, he is wearing a black suit and his back is toward me and is talking to Ryan and friends. I turn around back to Maria. "Thank you, I really appreciate it," I thank. She smiles. "Anytime. Now go, someone's waiting for you."

I walk toward Logan and Ryan. When I get closer, I see Ryan's head peek out to the side. Once Ryan saw me, it starts a chain reaction of eyes watching me. Logan ends the chain and turns around, studying me. I approach the group in a elegant manner. "Boys. Nice meeting you here," I greet. Ryan is the first to say something. "Dude, you're smokin'." He takes a few steps forward and wraps his arms around me in an embrace. "Thank you," I say, returning him with a kiss on the cheek, leaving apple-colored lipstick the shape of my lips on his cheek. As I pull back, Ryan stands there frozen and unmoving. I turn to Logan, "You look very handsome." A crooked smile stretches across his face. "Why thank you, are you ready?" I nod my head. Logan holds out his arm and I wrap my arm with his. "Let's go."

As we head out, we pass Falene, her posse, Sasha, and Austin and Warner. They watch us as we walk by but a female voice stops us. "Logan!" We stop and turn around to Falene. Falene and everyone else scans us. Logan raises his eyebrows signaling her to continue. "Who is that? Did you just meet her? Why didn't you ask me?"

Were they serious? Did they not recognize me? I must look hotter than I feel!

Logan replies, "You don't recognize this pretty lady?"

Falene shrugs. "I don't know, why don't you tell me."

Logan unwraps his arm with mine and takes a few steps closer to her. "Mmmm," Falene mutters as he stares into her eyes. I can see Logan clench his jaw. I look down at his hands which are now balled into fists so tight, they're almost white.

"This," Logan points back at me without turning around. "This is the girl you've bullied since fifth grade. What kind of person are you? And if you think you even have the slightest of chances to be with me or have any type of relationship, your chances are zero out of one-hundred. You're stuck up and don't care about anyone else. All you care about is making yourself look good." Logan steps away from Falene and grabs my hand again. While Falene and Logan stare each other down, Warner and Austin check me out.

We turn and leave, but this time, I stop us. I let go of Logan and take a few steps toward where Warner and Austin are. "I don't need to Falene to do my makeup because I'm already smokin' hot."

***

Logan and I arrive at the Wilted Garden Bistro, one of the most expensive and high-class restaurants in town. He opens the door and we enter. The smell of pastas and a varieties of meats in the air. As we are seated, many people in their thirties to fifties eye us as we pass. Everywhere I look, couples and friends are dressed very nicely and very fancy.

"My name is Louis and I will be serving you tonight. May I start you out with any drinks?" the waiter asks.

"May I have a Shirley Temple please?" I ask.

"Of course, and for you sir?"

"I'll have what the lady is having, thanks," Logan orders.

"Alrighty, I'll be right out," the waiter says. After the waiter leaves, Logan leans forward with his arms crossed against the table and stares into my eyes. "You look stunning," Logan praises.

"Thank you, not too bad yourself," I reply. I can feel myself blushing from the flattering comments.

We take a moment and study the menu. By the time the waiter comes back, we're ready to order.

"Two Shirley Temples," the waiter says, placing the drinks in front of us. "Can I start you two out with any appetizers?"

"I think we're ready to order," Logan responds. "I will have the pasta penne and the lady will have a caesar salad. Oh, and may I have a pen?" The waiter hands a pen to Logan, nods and takes the order to the kitchen.

Logan takes a napkin and starts to write. I look at him confused. When he's finished, he passes the napkin over to me not making any eye contact.

Sometimes, a moment of looking into someone's eyes, is just enough to know they're the one. -Kate Dunham

When I finish reading, I look back up at Logan, who stared at me while I read the note. I take the pen and write back.

Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness. -My mother

I pass the note back over, watching him read it. Without a word or facial expression, Logan takes the pen and replies.

The soul that can speak through the eyes can also kiss with a gaze.

You know you are in love when you see the world in her eyes, and her eyes everywhere in the world. -Logan