As we neared closer, my grip on Jay's arm grew tighter. He glanced down at me with furrowed brows and a concerned grimace on his face.

"Are you okay?" He said.

I nodded, and smiled. "Yeah. Sorry if I hurt you."

He shook his head before flexing. "With THESE biceps, nothing can hurt."

I rolled my eyes playfully. I knew I'd be okay with him here.

But then he looked at me again. "Alina, you'll be alright." His arm, which was around my waist, ran up and down my side as he gently caressed the fabric of my spine. The touch was simple and gentle yet still sent shivers up my shirt. "I'm here, your friends are here. They wouldn't have invited you if they didn't want to see you. If you're worried about the Erin thing, don't be. You guys were best friends at one point. You still are, you both just don't see it. Besides, I'll defend you." Jay added with a wink.

I looked up at him when he looked away. He made me feel better, a lot better at that. In that moment, a moment became more than a moment until he looked at me with a smile and my heart began racing again.

Do you ever just wish you could change something about someone? Like when your best friend is friends with someone you hate, or when someone you care about does dumb things. Not things that would entirely change a person, but ones that would make things better, easier in a way. I wished Jay would settle. That he was a gentleman and that he didn't do drugs or do shitty things. Deep down, I figured he wouldn't want anything more from me. I will either leave Greenwich hurt or angry. Just I wished it would turn into something. Jay has a lot more to him, just it's overshadowed by his exterior. And I just wish it wasn't.

We walked up to the bowling alley, where everyone else was. I could make out Griffin, although I doubt that he saw me yet. His laugh was loud yet provocative; whenever he laughed everyone did too. His green eyes crinkled whenever he laughed and everyone couldn't help but stare at him.

"Your eyes glow." He said to me. We were sitting at the rock by the lake, and the moon was hitting us full force. He was smiling. "I could stare at you all day."

"Not in the creepy way." I whispered, laughing softly.

"Not at all. I'd stare at you because you're beautiful and because you have eyes that glow in the moonlight and because I'm your boyfriend."

He was the boy everyone looked at and lusted after. And when he had eyes for me, I felt like I was on top of the world.

Hannah was there, so were Jenny and Connor and Darin and Savannah and Kyle.

I took a deep breath and became the Alina I was before I left for the summer.

I approached everyone first, before they had a chance to see me. The crowd kept me concealed, and nobody knew how Jay looked or who he even was so they wouldn't expect me to be with him.

"Hey." I said, walking up to the girls. Griffin still didn't notice me as he was talking to Darin.

Hannah, who was always overly excited and energetic immediately gave me a hug. "Alina we made so many summer plans why'd you go?!"

The question was rhetorical as I had told her that my parents were going away. Jenny and Savannah embraced me as well and said their hellos.

"Who's that?" asked Savannah, her eyes trailing to Jay, who looked as relaxed and cool as ever. He didn't appear nervous at all. If he brought me to his friend group I would feel intimidation of some sort.

"This is Jay," I motioned to him. "I'm staying with him over the summer."

He smiled and gave a nod. "Hey."

I looked up for a moment. Right as I introduced Jay, Griffin had looked over. His eyes widened, but then a scowl came over his face when he saw Jay right next to me.

"You're alone with him?! Oh my god." Hannah said, her green eyes widening. She snapped me out of my daze.

I felt Jay laugh besides me. In the corner of my eye, I saw Griffin walking over. He heard when I continued with my story.

"Not alone. With his parents, at his house."

"Damn Alina. Do you stay in his room too?" Griffin said, his brows furrowed and a sly smirk on his face. He winced as he finished, to show that he found that cringey apparently.

"Is that Griffin?" Jay spoke in a low voice so only I heard.

I nodded.

"No actually. She stays in my bed." He said.

Everyone laughed and I looked up at Jay. I couldn't help but grin.

Griffin shrugged. There was tension in the air, and I needed to get rid of it. I couldn't put Jay in such an uncomfortable situation so that he never came anywhere with me and my friends again. And I didn't want him to think I was awkward or something.

He seemed to have read my mind, as he looked down at me and smiled. I was immediately comforted.

"I think we all know we're not going to be bowling." Jenny said. "We always end up talking."

"Who's idea was it to come here anyways?" Kyle asked.

Savannah and Jenny looked at Hannah.

"What?!" She said, flipping her curly brown hair over her shoulder. "I thought we liked bowling!"

"It's fine." Darin said. "We do like bowling."

I saw Hannah smile up at his tall frame and I wondered what I had missed when I was gone.

"Is Erin coming?" Savannah asked.

I stiffened and looked at Hannah, who had planned this all.

"I invited her. But she said she'll be a few minutes late." Hannah looked at me. "I'll be right back."

She went to the bathroom and motioned for the girls to follow.

"Hold on." I told Jay, who nodded and sat down on the seat in our lane.

I followed Hannah to the bathroom, and Savannah and Jenny were at my sides. Hannah struggled with the door but pushed it open and we all followed her inside.

"Erin told me everything." She said, tugging at her springy curls. "And I think she's being a bitch kind of but I invited her anyways because she'd get mad and maybe you guys can resolve this." She said it fast, her statement one big run-on sentence.

"I don't know what I ever did. She's being like this over a guy, and a dumb reason at that. I don't even like Griffin like that anymore."

"I saw the way he looked at you." Jenny said with a smirk. "He likes you like that."

I shook my head. "Doubt it."

Jenny and Savannah both raised a brow.

"But who's the hottie you came with?" Savannah asked.

"Yeah oh my god Alina what?!" Hannah said, grabbing my shoulders. "Did you kiss him yet?"

I smiled. "Yeah..But I don't think I'm getting anywhere with him. He's not the type to date."

"Bad boy type." Savannah said.

"Exactly."

"That's hot." She said.

I laughed. "Come on, lets go. It's been a while and the guys are intimidating. Although I doubt Jay really cares but I still don't want to leave him alone."

We walked out after Jenny touched up her lipstick. The deep red complemented her dark skin and I wished I looked good in lipstick.

We neared the alley we had for ourselves when I noticed Jay talking to a certain redhead.

"Oh shit." Savannah saw my expression. Her hazel eyes reading my expression.

I needed to relax. Jay wasn't my boyfriend. But also I wanted him to be and I didn't want him talking to Erin. She was stunning and most guys found her hot. I tended to stick to natural looks and plain clothes, by Erin's style was flashy and eye-catching. She wore makeup and her hair was always pin straight with not a hair out of place. And her clothes were revealing and consisted of low cut tops and shorts. I liked her style but I could never pull it off.

But I still felt a pang of jealousy when I saw her talking to Jay.

We walked up to them. I heard Erin laugh loudly and I rolled my eyes, wondering when Jay became a comedian.

She made eye contact with me. Erin was never one to make things super public, but she was also never one to just end a friendship so I wondered what she would do. I didn't want to be mean. It's not cute or attractive. My mom gave me all this advice throughout highschool, and it stuck with me.

I wondered what Jay thought of her. I didn't want to be jealous but I couldn't help it.

I walked up to them and sat next to Jay. Erin stared me down, but didn't say a word. I bit my lip, a habit I had when I was uneasy.

I felt an arm snake around my waist. I looked over to Jay. He was smiling, and so did I. It was as if he read my mind. Jay wasn't one for PDA, especially not with me because I had no clue where we stand, but it seemed as if he knew how I was feeling. And how my friends would take this. Erin glared, and Hannah was grinning when she saw her expression.

Erin and I didn't talk throughout the whole night. We bowled on separate teams.

At the end of the night we all walked out onto the street. Jay got along with Kyle and Darin but Griffin seemed distant.

"I'm having a party at my family's cabin." Kyle announced. His grandparents owned a house about an hour away. But they moved to North Dakota and let the Garry's use it whenever they pleased. Kyle's parents didn't particularly enjoy driving out there and found it pointless to stay in a house an hour away from there, so Kyle often threw parties there over the summer. The parties were huge. He had friends down there and most people didn't mind driving all the way there since they had cars or took the train and couldn't pass up a banger.

"Finally. I've been waiting." Erin said, tossing her silky red hair over her shoulder.

"Yeah and you guys can all sleepover." Kyle said.

"Fun." Erin replied.

I wondered how this party would go. I also didn't want to force Jay to go. We only had a few days here and I wasn't entirely sure if he was comfortable around my friends.

If we did end up going, I could only wonder how it'd go.

We walked to get ice cream and a local shop.

Everyone went inside when Griffin placed a hand on my shoulder. "Hold up."

I told Jay to go inside and I'd meet him soon.

"Is that your new boyfriend?" Griffin said. His dark brown eyes met mine. I remembered when I would miss his gaze, and I felt a pang. We had good times together.

I found myself saying no. I mean, it wasn't a lie. Jay and I weren't dating.

"Then why are you staying with him? Why is his arm around your waist?" Griffin said.

I poked his stomach. "Are you jealousss?" I said playfully.

"No I'm just wondering."

"My parents went away for the whole summer and I had nowhere else to go. His parents offered for me to stay with them."

Griffin nodded, running a hand through his blonde hair. "I've missed you. In general, like now, but also I missed us. It's been so many months yet..." He was unable to finish.

"I don't know. There is no us. And there can't be."

"Why?"

"Because..." I really had no reply.

At that moment, everyone walked out and our conversation was no longer private.

Jay handed me a cone with a scoop of strawberry ice cream. He remembered me telling him I loved it.

"Thanks." I took it from his hand.

We walked back near the bowling place and everyone parted ways.

Hannah gave me a hug before she left. "See that wasn't so bad."

I scoffed and laughed. I missed her. And she was a real friend.

Jay and I returned to the hotel. I was tired for some reason and showered quickly before laying down on my bed.

"How was that." I said, playing with the tassels on the blanket I brought.

"I like your friends. Not really my type of crowd , as you can see," he said with a laugh. "But they're chill. Except for Griffin and Erin."

I looked up at him. "She was laughing so much when you guys talked."

"I'm just so funny." He said jokingly. "I don't know. Not my type. She seems uptight." He leaned back on his pillow. We were on spectate beds. "I like you a lot more."

I felt a smile creep up on my face and when he looked over at me I tried to cover up my grin.

"Are we going to that party?" He asked me.

"If you want." I said.

"I came here to spend time with you. It's up to you."

"But you're the guest. So it's up to you."

"But you know this place better. So it's up to you."

We did this for a while, until Jay slid into bed besides me and I fell asleep with my head on his chest and his hands running through my hair.