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Poppy grabbed my shoulders and pushed me down on the log by the fire pit, determination shining in her eyes. The second we were done breakfast, she grabbed my hand and practically dragged me away, not even bothering to speak to me until we got here. Now, she put her hands on her hips and gave me a warning look.

"Talk." She demands, staring down at me as I fidget in my seat.

"About?" I ask coyly, but really, it's just because I don't even know where to start.

Her eyes narrow. "You know what."

I exhale a long breath and give her a look. "You're going to want to sit down. This will take awhile."

Poppy heeds my advice and sits on the log beside me, and from there, I tell her everything. I tell her about staying in the cabin last night with Carter, waking up with him, the phone call from my mom last night, the Juilliard audition, leaving camp in a week, and even my new realization about my intensified feelings for Carter.

By the time I'm done, Poppy looks like she's trying to figure out a difficult math problem, with her brow furrowed and eyes almost glazed over. After a moment of recollecting all the new information, she nods, and I'm relieved she understands. At least that means I don't have to repeat myself, considering I rambled quickly.

"You're leaving in a week?" Poppy addresses first, her eyes sad and lips set in a frown.

"Poppy," I whine. "I need advice, not a recap."

She rolls her eyes. "One thing at a time. Pretend like you have patience and answer me."

I let out a breath. "Yeah, I guess. I don't know. My mom said she's coming here to pick me up in a week, but what can she do if I say I don't want to go?"

Poppy's eyes widen. "You're going to ask to stay?"

"I don't know," I say honestly. "I want to, but you know how my parents are. They would freak."

After I say this, I think about Carter's words. Is Juilliard what you want? The answer was clear: no. Although sometimes I find solace in piano, it was evident to me that I didn't want to go to Juilliard. And then, Poppy asks the question that I had been asking myself ever since I considered asking my parents to stay at camp.

"Would you refuse to go with them because you don't want to go to Juilliard or because you don't want to leave a certain bad boy?"

I stare at her inquisitive gaze and feel myself falter. "A little bit of both, I think. I don't want to go to Juilliard, no way. But Carter..." I shut my eyes and exhale again. "I really, really like him. If we only have the summer, then I want it to last." I open my eyes and look at Poppy. "Is that bad?"

She smiles softly. "No, it's not bad. I'm a little offended you want to stay for him and not me, but that's okay."

Her words were meant to make light of the situation, to make me calm down at least a little, but I ended up feeling worse. She was right- I was blowing her off completely. Every time I went off with Carter, I was minimizing our time together. We only had one summer, and I spent half of it with a boy I had just met.

When she sees my face fall, Poppy shakes her head quickly. "Mina, don't."

But still, I practically wail, "Pops, I'm so sorry. I should be spending my time with you, not him! God, I'm such a bad friend. I only see you in the summer, and here I am throwing away our time together-"

"Mina!" Poppy interjects. "You are not a bad friend. You're my best friend. It was my idea for you to do this, remember? I'm happy for you, not mad at you. Don't worry about me, got it? You have enough on your plate. What do you think you're going to do about the audition?"

Her words calm me down, and I resume my freak out. My shoulders slump and I groan into my hands.

"Maybe I'll just run away to Mexico and change my name to Pablo?" I suggest.

Poppy snorts. "It might be a little suspicious considering you're a woman, Pablo. But other than that, fool proof plan."

I laugh a little. "Yeah, I guess you're right. What about Esperanza?"

She joins in on my laughter, and I find myself chuckling even more. I felt some of the pent up tension and exhaustion that had formed in the past few hours dissolve as I worked things out with Poppy. That's the power of a best friend.

"Seriously, Mina," She starts when she sobers up. "Would you be willing to tell your parents off for him? Do you... love him?"

I think about it, about the way my parents made me feel every time I mentioned not pursuing piano in the past, and then about how I feel about Carter. It was weird, considering ruining my relationship with my parents for a boy I had just met. And yet, the prospect was so thrilling that I felt excitement crawl through me when I thought about finally being done with my unwanted future at Juilliard.

But in the end, like always, I couldn't make a decision. For what felt like the hundredth time today, I just mutter, "I don't know."

Poppy nods. "Then make the next week the best week you can. Do everything you wanted to do, spend time with Carter, and enjoy yourself. If at the end of the week, you still want to stay, then tell your parents. If not, then I'll see you next year when we're counselors."

My chest constricted when she mentioned being counselors next year because, well, I didn't tell her that's exactly what my mom wasn't letting me do. But nonetheless, I smile and nod, and feel myself submit to the new plan. I had one more week to be with Carter, and then I would decide what to do. At least it let me procrastinate the decision making and forget about it for a few days.

I wrap Poppy up in a hug and say sincerely, "I love you, Pop. Thank you so much."

She chuckles and hugs me back. "No problem, Mina. I love you too. Best friends forever, right?"

"Duh," I answer with a grin. "Best looking best friends in all of history, too."

Poppy pulls away and smirks devilishly. "And the best prankers on the face of the earth, too. After all, you managed to get a photo of the baddest boy in camp cuddling one of his cabin mates."

My eyes widen when she mentions this and I burst out laughing. I totally forgot about that photo!

"You forgot, didn't you?" Poppy rolls her eyes at me.

"Completely," I admit.

Half of me wanted nothing more than to make several copies and put them everywhere, but the more realistic part of me knew I could only torture Carter with it for a little before deleting it off my phone.

I just laughed a little again and shrug. "I'll deal with that later. Anyway, I'm going to get a shower. What are you up to?"

Poppy smiles devilishly. "Hanging out with James and Justin."

I smirk. "Pranking anyone?"

Her grin grows wider. "Maybe."

We say our goodbyes and I start heading for my cabin to shower, but as I'm walking past the auditorium, I see the side window that Carter and I snuck through one night and could help but stop and smile. The memory drew me inside, and when I walked in, it was empty.

I stared at the piano on the stage in contemplation for a moment. Piano was my greatest confusion in life. I possessed the skills necessary to excel in piano playing, yet I didn't want to pursue it in any serious facet. I just wanted to play when I wanted to play.

And right now I want to play. So I walk to the stage and sit atop the piano bench, letting my fingers rest on the keys. From memory, I begin to play Hammerklavier, my audition song for Juilliard. I'm pleased when it doesn't sound broken from missing notes, and it actually sounds like it's supposed to.

I smile widely when I complete the song in its entirety, proud of myself that it finally sounded flawless.

"That sounded incredible," A familiar voice comments from the isle.

I jump a little on the bench and turn to see Teddy standing in the isle of the auditorium, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants, looking almost out of place. I smile widely when I see him because, well, we haven't exactly talked in the past few days.

"Thanks," I say. "It's my audition song for Juilliard."

Teddy gives me a small smile back. "Well, if you play like that, they're going to have to let you in."

Even though we're talking about Juilliard, a subject that makes my shoulders tense and thoughts swim, I still manage to maintain my genuine smile.

"How are you?" I blurt without thinking.

To anyone else, the question would be harmless. But right now, after everything happened between us, after he admitted his feelings for me and I turned him down, it wasn't harmless. It demanded an answer to the underlying question, we could still be friends, right?

Teddy knew it, too. He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment after I asked, and I held my breath. I wanted nothing more than for things to be normal between us again. We were always so close, and I missed that. But I was trying to give him space and didn't want to ruin our friendship.

"My ego is a little bruised, but other than that, I'm good," Teddy says jokingly.

"So we're good?" I ask hopefully.

His lips twitch in a smile. "Of course we are, Mina. No matter what, you're still one of my closest friends."

I let out a breath of relief and mutter, "Thank God. You were scaring me there for a minute."

"What, you can't imagine a life without me?" Teddy teases, and just like that, things are back to normal. "I know I'm great, but I think you could get on without me."

I flash him a grin. "Not a chance, buddy. You're stuck with me forever."

Teddy chuckles, then his gaze drifts to the piano, and he nods slightly toward it. "So, when's your audition?"

I hesitate for a moment, feeling a plethora of conflicting emotions at once. First, I felt sadness that I had a mere week left before parting ways forever because of the stupid audition and my parents forbiddance of returning. Next, I felt anger towards that very stupid audition and my parents forbiddance of returning. Finally, I felt something in the pit of my stomach, maybe guilt, and I couldn't bring myself to tell the truth.

So instead, I shrugged and mumbled, "The beginning of the school year." And then, to change the subject, I give him a tight smile. "But I really do have to keep practicing, so you're going to have to go eavesdrop on someone else playing an instrument."

Teddy laughs again, oblivious to my discomfort, and raises his hands in surrender. "Fine, I get it, the prodigy needs alone time."

I laugh and say goodbye as Teddy leaves me in the empty auditorium to my thoughts, which were overwhelming me lately. In an attempt to get the nagging thoughts about my audition, and what exactly I was going to do about everything when my week was up, I turned toward the keys of the piano again.

But even when my hands rested on the keys, I couldn't bring myself to think about the notes of Hammerklavier, but instead about my unfinished composition. And, even though the song wasn't in front of me, I'd repeated it so many times that I knew it by memory. So, I began playing, and felt the rhythm move through me.

I played for what felt like hours, but what I knew was minutes, and when I finished the composition, I played it again, and then again, trying to memorize the key strokes. And when I played it over ten times and the notes were embedded into my memory, I jumped up and ran all the way back to my cabin, grabbed my song notebook, and wrote them down.

As I filled in the second page of notes, I grinned at myself in satisfaction, finally reaching the end of my three month long struggle of trying to finish this composition. The words had long since been done, but I couldn't quite figure out the ending notes. I put down my pencil and stared at the pages, feeling a sort of weight lift off my shoulders.

I heard the cabin door open and shut, and when I looked up, I saw Carter walking over to my bed. I looked at him and grinned, shut my book, and set it down on the bed. He came on the other side and sat down, glancing down at the book, and went to reach for it, but before he could grab it, I took it in my own hands.

"What's in there?" He asks, his gaze locked on the leather-bound notebook in my hands.

I grin and lean forward, my eyes sparkling with excitement. "The song I finally finished after three agonizing months of trying to write the composition for it."

Carter perked up, a smile stretching across his lips. "That's awesome, Mina!" Then he wiggles his eyebrows and asks, "Is it about me?"

I roll my eyes and tease, "No, not everything's about you, Miller."

He chuckles, and I hear the screen door slam shut, and look up to meet the icy glare Katie was giving me. She was watching us interact with narrowed eyes, but when Carter turned around to see who walked in, she smiled flirtatiously instead. Much to her chagrin and my pleasure, Carter simply ignored her and turned back to me.

As if we weren't interrupted, he leans forward to nudge his shoulder against mine, his eyes sparkling in amusement. "Then what's it about?"

Katie huffs in annoyance and walks into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. I take my bottom lip in between my teeth, rolling it in my mouth before I admit hesitantly, "Jake, actually."

I knew it wasn't the answer he was expecting, but I didn't expect his smile to drop and the excitement to vanish from his eyes immediately. He leans back and looks away, his jaw clenching, and I raise my eyebrows in surprise. Surely he didn't think I wrote Jake a love song, right? It was the opposite: a song about how he broke my heart.

"Right," Carter muttered, then shook his head a little. "I'm going to go find the twins."

When he stood up, I jumped up as well and grabbed his hand. Reluctantly, Carter turned back around to look at me, a hardened mask where his excitement just was.

"Hey, hold on a second," I say, tugging his hand. "Sit back down, would you?"

"I'm not exactly in the mood for you to sing me a song you wrote your ex boyfriend, Amelia," Carter says lowly, anger lacing his tone.

And suddenly, I realized why he was so pissed.

I couldn't help it. A small smile graced my lips as I tilted my head to the side and asked, "Are you jealous, Carter?"

But he didn't have to answer me, because I could tell by his dramatic mood shift. His jaw was clenching and unclenching, and his gaze gave him away if his tense posture didn't. His heated gaze was glaring at another bunk bed, but when he heard my question, he turned to look at me.

"Fuck, Amelia," He runs a hand through his messy hair, and takes a step closer to me, so we were almost toe to toe. "Of course I'm jealous. You drive me insane when you even smile at me, and now you're asking if I'm jealous that you wrote some other dude- an asshole, by the way- a song?"

I can't help the all out grin on my lips at this point. "Well, there's no need to be jealous, because it happens to be a song about how he broke my heart, not about how I'm still in love with him. Because, well, I'm not." I reach up and wrap my arms around Carter's neck, smiling wider when the anger leaves his features and is replaced with relief. "So, you done being jealous and stuff?"

The liveliness returned to Carter's eyes, and his hands slid to my waist, holding me exactly where I was. "I don't know," He smirks a little. "You might have to make it up to me."

I shake my head at his childishness, but still stand up on my tip toes to press my lips against his. Carter immediately deepens the kiss and draws me closer to his body so our fronts were flush against each other. Sparks ignited in my stomach immediately, and a kind of warmth spread all over my body.

And I realized it, with that kiss, that my fate was sealed. There was no way that I could leave like this, weeks too early and before the summer was over, just to audition for a future I wanted no part of. My fingers raked through Carter's hair as I tried, in that moment, to familiarize myself with every part of him.

The sound of the bathroom door shutting brought me back to my senses, but before I could untangle myself from Carter, I heard Katie screech. "Oh my God, get a room, would you?"

My cheeks are blazing by the time I pull away, but Carter just smirks at me. "Shall we?"

I slap him across the chest but smile nonetheless, even though I could still feel Katie's dramatic glare burning a hole through me skull. "I have a better idea. Go change into a bathing suit and I'll meet you outside in five."

Carter pouts at me. "No, I think Claire's idea-"

"Katie," She snaps from behind us, crossing her arms with a 'hmph' before storming out of the cabin.

He rolls his eyes. "Katie's," he corrects as she slams the door shut behind her. "idea is better."

I pout at him. "You mean you don't want to see me in my bikini? I mean, sure, if that's what you want..."

Carter's eyes widen. "You know what, I actually just had a change of heart. I'm going to change right now. Wait for me outside, I'll be two minutes."

And, with that, Carter leaned in to give me a quick kiss before practically sprinting out the cabin, leaving me behind with amusement written all over my face. I started rifling through my bag until I pulled out my favorite bathing suit, and changed into it quickly before throwing one of my oversized band tees on top of it. I grabbed a towel and flip flops before I was back out the door.

Already waiting for me, Carter leaned against the side of the cabin, and grinned widely when he saw me, his eyes scanning my bare legs. I rolled my eyes and lead him through the pathway in the woods, guiding us both to the Water Hole. Carter walks behind me and, the entire time, I can practically feel his stare at my ass.

To make my point, when we're almost at the clearing, I turn around and catch Carter doing exactly what I thought- staring at my ass- and raise my eyebrows. "Hey, Carter, did you ever take anatomy?"

His gaze snaps up to mine and he looks helplessly confused as he says unsurely, "Uh, yes?"

I smile sweetly. "Then you know my eyes are up here."

Carter smiles sweetly back. "I'm well aware of that, babe. But you have a great ass, it would be a shame not to appreciate it."

I shake my head, but can't help laughing at his boyishness, and he grins cheekily back at me. I walk forward until the trees finally clear and we reach the Water Hole, and a type of serene happiness fills me, along with a similar type of serene nostalgia. This, for all I knew, could be my last time here.

"Wow," Carter breathed beside me.

I snuck a glance at him and saw he was staring at the sight before him in awe; his lips were slightly parted, his eyes wide and imploring, and his expression truly shocked. A small smile graced my lips because, well, he's the first person other than Poppy to ever see the sight. This was our little secret, but now I let Carter in on my small slice of heaven.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I ask with a smile, my eyes diverting to look around at the crystal clear water rushing from the waterfall.

I felt his gaze shift to me as he says, "Gorgeous."