The sharp contrast of bright pixelated hues, shone brightly on my face. It was burning into my eyes, to the point where I had to blink several times.

"You'll have three hours for your IT exam." The invigilator strode up and down the room. All the students were sparsely situated at their computer desk.

Three hours. I repeated in my head. Only three hours and I would be officially done with school. Aspects of these thoughts excited me. I was raring to go and get the exam finished.

"As soon as the clock gets to ten, you may begin," announced the invigilator.

The computer room was silent, only the ticking of the clock bounced around. I tightly shut my eyes and focused on my breathing. Slowing inhaling and exhaling, I ensured my mind was refreshed and ready.

"You may begin."

The moment those words left the invigilators mouth, my eyes shot open, instantly leaning forward and proceeding with the last and final run.

I blocked everything around me and concentrated to the brightness in front of me. My fingers worked in lightening speed, tapping away on the keyword. It felt like I was in a race with the time.

Constant planning of this final exam and all the ideas were spiralling out. I was determined to create the best website from scratch. Like my final art piece being inspired by Zac's photograph, this was inspired by our business project. I wanted to create a website that did our project justice.

It felt like Zac was infused with every aspect of my life. No matter how much I pushed him out of my brain, he kept barging into my thoughts.

As the seconds turned into minutes, and the minutes turned into hours. I was fighting against the clock, making sure I was done.

After entering into a flurry of my own world, it didn't occur to me how fast the time had gone.

"You now have half an hour left," the invigilator called out.

A sharp gasp ruptured from my mouth, my eyes shot to the clock, indicating the thirty remaining minutes. I could almost feel the freedom. I was mere moments away from reaching the finishing line. This was now a bid to complete my last exam in a timely manner.

The ticking of the clock started to get louder. It went from wall to wall, around the room, alongside the clicking of the keyboards and the mouse. My fingers were swiftly moving trying to beat the constant movement of the clock.

In the last thirty minutes, my surroundings were blocked, all I could see was the bright computer screen in front of me.

"Stop what you're doing, the exam has now finished."

Just as those word rung in my ear, it was like everything around me stopped. Life was paused.

Was this it? Did I finally make it?

Just as we were allowed to leave in a single file line, the crisp air flushed a soothing breeze on my face. My senses were heightened and I felt like a fresh flower blossoming.

Slowly, all the students started to filter out, some wondered around the school and some shot out of the gates.

Approaching the school gates, I located Ruby, who was in her own world, waiting for me. As I got closer, the reality was finally setting in.

The happiness was surging through me, almost as if it raised my spirits. Joy sparked in me and my feet picked the pace up towards Ruby.

"We did it," Ruby cheered.

"It's over, it's finally over," I marvelled, grabbing Ruby for a hug.

"Let get out of this damned placed," Ruby chuckled as she came out of the hug.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Shooting a wink, I pulled Ruby and hooked her arm around mine and we marched in a jolly fashion, leaving the school behind.

***

The bright sun beamed down on my face, creating a warm heat that made me feel relaxed. I felt like I was floating on a cloud, having nothing to worry about.

My mind couldn't get over the fact of finally leaving school. Months and years of building up to this very moment is all I thought about.

For the first time in years, I felt like nothing was weighing me down. A huge tonne was shifted away from my shoulders and I had no stress.

"You girls enjoying the sun?" My mothers voice sparked in my ears, enabling me to shoot my eyes open.

I arched my head over to the patio doors, and took in our situation. Both Ruby and I were sprawled out on the sun loungers, and it felt like we had been here for a life time.

"We are going to make the most of our freedom." I stretched my arms out, to shake away the overly relaxed feeling that was taking over. Ruby hummed in agreement.

"Your dad and I were talking," my mum said as she sat on the opposite sun lounger from us. "We thought I'd be nice to go on a little weekend away, now that your exams are finished."

The interest within me peaked, I asserted myself on the chair, portraying my full attention to my mother. I nodded my head, indicating to hear more. Ruby also repositioned herself, showing a high interest.

"We were thinking of going Oakland woods for the weekend-"

"Oakland woods?" I chimed cutting my mum off. "We haven't been there for years."

"Apparently its been fully refurbished, so we thought we can revisit again. The Carters are fully on board-"

"What?" I jolted upright with a slight squeak to my voice.

My head shot towards Ruby's direction, who was just as confused and shocked as me.

"The Carters?" I questioned for clarification.

"It'll be nice for all of us to go on a little family getaway, what do you think?" My mother shifted her brows upwards, waiting for me to respond.

Deep down I was seething at the thought of going away on a little family holiday with them. Worry and dread was slowly creeping upon me, I couldn't shake the the strange feeling of spending a weekend with the Carters, more so with Zac, I didn't want to feel this way, I wanted to reject the idea.

"Yeah it'll be fun," I forced myself to say.

After my mum shot me a wide smile, she proceeded to get up and leave, marching back into the house to report back to my dad.

An exasperated sigh left my mouth and I slammed my back against the sun lounger.

"You're never going to escape him," Ruby remarked.

I scoffed as a reply, shaking my head. For my parents to invite the carters, it should have something to annoy me. But in reality, I felt a slight spark of excitement. This was all new to me, the feeling was alien.

I gave it my all to create space and distance between Zac, but different situations enabled us to come closer. Now with a whole weekend away, in his presence, was going to be hard. It was like a heavy tonne was now back on my shoulders.

***

The drive to Oakland Woods was relatively peaceful. With Ruby and Ava to the side of me, I ensured I didn't ponder too much on the events that were to unfold.

We left the busy town behind and were approaching the calm and serene countryside. Bit by bit we were surrounded by a vast amount of grand trees. A mixture of green zoomed past as the car picked up speed.

We arrived at a carpark, where a load of other cars were parked up. Exiting the vehicle, I slowly inhaled, taking in the fresh air. It was like my chest was opened to a whole new world of freshness.

We were now surrounded by a rainbow of colours. The blossoming forest was adorned with a selection of flowers and bushes. Butterflies wondered around, with the sound of birds chirping in the distance.

The fresh and crisp smell of nature, waved its way into my nose, the more time I stood in one spot, taking it all in, the more fragrant it was becoming.

"Here you go girls, take your bags," my dad called out as he pulled out the large packed bags from the boot.

All three of us wandered around in silence, waiting for the dreaded moment of the Carters arriving. As much as I was dreading of the events of this weekend, part of me felt glad to have Ava and Ruby with me.

The steady sound of a car approaching and parking up, froze me in my place. The heavy dread swirled around in the pit of my stomach.

"Brian, how was the drive?" My dad chimed, marching towards the car.

Mary and my mother chuckled with excitement welcoming each other into a hug. The three of us looked at each other, with no emotion in our face. We took it as our sign to join the rest.

We all dragged our feet to the happy commotion, but stopped as we were slapped in the face with shock. Just as Lexi and Zac exited from their car, another person soon followed.

Melissa.

"What the hell?" Ruby gasped.

I was lost for words. What was supposed to be a family getaway, turned in to a joke fest. As much as I wanted to push myself away with everything connected with school, I couldn't escape from it all.

Annoyance was coiled into my stomach. I internally groaned at the sight of Melissa acting all friendly, flicking her hair around and looping her arm around Zac's.

"She's like a rash that won't go away," Ava whispered towards Ruby and I.

We all snickered, trying to contain ourself from bursting with laughter.

"Screw them, us girls will have a good time." Ruby smirked. She situated herself between us, bringing us close like a tight-nit family.

After joining the rest and getting the 'hellos' out of the way, we pondered around trying to get sorted. My dad and Brian came back with a selection of leaflets and keys.

"Right, so we have our keys," my dad announced. "We've got five cabins, us adults have a cabin. Hannah and Ruby will share a cabin, Ava and Lexi will be sharing, Zac and Melissa in one cabin."

"What?" Both Ava and Lexi shrieked together, horrified that they had been forced to share a room.

"I don't want to hear anything, you girls will share a room." Brian ignored their attempts to protest and handed the keys over.

Ruby and I held back from the laughter of rupturing from our mouth. We both subtly taunted Ava, who was narrowing her eyes, warning us to stop with her widened eyes.

From the time we had been here, I did well to not acknowledge Zac, but as we made our way to the cabins, my pupils accidentally peered towards Zac, who was already gazing towards me.

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to ignore the warm glow rushing through my veins. The butterflies had woken up from their slumber, and were dancing their way around my stomach.

I couldn't help but think what it would be like to share a cabin with Zac. I didn't want to have these thoughts, it was like I had no control over my brain.

I was now wishing that this weekend was already over. As much as I wanted to ignore my feelings for Zac, it was impossible. There was no way around it.

Having to witness Zac and Melissa fawn over each other, angered me, yet Zac and I couldn't pull ourselves from gazing at each other. It was like our eyes had to be locked together. No matter how hard we tried, we were like magnets.

Getting through this weekend was going to be harder than I thought...

A/N

Finishing exams and school is the best thing ever! Who agrees?

This little weekend away is going to be interesting, what do you think will happen?

Don't forget to comment, vote and share!

Love _xxAMxx