It was the beginning of summer vacation before senior year started. My parents arranged a trip to our cottage by the lake so we'd have “quality family time” and a bit of R&R. The only problem was our neighbours and my parents best friends, Deb and Trevor tagged along. I don’t actually mind Deb and Trevor, in fact I love them like they were my second set of parents, the problem lay in the fact that their son Sebastian was also coming along.

Me and Seb are the same age and we'd actually been really close when we were little. We'd grown up together and been best friends, always getting into crazy situations together, then trouble hit when we hit puberty. Seb started taking an interest in swimming and girls which meant less time hanging with me.

I can't pin point the exact moment when me and Seb stopped being friends but it was a gradual progression which started with him missing one of my dance competitions. It had always been our unspoken deal that I went to all his swim meets and he came to all my dance competitions or performances. So I was beyond pissed and being the mature 13 year old I was, I purposely missed his next swim meet. And it was down hill from there....

So back to the present and the next two weeks of my parents, Deb and Trevor drinking, having a good time and doing the things general middle aged people did on holiday. Plus also having to find something to do to amuse myself and avoiding the general awkwardness that being around Seb always brought about. We just didn’t have anything in common any more and so always referred to things we knew the other loved when we were 10 (his love of tree climbing and miniature trains, my love of the power rangers and elephants) and since none of that was relevant anymore it usually meant we avoided eye contact and tried to exit as soon as possible.

“Kay are you excited?!” my mum asked bring me out of my reverie. “I already feel calmer breathing in this fresh air, don't you just love it here?!!”

“Yea mum its nice like every year you bring us out here.” I replied

“Yes but it's especially great this year because the D'angelo's are coming with us”.

We finally arrived to our cosy cottage. It sat on a hillside that overlooked the lake from the back garden. My favourite part of the cottage was the ivy that clung to the right side of the cottage which contrasted really well against the white brick wall. The outside looked small but when you walked in it was surprising how roomy it was. It had an open plan living, dining and kitchen area, four spacious double bedrooms and the piece de resistance the jacuzzi which was out on the deck in the back garden.

I quickly made my way to the bedrooms so I could pick my favourite room which had a beautiful view of the back garden and the lake. I decided to take a shower and get ready for dinner, really it may have just been an excuse to avoid Seb for as long as possible. When I got out the shower I decided to wear a simple yellow one shoulder dress which really made me look like I was glowing. I decided to put a little simple make-up on and put my hair into a simple pony tail. I finally slipped on some white strappy sandals before heading out to see what was for dinner.

Just as I walked out of my room Seb stepped out of the room across from mine.

“Oh hey, you look great” he said

“Umm thanks”

“I hope you don't mind, your mum told me to take this room.” he said as we made our way down the hallway.

“Its cool why would I mind anyway?” I replied noting his obviously nervous demeanour.

“I dont know” he mumbled as we walked into the living/ dining area to find our parents already getting merry on a second bottle of Pinot Grigio.

“Finally you two are ready and we can fire up the grill!!” Deb exclaimed as she made her way out onto the outside deck where my parents and Trevor had started making dinner preparations.

As we sat there digesting an assortment of meat and carbs, which I would burn of with an early morning run; my parents, Deb and Trevor were reminiscing about their college days and had finally got to Kayleesi and Sebastian: the early years edition of the story.

“You two were inseparable, I thought you would be married by the time you left high school.” my mum giggled as she topped up her glass of wine. I inwardly cringed and looked at Seb who looked just as uncomfortable.

“Sandra stop it now you are embarrassing these children.” my dad said coming to our rescue.

“But Sean you have to admit you even imagined the beautiful grand children they would give us.” Deb proclaimed adding fuel to the fire. This time Seb looked at me with an apologetic smile and I couldn’t help but smile back. We were both prisoners on this trip down memory lane.

“If you kids want to be excused from the table, just go apparently your mothers can't handle their alcohol and their mouths are getting a little loose” Trevor said and just as Sebastian and I made our exit I swear I heard Deb whisper “That's not the only thing that’s getting loose.” With that I made a speedy retreat to my room. But before I could get there Seb gently pulled my hand making me turn to face him.

“Sorry about my mum you know what she's like after a couple glasses of wine.”

“You don't need to explain, my mum was just as bad if not worse and when the two of them are together it's like they are 18 again.” I giggled and Seb looked at me and laughed and said “Yeah well we just need to stay away from them for the next two weeks and maybe we could hang out and give them hope for those grand children.”

I laughed too and noticed that he had not let go of hand and he was gently rubbing it. Normally I would have let go and gone straight into my bedroom but I just stayed there looking at his beautiful stormy blue eyes.

“Yea we can do that” I barely whispered, taking notice of how full and pink his lips were. A smirk formed on his lips as he said “ You really do look great tonight. I'm gonna head to sleep. Night.” And just like that he released my hand and released me from the trance he had me under. I watched him make his way to his room and began to understand his popularity with all the girls at school.

With that thought I went into my room and threw myself on my bed.

The next two weeks were going to be difficult especially since my body reacted in such a ridiculous way to him holding my hand for god's sake. My stomach was still doing flip flops and I felt very moist in my core. How was I going to keep myself out of trouble?!!